The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1907-05-30
District Attorney Refuses to Make
Any Concessions to Suit Club
Operators, will Investigate
MERCHANTS ARE DETERMINED
Some Of the Men Operating Suit Clubs
Declare That System is All Wrong
and Should Be Eliminated at
Once In Kenosha

Frenzied business occupied the at
teDtion of District Attorney Baker
most Of the time Saturday as he was
kept busy holding conferences with
merchants interested in the so-called
Suit Clubs" which we're declared to
be lottery by the attorney Friday.
District Attorney Baker has not
yielded one inch of the ground he
took and declares that his original
order to discontinue the clubs must
stand. The men interested in the
clubs have advanced all sorts of
arguments in regard to the clubs
continuing, some of them declaring
that the men who have been paying
the regular payments will sustain
heavy losses if the clubs are dis
continued. Others declare that they
are willing to'abide by the order of the
district attorney and that they will
give the patrons the chance of getting
their money back or taking an amount
in merchandise equal to the amount
they have paid IN.
One of the merchants, who has
several clubs in operation, said this
morning.
"The district attorney is absolutely
right and I hope that he will follow
out his letter and close these clubs
down without delay. have clubs and
every man who has paid cent into
them can have his money without a
bubble. The suit club proposition
has become question of mercantile
slavery to many of the men employed
in the Kerosha factories. Many of
these men would be willing and glad
to trade with me but one of the fore
men in the shop has most likely a
hand IN club and the man feels that
IT he does not buy a contract in the
club he will lose his job. I think
that this is the greatest evil of the
suit club proposition. We have beer
forced to go into it to hold our bust
ness, but at the same time we realize
that it should have been cut out once
and for all at the opening of the pres
ent season. AT the present time the
clothing business IN Kenosha has been
stagnated by the suit clubs. Nearly
every buyer of clothes in Kenosha is
or has been connected with one Oh
these clubs and it will be many
months before the business gets down
to normal again"
Some of the merchants talk of going
into court with the proposition, but
there is little reason to believe that
this course will be taken. Some OF
the men accepted payments on con-
tracts on Friday after the order from
the district attorney had been sent out
but others absolutely refused to take
the money under any circumstances
and offered money back that had been
paid in. Among the rank and file OF
the suit club members the order is
received with indignation and there is
little doubt but that majority of these
people are ready and willing to CON
tinue the weekly gamble.
District Attorney Baker when seen
today, between calls of the men in
terested, declared that he could find
nothing in the law that would give
him the right to rescind his order Sc
as to allow the operators of clubs to
finish out the contracts outstanding,
but that he had told them that he
would closely investigate the matter.
In the meantime the merchants not
attached to the club plan have held a
meeting and named a committee to
look after their interests. They claim
that the suit club plan is direct detri-
ment to their business, and as, they
plan to do business on a perfectly
legitimate plan, they are entitled to
the protection of the law. A com.
miteee from these merchants has
called upon the district attorney to
insist that the order remain in force.
It is possible that a general meeting
of all merchants in the city will be
called for the purpose of reaching
some agreement in regard to this line
of business and it is known that a
ma ority of them are in favor of cut
ting out every sort Of a scheme that
even scents of the lottery.