The Connecticut labor press., 1920-04-10
SEEK LABOR AID
in PUTTING OVER
CHAN-STORE PLAN
Cooperative Mass Meeting Fri
day Night to Be Important
Session.
TO HEAR BOTH SIDES
Representatives of New Scheme
Get Privilege to Explain
Their Aims.

Attracted by the movements among
Organized Labor in New Haven
Bridgeport and other cities and towns
in Connecticut and the country, for the
establishment of cooperative stores to
cut the high cost of living, number of
representative men of the state said to
include Justice George w. Wheeler,
Lieut.-Governor Wilson, Postmaster
Greene of Bridgeport and many others
of prominence have gotten together and
started the organization of system of
chain stores to be established through
out the state on a gigantic cooperative
operation of Organized Labor in put
ting it across. The hackers of the plan
declare that through their organization,
more than through the organizations
planned by the Labor bodies, they can
do better purchasing and by a uniform
system of conducting the stores, hit the
high cost of living greater Wallop
than the Labor stores could hope to do.
The organization of the New Haven
COOPERATIVE Society is going on rapid
1y and general mass meeting called
for this coming Friday night at Trades
Council hall when the details, benefits
and outlook is to be explained by rep
resentatives of the Cooperative
League of New York, an American
Federation of Labor off-shoot.
During the past week, representatives
of the big chain store plan waited on
President O'Meara of the State Fedora
ton of Labor and President Ornburn
of the New Haven Trades Council and
presented their plans for consideration,
pointing out the greater benefits that
could be secured through their larger
Chac yU12
Labor might be able to do. Both offic-
ia1s told them that the cooperative
stores plans are in the hands of the
representatives of the various organiza-
tions. and that they therefore could
neither approve or disaprove of their
suggestions for general cooperative
plan through the neighborhood chain
stores.
A request was then made on Presi-
dent Ornburn that the representatives
be allowed to be present at the mass
meeting on Friday night and explain to
the assembled workers just what their
idea is, the benefits they claim will en-
sue and where the worker will profit
more by joining in this other movement
than in trying to go it alone. AS the
meeting is an open one and privileged
to all interested, such permission was
4
Therefore on Friday night it behooves
everyone interested to get out to the
meeting and hear both plans explained
and decide then and there which he
prefers.
AS outlined to the officers both plans
have much merit, the only advantage
the chain store plan might have, being
in its perhaps greater purchasing pow
ers in dealing with some wholesalers
and producers whose natural antipathy
to anything savoring of Organized La
Dor would lead them to put obstacles in
the way of ~etting goods. In order that
there may be no chance of saying in
the future that no opportunity was
given the rank and file to decide for
themselves on either plan, the meeting
was thrown open to both sides of the
question.
Meantime work will not lag in the
plans for the New Haven stores. The
stock sales are going on more rapidly
and action of some kind will probably
be ready for the meeting on Friday
night 1t is expected by the committee
in charge that after the cooperative
plan is fully explained there will be
little left to be done but formally or
ganize and go ahead.
The other plan is already incorpor-
ated with capital of $1,000,0O0. The
incorporators include Postmaster
Charles F. Greene of Bridgeport, Tax
Commissioner Arthur F. Connor and
William T. Meyer of the postohice in
the same city. It is planned to open so
stores throughout Connecticut just as
fast as the organization can get them
going. Each will be in charge of only
one man and be uniform throughout SO
expense of operation will be confined to
actual costs