Show Bruc karls washington digest le legislation 9 isolation against chain stores will come up again danger to independent store operator will be theme of discussion question of general national policy needs thought sane regulation Is possible by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press washington D V 0 washington the politician who is a demagogue the fellow who has nothing on the ball bail and gets into politics on his gilt gift tor for gab always must have a bogie man a hobgoblin there must always be an 1 immediate m mediate threat like the sword of damocles hanging over the heads of the dear if the political demagogue have that sort of thing he is utterly lost because usually he can not talk about fundamental issues the favorite bogle man of fellows like former sen tom cleflin was wall street day after day ole tom would drag wall street onto the floor of the senate and shake the gizzard out of it there were others other s like tom and there were other oher hob goblins the chain stores for a number of years were the meat and drink of the demagogue and many an otherwise punk got elected to office because hs he could talk for foi io 10 hours about the he evils of the chain stores we always have had our trust busters austers bu the bailers of corporations one bogie dies and another takes its place arid and the thing goes on until presently one of the old and and almost forgotten bogle bogie boys is bro brought u to I 1 life ife again As pre session plans take shape it appears that the country is going to be told again about the evils of the chain stores store s there Is going to be an attempt to legislate them out of existence many a shout will ring out on the floors of the senate and house about the danger to the independent store operator the man at home the bill whatever form it I 1 takes a kes or whatever it proposes to do wi will serve as a vehicle tor for a shouting houting mob of representatives and senators As usual they will wil I 1 offer no new argument but they will copies of their speeches back home a and rid make a great howdy do ave over themselves should give thought to general national policy because of this prospect and the existence of several other things like it there ought to be some thought though t given to the question of a general national policy in other words I 1 am of the opinion that the congress and the several state legislatures ought to keep their feet on the ground instead of jumping off the deep end when there is no boat in which to t ride I 1 see no profet in cutting off my nose just to spite my face there is just as little sense to that as selling out to the vested interests there is something to the argument in in favor of regulation of great chains of stores it can be e truthfully said that they exert a lot of pressure on the independent they deny this of course and answer that there is no pressure their statement may be true insofar as it may me mean an that the chain store has made no calculated plan to drive the in independent depend ent out of existence yet their very bigness is of itself a pressure because they can buy in larger quantities and obtain lower cost prices than the individual who buys a few cases of canned goods at a time when they buy at lower prices they can sell at lower prices and the independent finds himself oard put to meet the competition that sort of thing happens in every community commini ty where chain stores are in operation it will continue to to happen because there is not a man nor a comah woman who ft ho will say hone lo nestly s aly that he or she will pay a higher ilgner price simply because the store at home is owned by somebody who is a local citizen I 1 am old fashioned about it I 1 will go to a chain store many man many y times because cau se I 1 save money it is my money that I 1 am spending and I 1 am going to get the most tor for it that I 1 can the fellow who owns ons a local store is in business to make a profit and I 1 am willing willin g that he shall have a p profit rofle provided he can give me the same value for what I 1 spend as does some other store it if the independent runs his store in a slipshod way falls fails to manage his affairs efficiently aly and thus has to have higher prices I 1 see no reason why I 1 should be the coa boat to me the situation is exact exactly lYthe the same as if both competing stores were home owned and nd one of then i gave better values sane regulation of chain stores can be accomplished it if the chain stores are abusing theirs their power a power they have solely because they are big the congress and the several states surely ought ough tto to take notice there can be iane sane regulation of them they can bp raade made to correct any abuses but 1 I can not find any legitimate excuse for foi destroying them I 1 am in the role of a consumer and every legislator ought to consider that his cons constituents constituent i are consumers and that they must be given consideration I 1 have been told by men in the cover government ament whom I 1 believe have a gen general iral understanding of the lern lem that destruction of chain stores store will raise retail prices of the thin things they sell by as much as 20 per cent who is going to pay that you and I 1 and everyone who buys for or consumption if I 1 can get my cigarettes at two for fora a quarter I 1 am not going to pay 15 cents so it if congress or the state legislatures find it necessary to protect the independent that policy should be adopted but the extreme position of taxing them out of existence or destroying them some other way is utterly silly it is as I 1 said earlier rather like cutting off my nose to spite my face and I 1 have a beak of which no one could be very proud I 1 this chain store bogle man is just another of the many that are used by politicians to build up th themselves e m once before in these columns I 1 expressed the hope that some time I 1 would like to see an honest politician I 1 think it would be refreshing to all of us I 1 heard lately too of a movement against those people who sell direct to the consumers there are certain types of them that ought to be locked up most of them however have a legitimate product and they are making that product to sell to consumers the movement that is now said to be spreading has evolved into what is called the green river ordinance a municipal law which is designed to prevent any house to house canvassers problem of separating crooks from honest people now there may be sound reasons tor for a city council to bar a anybody n from selling direct at the moment I 1 do not know of any yet according to the reports received by the federal trade commission there was a small town out in wyoming which actually convicted some boys from the neighboring farms and sentenced them to jail because they violated the city law by selling direct to the householders in the town that town ought to have a very red face it seems to me I 1 said that there were certain types of canvassers ought to be barred I 1 refer to the racketeers who scour the country in crews selling this or that or the other who are here today and gone tomorrow and who many times leave a wake of dishonest dealings insults and sometimes plain thievery of course there ought to be punishment of that type but why punish the honest ones by placing them in the same category as the crooks the problem becomes one of separating the crooks from the legitimate people but your demagogue will vill not do that whether that demagogue be a member of congress a member of the state legislature or a member of the city council lie he would not be able to bleat so long it if he attempted to analyze the real situation this green river ordinance hysteria Is being promoted by some outfit which it appears from the federal trade commission information goes from town to town and operates campaigns for passage of such a law those fellows make money out of their campi campaigns igns the local merchants pay the bin bill for the life of me I 1 can not see where they are any better than the agents of the direct sellers whom they are seeking to prohibit because the agents make a profit I 1 must correct that last la st statement the agents of the direct sellers are different usually especially the legitimate agents live in towns in in their territory and pay their taxes and buy their human needs there the pro motors run the campaign take their profit and scoot all factors in situation need calef careful ul consideration I 1 suppose that some of the things I 1 have said in this analysis of a national tion al problem will make me as popular poplar u as a skunk with some local merchants I 1 believe however that there are two sides to the argument and that there must be moderation in dealing with the hobgoblins hob goblins that ar aro built up for or selfish reasons either political selfish selfishness riess or for monetary gain hence I 1 argue that the country and its legislative bodies mu must st look at all factors involved in the situation hysteria and demagoguery go hand in hand with the demagogue leading and capitalizing on the circumstances cum stances he has created it if it aan can be shown where the brush salesman or the salesman tor for the floor sweeper or the home remedy sties men are wielding a bad influence upon the life of the nation prohibit them as is done many places with the saloon if it can be shown that the vast majority of the people get no benefits from chain stores and that the chain stores damage the national life get rid of them or regulate them closely my thought continues to be however that there must be moderation in legislation 0 western New simper hinloi |