Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-08-26
SECY. JENSEN
Tells HIS STORY
----------- - -
Why the Butchers and Gro0ers
Organized to Keep Up
Prices.
CONSOLIDATION SIDELlGHTS.
Claims High Prices Prevailing Are Not
The Product of the Retailer But
The Wholesaler.

A worried group OF mon arc the fnem-
bers of the Manufacturers & Merchants
executive committee, and officers OF the
Butchers & Grocers executive commit
tee. and at tho center OF the worry ls
Lorenzo Jensen, who II is announced
will be secretary OF tho Manufacturers
& Merchants after Sept. l.. He will at
tend all their confidential meetings and
send out all their mail, and perform
Just the same duties for the Butchers e
Grocers. only he Is maintaining a show
of independence between the organiza
lions by declaring that he viii serve the
executive committees OF each organlza-
tons on different nights OF the week.
Mr.. Jensen was sought by the News
today to give his version OF the pro-
posed consolidation between those or
sanizations, and it's investigation by the
Real Estate association which will he
called upon to share with II the Cham
Der OF Commerce,
IN HANDSOME QUARTERS.
Mr. Jensen was located in o spacious
Office In the Atlas block, surrounded by
two girl stenographers and large cabi-
net filing cases, and he admitted that
the Butchers 6, Grocers association
maintained the establishment.
When asked why iarse lists of names
were published each week in THE Re-
tadl Merchant" with the statement
above that this is not dead beat
list, but list of people about whom
information is desired" he admitted
that a large part of his business as
secretary was to keep track of dead
beats, and that no grocery store now
a-days extends credit until the record
of each applicant Is checked UP.
COMMENTS BY CIPHER.
Asked to show the cards on which
a mans credit record is kept, he pro-
duced one in which all comments were
in cypher, the merchant turning 1t in
being designated by n number in
stead of a name. and his standing be-
Ing INDICATED also by number.
THIS is UNKIND.
To illustrate what the credit system
could do for a man, Mr.. Jensen de-
olared that prominent member of the
Real Estate association, whom he did
not name, had moved from place to
place In the city, leaving behind ac-
cumulating grocery and meat bills to
sum OF over $1,000.
When asked for his opinion of the
Real Estate associations activity IN
keeping the Butchers and Grocers as
ISOLATION out of the board of trade, Mr..
Jensen declared that he would like to
know by what right the Real Estate
association was inquiring into the bust
ness of another association. His an
swer plainly Indicated that he would
like to see the Real Estate people go
away back and mind their business
WARMED UP.
Mr.. Jensen warmed up almost to a
stage of rpnl OrntDry in aNnlaIpipU TINT
the high prices are not the product
OF the retailer, but of the men behind
him. who delivered materials He said
on his word OF honor that the retailer
never sells at profit of more than 20
pere cent, generally at a profit of is
per cent when he can get IL, and often
at profit much less than that
THE BUTTER MYSTERY.
The butter situation was inquired in
to definitely, but Mr.. Jensen would not
even In confidence, and with assur-
ances that he woulr not be quoted, d.
Yulge the names of the real butter mani
pulators He said that most of the
Utah milk goes into condensed cream
at Logan and Smithfield, and Is ship
ped to Denver and to the west, at low
or prices than maintained here. In or
der to create an artificial scarcity that
Will In turn produce 80 cent prices for
ming to Is ounces.
PRICE COMMITTEE"
He declared that the price commit
tee" OF his association merely reported
the Wholesale changes. so that retailers
could be speedily notified. He lnstanced
the fact that soap had climbed up from
81 to $3.50 per case, and that the price"
committee reported these changes
Pressed in regard to other duties he
said 1T tried to prevent people from
advertising leaders" at cost or less
as trade attracters The general purpose
of the society he declared to be the
highly philanthropic ones of proseeu-
ting the short weight wholesaler. pre-
venting the sale OF adulterated goods,
and OF short weights and measure
ments, Pressed for Instances of such
prosecutions, he showed that the assoc
citation had gone relentlessly after tho
pedlers as vermin who would sell any
old short weight, but at less price
than the grocery store, which was
member of the association When asked
II this was not really "A warfare to k.l
pedler competition, he did not think IL
was
SHORT WEIGHTS.
When It came to high prices he ex-
cused the retailers on the ground that