The Washington herald., 1908-05-08

| A general plan. with the appointing OF
| four new subcommittee TO effect it, was
adopted by the committee on retail trade |
/ of the Chamber of Commerce last night. |
The discussion of the report submitted
/ by the subcommittee on plan and scope |
/ Of the organization lasted about two
hours and touched upon pretty much all
the phases Of retail trade in Washington.
| The keynote Of the discussion was that
great progress has been made in retail
trade and that the stores of the Capital
are now equipped with facilities TO go
out into the surrounding territory and
get the trade which legitimately belongs
TO the city
Report ON General Plan.
The report Of the committee on plan
and scope was in part as follows:
The following suggestions are offered: That in ad-
dition 10 the committees already named 20 be APP
pointed. On ways and means be added. The com
mittees will then b as follows; Plan and scoue,
ways and means. advertising railroads. and refund
In working out the refund plan the simplest pos
| sible method should he used. Tie folder should
clearly state the plan and method Of the refund
and give he name, business and address Of every
merchant taking part in the movement. Indeed We
think it would simplify the work and make shopping
by visitors more attractive if the merchant made the
refund direct al the time Of purchase thus saving
| the cost Of Office and clerical force.
/ The advertising should be made as general and
attractive as our funds viii permit We believe
large posters displayed throughout the towns from
which business can be had viii prove successful and
/ bring good results
Smaller posters should be furnished the railroads
| and displayed IN the railroad stations A folder
outlining In brief our objat giving names aud hIsi-
ness Of Washington merchants. should be sent 10
the railroad stations for distribution and might he
distributed from house 70 house as wen as mailed
70 the section from which expect results.
Work OF Railroad Committee.
| In connection with the committee on railroads.
We think il would be vel 10 take UP the question
Of extending the time limit Of weekend excursions
TO Washington. and Try % bring about an extension
Of time 50 10 include Saturdays. making the time
two days, instead q oue. IS now the case. Sun
| day at present only beng oomprshended. We be
liere that if this could he accomplished We could
| bring about all-year-rUund weekend trade bring
| ing with it good results.
| The committee on WAYS and means has a great
| work before T. We have every confidence in its
chairman and members, and feel sure that 1t vii
meet With success.
The report was signed by the members
of the subcommittee on plan and scope
| as follows:
| y. j. kaufman tchalrmanl. Isaac Cans A LisneF
| Ralph W. Lee. d. 5. Porter. A. d. Prince, and
| Charles F. Wailraff.
| The new subcommittee on ways and
means IS composed as follows:
A. Lisner lchaimanl Il, G. Bergheimer, Conrad
/ Becker. y L. Burchen, Carl Droop. Isaac Golden
berg. Julius Gartukle, Frank A. Harrison. J. i.
Hermann, Morris Hahn 4. ". Henderson. jacob
r07fsf I a FTrr.Far rzaA
liam Knabe. Charles C. Lacey, A II. Leese. Lans-
| blrBh Bros, Morris Mayer ". II Moses. ". W
| Norman. J. G. Pattoe NJ Rlch. @. II. Reizsnstein
Anton stephan Else Shee;z. George ". Spesre
George G. Shsffer. j. S. Topham. Sidney West, and
( Ralph W. Lee.
Committee on Advertising.
The subcommittee on advertising Contains Joserh
Stnsburger chairman: Scott c. Bone, Never Fell
heimer. Harry King Morton J. Luchs. A. u. Marks
A. C. Nesmeyer, Il. T. 0fteriinger. and 7. c
| Moves.
The subcommittee on railroads is made up Of John
| Shoemaker. chairman; Dwight Andersen J. Auer-
| bach. F. ". BOlgian0. J. D CarmOdy Jacob Else
mau. T. II. Etz William r. Guide A. Z. Rsndle
! ?. T. Moran, and Georse F. Mgth
| The subcommittee on refund and refund folder IS
| as follows Alfred Mayer. chairman; Charles Gold
smith Thomas Z. Gilbert, Isaac Cans Henry 4
kaufman, A. D, Primes. aud L. J. SilyeTnan-
| Invitations to the meeting Of the com
mittee had been generally circulated by
Chairman Kaufman, and a number OF
the members of the chamber were present
and participated in the discussion on the
adoption Of the report
/ G. c. Lancaster. among other things
suggested the advisability Of gathering sta
tistics Of retail trade with a view 10 hav-
ing on file in the Office OF the chamber
the number Of establishments, the capital
invested, the kind of business carried on,
and an approximate showing of the
volume Of business each year.
Would Save Home Trade,
Arthur c. Moses urged upon the COM
mittee the adoption of some plan 10 save
to Washington the trade which belongs
here. He spoke Of the practice of some
Washingtonians of buying IN New York
or even Paris, when the same goods at
better prices could be furnished here in
Washington. During the evening numer-
Gus concrete Illustrations of the truth OF
this were given by Mr.. Moses and others.
| A Y. Worthington expressed the view
that Washington merchants had more
to fear from Baltimore than any other
competitor. He cited an illustration in
his own family, where he exercised some
authority 10 have purchases of clothing
made in the home stores rather than in
Baltimore.
Isaac Cans said he thought one way to
accomplish the result desired would be
for the members of the Chamber of Com
r1erce to make a universal practice of
buying goods here. setting the example
and doing all they could to foster the
home trade.
+. c. Graham said he had found It
i e.
pretty much the same way he did Tor
that outside the city, by having the best
goods. advertising them and convincing
the people of Washington that they could
do better here than in Baltimore.
Discussed by Other Speakers.
Many interesting suggestions were Of
fered in the course OF remarks made by
w. W. Bowie. Morris Mayer, W w. Nor
man. c. J. James, J. L. Ergood w. D.
Brown, R. n. Harper. D. J. Callahan,
and others.
The sense Of the meeting was unat
Washington stores have the goods and
sell as cheaply as merchants in other
cities. and the motion to adopt the re-
port Of the subcommittee was passed
unanimously.
| FIeSluenL harper announced last night
the personnel of the two committees au-
thcrized by the board Of directors on
Wednesday afternoon. The committee on
advertising in the publications Of chari-
table and other organizations, to work in
conjunction with similar committee from
the Board of Trade. is: Thomas c.
NOyes, chairman: Charles Linl1ins. A
Lisner, Allen D. Albert, A. f. l. Leckie.
| Ralph W Lee and S $ Shedd
The committee to canvass the qualif1ca-
tons Of the proposed permanent secre-
tary of the chamber is: d. J. Callahan,