Evening star., 1933-09-22
REVOLT PREDICTED
IN RETAIL CODE|
Opponents Declare Con.
sumers Will Rebel Against
Provisions.

With some opponents predicting 6
Consumers revolt" If the retail and
drug codes are adopted. the preliminary
study of the two was launched yester-
day by Hugh S. johnson, the N. r. A
chief.
The president of the Pennsylvania
the National Association of Better
Business Bureaus urged approval Of the
master retail code as it was submitted
by Arthur D. Whiteside, deputy admin
istrator, while representatives of lead
ing mail order houses and some large
retail establishments forecast the "con-
sumers' revolt" If the two codes are
made effective.
Local Statement Issued.
In this connection a statement today
by Ralph L. Goldsmith, general man
ager of Lansburgh g. Bro. store here,
said:
THE retail code, now under consid-
Grafton, contains several provisions
detrimental to the success Of the N.
r. A. program.
Every merchant who lends his en-
tire support to the success Of the pro-
gram must be interested in correcting
the provisions which raise the price Of
merchandise to the consumer, and 1t
must be the purpose Of all retail stores
to keep commodity prices within the
reach Of the community in which they
operate.
Strenuous objection should be raised
to the provision which requires that q
merchant mark his merchandise 10 per
cent above the wholesale. delivered
cost, described as the lowest price
quoted as Of any date within 80 days
prior to the date of resale to all retail
erS OF any given division of retail trade,
less only such discounts as are extended
to all such retailers, and plus delivered
cost
1T is utterly impossible to ascertain
such wholesale delivered price, and even
If 1t were possible. large retailers would
be guided in pricing their merchandise
according to the costs to smaller re-
tailerS in neighborhoods or other loca-
tions whose overhead expenses and in
coming freight charges would be vastly
different from that of major operator.
II large retailer, anticipating his re-
qulrements on large scale, had pur-
chased his merchandise stocks prior to
80 days before the date upon which the
merchandise is offered to the public, he
would be forced to retail such mer-
chandise according to later market quo
tations. thereby charging the public
more than is necessary for the success
full operation of his business, practically
forcing him to profiteer against his pol
icy Of passing in to the consuming pub
lie every advantage ne may obtain.
Stand to Serve Public.
I'VE as retailers, are organized to dis
tribute merchandise and serve the pub
lie. 1t Is only through the efficiency
OF such service that We may hope to
perpetuate our success in the future,
which in turn affects the success Of our
community. Any merchant or any
member OF the consuming public who
will think the matter through clearly
cannot help but appreciate that this
provision in the code in its present
form will have the effect of increasing
the retailing price of merchandise be-
yond the public power to buy. Every
business aim today must be directed
toward more distribution Of merchan-
disc; otherwise, more unemployment
will result rather than to increase en-
ployment, as is necessary to national
recovery.
We have no predatory price-cutting
objective in mind and have decided
respect for the maintenance Of neces-
sary profits to insure our ability to COM
pensate our employees. in full accord
with the N. r. A. requirements and to
increase our staff, which has already
been done substantially. but We are
unalterably opposed to a provision which
will defeat our conscientious desire to
mark a fair retail price according to
the average cost of our merchandise
stocks on the prevailing markets and to
absorb the normal expenses incidental
to the operation of our store.
in addition. 1t is my opinion that
it is Impractical, if not impossible, to
police the performance Of all stores
however conscientious would be their
desire to carry out this provision of
the code upon the thousands OF items
carried by department store.
Il trust that this matter will have
the mature consideration of the ad
ministrator of the N. R. A. and the
President before its final adoption"
Reaction Sought.
johnson was reported as seeking the
reaction of the country before going
deeply into the charters.
It was pointed out that the views Of
thousands of merchants and small
druggists have not appeared in the pro-
ceedings and the administrator was
represented as desirous of getting a
general cross-section Of sentiment be-
fore setting his hand to the problems
of price regulation contained in them.
William H. Hager, Lancaster, Pa
president OF the Pennsylvania Retailers