New-York tribune., 1922-02-10
Advertising and Financial
control Discussed; Wal
lace t'oresecs Increase in
farmers Buying Power


Clothier, Philadelphia, in which re-
'a'lers were abJured to hold high ideals
ana principles, to guard their rcputa-
"ohs and to sec that "black sheen in
the fold" did not injurc the reputation
OF retail merchants rs whole. tho con.
Veh'lon Of the National Retail Drv
GOODS ASSOCIATION, at the Hotel Penn
syiVanla, discussed the technical de-
.alls OF advertising. control and finance
III mcrchandising operations
mr. Iliey followed along the theme
VWeSelopcd at the opening session on
eunesday' when the topic of attacks
on retall merchants as protiteers came
20 'he tore and resulted in the decision
10 appoint publicity committee to
spread the truth about retailing and to
fa1sc a fund for this purpose.
v;II: n1uis hlrstein. vice-president OF
WI'i'am Filene's Sons Company, Bos-
'ooh' was appointed chairman OF this
committee yesterday. Jesse Isador
S'raus. Of Il: H. Macy & Co., also is
Oh the committee.
Mr. Illcy said that, in view of the
keen competition in the retail field. it
aI~n"eo unnecessary to answer those
N"o nave attacked the retailers on the
Vues'loh OF proper prices.
NO matter what NAV be tho cond;.
uons IN other lines." he said, there
cannot be any combination OF retail
olstriputors for the maintenance Of an
excessively high profit rate The zen.
.so considerations Of self-interest die
tate TO individual merchants that the
greatest success for them lies in get
e'ns 'he expense rate down to the low
est possible point. If there is one fact
that stands out above another az an
tlon which exists the world over he
tween retail merchants it is that there
can De no such thing as proilteerinr In
this business" 'S ''
Explains Attacks
lie explained the attacks on yet.;1o~s
by saying:
"All classes Of society feel alike tho
presence among them of those whose
cohduct does not measure up to the
standard. Always, when such societies
are under the light OF Investigation
.nese exceptional black sheep are apt
to be played upon to the detriment Of
'ne reputation OF the group.
ln's association has such a reputa-
t'on Tor integrity for justice, for fair
ocahng, tor skill, that it must ever be
temptation for those Of its members
w.o nave rot the strongest grip on
reputation of the association, Hence in
any community we can have advertisers
W,hose very enthusiasm, whose care
,essness, or. in some cases. cupidty,
lcads them into practices which are in
FRACTIONS OF the rules Of the game
these men hurt the reputation OF
the entire group. Our first quarrel il
with them. Better business bureaus
IN every section of the country should
see TO 1t that practices which briue
ABOUT disrepute are taboo and arc made
impossible. through the education of
all merchants to The value of absolute
truth in advertising, and, in the second
place. through obtaining the co-opera-
tlon of the press to this end.
We can. ourselves. see to It that
our charactcr Is right, and that there
are fcw, il any, having access to the
advertlsing columns OF any public
Journal who can misuse that privilege
10 the detrlment OF the reputation of
the class as whole. But feel we are
not through with our work here. We
nave only made sure that our compo-
site character is right We must see
TO 1T. also, that there shall he no n,;a~
apprehcnslon IN any quarter regarding
THIS character. and AS group wo must
look out for our reputatior''
Discuss Advertising
Frank Irving Fletcher. we'll known
seVer'ising man. speaking on the topic
or 'lndlviduality in Advertising" made
u plea for fewer restrictions on the
advertising managers Of stores by their
employers.
The proper way Of making up finan-
clal statements, operating statements
and the right way to distribute ey,
penses we're discussed by Jay lglauer,
OF the Halle Brothers Company. Cleve-
iand; &. L, Applegatc, Of the La Sale
q hoch Company. Toledo; G. X. Creigh-
ton OF the Msbley e. Carew Company,
n'ncinnati' !, and others. Enhancing a
Retail Business" was the subject Of
an address by Samuel w. Reyburn.
president of Lord E. Taylor, New York.
Fointlng out that 70 per cent Of the
commercial failures last year occurred
among retailers, he said that the CHIEF
cause OF this was improper financing
rather than any lack Of merchandising
ABILITY or energy on the part Of mer-
chants.
At their banquet last night attended
by 1900 retailers, Henry G. Wallace,
Secretary of Agriculture, gave tho
merchants encouragement for an ex-
panding outlet for merchandise by say
ing that the farmers purchasing power
IS increasing slowly "Th;s comes
about" he said, through recent ad-
vanccs in prices of principal farm
products and some decreases in prices
of other things.
"This is a hopeful sign not only to
retailers, but to industry in general.
There may be occasional recessicns In
prices Of farm products, but the low
period seems to be past and the trend
is upward. The stiffening Of the prices
for hogs is especially encouraging. AL
most half the corn grown in the larger
corn producing states is marketing in
the form of hogs. With hogs at prcs-
cnt prices the farmer is getting from
so to 76 cents bushel for his corn,
depending on his nearness to market.
VIII Begin to Buy
"The farmers have been waiting until
they feel reasonably sure that prices Of
farm products have hit, bottom. Once
they are satisfied on this point they
will begin to buy what they need. I
suspect that increased purchasing BY
farmers will come more rapidly than
people have been expecting.
There has been lot of thought tlcss
talk about class legislation on behalf
OF the farmer. The fact is that all the
so-called farm legislation Of the past
year has been of just as much benefit
to all classes Of people as It is to the
farmer. Any legislation which will
helm mt fe rrninc hack m ~ fairlx,