Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1907-09-09
TRUST SEEKS LIFE OF
ITS CUT PRICE,
RIVAL
More Than $50 Jobbers In
Three States Form AL
lance to Kill Com
petition.
MANUFACTURERS AID
IN CRUSHING EFFORT
Ohio Firm Refuses to Be Bound
by Monopoly Contract and as
a Consequence Is Fight
ing for an Existence
Now.

Toledo, o., Sept. 9.-The bureau of
statistics of the United States gov
ernment, in its compilation of figures
relative to the 40 per cent increase in
the cost of living. has uncovered still
another trust scheme.
A great war is being waged by 12O
grocery jobbing houses in Ohio, 20
in Michigan and 40 in Indiana,
against a Toledo grocery jobbing
house which has been adjudged gull
ty by them of the heinous crime of
cutting prices.
After the wholesale grocery trust
which fourished in Ohio for years
was broken up by the Valentine anti
trust law. one of the members of the
former combine started in on new
line of business. He concluded to
dispense largely with travelling sales
men and sell goods by catalogue, cut
ting prices below those fixed by the
trust.
Immediately there was a protest
from other jobbers. and it appears
now that all the jobbers in the three
states are united In a fight to put
this one price-cutting grocer out of
business.
One of the first moves made was
to try to induce manufacturers to
force this firm to maintain prices or
refuse to sell it goods.
Warned by Manufacturers.
1t has developed that when manu-
facturers send their goods to the job
bers, prices are fixed at which the
jobber must sell the retailer.
i II the jobber sells below the fixed
prices the manufacturer must refuse
to sell him any more goods, under
penalty of losing the business of all
the jobbers In the combine.
In other words the pricke-cutter
has his supply shut off, and If the
combine succeeds he is put out Of
business.
The Toledo firm, the Dow-Snell
Co, has already been informed by
certain manufacturers that they can
not have any more goods unless the
Dow-Snell people agree to maintain
prices to the retailer.
Here is an extract from a letter
received by President e. f. Dow from
a manufacturing concern in Rich
mond, Va:
1--WE are today in receipt of letters
from all our customers in your city,
complaining that you are cutting the
prices on our products, and saying,
in effect, that unless we can induce
you to put a stop to this practice
they will discontinue the sale of
them"
Another manufactured grocery
product is listed for sale by the job
bers at S2.S5. The cost to the job
Der is $1.S6. Dow-Snell catalogued
it to retailers at $2.55. They receiv-
ed a letter from the manufacturer,
which says:
Criminal Contracts.
This practice is against our inter-
est and against yours, and under the
circumstances we will be obliged to
discontinue selling the goods to your
firm"
But this Is not the limit Many of
the manufacturing firms insist that
the jobber sign a contract agreeing
that he will not sell, or permit to be
sold for him, any goods under the
price stipulated by the manufact-
urer.
President Dow has in his possession
a letter from a firm declining to sell
any more goods to Dow-Snell until
the firm and every salesman and
commercial employe sign such a con-
tract.
In his catalog, issued weekly, Dow
conducts his fight against the jobbers'
trust In the last issue, speaking of
these contracts, he says:
you ought to see some of the
contracts thrown at us to sign. and
which all the other jobbers do sign.
Some of them would send a man to
jail quicker than a toad can lap
lightning, IL they happened to fall
into the hands of some grand jury
where the prosecuting attorney was
onto his job"