The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-05-07
from SATURDAYS Dali,

the afternoon with Mrs William Ell
lis. ~
from Saturdays DaiIs
That the Commercial club censor
ship committee can be Of great bene-
III to the people OF the city, If they
will insist or cards being produced by
the solicitors, was shown this week.
Yesterday woman applied to the
committee for a card to solicit funds
for the Orphan and Rescue Home as
sociatiOn of Green Bay. Wis. She had
what purported to be credentials from
the president Of the institution. but
she would not consent to await q
meeting of the full committee or to pay
the expense OF message to the In d.
situation TO verify her credentials.
She said that she would rather stop
soliciting at once, for she was nearly
through. She said that she and her
twenty-year old son had been soil
citing I'm the city for about a week.
and said that she had secured about
SIS. mostly i'm % and so cent sub
scriptions. She admitted, on question
ing. that the expenses OF herself and
her son would have to be deducted
from this. The committee thought that
these expenses, including board
room, railroad fare. etc. could hard =
ly be much less than this sum. N this
Is the case, the kindly disposed people
OF Mankato, instead of aitling the In
stitution I'm Wisconsin have merely
paid the expenses and possibly salary
OF the solicitors, who, IL Is barely pos
sible, may make their living by this
work OF solicitation. The woman said
that she sends to the institution the
balance left above the expenses, each
week.
Confinc Help to State.
Another point raised by the com =
mittee was that under the laws of
Minnesota no one from outside of
this state is received into Minnesota
charitable institutions, and this is be
lieved to be the law in Wisconsin and
other neighboring states. This be-
ing the case, the solicitations for
these institutions should be confined
to the state I'm which they are located.
But aside from this and conceding
that the woman was authorized to So
licit and collect small amounts for
the institution, the fact remains that
the expense OF the solicitation Is out
Of all proportion to the amounts net
ted the institution, and our people, Il
would seem, are not Justified I'm Civ
Ing under these circumstances.
Some other way OF aiding the insti-
tuition should be devised.
Numerous Instances Of Solicitation.
This Is but one OF numerous i'm :
stances Of solicitation In the city for
outside benevolences. II Is known
that many solicitors are bare-faced
frauds, and that their so-called ere
dentials are forged. The censorship
committee Of the Commercial club will
investigate every one of these who
applies for card, and will ascertain
whether the solicitors are really au-
thoriZed To do the work that they are
doing, and will also investigate every
other phase OF the matter, including
the question of whether the FUNDS
given by our people would go to the
purposes intended or would go to pay
the expenses and salary Of solicitors
In order to make the work of the coin :
mittee effective and keep the large
sums at home that are wasted, every
. one solicited should refused to do
nate or subscribe until the solicitor
shows card issued and signed by
the committee or its chairman.
| Day before yesterday, the commit
, tee met with Wayland w. Brown, rep
resenting the Adsit General Electric
company of Minneapolis, which de-
40
this city. The company proposes Il
manufacture a contrivaice to be at.
4, tached to rural telephones, which viii
enable persons on the line to cut on
all other connections on the party line
when wishing to converse privately
The telephone companies have beer
looking for such an Invention fol
years, and have tried several, bu
none have worked very well. Mr.. AID.
! sit has patented one that is thought
by many to contain the long sought
for features. The company has $780,
/ 900 capital stock OF which $4,000,
has been used to buy the patents ant
to pay for experimental work, and this
company now seeks to place $500,
more to afford working capital 4
have the parts manufactured and as.
sembled. 81
| How Stock 10 Sold.
The stock Is to be sold at $l10
| which is expected to net the compan,
about par, after deducting the selling
expense. II has sold $4,000 stock To-
cash. The committee gave Mr.. Brown
a qualified card, to the effect that l
believed that the company Is hon
estly organized and that the stock Il
being sold for the purpose OF getting
the continuance ON the market ans
not as a mere stock selling proposi'
! ton. Inasmuch az II did not appeal
that The instrument had been tfiei
out to any extent, In actual practice
over a period of time. to demonstrst'