The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-03-28

General Assembly.
Columbus. o. Especially - There's
always q good newspaper story In the
lobby. And the man who can just
about zee the end OF his nose takes up
the cry against the lobby and hollers
II along.
, Any man who goes to Columbus TO
protect his business against fool legis-
istion Is a lobbyist. As such he is
fair game for every two-by.twice mind
back Of q 40-horsepower mouth.
why Ia a lobby" asks c. s. Gong
wer In the current number Of the
Ohio Journal OF Commerce.
In House Bill No. 422, introduced
by A. J. Crawford, you will find one
answer to the question. The title OF
this measure is ITO prevent UNFAIR
commercial discrimination etc" The
title, II the rules of the General As
sembly were rigidly applied. would be
"A bill to promote bankruptcy"
=, Section ] 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 purpose 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 lower rate in
ono section, community or city than
n charged for said commodity by said
party In another section. community
or city. after making due allowance
for the difference. IL any. in the grade
or quality and In the actual cost Of
transportation from the point OF pro-
duction. II raw product, or from the
point OF manufacture, IL manufac.
tured product. shall be deemed guilty
OF unfair discrimination. which is
hereby prohibited and declared un.
lawful"
Then comes section fixing a pen.
atty OF $500 fine. or imprisonment for
one year, or both.
This bill should, and probably will.
make a lobbyist OF every wide-awake
business man in Ohio. II strikes a
blow at the very vitals OF the life OF
trade. II makes competition a crime
I'm Ohio.
miller at Mansfield has been sell.
ing his -four in Dayton for fifty cents
a barrel less than elsewhere because
IN Dayton he is forced to compete
with local miller who, for any one
Of q 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 10 send this Mansfield miller
TO jail for doing this. ,Ye must either
pay $500 or go to jail, or both and
he must cease selling -four in Dayton.
For. II he can not sell in Dayton. at
the price quoted by the Dayton miller,
he can not sell at all. Neither can the
Dayton miller sell ip Mansfield unless
II be at the same price he sells In
Dayton.
How many -four mills in Ohio could
long survive such restriction of
their market!
And what II true of the miller is
true Of thousand other manufac-
turers.
A Cleveland punch and shear man.
ufacturer does a big business IN
youngstown. A Pittsburg concern
comes along and offers precisely the
same article at lower price. Under
the Crawford bill the Cleveland man.
ufacturer 10 driven out OF Youngstown
because he is not permitted to meet
the Pittsburg price.
Z And the Plttsburg price in Youngs.
town is 20 percent lower than the
Pittsburg price for the same goods in
Springfield.
What does the Crawford bill do to
= the Pittsburg manufacturer for the
unjust discrimination" in Ohio?
Read this-Sec. 6, Of the Crawford
BILL
H"If any organization, foreign or do
nestle, authorized TO do business in
this state, is found guilty OF unfair
discrimination. within the terms Of
this act, 1t shall be the duty of the
secretary OF state to Immediately re-
woke the permit OF such corporation
20 do business In this state"
- Think Of It! The secretary OF state
Of Ohio is TO Immediately revoke the
permit Of such corporation to do bust.
ness In Ohio"
The author of this bill is q physi.
elan. n he were a lawyer he might
pse the sbsurdity OF Section 8 Of his
bill. for there are some lawyers In
OHIO who know that the Pittsburg
manufacturer does not have to get a
tefmit from Ohio to sell HIS goods In
Ohio. No more does the Ohio man.
ufacturer have to get a permit from
Pepnsyrvania 10 sell his goods in
pittsburs
: II 10 not to be wondered at that
there should be "a lobby at Columbus
when such bills are introduced in the
Csnsrd Assembly.