The record-union., 1897-05-02

ceedingS of the meeting of merchants
held on the preceding evening in oppo-
Sition to the department store system.
Not wishing to show any partiality in
matter that is claimed to be of public
import, many of those who are en-
gagged in business in which more than
one line of goods are carried were not
flied that the columns of the paper
We're at their disposal in which to state
their side of the issue, if they so de-
sired
Several have awaited themselves of
the opportunity, other proprietors were
absent from the city, and a few did
not care to enter the discussion.
WEINSTOCK. LUBIN & co.
Mr. Weinstock, on being asked to
give his views on the department store
agitation, replied in substance, as fol-
lows: He said:
AT the meeting last evening of
merchants who deal in special lines
the opposition was impersonal in
its character, and the complaint
made was not against the de-
partment store owners, but against the
department stores themselves; or, to
quote from one of the speakers, it is to
the sin and not the sinner that he
wished to direct the attention of his
listeners
If it is sin to serve th@public bet
ter than the public has ever before been
served. then the department store own
Ars must confess themselves sinners If
1t is a sin to make the poor mans dol
lar buy more than it has ever been able
IN hat q r. ms
owners must confess themselves sin
ners. If it is a sin to thoroughly pro-
tect the most ill-judging buyer by hav-
ing one price for all customers, the de-
partment store owners must confess
themselves sinners. If it is sin to
place the broadest possible assortment
of goods within the reach Of the small
est customer, the department store own
ers must confess themselves sinners.
If it is a sin to revolutiOnize the old
time metz DDS of taking advantage of
the ignorance of customers; if it is a
sin to sell goods absolutely on their
merits, the department store owners
must confess themselves sinners. If ii
IS sin to place within the reach Of the
poorest and the humblest many com
forts and conveniences hitherto sold at
pr0hibitory prices and hence beyond
their reach. the department store own
ers must confess themselves sinners.
If it is a sin to largely increase the
demand for products by selling them at
low prices and thus increase consump-
ton. thereby increasing demand and
adding to the volume Of production. the
epartment- store owners must confess
themselves sinners. If it is a sin to erect
magnificent business structures, thereby
adding to the attractiveness of the city
and increasing the taxable property of
the community, the department store
owners must confess themselves sin
ners.
If it is a sin to reach out in all di-
rections and make the country for hun
dreds of miles around tributary to Sac
ramentO, thus largely increasing the
commercial Importance of the commu-
nifty. the department store owners must
confess themselves sinners. If il is a
sin TO sell goods with narrow mar
gin of profit and thus benefit the con-
sumner, the department store owners
must confess themselves sinners.
This agitation against department
stores is simply history repeating itself
An hundred years ago there was sim
liar agitation against the introduction
of the spinning jenny. which. it was
claimed. would ruin the wage-earners
and destroy their chances Of making a
livelihood. This agitation was intensi-
fled by the introduction of Arkwright's
spinning frame, which revolutionized
the making OF textile fabrics Great
riots took place in England: factories
using these devices were torn down by
the excited populace And yet we have
lived to see the fact that the use of
these labor saving devices has added
enormously to the wealth of the world,
giving employment TO vast armies of
people, and has been a great blessing
and a source of comfort to untold mill
ions.
The same character Of agitation took
place when Stevenson invented the To-
connective. 1t was anticipated that the
Introduction of railways would ruin
untold numbers of men engaged in
freighting, in tage-coaching, in horse
raising, in harness-making, and in
growing grain and feed. Yet we have
lived to see the fact that where one
man was employed in any of the be-
fore named vacations, there are hun
dreds employed to-day in railroading
and in the various branches connected
with modern transportation. The
world as a whole and the people in it
have been wonderfully benefited and
blessed by the revolution which has
taken place during the past hundred
years in the means of transportation.
Coming down to more recent times.
f,,A
the publishers of the beautiful monthly
magazines now to be had for ten cents
a copy. or a dollar for a yearly sub
scription. These magazines, in the
quality OF their literary matter and in
the character of their Illustrations,
compare favorably with magazines
which a few years ago could not be
bought at retail for less than fifty cents
copy. Yet before these beautiful mag
azines could be placed into the homes
OF the hundreds Of thousands of poor
men all over the country at ten cents
a copy an army of men who earned
their living as wood engravers had to
be wiped out OF existence as such and
forced to seek other avenues of
employment as the result of the intro
duction of newer processes for illus
trating magazines. A vast army OF
compositors had to be wiped out of ex-
istence as such by the introduction of
the typesetting machines.
The Sacramento Record Union and
the Evening Bee are to-day giving
from one-third 10 a half more reading
matter for the same cost than before
they displaced their compositors with
tvpesetting machines
This change was doubtless in the
nature of a misfortune to the dis