The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-06-20
new INDUSTRY
PROJECT GOOD
Was Opinion Of the Barre
Board of Trade Last
Evening
PROPOSAL TO SELL
$250,000 OF STOCK
Plant Would Be Erected in
Barre to Employ 200 Work
ers on Peerless Underwear

Approval OF negotiations conducted by
Peerless Knitting Mills company and a
request for a city meeting to determine
whether exemption from taxation for a
term of years could be secured for the
proposed underwear factory were voted
at meeting Of the Barre Board of
Trade held at Howland hall last evening
and attended by approximately 40 men.
| The action was taken after two hours
discussion Of the proposition as present.
ed by the committee which visited the
parent plant of the Peerless company at
Mattapan, Mass, and which entertained
members of the company in Barre.
This action by the Board of Trade does
not bind the organization to accept the
proposition but merely places the Board
of Trade on record as backing the com
mittee. The Board Of Trade, it was
emphasized, was merely acting as inter
mediary for the people Of this and sur
rounding communities who may become
stockholders in the proposed new con.
| Germ. The statements in regard to the
proposition were presented by President
| +. D. Ladd Of the Board of Trade, by
| w e. Johnson, ir., of the committee
which went to Mattapan, by j. II.
Thompson, a public accountant who hap
pened to be engaged in Barre and who
was employed to look into the financial
standing Of the company, by Frank G..
Rowland and d. NJ Barclay
The Financial Side OF the Proposition.
Briefly, this is the proposition which
will be laid before the people of Barre
and vicinity If the project is supported
and if the exemption is granted by the
city: S250y000 to be subscribed for pre-
ferred, per cent cumulative non-tax-
able stock; exemption by the city for a
period of years; 100000 Of the subscrip-
| tions to be devoted to the erection and
equipping of factory, $4,000 to be set
aside as working capital for the Barre
plant and $4,000 to be turned in to
purchase stock now held in the parent
concern at Mattapan by the Evans es-
| tate.
Subscribers TO preferred stock in Barre
and vicinity would be given 20 per cent
| of their invested amount in common
stock in addition to the full amount of
their preferred stock purchase; that is,
those who bought 5000 worth Of pre-
ferred stock TO receive $1,000 common
stock at no additional cost, with other
subscriptions in like proportion. Barre
would have two out Of the five direc.
| tors of the concern. 1t is proposed TO
reorganize the company with a capital
stock of S500,000 of which S350,000
would be preferred and Sl50,000 com.
mon. Both plants, the one ut Msttapan
and the proposed plant in Barre, would
be operated under one management and
with one account system.
The financial statement of the concern
as presented, but not checked up and
verified, showed surplus of as,000x
cash on hand Feb |, 1910, of $2l 600,
Liberty bonds of s27 900 held, copyright
Of $4,000, The money volume Of busi.
ness done had increased greatly from
1917 to 1918. Other figures were pre-
sented which will, no doubt, be set clear
| IL before the people when the proper
| time comes.
All those who spoke on the proposition
seemed to look with favor on the finan-
cial statement Of the concern, as well as
on the general outlook of the situation.
although il was quite q general opinion
! that the people of this community and
surrounding towns should not commit
themselves to the proposition until a
more detailed examination had been
made of the accounts. The members Of
the committee expressed themselves as
| favorably impressed with their inter
views with the members of the concern,
as well as with the conditions at the
factory in Mattapan They also inter-
viewed banks in Boston and found that
the Peerless company was given good
financial rating there.
Company Seeks Abundant Labor Supply.
One reason advanced by the company
for proposing branch factory in Barre
is to get in touch with more plentiful
supply of labor, women and girls consti-
tuting the greater part of the 200 EN-
lployes at Mattapan. The company was
given assurances that Barre and vicinity
would very likely be able to supply as
many as 200 women and girls for the
proposed factory in Barre. The average
wages at Mattapan were said to be from
Sl5 to SIS week, depending upon the
deXterity Of the worker The girls were
started at SIS a week and some of them
got as high as $3l week, although the
latter wage was exceptional 1t was
said that the employees were a high class
of female labor, that the company treat
ed its help in good fashion, that plant
hospital was conducted and that other
convenienees were arranged for the com
fort of the employees. In short, all the
conditions in relation to the factory were
considered by the Barre men TO be good,
This Mattapan plant is now being
worked to It's capacity and the company,
| in order to expand, must either build
additions there or erect new plant else
where, the preference inclining to the
latter because of the reported shortage of
help at Mattapan,
Some objection was raised last night
to the stipulations that control of the
common Tor yoting) stock should be
maintained by the Massachusetts end OF
the proposed new company, as it would
be in the proposed distribution of $780,
900 stock S350,000 preferred and $780,
600 common -as 100000 common stock
would be held in Massachusetts,; also
to the stipulation that the majority of
the directors should be members of the
branch in Mattapan.
Some other objection was raised to the
buying of the good will of the concern
as an asset that was not tangible. 1t
Continued on fourth page.l