Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-06
MERCHANTS TAKE.
ATLANTA; 4-DAY
FEST IS ON Il
1000 Convention Delegates
Addressed by the Governor,
Mayor and VI. L. Moore.

the southern Merchants greatest an
nual convention at Taft hall today with
the declaration that the South is about
to come into her heritage as the great
est mercantile and commercial strong
hold of the United States-with At
lanta a. its manufacturing metropolis.
The hundreds of delegates and their
wives filled the blue and white and flag
draped hall to it's utmost capacity and
a long line of notables greeted them
from seats upon the rostrum when
President ]. X. Orr at 10 o'clock intro
duced the black frocked executive to
welcome the mercantile invaders in be-
half of the state.
Governor Praises Merchants.
I'VE do not have to look ahead anv
more to perceive the advancement of
| the Southland particularly of Geor-j
gia" the governor said. already wa
have taken our place securely in the
| forefront of the country's progress. We
are advancing faster proportionateIy
/ than even our fondest dreams led us to-
Predict.
1T is because you merchants of the
| South have stood at the foundation OF
that advancement and are now press
ing it forward with splendid impetus
that l am proud to welcome you in be-.
half of the state. And we are as proud
to greet your wives whom you have
brought with you because Southern
womanhood has given the moral ground
work for the whole upIift and progress
of the South"
| The governors speech Of welcome
brought most Of the delegates to their
feet with enthusiastic cheers and they
applauded vociferously again when civ
Attorney ]. L. Mayson followed with a
humorous address of welcome in behalf
of Mayor VIM. Mr. Mayson told the
visitors that they had come to the
greatest soda water" city in the world
and he said that Atlantas skyscrapers.
already rearing higher than those Of
any other towns, save New York and
| Chicago, were a graphic symbol of the
rising greatness of the South's com
ing metropolis which turned over it's
city keys to the merchants of the
state as representing the solid sub
stantial growth of the Southland.
Talk Business. Too.
President Wilmer Moore, Of the
Chamber of Commerce declared that
the opening Of the Panama canal
would develop the South into the rich
est section of the 'earth's surface, and
he also predicted that Atlanta would
become the manufacturing center.
Then with the welcomes over. the
convention got down to the real meat
of its session and it very soon de-
veloped that most of it's leading dele
gates are out to devise a scheme for
checking credit" losses
! G. c. Adams, of Mansfield. Ga. de-
clared that nine tenths of the nnercan-
tile failures in the South were due to
the failure of the merchants to collect
their bills. He said that one reason
why so many stores hold hundreds of
dollars in bad debts is the persistencyi
of the farmer in sticking to the cotton,
crop as his sole resource and revenue
Adams said he knew Of a number Of
cases where merchants had advised
their failing debtors to change from
cotton to corn as a means OF recoupinss
their losses. He said that in not one
case had this system failed to paw of
| the debts
w. L. Doris, of Douglas. declared
/ IlldN IilC pblu up customer IS the nleF&
chants greatest asset and w. c. Chaps
man urged merchants to train them.
selves and their sons so that they Wilt
make as much of a profession of their
business as do doctors and get re-
muneration accordingly He declared
also against the cutting of prices" by
the unframed storekeepers doing
business upon a shoestring"
A. J. Gillen, of Maxeys, Ga. said
that % years experience had taught
him that no merchant could afford not
to advertise in the newspapers. He
declared newspaper advertising the
best asset of the merchant outside of
his clean stock of goods and he de-
clared that he had never known a good
newspaper advertising merchant to fail
After his speech numerous delegates
discussed the credit question and then
adjournment was taken for lunch. This
afternoon the convention will attend
the baseball game as guests of the
club Tomorrow will come the BUSH
ness session.
Everything Is ION the House."
Every place of amusement and inter-
est in the city today belongs to the
visitors. and festive plans are laid for
the four day convention. Cards to prac-
tically every club in town are theirs for
the asking, the merchants have deco
rated their stores with gay bunting and
flags goods are piled high on counters
and shelves and in many cases spe-
cially low prices have been made for
the week
There is no chance that any Of the
visitors will fail to have the best time
of their lives, for there are plenty to
show them around. Not an Atlanta
wholesale firm has a travelling repre-
sentative on the road today, for they
are all in Atlanta armed with carte
blanche from their employers TO treat
the guests in the proper way, and all the
treats are "on the house"
There are about 1000 delegates in
the city and before the second day of
the convention it is believed that more
than 5000 will have arrived. AS fast
I 49,, IL,