Putnam patriot., 1908-04-24
NO i7

| tarEc measure nt success aud proS-
 perity in The various walks of lite, and
 II in Mahien al any time shall be very
 glad Co see you af my home. also at
 n1y place of business m Boston. where
 l am now nearing .N years, and dur
 tng the present session ot the Massa-
 ehaSetts Legislature at the State
 tsoesc. and you will srd the doors
 most cordially open and hearty well 1 satne.
 The toastmaster then alluded 10 the
 absence ef Mayor rhayer of Norwich.
 who was unavoidshly absent, but who
 scnt communication expressing hts
 regrets and wishing the enterprise sue
 cess.
 Statc Busiasxx Mens AsSosiatioa F. \. Valentine. secretary of the
 Stale Business Mems Association was the next speaker. lie represented tho president, T. Howard Ahbe, who was unable to be present on account of ill- ness. Mir. Valentine prfaccd hts rc- | marks with some short stories. and said In part: This k my tmaiden appear. ance hetore an audience of this kind.
 l came this evening because the prcsi- dent, MT. Ahbe. k sick abed. Just be- !, for dinner l rcceiyed word that must come to Putnam to assist tn forming . business mem association. Being in . subordinate position, like good sol dier felt compelled to obey. will eoniine myself to the State Business Man \ Asx..x.tafi.,., nd tsx md tASttIl into your minds the essentlality of l combination. This kind of eombina- ton can k made good for the mcr~ chant, lthe manufacturer, the proies- ,ienal man, and the lahoring man as
 we'll. Business men as a rule are dead easy, They want to de the business, to sell Inc goods, and are not apt to in- sist on getting their money for fear of losing a customer. What is eusto- | mer good for whose name you have on your books unless he pays, We arc trying to better our state laws. II they arc not right We want them right. There are aloO firms in the State ASso- ciation, embracing 5000 individuals. By organizing in Putnam with fifty or one hundred members you will add that much more strength. lndividu- ally you can accomplish nothing. Or ganizaiion can accomplish something. We have had wage exemption reduced. Formerly you could not attach for debt Q salary less than sb0. The legislature passed n law compelling manniactu- rers to make weekly payments, making a farce of the S50 exemption and m ops portunily for the dead beat. Since the San Francisco catastrophe we have had the insurance rates increased M cents per hundred tn eongested dis- triets. The State President at that time called the directors together to take some action on the matter, and it was thoroughly discussed and com mittee appointed. The mere appoint ment of that committee was the means of the insurance companies removing the 70 cents on sall 1reproof buildings. but not upon the goods contained therein. We were not satisfied with this and met the New England under writers, but got no satisfaction. So bill was drafted to present the lcgisla- ture. The underwriters then request ed an audience and asked the commit tee mol to present the bill and they would take oif the 20 cents on stocks. The committee refused because they thought people would think the asso- citation was lot Of boys. IL was how ever announced in the next inorning's papers that The a1 cents had been re- moved. We presented the bill that n0 fire insurance company tisking over so per cent. of it's surplus should be a'- lowed to do business in conResfed district. Companies carrying 2u0 to 4'0 per cent. are mere wild eat spec ulation. There was never such gath ering of presidents of large insurance companies as when our bill was intr0- duced It dld not pass, and we did mol push it,as the companies made the concessions. These are little things in themselves, but show on what iisses tho association k working. IL k not fcl- fish. II take. in all classes. AnotlA- matter Is the iiinerant vendor who comes In just before Christmas with lot of bankrupt stuff. where you are paying rent and taxes scs doing btfai- ness. These man come In snd take your profits away. The association has had laws passed that makes thls almost impossible.
 Taking up the general utility com- mission which Inns been appointed to report back to the next General Assem- biy whether they think 1t advisable to have permanent committee appOaast- ed. This should be thought of broad- ly. There are two sides to it. Some things might be detriment, while others would do good. Watefed stock: Who k buying that? The merchant and the iaboring man. A commission of this kind could investigate and find out whether those things have the val ue back Of them. 1 don't think any one should tell me what shall sell my goods for. 1 don't sell my goods at a5 cent profit. II k up to every business man to investigate this thing and re- port to the commission.
 came here expecting to assist in or- ganizing an association, not to attend banquet. An assss.iatfon ii your city will i,serestss sfsls suldsisfFiex As soon