Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-11-15
SQUARE DEAL UNDER DEBATE
President Roosevelt 10 Be Discussed by
Implement Dealers
OPENING ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT cAULK
Catalogue Houses and drafting the
Main Topics Touched on and the
views Thereon Expressed
Are Popular.


Are Popular.
President Roosevelts policy with regard
to federal regulation of railway rates will
receive equal consideration III the del'bera-
tions OF the implement dealers this week
with the matter of direct sales by cata-
logue from manufacturer to farmer.
The rate agitation has become so univer-
sal that few conventions adjourn without
having endorsed or ropudiated the presi-
dents policy, and the implement dealers
agree that they will debate the nattcr.
The expediency of Mr.. Roosevelt's views
will furnish the subject for discussion at
the meeting which is to be hed at 8
O'Clock this morning. Every man who at
tended the session Of the convention yes
terday afternoon has appointed himself
a committee to bring other dealers to this
mornings meeting.
II is estimated that there are now more
than LOCO dealers in this city and Council
Bluffs from eastern Nebraska and western
Iowa Yesterdays attendance was not
| large, owing To the fact that the members
I had so much business with the jobbers
they felt they could not get to the meet
ing On this account the hour ot the
meeting has been changed from 23O in the
afternoon to in the morning, the job
bcrs having promised TO do their business
with the retailers in the afternoon aud
leave them free to attend the convention
! in the forenoon.
President CauIk PresideE.
| The convention was called to order at
! 2:SO Tuesday in O Bricn's hall by President
! r. G. Caulk of Allen. The report Of Sec
retary Culver was read and President
Caulk delivered his annual address. Mr..
J Caulk impressed on the dealers the i'm
portance of contriying some plan to meet
catalogue house competition. In part he
! said:
/ Let the time speedily come when all
| dealers in all lines of trade, both whole
! sale and retail, will rise in one great body
| and demand laws from our states which
| Will prohibit the catalogue houses from
advertising and dumping their cheap ware
| abroad on the unsuspecting purchaser.
| deem catalogue houses the greatest menace
| to our trade existing at the present time
and 1t Is affecting the iobbers as we'll as
the retail trade. Right here. let me state
that when this convention comes to the
! program this catalogue house question
should be the chief subject of discussion.
thought of along the line OF suggesting a
plan to- meet this kind of competition.
| Z = can deslst imploring you to discuss the
| catalogue question, the parcels post and
| me numbering Of rural mail boxes These
| three brands of graft should be burned into
! very uSaleT mind with a lglittering brand
| Tor II they are not headed Off the time sis
close at hand when they will put US down
and out.
About LOsu In Membership
Regarding the loss in membership through
crooked work of organizers, Mr. Caulk said /:
am very sorry that carnot say-aa
Fresldeilt Freeland said In his address last
year, that we have a. larger membershj
than at any previous time, for know that
our membership has diminished materially
IN the last year And right here let me ex-
plain a little why our membership has
tailen on. One year ago last spring we had
two organizers in the territory of Ne
braska and western Iowa OrRa nizing local
clubs for cotntry associations. They went
into county End made a good many deal
ers believe they could not buy goods un-
less they first took membership In our as
ISOLATION and coughed up s. for member
ship fees, and they went so far as to name
the dealer supposed to have gone to the
Nebraska Moline Plow company to buy a
car of their goods, and said dealer was,
so they said. fatty refused by this COM
pany a dollars worth of goods until he
! went over and made peace with the sacre-
tary OF this association ana dug up his s.
, membership fee.
, run on the dealers over the country has
put us in a critical condition, for the reason
that these organizers collected IS from un-
suspecting dealers and put ii in their pock-
I cts, and never remitted to our secretary,
who advanced money out of his own pocket
I for their expenses to the amount OF about
, 81 300 of which amount a goodly share yet
remains unpaid. We are two years behind
with our dues TO the National Federation.
Members Not Discouraged.
M II. Greene Of Creighton. Fred Loomis
of Council Bluffs. A. p Karbach of Omaha
and ]. NJ. Elwell OF Springfield discussed
the presidents address. They were not dis
couraged by the decrease In membership
caused by the operations of the 'grafters,'
I and thought that with rousing meetings
s today and tomorrow the association by the
n end of the convention would have regaineC
s it's old footing.
n nominating committee was appointed
y consisting of l.. p. Byers of Valley HarrS
n Schickedantz of st. Paul and Nicholas Fritz
g of Pender. The election of officers will b,
: held Thursday.
y The subjects for discussion mentioned b!
n the president in his address will be takeI
up today and tomorrow.
Entertaining the visitors.
Members of the association who hai
: reached the city spent the afternoon an,
evening largely in viewing the various ex
hibts at the Auditorium, the lobbies of til
= hotels and at the various theaters. Man
. interesting exhibits are 10 be seen at IN
y, different places although the local dealer
:" as a rule are not exhibiting at either tn
AuullOfluIn OF III lnt lOlelSs DuL seem I
= prefer to make an especial effort to get tn
dealers TO visit their warehouses wher
= special preparations have been made 70
J. their entertainment and TO show the ware,
A person walking into the lobby Of IN
Paxton hotel would imagine that he ha
:, got into the wrong berth, as the whole plac
- is filled with an assortment of buggies an
T.. light vehicles, lightning rod displays wit
" electrical attachments which show III
I. manner in which they resist the forke
- lightning, miniature windmill models opel
" ated by electric fans, and all sorts OF ne
= devices which the manufacturers think II
dealers could handle to their profit.
ThresheI Made of steel.
9 The Auditorium is a buzz of whirlin
= machinery from giant threshing machir
in operation TO an Independent telephor
plant which is manufactured in Nebrask
The thresher is exhibited by the j. l. Ca.
company OF Racine and is something ney
being constructed entirely OF steel and b.
II ing entirely hreproOf. 1t has an automat
r feeder and a mammoth feeder The man