Evening star., 1938-05-15
Protecting Consumer 4 Against
Misrepresentation Is Big Job
Eternal Vigilance k>Watchword of
Better Business Bureau, So That
Public Won't Be S,UindIed.

also has redress through the Better
Business Bureau.
In connection with truthful ad-
vertising. Woodrow Wilson when Pres
ident, made talk to large gathering
OF advertising men in Independence
Hall, Philadelphia, % years ago next
June.
THE only thing" he said, that
ever set any man free. the only thing
that ever set any nation free, is the
truth. I understand. gentlemen,
that you have associated yourselves
together in order to promote candor
and truth in advertising your business.
I wish very much that truth and
candor might always be the standard
Of politics as well as the standard Of
business"
Next to truth in advertising, the
Better Business Bureaus gravest con-
Germ Is investments. The bureaus
motto is. Before you invest, investi-
gate" A visitor in the Office Of Joseph
Marshall, director of Washington's S
Better Business Bureau, is Immediate
ly impressed by the many phone calls
daily, about investments.
Through personal contact. by let
ter and telephone, the bureau has
doubled its service to the Washington
public the last II months.
1t is easy to be mislead about in
vestments. Hundreds of letters Of
fering free lot" were circulated in
Washington few months ago, stat
ing that "only IS persons have been
selected to receive this award" Yet
the local operator acknowledged send
ing out 10000 identical letters.
Investments with "a future" mis-
lead the unwary. One Washington
rooming house broker sold the same
rooming house to three different per-
sons. in three different transactions
within "a hours. Her case is now
in the hands of the District attorney
with a number of other complaints
the Better Business Bureau has
against her.
lash bond schemes and various
"work-at-home" operations re-
quiring money for supplies before
details are available, have found
many innocent victims among trust
ing Washingtonians.
"Wanted-A Partner" is another
form of deception practiced upon the
public in the National Capital. One
"business-expansion" operator, sold
a reference library organization a
part interest in his civil service
coaching school.
The bureaus record on this opera
tor shows that at least % other
persons had previously bought half
interests in the same school.
All partnership ventures are apt
to be dangerous, the bureau feels,
and should be carefully investigated
as many offer only an opportunity
to lose ones money and share the
enterprises liabilities and mistakes.
Among the numerous "opportuni-
ties" to invest is the man who tried
to get 100000 Washingtonians to pay
him 81 a month for the right to
participate in profits from the sale
of an oyster concentrate, when, as,
and if the same was produced and
could be marketed profitably. He is
now the subject of a Post Office
action.
People have considered buying
whisky warehouse receipts without
investigating the supply and demand
for bonded whisky, or the State
and Federal taxes payable before the
whisky can be removed from the
warehouses.
One Washington woman was per-
suaded by speculative cemetery
enterprise salesman to turn over to
him almost $4,000 worth of listed
securities. The salesman sold them
and invested the proceeds in a whole
sale group of burial sites in a new
cemetery where statistics show there
is practically no demand for i'm
mediate use.
THE money obtained from this cred
ulous woman was more than the
burial park authorities paid for all the
land in their cemeteries.
Also, many fell victims to a stock
company, organized to develop revo-
lutionary type of airplane, which al
though years old, has never been of
the ground.
Invention possibilities" and gold
mines, where careful reading of the
submitted prospectus would have told
the investors that they had scant
chance Of. ever seeing their money
again, have taken heavy toll of gullible
investors.
And Washington has had more than
its share of questionable advertising
solicitations. A common practice is to
use the names Of outstanding persons
and organizations without authority.
Then there are many fagrant
abuses in the field of automobile SELL
ing. Among the most common are
packing" and 'kick-back" allowances.
concealed under innocent sounding
terms Of service charge, handling
charge, or fiat charge-verbal guaran-
tees on cars actually sold "as is" and
then denied-buyers charged for in
surance which was never placed and
prices advertised - r. o. q. when
actually they were prices with only .