The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-11-01
MERCHANTS MEET.
Approve Peddler's Ordinance on
Duluth Plan.
Dues ion of Freight Rates Discussed
Memb srship to Be EGIarged...COm-
mittees Appointed

The Merchants Protective associa-
ton held meeting at the board of
trade roomTuesday night, lasting nearly
three hours, and the discussions in
cluded a wide range of subjects. The
meeting was we'll attended, about half
of the membership being present.
The matter of most immediate inter
est taken up was the new peddlers' Ii
cense ordinance, which is to be intro
duced in the council Friday night to
take the place of the ordinance that
was last week declared unconstitu-
tional by Judge Cray. The new ordin-
ance is much the same as the old, ex-
: cept that the reference to farmers and
| bakers is left out. 1t is framed after
| the Duluth ordinance on the subject,
which has been before the supreme
court and held to be constitutional.
The charges for licenses will be much
heavier under the new ordinance than
under the old. For peddlers on foot
the rate is advanced from ST. 80 day
to &c. and for peddling with a wagon
S. day will be charged. The weekly
and monthly rates are in proportion.
J. 81. Long, M. o. Sundt, Geo. E.
Brett, G. D. Benack, Ben T. Monson
and 81. E. Hance were appointed a
committee to cooperate with City
Attorney Daley in perfecting this or
dinance and bringing it before the
council.
The members expressed their appre-
citation of the services rendered by City
Attorney Daley and County Attorney
Wilson in prosecuting the cases against
Thomas Richardson.
The matter of freight rates was dis
| cussed, the statement having been
made by member that Mank alto is
being Disseminated against The
particular instance referred to is the
coal rate to New Ulm, made by the
| Chicago & North Western road. The
| lookout committee was instru cted TO
| investigate this matter. This is a
standing committee corresponding
with an executive committee, and
consists of Louis Janda, Ben T. Mon
son and Paul Iverson.
1t was decided after some discussion
to enlarge the field for mem bership by
allowing any persons who do retail
business, and also livery barn pro-
prietors, dentists, laundry proprie
tors and milliners, to become
members. Tony Klsuges, c. D.
Benack and Hans Jorgenson were ap-
pointed a committee on new members
Merchants in nearby villages desire
to join the association, and this matter
was discussed, but no action was taken
upon it. A decision will be reached
later.
The matter of bad debts came in for
thorough discussion, and some
names were mentioned. 1t was de-
cided to have reports on this class of
debts every two weeks instead of every
two months. The lists of new names,
reinstatements into favor, etc, will
be mailed to the members.
Several old debts have been paid as
a result of the work of the association,
and some of these had been outlawed.
With this association, the statute of
Limitation and the discharge from
bankruptcy DO not count.
q. D. Benack brought up the matter
of public heating plants, saying that
they had been established in many
cities smaller than Mankato. He said
that this was project that had not
yet been discussed in this city. These
plants are working satisfa ctorily
where established, and are more eco
nomical and convenient than furnaces
or stoves in each house or store.
As the hour was late consideration
of the matter was put over until the
next meeting, and an adjournment
was taken.