Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-01-13
Attorney General Mullan Look
ing Into the Workings of
Retail Associations
MANY COMPLAINTS ARE MADE
Assertion That Retail Organizations
Are Putting Prices So High That
General Trade Is Driven to the Cato
log Houses-Grocers Deny Combine
Exists-other News.
Special to T,mes-Republican

Special to Times Republican.
Council Bluffs, Jan. 13.-Are retail
grocers' organizations such as the Re-
tail Grocers' Association in this city
trusts? The question is being investi-
gated by the attorney general of Iowa
and his opinion will be awaited with
much interest by the members of the
retail grocers' associations all over
Iowa.
In the complaint against the organ
izations that has been presented to the
attorney general it is claimed that the
grocers' associations are violating the
antitrust laws of the state. The state
has very strict laws governing COM
binations to control prices. 1t is vio-
lation of the law for two or more per-
sons to agree upon prices at which any
commodity shall be sold, and 1t is
claimed that the grocers as well as 9TH
er organizations in the various towns
have agreed in writing to a scale OF
prices to control the business.
Secretary Thomas of the State Re
tail Grocers' Association has been or
ganizing the Iowa grocers, and associa-
tons have ben formed in nearly every
town of any size in the state. The
merchants in other lines claim that the
grocers have put up prices until much OF
the grocery business goes TO peddlers
and catalog houses, to the detriment OF
general trade. 1t is also claimed that
the grocers' agreements prohibit ad-
vertising in newspapers and that they
try to keep the prepared food compa-
MES from using the newspapers, as it is
claimed that advertising increases the
must handle. 1t is also asserted that in
cities where grocer is inclined to be
independent he is met with such COM
petition by the organized grocers that
he is obliged to join the association or
get out of business.
Attorney General Mr,llan has declared
that if the complaints made to him are
true, they are clear violation Of the
state antitrust laws. and he will in
struct county attorneys to begin action
against the grocers' association.
S. r. McAtee, leading local grocer,
who is connected with the Council
Bluffs Retail Grocers' Association, de-
clared yesterday that the statements
embodied in the complaint to the attor-
ney general are absolutely untrue Sc
far as Council Bluffs is concerned. He
said that the Retail Grocers' Associa-
ton in Council Bluffs was more of a
social organization than anything else.
altho the grocers also take this means
to protect themselves against dead
beats If a customer leaves one gro-
Gerry and begins trading at another
place, the latter grocer finds out from
the grocer that he mas been trading
with previously whether or not his
credit is good. About three-fourths of
the local grocers belong to the associa-
ton.
Mr.. McAtee declares that one of the
principal objects of the local associa-
ton is that the grocers might make
their influence more widely felt in the
enactment of pure food laws. The ma
tional grocers' meeting, which is now
in session at Kansas City, will prepare
another pure food law which will be
submitted to congress for passage. This
law will be much more stringent than
the present statute.