The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-04
Says "Go-0peration" and Not "CO-0perative Business" Is
 City'S Greatest Need
DEPART MENT OF JUSTICE
 HAS INVESTIGATED CASE
Says Explanation Made By Him In 1906 Is Still True and Applies To the Workings of the Whole
 salers' Organization.

To the Editor of The Age Herald. In view of the wide range your agi- l tation of the vital questions affecting
 the cost of living, has assumed, ii
 might be interesting. and possibly in structive to the general public, to read the interrogatories put to me in Au- l gust, 1906 under orders from the de-
 partment of justice, at Washington, b. Judge Roulhac, then United States dis trict attorney, and my sworn answers
 to same.
 AS these are court records, l have
 obtained consent from the United States district attorneys office to en-
 close to you these interrogatories and
 the most important parts of my aa-
 swers. Some answers are herein made
 little fuller than they were in my
 written answers to Judge Roulhac in
 order to bring out some points an-
 swered verbally to him. and which did
 not appear in my written answer.
 The answers both verbal and writ
 ten. were true len, are true now and
 would be the same now regarding all actions subsequent to August, 1906. NA Soldllys dS Ntll us OIICldllN, l thank you for so ably assisting in arousing public inquiry as to where
 actually rest the powers that hays improperly controlled some of the nee essaries of life. This association and the meE who maintain it have for years been fighting for SENSIBLE, INDIE PENDENT AND OPEN COMPETITION | THIS IS BOTH THE PRINCIPLE, AS WELL AS THE SAFEGUARD AMI
 REMEDY AGAINST IMPROPER CON TROL OF PRICES.
 Some Take Undue Advantage. ] If any wholesaler or retailer has ob l jeeted to the agitation of these ques , tions, 1 daresay it was mainly becauo 1 there so quickly appeared, as seemi i unfortunately inevitable in such disc us
 sions marked indications that a meri
 torious investigation was being taker
 advantage of for shrewd commercial 1 advertising. If the agitation be kep
 up, free it from false and personal at 1 lacks; also avoid what stronEl.
 smacks of free advertising schemes
 on the part of some. The public yer. | properly resents al9 such
 As to high prices, some have beei
 proper and right and some have beel
 wrong. As to the right, for example l Prosperity meant high wages; higl |
 cotton goods nigh iron, high price
 for all iron products, etc. As to wht
 has been wrong and improper, Pres si ,Gent Roosevelt and the United State ! courts by their investigations and als' 1 by their convictions already rendered have plainly announced where the.
 thought the power lies that has i'm : properly controlled the cost of mum l Der of necessary articles.
 These rigid investigations made bl
 United States secret service men, b! | commissioners, by juries and by trials | have proven that the power to improp
 erly control prices is not in the hand l of the independent packers, independ l ent manufacturers or in the hands O 1 the wholesale or retail merchants. A history has repeatedly shown, the peo
 pie, when they first arouse themselves l and begin to look around for something | on which to vent their wrath, hit more ! or less blindly at the first thing tha | comes along, or what is nearest t | them Hence, the need of rigid eXam 1 nations by trained, capable experts
 who cannot be purchased or turnef 1 aside from the impartial discharge ol ! their duties, and who will locate thu
 real facts; and thus protect the people
 not only from tn hose who actually prey 1 upon them, but also often protect then , from themselves and from their owl | misdirected efforts.
 Cooperative Plan Not Success. l As to "co-operative buying and sell | ing" in America, whether at wholesale | or retail. 1t has been frequently triei 1 and has not proven success In addi l tion many cooperative schemes ol | various kinds have from time to time
 been tried, and few, if any, have beer
 successes. Many have ended their eX
 istence in bankruptcy, anger and witt | gravest scandals. Conditions in Amer ! ica are not yet ready for co-operativ'
 buying and selling. It will be years 1 if ever, before the similarity Of con 1 ditions obtain in this country Wh1cl ! has obtained in certain parts of Ems l land and Scotland, where 1t has peer successful.
 In my humble judgment, the advo | cates of trying, certainly at this tune the experiment of 'co-operative buy
 ing and selling" in Birmingham should
 ponder long and deeply before givins business such an experimental and un l American jolt. Surely this city. county and district have recently been througl enough in the way of legislation ant agitation, so that business can now b' allowed a little rest and opportunlts , in which to recuperate.
 We do need an unheaval, a great ground swell of the right kind of "co- opera ton" In this whole district. But the ''co- -op eration" we need should b' of the kind which has been tried ane which has always proven successful That kind of "co-operation" whici would not close any more stores, which
 would not close any more business houses or offices, but open up those now closed; the kind that would put more unemployed clerks to work be- hind the counters more unemployed | masons, plasterers, painters, plumbers l and carpenters to work; more rallroaf 1 men to running trains; more men get | ting out ore, rock and coal; more out put of iron an0 steel; more output O. all kinds of Manufactured products l This Is the kind of American "co-opera tion' this district is hungry for--ls | suffering for. Very respectfully.
 J. A. VANHOOSE. Birming gham, March 3, 1908.
 | s The correspondence alluded to by MT vanHoose in the above letter is as TOT lows: .,, Department of Justice-Office of th' A