Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-06-11
IspeeiaI to The Evening star1


WASHINGTON, June 11.-Letters
and postal cards by the score are
reaching the members of the New
Jersey congressional delegation these
days from all parts of the State ap-
pealing to them to vote for the Stew
ems bill prohibiting dealers from sell
ing goods at cut rates. The number
and wording of these appeals indi-
Gates that there is an organized eff
fort to work upon the members of the
House in the interest of this particu-
lar bill.
1t is backed by some of the biggest
manufacturers in the country, and
its effect will be to make the bargain
sales so dear to the average wom-
ans heart luxury to be INDUCED in
only in violation of the law. The
general terms of the bill are so sweep
ing, drastic and far reaching that it
has aroused the opposition of the
leading department stores of the
country who will be the chief losers
if it becomes a law.
Shorn of proliXity and legal YER
biage the bill makes it illegal for
any dealer, in the words of the act,
vendor" to sell any goods below the
original seller. The bill states that
each article, package or case shall be
marked with the price at which it is
to be sold when ii leaves the hands of
the manufacturer or agent or original
dealer in the goods or articles. That
this price mark shall be conspicuous
ly stamped on the goods or package
enclosing the articles, and it shall be
a violation of the law to make any
deviation from that price.
South Orange Man is Interested.
One of the chief advocates of this
bill is a citizen of South Orange in
New Jersey. who is interested in the
sale of a certain widely advertised
watch. He has had an agent here in
the capitol all during this session
who has been seeing" legislators
time and time again and impressing
upon them the necessity of enacting
some such measure as the Stevens
bill No. this agent of the watch
man is not lobbyist, he has no
money to spend on legislators so that
takes him out of the category of old
line lobbyists. He is a publicity man.
He has a suite of rooms in one of
the best hotels and is a busy bee in
the interests of the bill to put an end
to bargain days and price cutting in
general There are other concerns
who are as deeply interested in the
passage of this bill as the watch
manufacturer and his agent
Makers of standardized articles in
general wish to see it become law
to protect them not only from the de-
partment store bargain sales but also
from the itinerant storekeepers, the
men who hire vacant stores and hold
fire sales" and bankrupt stock
sales" Some of the big wholesale
grocers are also eager to see the bill
become a law for the protection of
their customers who conduct small
grocery stores. Hundreds of the pos
tai cards that have come in the mail
in the last few days to the New Jer-
sey members of the House are from
the smaller grocery dealers in all
parts of the State. There is such a
uniformity in the appeals written that
it gives the impression that they are
part of the organized work of those
who have the passage of the Stevens
bill at heart.
Tactics Resorted to by Cut Raters.
At recent hearings on this subject
some of the reasons for the making
Of a law against cut rates were given
by some manufacturers. For exam
pie. a concern that turns out a wide
ly advertised class of canned goods
explained that their goods represent
ed years of labor to bring them mp to
a certain standard and hundreds OF
thousands of dollars had been spent
in advertising these particular goods.
They are sold, it was explained, TO
the retailers at a uniform price, to
be sold at a certain price. But the
department stores and others would
obtain a small consignment of these
goods and advertise them at a price
less than they are sold at retail to
the small grocers.
The quantity of these goods actually
placed on sale at these bargain coun-
tiers was usually so small that they
were exhausted in short time by
the early shoppers, but the late COM
ers were offered some other goods OF
the same general character of infe-
rior quality and cheaper make and
were told they were just as good.
In this way the customer is defraud-
ed, contend the supporters Of the cut
rate bill.
The man from South Orange, who
sells his watches by the millions, told
at a hearing of a certain department
store in New York who had a very
small quantity of his watches, the
kind that were usually sold at one
dollar each, and advertised sale
of them at 49 cents. This store had