The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-02-07
MIR. SAUNDERS ANTI-MoNoPoLr BILL
AGAIN.


persons to enter INTO an agreement to regu-
late the price of any article. IHE HINES
showed yesterday that this would break up /
and destroy an important safeguard which
merchants have devised for the protect IN Oh /
themselves and their customers against gieeuy /
sneculators. with no advantage 10 any ono In
this world but tho spectators. We viii very |
briefly point out this morning some turther |
instances of tho hardships Mr.. Saunders BIZ /
would needlessly impose upon the business
interests OF Richmond and all other com miner
cial centres in the state. We have not only
merchants who sell goods, but we have q
large number of manufacturers OF one sort ana
another. and our manufacturing interests are
growing every day. The right OF the manu-
facturer TO fix the price at which ms goo'7
shall be sold is absolutely necessary to the
healthy conduct Of his business. Mr.. saun-
ders proposes TO deny him this right which 10
needless blow No. l at orr most important
mercantile interests.
All the manufacturers outside Of Virginia
REQUIRE iobbers to agree with them that they
will not sell their goods below fixed price
and if the iobbers will not agree to this the
manufacturers W not allow them to handle
their goods. If Mr.. Saunders does not be-
lieve this to be true let him 90 to any whole
sale hardware store and inquire. He Will
find that the manufacturers Of scales.
powder. rifles, cartridges, saws, etc. Will not
/ sell dollars worth of their goods unless the
iobber makes that contract. Let him inquire
of the druggist and he Will find that every
patent medicine, of which there arc millions
ofdolars worth bought aud sold every year. %
bought bv him under a contract 10 sell at a
fixed price. Mr. Saunders would make 1t
impossible for our Wholesale merchants 10
lay in a stock of any one OF these articles. and
thereby he would be needlessly hurting our
merchants But be- would be- also hurting
himself. for the stoIekeeper IN his county
who has heretofore been buying his scales
from our wholesale merchants on credit
would have to buy them directly from the
scales mandatory for cash.
Further, Mr.. Saunders bill provides that
if any person violates its provisions he shall
be guilty Of crime to be punished by fine
and imprisonment 0ud all ms contracts
sian e4uN ana coid. that u.s. if one Of our
wholesale merchants. finding his business
about TO be destroyed by Mr.. Saunders bill.
shall secretly violate it by making such con-
tract with "A manufacturer. all his contracts
would thereby be placed outside the pale of
the law lie might run up heavy
bill at his butchers and bis bakers.
and then snap his fingers in their faces. No
bank would lend him a cent TO carry on
bis business with. because his promissory
note would be void. We may put q strained
construction upon tins provision of Mr..
Saunders bill hut il seems to mean this. il it
does not he should define Just what contracts
he intends omake void.
With entire Difference we submit that Mr.
Saunders bin is founded on a complete mis-
conception of the principles upon which trade
and commerce are based. His bill rests in
suspicion which has grown in his mind into
a belief that manufacturers and jobbers viii
gouge out OF the consumer the last cent they
can get for an article unless they are restrained
10y statutory enactment. There is a very wide
spread an popular belief but none the less one
of the grOssest errors that ever took possession
of the human mind. We do not mean to say
doing il from the charitable instincts that
caused Cardinal Manning TO die worth only
600. BY no means They refrain from OPP
pressing their consumer bescause il is their
interest 70 refrain. TO charge the consumer
the last cent they can extort from him in a
particular transaction is step in the direc-
ton OF ending transactions IN that article.
To charge hin no moro than a good
profit for themselves is q step in
the direction Of encouraging Transact Us in
that article and tie manufacturer and lobber
know they can make a great deal more none
out of a thousand sales ut a small profit than
out of one hundred sales at large profit.
The impulse moving both the manufact-
urer and the iobber. therefore, Is 10 sell their
articles at the very lowest possible price
consistent with reasonable profit to them
selves, because the volume of business grows
with the cheapness of the article and money
making comes from volume and not from
special transactions.
If. then. trade is left to itself its inevitable
tendency is TO cheaper articles. This ten
dency IS never interrupted except by legisla
tive acts such as Mr. Saunders bill. which
place clogs on trade that it must of course
shake of, and every shake entails cost. all Of
which cost must finally rest on the article
sold. His bill is another form Of the odiou.
protective tariff.
If Mr. Saunders will mediate we'll upor
, this principle he can deduce therefrom many
views that will be of essential value to him
when lie comes to discuss the proposed rail
road law. He will recognize that the impuls,
r OF al railroad arrangements is to lessen fare.
5 and rates as far as they can. because they
2 make much more money by hauling many
passengers and vast tonnages of freight at
!, low rate than by hauling few passengers ant
] small tonnages at high rates.