The Connecticut labor press., 1920-10-23
BEWARE OF THE
SHOE WITHOUT
The UNION STAMP
Inscriptions Non Union Con-
Germs Making Drive for Patron
age of the Wage Farmers.
One IN PARTICULAR
Every Union Made Shoe Bears
Union Stamp; Don't Let Any
body Tell Your Differently.

On behalf of the members of this
union, and on behalf of trade unionism
generally, we appeal to each and every
member and union in the American
Federation of Labor to give a larger
measure of support to shoes bearing
the Union Stamp. We are not I'M
mindful or unappreciative of the sup
port we have received from Organized
Labor in the past, but we wish to call
attention to some conditions of the
present and immediate future, as reas-
ons why we make a special appeal at
this time, and we especially request
that labor papers will reproduce this
article, if possible.
The shoe industry has been very in
active for several months. Last spring,
the shoe business was brought almost
to a standstill by three causes combined
viz: excessively high costs of shoe ma
terai1s causing extremely high priced
shoes, delayed freights preventing deal
ers from getting goods in time for
spring trade, and general tightening
of money and credit conditions.
These combined causes resulted in
wholesale cancellations of orders and
the return of millions of dollars of
goods from dealers, with tremendous
losses to manufacturers, wholesalers
and retailers, and general reduction
of manufacturing until the situation
should clear up.
Large mark down sales of shoes took
place in which returned and cancelled
goods were sold below the cost of pro-
duction III many cases. The large
accumulations of returned goods had to
be turned into money and this further
demoralized the retail market for
shoes. Retailers were obliged to mark
down their stocks in order to realize
cash in competition with cut price sales
and this caused "a conservatism of buy
ing for future needs The public had a
taste of cheaper shoes and was natur-
ally reluctant to continue purchasing at
the high prices recently in vogue, there
fore, dealers did not place orders, man
ufacturing was curtai1ed and shoe
makers idle, though the cost of food,
clothing and shelter was not materially
reduced.
At this time our industry is on the
point of resuming production but slow
ly. Dealers having exhausted their
stocks to some degree are beginning to
buy though cautiously. We wish to
thank Organized Labor for the signifi-
cant fact that, generally speaking, the
factories using the Union Stamp have
suffered less than the average. The de-
mand for shoes bearing the Union
Stamp has been of benefit to factories
using it and to our members therein
employed.
But there are sinister influences, now
at work, which threaten the future and
it is because of these that we now ask
Organized Labor for an even greater
measure of support. Some of the very
In Of
shoes are seeking to use the recent de-
moralized conditions of the shoe market
for their own future advantage. One
of the very largest is opening retail
stores in large centers of population
and will seek the patronage of working
men and women. They will probably
seek to advertise in labor papers as
they have in the past. This concern
operates strictly non-union factories.
! We regret to say that this concern
must have received the patronage of
many hundreds of thousands of work
ing people in the past or it could not
have built up so large volume of bust
ness. Embo1dened by its past success in
that line it now proposes to enlarge up
on it by opening its own stores. 1t re-
mains for the union men and women of
the country to say whether this non
union product shall receive the patron
age of the men and women of labor
whether union men and women will
withhold their patronage from union
stamped shoes and give it to the most
noted anti-union concern in the shoe
industry
Another almost equally large concern
is beginning an extensive campaign of
national and local advertising to cap
ture the retail trade of the country for
its product which does not bear the
Union Stamp A material gain in the
sale of the products of this concern is
a direct blow at the legitimate trade
union movement.
Increased sales by either of these two
large concerns or by others of similar
non-union policies will be injurious to
the trade union movement, first because
it will tend to check the growth of this
union which is part of the American
Federation of Labor, and second, and
more important, because it will signify
that an increasing percentage of Organ
lied Labor is becoming Indifferent to
its Union Label obligations. The weak
ened morale, that the latter would indi-
cate, would be an element of future
work for all Union Labels to make a
recovery of lost ground.
In spite of any plausible or deceitful
statements that may be made by clerks
in non-union shoe stores, or in pretenti-
Gus and bombastic advertisements, the
basic fact remains that the only way OF
identifying shoes that are made in fac
tories where the workers have voice
in determining the conditions under
which their labor is sold, is in buying
shoes that bear the Union Stamp
the recognized Union Label of the shoe
industry and. SO recognized by the A
F. of L. and its affiliated unions since
1895.