Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-11-03
RETAIL MERCHANTS
AGAINST VOORHEES,
FACTS FOR MERCHANTS TO CONSIDER.
The REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR Gov.
ERNoR DENOUNCED BY THE STATE
ASSOCIATION.
RETAIL MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION OF
NEW JERSEY.

NEW JERSEY.
Officers-P. s. Van Anglen, New Bruins
wick, President; j. A. Smith, Plainfeld,
Vice President; Jno. C. Hendrie, Paterson,
Secretary P. S.Atkinson, New Brunswick,
Treasurer.
Official Organ" The New Jersey Trade
Review"
70 The Retail Merchants of Mem Jersey:
The merchants OF this state have associ-
ated for mutual protection. We have
fought trade abuses and stamped them out
as they presented themselves from time
to time. The latest evil, and one which
threatened the most direfnl disaster to the
trade, is the trading stamp scheme. Many
of the merchants have been forced to take
it up, because of the threats made by rep
resentatives OF the Trading Stamp Com
paDy, that unless they engaged in it their
business would be injured. Business in
these times of sharp, keen competition is
done on an average margin of Is per cent.
gross, of which one-half is chargeable to
expenses, leaving . per cent. net. but by
the stand and delivery" method of the
trading stamp schemers 5 per cent. of that
u per cent. must be yielded up to them,
leaving us only % per cent. to cover losses.
The trading stamp evil became such a
burning question that the Retail Mer-
chants Association of New Jersey, assem-
bled at Newark in convention, in January,
1898, instructed the Legislative Committee
of the Association to act in communion with
the independent organizations representing
the several commercial interests to prepare
bill to be introduced at the last session of
the Legislature, prohibiting such schemes
in this state. Senator Francis, of Mon
mouth, introduced Senate Bill, No. 121,
which met the views of the Legislative
Committee representing the merchants.
That bill must have been drawn on conser-
vatiye lines and been popular measure,
for it passed the Senate. with only six votes
in opposition, while it passed the House, of
sixty embers, with only one vote in the
negative, and the latter was cast by Assem-
blymen Huston, of Elizabeth, the home of
Foster M Voorhees,. That righteous meas
ure was finally killed by Foster NJ. Voor-
bees, he having filed it with the Secretary
OF State, without approval, after the adj
journment of the Legislature, when it could
not be repassed. By pursuing that course
ex-Acting Governor V orhees proved him
self an enemy of the merchants of New
Jersey
Why did not Mr.. Voorhees, permit the
bill to become law?
His alleged reason was because he con-
sidered it unconstitutional.
If the bill was unconstitutional, why was
he wanting in moral courage and not
veto it?
If he thought the bill unconstitutional,
why did he tell Mayor Hinchcliffe, of Pat
erson, at Sea Girt, that on his return to
Trenton he would sign the bill
Has he ever been known to keep a
promise
Before being sworn in as Acting Govern.
or, did MIR. Voorhees, write an opinion for
the international Trading Stamp Company,
in which he held that such legislation
would be unconstitutional
Did he accept retainer?
Was that opinion sought because of his
pre-eminently recognized legal ability and
wisdom, or because the International Trad
ing Stamp Company desired to commit him
in advance against a righteous and popular
measures which the retail merchants of
New Jersey had contemplated introducing
into the Legislature, and which Foster M.
Voorhees,. as Acting Governor, would be
called upon to pass upon officially?
While the bill was in his hands, the
trading stamp people boasted that he would
not sign it because of the opinion he had
written before becoming Acting Governor.
Is this true
Mr.. Voorhees, is now on the pillory-let
him make answer.
If it is true, why did he undertake the
farce of inviting the merchants of New
Jersey to public hearing on the bill at
Trenton Was it fair treatment of the
merchants to call them from all sections of
the state two weeks in succession at cost of
time and expense, to give him reasons why
he should approve the bill against which
he had already committed himself?
As citizens Of New Jersey, we are proud
of the high honor in which the state is
held and if political trickster should be
elected Governor it would be an eternal
disgrace to the Commonwealth. We,
therefore, ask our fellow citizens, on whose
behalf snch large delegations waited upon
Acting Governor Voorhees, to sign the Anti
Trading Stamp bill, to vote on the 9th Of
November next against him.
At the convention of the Retail Mer-
chants Association of New Jersey held in
Newark, January, 1898, ?. S. Van Anglen,
of New Bruins wick, our State President,
in his annual address, urged the Legisla-
tive Committee to take up the trading
stamp question and secure remedial legis-
lation against such schemes; he called
attention to the bill passed by the Legsla-
ture in Virginia, and hoped the Legislative
Committee of the Association would have
such measure introduced into the New
Jersey Legislature and passed. At the
Plain6eld convention that Legislative
Committee made report from which we
quote:
I'm giving public hearing on the Anti
Trading Stamp bill. Mr.. Voorhees, had
Chesterfeldian tact in dealing with the
enemy of the measure, but in his treat
ment of the merchants his conduct was
otherwise The pleadings of the merchants
before him were of no avail and every
merchant at every cross road should be
made aware that they were knocked down
and by whom Foster M. Voorhees, is the
one man who stood between as and our Just
demands, and we should now stand as one
man against him at the coming election,
and help defeat him for Governor We
owe it TO ourselves to resent his treatment.
Your Legislative Committee would earn
estly recommend that special committee
be appointed with power to circulate liter
ature throughout the state and show up in
their true colors the friends of the trading
stamn c0rnOrations and the enemies of the