Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1916-07-25
An Unreasonable Protest.

/ An Unreasonable Protest.
Editors Freeman Tribune: Arrow
me space in your valuable paper to
enlighten the American Fair Trade
League Of New York City regarding
their protest which appeared in the
Webster City Journal Of July 18th
in answer to the opposition stand
recently taken by our Commercial
t League to the Stevens Ashurst bill.
The following is from the letter of
the Fair Trade League:
Even if the profits on standard
goods were smaller than that on un-
identified merchandise. you know,
of course, that the turnover on them
is much more rapid and they are re-
tailed at the least cost of any arti-
cles in the store, being called for
by name and usually packaged for
the most convenient handling"
If Mr.. Whittier, the secretary of
the American Fair Trade League, re-
fers in the above to Uneda biscuits,
he is right, because a package of
these biscuits contains all the vir-
tues he mentions above, such as
nicely packaged, called for, and sold
at fair profit. But not every re-
taller in the country sells ginger
IL, <>tl, nd; NJ fol,
must be sold and If you, Mr.. Whit
tier, will have to take the manufact-
urer's word for whatever you buy
in any retail store, | am sure you
will be the most unlucky man in the
world!
Gentlemen of the American Fair
Trade League, step out into the bus
mess world, look around little and
then decide who are the ones that
need to be looked after-the retail
ers or the manufacturers.
If the Fair Trade League calls
standard goods those articles bear
ing the manufacturers names, then
! | would say that these same articles
were standard goods when they
were manufactured by the fathers of
the present manufacturers, but not
now. Let us give short space to the
manufacturers who have doubled
their capacity and now manufacture
all kinds of goods for the warning
nations, but have no more time for
the American public7than a French
man for piece of limberger cheese!
!. They have sold their philanthropy
for handful of beans.
Consider instead the manufactur-
ers who manufacture what Mr..
! Whittier of the Fair Trade League
would call standard goods; for ex-
ample, standard shoe bearing the
manufacturers name or trade mark
upon it, also the retail price. Will
he be surprised to learn that GER
/ tain manufacturer of standard
shoe of a brand well known, will
stamp his $3.50 shoe for $500 if
the retailer will pay him just Is
cents a pair more?
/ Will he be surprised to learn that
manufacturer of certain article,
used in almost every America home,
raised the price on his products
from so cents to 81 per dozen on
account of the European war, al
though the war is no more related
to his article than was Ii Hung
Chang to Alexander the Great? AL
so that the manufacturer will label
his goods in such way that the re-
taller may sell the blue labelled
goods for 10 cents and the red for
lbs cents, or vice versa?
Mr.. Whittier should recall that
the price on overalls did not ad-
vance with the pace set by German
dyes, but by the German advance
on the eastern front. When the
Germans drove the Russians from
the Carpathians this was success
for the overall manufacturer and up
went the price. The Germans took
the city of LODI and again the over
all manufacturers scored one. When
the Germans stormed the stronghold
of Petropalovsk this was a great
success and up went the price Of
overalls 50 per dozen. The Ameri-
can workingman and farmer should
be mighty glad that the Germans
did not take Petrograd. for the prices
of overalls would have scared to the
price of a sack of sugar and the
price of sugar has advanced on ac-
count of ------- well, on account
of the will of the manufacturer.
Now one thing more; will any of
the membersi of the Fair Trade
League step into haberdashery and
ask for two Collars for which they