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Show Trade Stamps Are Declared I luisance Representatives of thi! merchants In pi ui ( i:ally all lines of trad-; met at the Halt Lake Commercial Club last Friday night and organized fcr their campaign to eliminate the trading stamp system from the businei-s field or Utah. The meeting, culled by h. A. Alileck, chairman of the Retail Merchants' Mer-chants' association's special committee commit-tee on legislation, was extended by representa! ives of 'be local hardware dealers' associat ion, druggists' association, asso-ciation, coal dealers' association and by representatives of various other lines of trade. The organization of a special coin-mil coin-mil tee to visit the morcants of Salt Lnke generally was started. The committee com-mittee will include 1). A. Alileck, chairman; Charles Van Dyke, representing rep-resenting the druggists; Fred Morris, Mor-ris, hardware dealers; E. S. Woo'.ruff, coal dealers; U. L. Murdoch, Z. C. M. L; and T. L. Irvine, city sealer of weights and measures. Mr. Alileck lias authority to increase this committee com-mittee and the members propose to begin their active campaign Monday. Representatives of the various lines of business spoke againr'.t the trading stamp system. I L. Murdoch. Fred Morris, J. A. Martin end F. It. Weight in fheir addresses agreed generally that there is an economic waste in the trading si amp system. Appeal to Public The meeting took up for consideration considera-tion a general letter to the public asking support for the movement against trading stamps, which was prepared as the odicial statement on the question by the Salt Lake Retail Merchants' association. The statement was heartily indorsed at the genera) meeting Friday night. ' D. A. Affleck, chairman of the spe cial committee, called attention to thr - necessity for immediate action on thi question, pointing out that if the re tail merchants in all lines of businef presented a united front, it would br an easy matter to procure legislatio: that would eliminate the stamp sys tern from Utah. F. H. Weight supported Mr. Af fleck's stand asserting that the issu ing of trading stamps was an abso lute economic waste and tended to work a great hardship on the smal merchant through competition that was injurious to merchant and customer cus-tomer alike. Charles Van Dyke said that the druggists were opposed to the trading trad-ing stamp system almost without exception ex-ception and he assured the retail merchants mer-chants that they might expect hearty support from the druggists of Salt Lake. Elias S. Woodruff, representing the coal dealers, advocated united action ac-tion toward promoting legislation that would tax the trading stamp business out of existence. He consented consent-ed to serve on the special committee that will begin woik next week to this end. Legislative Support Any reasonable legislative measure designed to abolish the use of trading trad-ing stamps and similar merchandising schemes in Utah will have strong support in the legislature according to senator Willard S. Hanin 01 Oox Elder county. Senator Hansen said that he had discussed the matter with stamp question and he had been informed in-formed that one or two associations of merchants would seek the passage of a measure that would curb what was regarded as a great evil to the business of the state. This matter is regarded by senator Hansen as one of the really important questions which the Legislature should settle at the present session and he also believes that this view is held by a majority of the members. "Trading stamps are a fraud and a farce; entirely unneces3aiy in business busi-ness and the system is no more nor less than a form of taxation wherein the general public pays for a whole lot that it does not receive," said Senator Sen-ator Hansen. "Aside from that of prof's pro-f's to the man who sells the stampF there can be no valid argument that they do anybody any good while or the other hand there are a lot of ar-rnments ar-rnments ns to why the svstem should he abolished. One of the strongest ro'nts n?ain?t the trading stamp evil is the fact that it is simply a form n' taxation that adds to the burder of he eeneral public. This cuestion o" tpYa'on i'r one that interests every c'ven of Tttnh. There a'-e complaints f-oni all ouarters that the burden of tvation is too h'p-h and there is a caving need for roitef. In mv opinion lfw that would aL.iliph the trading stamp tax would meet with state-wide "This proposed law to abolish trad-i"? trad-i"? stamps in Utah should have the sitTinort of some association of mer-ch"."ts mer-ch"."ts and if the committees now 'vi'tine on such a measure present a h'll that seems reasonable and effective. ef-fective. I have no doubt but that it '-()1 receive heartv support in the T esrislnture. and I have reason to be-'ve be-'ve thnr. it will have the backing r" practically all the merchants of the state." |