Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1910-03-25
THE LOBBY and
LEGISLATURE
Crawford Anti Competition Bill
Aimed at BUSINESS Men.
PHONE MERGER BILL N SENATE

Elson Bill Does Not Affect Valentine
Antitrust Law = Gives Railroad
Commission Absolute Right to Reg
late Rates-Big lssues Before the
General Assembly.
Columbus, o. Especially - There's
always good newspaper story in the
lobby. And the man who can just
about see the end of his nose takes up
the cry against the lobby and hollers
it along.
Any man who goes to Columbus to
protect his business against fool legis-
lation is a lobbyist AS such he Is
fair game for every two-by-twice mind
back of a 40-horsepower mouth.
"Why is a lobby?" asks G. S. Gong
wer in the current number of the
Ohio Journal of Commerce.
In House Bill No. 422, introduced
by A. ]. Crawford, you will find one
answer to the question. The title OF
this measure is "To prevent unfair
commercial discrimination, ETC. The
title, IL the rules of the General AS
sembly were rigidly applied, would be
"a bill to promote bankruptcy
Section 1 of the bill reads:
ANY person, firm, company, asso-
citation or corporation, foreign or do
mestic, doing business in the state,
and engaged in the PRODUCTION, manu-
facture or distribution of any COM
modify in general use, that shall in
tentionally, for the purTose Of de-
stroying the business of competi-
tor. in any locality. discriminate be-
tween different sections. communi-
ties or cities of this state, by selling
such commodity at a lower rate in
one section, community or city than
is charged for said commodity by said
party In another section, community
or city, after making due allowance
for the difference, if any, in the grade
or quality and in the actual cost of
transportation from the roint of pro-
duction, If raw product, or from the
point of manufacture, If manufac-
tured product, shall be deemed guilty
of unfair discrimination, which is
hereby prohibited and declared un.
lawful"
Then comes a section fixing a pen.
atty of $500 fine, or Imprisonment for
one year, or both.
This bill should, and probably will
make lobbyist of every wide-awake
business man in Ohio. 1t strikes a
blow at the very vitals of the life OF
trade. It makes competition a crime
in Ohio.
A miller at Mansfield has been sell
ing his flour in Dayton for fifty cents
barrel less than elsewhere because
in Dayton he is forced to compete
with local miller who, for any one
of a barrel of reasons, all natural and
all legitimate, sells there at lower
price than that ordinarily quoted by
the Mansfield miller. The Crawford
bill seeks to send this Mansfield miller
to jail for doing this. He must ethel
pay $500 or go to Jail, or both and
he must cease selling flour in Dayton
For. If he can not sell in Dayton, a
the price quoted by the Dayton miller
he can not sell at all. Neither can the
Dayton miller sell in Mansfield unles!
It be at the same price he sells IL
Dayton.
How many flour mills in Ohio could
long survive such restriction o.
their market?
And what Is true of the miller 1!
true of a thousand other manufac
turers.
A Cleveland punch and shear man
ufacturer does a big business IL
Youngstown. A Pittsburg concern
comes along and offers precisely thu
same article at lower price. Unde
the Crawford bill the Cleveland man
ufacturer is driven out of Youngstown
because he is not permitted to NEE
the Pittsburg price.
And the Pittsburg price in Youngs
town is 20 percent lower than tn,