Worcester morning daily spy. (Worcester, Mass.) 1888-1898, 1898-01-15
BUSINESS ILLEGAL.
Judge Woodward's Decision is
Against Traders Supply Co.
He Rules Its Business is Contrary to the
Statute Prohibiting Gift and In
dueement Enterprises.

rev words, 1t is his opinion that the
trading coupon business is not legal
enterprise. The cases that were tried be-
fore him two weeks ago were three in
number, and his decisions were as fol-
lows:
In the case of the. Traders Supply
Company VS.. Bertha l. Forbush, in
which the plaintiff sued to recover $3.50
for coupon books furnished to the de-
PENDANT, the decision is for the defend
ant.
In the case of Bertha I. Forbush VS..
the Traders Supply Company, in which
the Traders Supply company in
which the plaintiff sued to recover $457
for money paid to the defendant for cou-
pom books, the judgment is for the plain
tiff.
In the case of c. L. Forbush VS.. the
Traders Supply Company, an action
brought to recover two coupon books
which the plaintiff alleged the defend
ant took from his store, the Judgment
is for the defendant
These were the first civil cases Of the
kind tried in this state, and consider
able interest was manifested in them
on account of the question whether the
business that was being done by the
Traders Supply Company was legal.
In speaking with Spy reporter, Fri
day afternoon, after he had handed
down his decisions, Judge Woodward
said:
The Traders Supply Company is
not doing legal business in my judg-
ment, as it is conducting it's business
contrary to chapter 277 of the acts of
1884, which provides that mo person
snail sell, exchange or dispose of any
property, or offer or attempt to do so
upon any representation, advertisement,
notice or inducement that anything 9TH
er than what is specifically stated to be
the subject of the sale or exchange is or
is to be delivered or received or in any
way connected with or part of the
transaction
The case which is a precedent in the
matter of the Traders Supply Com
pany's methods, was recently decided
by the court of appeals of the District
of Columbia which corresponds to the
full bench in this state. The case is
GustaYe Lansburg ct al, plaintiffs in
error, VS.. the District Of Columbia. The
court holds that an agreement between
number of merchants and corpora
ton that the latter shall print the
names of the former in its subscribers
directory and circulate a number of
copies of the book in Washington, and
that the merchants shall purchase Of
the corporation a certain number of so
called trading stamps to be given to
customers with their purchases and by
them preserved and pasted in the books
aforesaid until a certain number have
been secured, when they should be pre-
scented to the corporation in exchange
Tor the customers choice of certain ar
tlcles kept in stock by the corporation,
IS held to be within the act prohibiting
gift enterprises in the District of Column
bla. AS this act is similar to that of
massachusetts,, and the act of the latter
state is fully as strictly worded as that
OF the district, the decision is consid-
cred to be of great Importance in this
state, and played an important part in
the cases tried before Judge Wood
ward,
Inc court of appeals says, in it's de-
clsion: Although one of the most
shreWdly planned of the many devices
TO obtain something for nothing. and
one apparently entirely novel, it could
hardly come more clearly within the
scope of the statute had it been well
known and expressly in the contemnla-
ton OF congress at the time Of the en-
aetment. The Washington Trading
stamp Company and its agents are not
merchants engaged in business, as that
term is commonly understood They are
not dealers in ordinary merchandise. en-
gagged in legitimate attempt to obtain
purchasers for their goods by Offering
Lalr and lawful inducements to trade.
Their business Is the exploitation of
nothing more or less than a cunning
device
With no stock in trade but that de-
vice and necessary books and stamps
and so-called premiums with which to
operate it successfully, they have in
tervened in the legitimate business car
ried on in the District Of Columbia be-
tween seller and buyer, not for the adj
IrNE
both. They sell nothing to the person
to whom they furnish the premiums.
They pretend simply to act for his bene-
mt and advantage by forcing their
stamps upon a perhaps unwilling mer-
chant, who pays them in cash at the
rate of 50 thousand. The merchant
who yields to their persuasion does so
partly in the hope of obtaining the Gus
toners of another, and partly through
fear of losing his own If he declines.
Again, a limited number only Gan APP
parently necessary feature of the
scheme) are included in the list for the
distribution OF the stamps, and other
merchants and dealers who cannot enter
must run the risk of losing their trade
or else devise some other scheme to
counterfeit the adverse agency.
THE stamps are sold at the rate of so
cents hundred to the contracting mer-
chants, and yet purport to be redeem
| able with premium gifts at the assumed
value of 81 per hundred. Unless, there
fore, the so-called premiums to be dis
tributed among the diligent collectors
of the stamps are grossly overvalued,
the scheme cannot maintain ITSELF for
in addition to the actual cost of the pre-
miums it has to bear the cost of the
books and stamps and the maintenance
Of its office and exhibition room.
IF the premiums should have any
fair value, then the stamp company
must inevitably rely upon the failure
of the presentation of tickets for re-
demption by reason of its requirement
that not less than 800 tickets-repre-
senting cash purchases of $99 90-shall
be pasted in a book and produced at
one time to entitle the holder to his
premium. In this event, the company,
If it actually intends to make good its
contracts, is relying upon a lottery;
that is to say, the chances and advan-
tages of its game for its expectation Of
profit or gain.
There is not a shadow of rational
foundation for the stamp companys
claim that it confers a benefit upon
buyers by procuring for them an actual
discount. If its business were contin-
ued and its contracts faithfully per-
formed its inevitable result would be
as Is all unnecessary interventions Of
third persons, or 'middle-men,' between
producer and consumer. an increase of
cost to the latter
The following letter has been received
by Charles T. Tatman in reference to
the matter from the attorney general:
December IS.
Replying to your favor of Dec. Z, L
beg leave to say that no opinion upon
the legality of the trading coupons has
as yet been given by this office
Hosea NJ Knowlton.
Sullivan & O'Connell appeared in the
case for the Forbushes and Charles T.