Republican farmer., 1919-01-17
FEAR DECLINE
 IN DRESS GOODS
Buyers Hesitate and Would Have Mills Make Rates That Would Insure
 Against Loss.

It was made plain at the annual convention of the Jobbers' Associa- ton of Dress Fabric Buyers, held at the Waldorf-Astoria yesterday, that textile manufacturers would have to meet the dry goods wholesalers half way in the readjustment period fol- lowing the war if the buying of fab rics by the jobbers for the Fall trade mouth policy.
 H. Clay Miller of the Daniel Miller Co.,, Baltimore, President of the job meeting, which was attended by buy CTS from many of the larger whole sale dry goods firms in all parts of the country.
 The subject of cooperation between the mill men and the jobbers in help ing to put business on it's feet after the upset by the war, was brought to the attention of the convention by W. M. G. Howse, President of the Johnston & Larimer Dry Goods Com pany of Wichita, Kan, who gave it as his view that, as a preliminary to placing orders for Fall merchandise, manufacturers ought at this time to name prices on such goods which would have the effect of protecting jobbers against losses should the market sag.
 It was developed that dress fabric buyers were hesitating to place orders for Fall goods in the belief that ma ! terially lower prices might prevail la | ter. Accordingly, MT. HoWse proposed a resolution, which was adopted, call 1 ing for the appointment of a special | committee of five to invite mill treas | urers and other manufacturing eXecu- 1 tives to a conference with the job bers, to be held tomorrow afternoon i simultaneously with the annual con- vention of the National Wholesale | Dry Goods Association. It was said that if the manufacturers were in- clined to give assurances regarding price stability, such an attitude would go a long way toward ending the un- certainty in which jobbers find them selves at this time.
 The question of cancellations of or ders provoked much discussion. T.gsi- dent Miller reading a paper on the subject in which he asserted that many contracts were one-sided and il favor, of the seller. ''It would be wei
 for the seller to assure himself of the
 equity of a contract" he said. F. A Colt of Ostrander & Co.,, New York
 discussed cancellations from the
 standpoint of the manufacturer. Ar
 thur B. Eastwood of the Tootlt
 Campbell Dry Goods Company, St
 Joseph, Mo, told of the hardships in
 f1icted upon jobbers by the practic,
 of the mills in requiring wholesaler
 to take so-called arbitrary assort
 ments' of merchandise when placing
 orders A committee was named t
 take up this grievance with the manu
 lecturers. The advantages of a stan
 dard shade card for cotton good
 were discussed by Paul C. Barbee O Smith -McCord- Townsend Dry Good Company, Kansas City, Mo. Mr. Bar bee gave it as his view thar jobber by using this card could reduce tn returned goods evil 25 per cent. l World supply and markets at tn present time were discussed by G. = O'Reilly, foreign trade representativ of the Irving National Bank. It wa !, proposed by President F. A. Patric l of the National Wholesale Dry Good
 Association that the American gov t ernment reduce the prices on il = heavy stocks of wool to British level Q in order to give American manufac a turers a chance to compete.
 All of the officers of the Dress Fat l rio Buyers Association were rec, 1 ected. This afternoon the Jobber
 Association of Notion Buyers will hol
 its annual convention at the Waldor , to be followed in the evening by tn
 annual dinner of the National Dr | Goods Association.