The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-06-04
SAVANNAH GR0CERS
NOT BEHIND BILL
Gibbons Antitrust Measure in
Florida Legislature Attracting

Attention.
An interesting and entertaining story
dated Tallahassee is given publicity
through the columns of the Jackson
Vile paper with a long name.
1t has been read in Savannah with
a great deal of interest. Neither Mr..
James NJ. Dixon nor Mr.. George w.
Tiedeman, representing two of Savan-
nah's largest wholesale grocery houses
knows anything about the Tallahassee
item printed in Jacksonville as fol-
lows:
Representatives of Savannah whole
sale grocers, who have been in ITALIA
hassee during the past few days, are
much pleased with the prospect for
the passage of Mr.. Gibbons 'anti-t trust
bill. They have been supporting the
measure heartily, arguing that it will
give them the wholesale grocery bust
ness of Florida
"One of the members of the Whole
sale Grocers' Association, who is there,
calling little group of friends about
him at the Leon to-day, discussed as
follows:
Once upon a time, in the great
state of Connecticut. there was a lit
tie boy. He was a farmers boy and
when he grew In years, size and discre-
ton, his father sent him to mill with
sack of corn. When the miller took
out the toll the boy thought he had
stolen it: but, as it was a small mat
ter, he said nothing about it. How
ever, when the miller took up the sack,
poured all the rest of the corn into the
hopper and threw the sack on the floor,
the boy thought he had stolen that too,
and he thought, furthermore, that it
was high time for him to take his de-
parture. Consequently he grabbed the
empty sack and started home as fast
as his little legs could carry him. The
miller, thinking the boy was crazy,
pursued him. The boy beat him in
the race, though, and fell down in his
fathers yard out of breath The father
ran out and said: MY son, what is-
the matter?" Whereupon the boy re-
piled: THAT old fat rascal up at the
mill stole all my corn and gave me
an awful race for the sack" You have
heard that before, haven't your
Years passed away, and the boy
grew in size and suspicion of every
thing he couldn't understand He
| moved to Florida, and the people there
sent him to the Legislature Soon after
arriving in Tallahassee he introduced
bill directed at the Wholesale Gro
GERS Association of Jacksonville. He
mad never forgotten the fright of his
early days. and was always looking
over his shoulder for the miller to
chase him home for the bag He found
as he thought, a striking resemblance
between the Wholesale Grocers' Asso-
citation and the miller of old and he
resolved to put that association out of
business.
80 one day he got up in the Legis-
! lature, told the story that has been
.recited above and added That is the
| way these combinations and monopo-
| lies are working. Their purpose is
fell their modus operandi fatal to
public interest and American citizen
ship. They have been skinning the
people for years, and now by means of
their ability to control the prices of all
the necessaries of life, they are after
the sack
The humor of the story is in its
! perfect application. The boy did not
know that the miller chased him to
restore the sack and to persuade him
| to come back and get his meal He
doesn't know now that the Wholesale
| Grocers' Association of Jacksonville
was organized to protect it's members
| against the trusts. If there should be
no Wholesale Grocers' Association in
Jacksonville, a trust could impose
upon each individual wholesaler, where
1t could not upon united association
saying we refuse to pay your prices
great work has been done for the
people Of Florida. The Florida BUSH
ness, which was controlled ten years
ago by cities Of other states than Flor
ida, is now largely IN the hands Of
Florida men. However. there are still
competitors in the field representing
Savannah. New Orleans. Atlanta, Ball
tinore, New York, Boston and Chicago
houses, and sharp competition FOR bust
ness. The Florida business men lave
gotten the major part Of the business
10 the only way that they could, viz:
BY underseling their competitors
1T Is absurd beyond all comment 10
say that the Wholesale Gr0cers Assoc
citation controls prices. Some years ago
Letter endeaY0red 40 corner the wheat
market and losf about thirty millions
There haVe been preceding and sue
ceaspe attempts ~ corner corn. oats.
wheat. short ribs. hams and other
commodities entering into abe stock