Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1920-05-14

application comes to commissioner
and that commissioner takes it to
the commission and the commission
says that it has reason to believe
that it is an unfair method of com
petition. Why does it appear unfair?
Because it appears to be false adj
vertising. Why does it appear to be
false advertising? Because no one
in the United States of America can
buy sugar at a quantity discount.
There is no quantity discount given
| in the purchase of sugar. In such
case we issue complaint The
matter went to trial. All the testi-
mony was developed. Sears Roe
buck did not deny that they so ad-
vertised. They said when their at
tention was called to it they took it
out of the catalogue. We issued an
order to the Sears Roebuck company.
The Sears Roebuck company said we
had no right to do this and appealed
to the circuit court of appeals of the
United States, the only court to
which appeals can be made from us.
The court sustained the commission 5
order.
We have had since we started as
a commission some 1900 applications
for the issuance of complaints for
unfair methods of competition. They
touch nearly every commodity. The
problems are infinite in their variety.
Tomorrow morning as this morning
and the morning before, and if / am
alive another three months, every
morning for the next three months,
every problem that meets me when l
go to the commission is apt to be
different one. l never go down there
and grind through one of those cases
that l do not think of my attitude of
mind. l have to be shown in each
case. You remember the boy who
was being examined by the teacher
in grammar. She asked: What
gender is horse?" He said, Mas
culine gender" What gender is
cow" Feminine gender" What
gender is cat?" He said, Show me
the cat"
Now business is just what the rest
of us are, no better, no worse. But
one bad man in business can disturb
the whole trade. One merchant US
ing unfair methods of competition
can cause a great amount of trouble
in any industry.
One of the first things that came
to me was the matter of rope A
man wrote in, and l think this was
from Nebraska, and said the com
mission should look into Hardware
Manila rope. / began an investiga-
ton and l had not gone far before
l found that Hardware Manila did
not have much, if any, Manila in it.
1t was mainly sisal. So I asked in
all the rope makers to a conference.
found them a splendid group of
American business men. They told
me that Hardware Manila was chief
ly sisal. They agreed that hereafter
the burlap covering the coil of rope
should carry the per cent of Manila
contained in the rope if any claim
was made This agreement has
worked fine.
Take sponges. A man wrote in
to US and said sponges were sold by
weight and were loaded. So we are
looking into sponges. We have
found that sponges are sold by
weight and the charge is made that
some sponges are loaded with glu-
cose, epson salts and iron pyrites.
We have issued complaints and the
matter is proceeding to trial.
We have gone into a lot of fabrics.
Cotton passed off as silk in one of
tuSn. OuS VI the llFSJ ACTIONS Oh
the commission was to order a firm
over in New York which called itself
the American Silk company, and sold
a fabric not from the silk worm but
of cotton, to drop that word silk.
Within the last three or four
weeks we have ordered certain man
ufacturers who make underwear to
stop branding underwear wool when
it was part cotton. Along this line,
my friends, could go on for hours
and show you how we are taking
snags and sandbags and distractions
and artificial restraints out of the
channel of commerce which leads
from producer to consumer. Do you
think the work is worth while? Do
you want an agency in the United
States that will proceed without fear
and Wifhaut favor and Gaap tha oboa