The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-11

a matters relating to the rebate system. MT. Cresweil has personally organized i69 rebate systems in the last nine years. and has been connected direct ly, or in aisS advisory capacity, with practically all of the larger rebate systems of the country.
 interviewed by an Advertiser report CT last evening, Mir. Cresweii, said:
 .AIl there is to the rebate system, 10 this: A united business community ad- vertises to the world that Its -banks will refund the car fare of out of town choppers who spand their money with the members of the rebate association. This offer Is made to induce the man who never trades In your city to make 1t his shopping home. and the man who does occasionally trade here now, to come more frequently. This plan pays fares every day in the year and is per- manently installed. Years of experi- ence demonstrate that free ride to cities where satisfactory stocks of mer- chandise are available. appeals to the shopper more effectively than any oth- CT form of inducement,T There is but one possible objection to the rebate sys- tenn. and that is that the man who now trades in your city anyway win inime- diately avail himself of the free fare plan. This objection would be an swered by any merchant In any rebate city by a statement of the fact that while you are at present saving the dimes you are losing dollars by doins so.
 'Furthermors, any intelligent mer- chant will tell you that IS per cent Is . liberal estimate of the total trade your city gets from any non-resident shop per at present. Any well informed person in any rebate city will say that the free fare inducement will centraiize in a rebate city from 25 to 35 per cent of the total retail trade within ra- dius of thirty miles. The normal trade of your city--that which she is now getting---is probably from IF to i5 per cent of the total trade within the given radius. There Is no rebate city in the United States where the .system has been in operation for upwards of two years that cannot boast of at least 20 per cent of all the retail trade within the thirty mile radius.
 Tt Is highly significant that the mall order business has increased more than 60 per cent all over the non-rebate ter ritory of the United States In the last three years. while there has been abso- lutely no increase in any rebate dis trict, but a positive shrinkage in some. But one conclusion can be drawn from these facts. The shopper will buy from q cataiog house in order to save car IHfGs IuS E0bttbC BJ1bCuA P0f1 8001N ~ per cent of all round trip fares All fares are refunded by the banks during banking hours. and by an agency at other hours. The merchants reimburse the bank at convenient intervals, pro- rata. and In the exact proportion of trade each receives by the rebate plan. Each merchant pays for precisely what he gets. but gets it first
 "To pay these fares each member of the rebate association Is taxed what ever amount Is necessary in any given case up to 6 per cent of the total amount of trade he receives in that case. WbfIe 5 per cent is the maximum cost in any case, the average cost ia less than per cent on the business drawn by the free fare inducement.
 If any local merchant who has not investigated the rebate system wishes to get specific information from per sons in his own line, he can write to any first class merchant in any. rebate city If he thinks that perhaps geo. graphical or climatic conditions might affect results, he can pick and choose. Say Buffalo on the East, Omaha on the West. Milwaukee on the North, or Louisville on the South. Or. if he pre- fers the more central district, any first class merchant in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, or Peoria win tell him all ha wishes to know. If he thinks those cities too large for q fair comparison he might apply to Chariotte. N. c., DanviIle, Va. Terrehante. Ind, Knox vile, Tenn. Little Rock, Ark.. Sedalia. Mo, Quincy. H.. Topeka Kan, Okla homa City, Okla, Sioux City. Iowa, Manlxato. Minn., Madison, Wis, or Bat tie Creek, Mich.
 ssRebate systems are based on prob abilities and experience precisely as life insurance is An actuary cannot tell how long one man will live but he can tell to mathematical certainty how long the average man in c, thOus- and will live. So, while we cannot tell what any given visitfng shopper will spend we do know that a thousand shoppers from out of town will spend S2e.s0 on an average in normal terri tory, and that 1t will cost us an aver age of seventy-two cents and a fraction to transport them.
 Considerably over 90 per cent of the retail trade of cities of the Montgonn- cry class comes from within less than thirty-seven miles. Lakewise. 1t must be remembered that rebate systems deal with live ones--not fioaters--and that when @ man comes from. say one hundred miles on special shopping trip. 1t is strongly probable that he will spend very considerable sum of money. The rebate system. pays never beyond the actual outlay for trans portation, and never exceeding per cent of the total trade in the individual case. Between these two points comes 97 per cent of all round trip fares. There are q number of cogs in the re- bate machine. but they are all hidden in the bank. The only detail the pub lie comes in contact with Is tue rebate book This Is in effect simply a check navabIe at A rebate bank for an amount