The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-06-16
M E N w o M E N
 A N D T HIN c s

l went to the annual banquet of the Birmingham Retail Grocers' and Butchers association at the Hillman h9tel on Thursday night, which was well attended, as more than 200 plates were laid.
 | I reckon there are few professional men who are so much interested in merchants and merchandising as I am. I have never shared the inn ported English idea which looks down upon those in "trade;" and l am glad to know that much of the l foolish aristocratic sentiment against it in the mother country is being done away with.
 l am not now speaking of the great mercantile establishments with ranks like the large industrial corporations or banking firms, but of the retail CTS who do only a local business. Take your grocer and butcher, the men who furnish your table, and they not only serve an important part In your daily living but play a good part in the life of every community.
 
 My presence as a guest was backed by more than desire to dine and get a chance to talk, or even to meet a bunch of good fellows; for I was really interested in the printed pro- gramme, for it gave information that some leading men in the business world were down for addresses on worth while topics. and I was anxious to hear their messages and get their viewpoint.
 I showed up before the hour for the banquet, as I wanted to get the opportunity to loaf on the sidewalk in front of the hotel and greet some of my friends as they gathered in groups to discuss their business and to fellowship with one another. The greater part of them fingered on the streets until the call was made for them to come to the dining room, as 1t was an oppressive night and was more comfortable than in the lobby
 
 F. H. Shropshire, the president of the association who was down for the opening address, sidestepped, as he said, in order to give the other speakers more time. He used good fore the crowd in the introduction of the other speakers. I never saw chairman do it better, for instead of taking half hour to set out his views he just sandwiched them in between the other set addresses Every one agreed that he more than made good
 To use theatrical term, Sam Earle opened the show and Jeff Bailey closed it. The other acts be- ing by R. A. Porter, George W. Yam sey, and being present, of course was in the cast. The vaudeville stunt was in the hands of Percy Rosen- berger. and was well handled. A good orchestra furnished the music, and along with the eats, the gather ing was success from every stand- point, and went down in the history of the association as the best yet
 Sam Earle is the type of man who never speaks just to indulge habit, he does he always has something to say. He was at his best and made a straightforward talk from the standpoint of the wholesaler. He clearly analysed the situation in Bir- mingham and saw nothing discourag- ing to the retailer who was on the job and was willing to work and give proper thought to buying as well as selling.
 E. A. Porter tackled the need of better cooperation between the wholesaler and the retailer. and had the courage to say that if the whole salers in Birmingham wanted to get patronage they must be able to meet all outside competition and not mere | " try to do business on the plea of trading at. home. He felt that they were doing this and could continue to do 1t. He gave some practical sug- gestions in the art of buying so that the proper turnovers might be made.
 George w. Yancey spoke from the legal viewpoint, but showed a re- markable insight into the various problems of merchandising, things which he had learned by first hand ing of the various trade journals. He felt that something ought to be done to curb the latitude of the present exemption laws, and to cure the speech was pitched on a high but workable plane and made deep inn pression.
 Jeff Bailey made a short and sen sible talk about the need Of proper organization, and gave brief resume ot the work being done in the state. All of the speakers except myself were in some way, affiliated with the selling end. l represented the ulti- fmate consumer, and tried to speak 1 for the more than 172,0oo buyers who were not pNsent I begged them to be as easy on my crowd as possible.
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