Evening Star Newspaper, July 10, 1931, Page 4

A—4 =% N THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, JULY. 10, 1931. CHAIN STORE ISSUE AIRED ININSTITUTE Brookhart Delivers Attack and Opposing Retailers Defend System. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Staff Correspondent of The Star. SITY, Va, July 10.— The | was 'denounced and praised before the Institute of Public Affairs here today. The chief denouncer was Senator Smith W. Brookhart of Iowa, who de- clared the chain system was making it impossible for the small independent merchant te stay in business. On the other hand, it was held up as the pro- tector of the people against the high | cost of inefficient merchandising and as the institution that is putting that old-time ogre, the middleman, out of bustness. Sees Fight for Existence. “About 17 per cent of the retail busi- ness in the United States,” sald Se tor Brookhart, “is transacted by the chain-store system. Upon this pe! centage of the total business the tem has gathered in about 40 per cent of the profits on all foodstuffs through Tetall, about 40 per cent of all profits on wearing apparel, 60 per cent of all retail profiks on drugs, 75 per cent of all retail profits on gasoline and about 90 per cent on all theaters and moving pictures. These estimates do not in- clude the profits on chain banking, dairies, farms, newspapers and other effective forms of monopolies, This, if unchecked, will soon create a mo- nopoly of the retail business of the United States. ‘The chain store is a phase of the great monopolistic phe- nomenon that is rapidly transformin, the country into a financial autocra Since 1920, Senator Brookhart sai the chain-store business has increased about 370 per cent, amounting in 1927 to $3,000,000,000. ~“The retail mer- chants are in a fight for their very lives,” he said. “They must join with their customers for the control of cor- porations, transportation, excess profits, credit and marketing. Asks Independents Co-op. “We are the only civilized country in | the world that by law prohibits its | farmers, laborers, independent mer- | chants and manufacturers from organ- izing their own savings in a co-opera- tive banking system with a co-operative | Teserve bank, all under their own con- | trol. * All of our co-operative organiza- tions have been built up without the support of such a co-operative credit ;ystem. hence the vast numbers of their | ailures.” | Senator Brookhart proposed a Nation- | wide co-operative scheme in which the | independent merchants would take part | and which would reach into all sources | of supply, transportation and credit. | Alliance Head Hits Chains. J. Frank Grimes of Chicago, presid<nt | of the Independent Grocers’ Alliance of America, advocated that the chain stores pass their business back to the indi- viduals “unless th> chain systsm finds a way to fulfill 100 per cent of the obli- gations and responsibilities to the com- munity now shouldered by the inde- pendent merchant.” Mr. Grimes contended that farmer and manufacturer, as well as indep<nd- ent merchant, have been affected by the chains. They have “hammered down” prices paid farmers and manufacturers, he stated, and have begun the absorp- tion of factories, “thus depriving the manufacturer of profits and his em- ployes of wages.” Defends Chain Stores. Protest against discriminatory legisla- tlon against the chain store was made by Clark McKercher, general counsel for the National Chain Store Associa- tion, who stressed particularly a recent Indiana law authorizing progressively higher license fees for stores according to the number under one management. This, he indicated, might be an opening wedge for the enemies of the chain store system. During the past year, he sald, more than 100 anti-chain store measures have been introduced in American legislatures, but only two have passed. One such bill proposed a tax of $100,000 on any corporation operating more than five stores in the State. The chains, he said, “have grown great and prosperous only in the meas- ure with which they have served the public. That they have revolutionized consumer distribution, and at a price relatively less than was enjoyed before their advent, cannot be denied. Families of the most severe political critics of the chain stores freely use their facilities. One whose public utterances in a dozen States pursue them with everything from profanity to prayer equipped his automobiles and trucks ‘with tires from a chain store. Holds Growth Inevitable. “Over and over again the fetish of ‘taking money out of the State’ has been exploded. Rents, taxes, salaries and purchases of State-owned apd grown commodities make a local in- stitution of nearly every chain group. A great many have fixed appropria- tions for local charities and improve- ments. That their lawfully and moral- ly acquired advantages are coming to be recognized as more to be fostered and protected than harassed and de- stroyed is manifest in the editorial com- ments in the public press. “As many independent stores failed before the coming of the chain stores as now,” he continued. “There can't be a monopoly of food. It is an evolu- tion of distribution. The chains have forced on the independent stores better habits of merchandising. Gntherlng) around the stove in the store to dis- | cuss politics isn’t done any more.” ‘That the average man has a better opportunity in the employ of one of the big chains than as an independent mer- chant was asserted by Paul Mooney, personnel manager of one of the large Midwestern chains. The popular idea that the big chain systems seek *“robots” without initiative or imagination to run their branches is absurd, Mr. Mooney sald, since the success of any one store depends very largely on the capability of the manager. Terms “New Order” Better. The chain store, partially eliminating the jobber and passing goods directly from the manufacturer to the consumer, is an essential development of new fa- cilities of communication and trans- portation, said W. W. Hughes, assistant to the president of the J. C. Penney Co. “It cannot be said,” he declared, | “that the present system of merchan- | dizirg, with direct contact between the manufacturer and the retailer, has not been without certain great benefits which, in the analysis of our economic | life as a whole, more than outweigh ! the gradual disappearance of the older | order. The very force of the spirit| of competition which is being developed | by the speeding up of retail purchases is the great factor of safety so far| as the retail customer is concemed.‘ It is the thing that is assuring the woman in Iowa, or Nebraska, or Ala- bama that she can today secure for herself the style, the quality and the rice_which are open to women in lew York, Chicago or San Francisco. “The woman who drives into town Saturday afternoon from her farm 30 or 40 miles away has on her table at home the most recent copy of the leading woman’s publication, and expects to be able to find in town the merchandise which has attracted her attention on the advertising pages. Her ability to find this merchandise today is not hampered by the selection of a buyer from some distribution house who made up his mind six months n't, the women were goipg to be uy.” ‘chain | new Pilot Comes to Grief YOUTH'S FIRST GLIDING ATTEMPT ENDS DISASTROUSLY. he very our- insisted, “has been machinery of prog selves have buil and_in o ing. Sentimental att ods of the past can pl S | what is going on in the more than se 1 the old bustle p reason for wome of bustles toda “Even the taken to me berries in chiffon dress ation in June questions for we are bein further to th serve the publ. ods of dist been mad realization that tod: demands utmost e translating the new rial or manufacture into the custo hand.” That the chain store dej for it: uccess on the management was _stres Dodd, head of « i concern. President Ho contrasted as the two gr ers of the day in an ad of our time in th and political sci which has its p cow and in Washingto: It is p fied by Stalin on the one Hoover cn the otl there is a great Stalin are Lenin and Mz Hoover are Lincoln and Jef seeks to subordinate the citiz state, the other the state to ti “It 1s not an accident t Hoover has become most leader of the fc elevation of the indi The opulence of our extraordinary technological devel ment already attained, and the rel tively high standards of 1 w have made millions regard ties the luxuries of yester dividual life the natur our national tendonecy. Eg! position of Stalin is the log of the present state of Russian eco nomic_development.” The celebrated “five Spargo said, has per se no n assoclation with Communism. said, “In large measure the pr carry into effect ideas which were ct rent in Russia, in non-revolutionary cir- cles, long before the Bolshevist regime came into being. This program would have been attempted had the revolution never taken place. It is morally certain that it would be continued if the ex- isting regime should fall.” “Reccgnition of social maladjust ment,” he continued, “and sympathy | for the victims of it are not confined | to,those who are enrolled in movements | of ‘protest or revclt. Mr. Hoover is fully | as Eeenly aware of the ills ental to | our clvilization as Stalin and fully | as serious in his desire for their re-| The familiar antithesis of th | passionately humane socia and the | callous and inhuman capitalist is & | grotesque creature of the imagination Under the American conditions, what. ever may be said for those of Europe, the active participation in business by | the government will never be a success because, even at its best, it introduces the element of political manipulation, Mr. Spargo declared. BOGHOS G. CASBARIAN | DIES AT RIVERDALE | | | Washington Rug Manufacturer Succumbs to Long Illness at Age of 68. Special Dispatch to The Star. RIVERDALE, Md., July 10.—Boghos | G. Casbarian, Washington rug manu- facturer and fraternal and civic worker, | died at his home here today after a lin- | gering illness. | Mr. Casbarian Wi Ve r- | menia and came to this country in| 1893. He resided here for the past 12| years. He was a member of Mount Herman Lodge, A. F. and A. M, of Hyattsville and an active worker in the Prince Georges County Law Enforcement League, the Republican Club of the nineteenth district and the Methodist | Episcopal Church of Hyattsvill He is survived by his widow, Mrs.| Carrie T. Casbarian; three sons, James | Harvey T. and Barton G. Casbarian, and a daughter, Mrs, William Graf, jr., of Bloomfield, N. J. Funeral arranpgement completed this morning. —e Gen. U. S. Grant'’s old home in St. Louis now is plastered with advertising | placards and posters. | had not been Easy to Pay Monthly § Months $10 $15 $20 $25 $1,200 $6,000 | preceding _year. | County Commis Sea CHff, N. Y., ended | th ard. Everything went tude of 40 feet. Sid- | s of telephone wires. | to carth. —A. P. Photo. MAN FOUND DEAD ALONGSIDE HOME Winchester Investigate | Death of Dabney Carr Harrison, 75. Police STER, Va., July 10.— The Dabney Carr Harrison, 75, Te- United States Government civil and endent an of Virginia, was found by friends at his home here late 1 7t at the foundation of his round the premises de- he had jun d or fallen Authorities were today investigation to deter- on’s demise was acciden- | that from the r » complained | The friend t night with i his body. In the has been found by | seen or heard of the trap door leading | s home had been re- rison_worked for the ment civil engi- | for many year: ting projects-in the Dakotas and | In later years he was pro- | of a poultry establishment in After taking up his r here he put forth a i effort in politics as an in- | H; pposed Representative | Harrison in the seventh onal district, but was on is survived by his widow, | has been estranged for | one son, Dabney C.| able manager for Capt. | P Pagebrook Stud at | Boyce. Another son, William Harrison, juate of Virginia Military Institute of acute heart attack while an in structor at Augusta Military Academy | about five years ago. SUBURBAN BUILDING SHOWN ON INCREASE Construction in Montgomery To- tals $2,320,845, According to Annual Report. By a Staft Correspondent of The Star. ROCKVILLE, Md., July 10—New construction in’ Montgomery County for the recently ended fiscal year totaled $2,320.845, according to a report issued yesterday by Berry E. Clark, clerk to the county commissioners. The figure for the preceding year was $2,227,315. Suburban _ construction during ' the past year far exceeded building in rural sections, the report showed. In the suburbs’ building permits were issued for $2.054,395 of construction work, as against $266,450 in the rural areas. The total number of building permits issued was 442, as against 416 for the For the issuance of the permits last year the county re- ceived $1,778 in fees. === WAR ON WEEDS OPENS IN HAGERSTOWN AREA oners Join With City and Warn Farmers to Clean Roadways by July 15. Special Dispatch to The Star. HAGERSTOWN, Md., July 10—A war upon weeds, both in the city and county, has been declared. Following close upon the orders of the city police department that all ‘weeds on vacant lots must be cut under penalty of arrest, the Board of County Commissioners yesterday gave farmers until July 15 to cut weeds along county roads. The board, in meeting yesterday, pointed out that weeds are a source of filth, unsightly and are often the cause of automobile accidents. Farmers must cut weeds along roads bordering upon their farms. { highway trans| HEHWAYS RAPOLY LINKING AVERRAS Head of Commission Tells Progress at Metropolitan Club Luncheon. ¥isualizing a network ot highways m a system which will join the United States with Central American countries and Panama, Senor Tomas Guardia, president of the Inter-American High- way Commission, yesterday described the construction. so far completed in the project in a speech delivered here before a group of Latin-American diplo- mats and officials of the United States Government. The address was made at a Metropolitan Club luncheon tendered in honor of Senor Guardia by the Ex- ecutive Committee of the Pan-American Confederation for Highw.y Education. ‘Two-thirds of the distance between Laredo, Tex., and Panama City is traversed by highways already com- pleted, under construction or usable in good weather, Senor Guardia told the officials. Only 1,248 miles remain to be built before connections are complete, he asserted. Obstacles Not Insurmountable. There are no “insurmountable Ob- stacles” to the extension of a connective network of roadways throughout Central America, Senor Guardia said. He added that while he could not at this time visualize the inter-American highways as one unit, constructed as a single job under one financial plan, he did fore- see “immediate possibilities of so de- velcping the road systems ot different countries between the Rio Grande and the Panama Canal, that it may be a simple matter in the near tuture to join se roads together.” § The, luncheon yesterday was presided over by Dr. L. 5. Rowe, director gen- eral of the Pan-American Union and chairman of the Pan-American com- mittee sponsoring the event. Many Are Represented. Those attending were the Minister of Guatemala, Dr. Adrian Recinos; the Minister of Nicaragua, Dr. Juan B. Sacasa; Minister of Panama, Dr. Har modio_Arias; Minister of EI Saivador, Dr. Carlos Leiva; the charge daf- faires of Costa Rica, Don Guillermo E. Gonzales; the Assistant Secretary of State, Wilbur J. Carr; the A: Secretary of State, Francis White, :md‘ Dr. Rowe. Thomas H. MacDonald, chief of the Uni Edwin Warley James, chief divi ort, United State: reau of Public Roads; Pyke Johnson, executive secretary Pan-American Con- federation for Highwa: Education; George C. Peck, commercial attache of the United States at Panama; Dr. Wil- liam Manger, chief financial division Pan-American Union, and_ Stephen James, director extension Pan-Amer- ican Confederation for High Edu- cation. LISTS OF AUDITORS ASKED OF CITIZENS Montgomery Federation and Bank| Heads Get County Invi- tation. | By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. Md., 10 —TLet- ROCKVILLE, July | ters were recelved today by George M. Hunter, president of the Montgomery County Natiopal Bank, and Stephen James, president of the Montgomery County Civie Federation, from the Board of County Commissioners asking them to call together the groups re-, quested by the commissioners to sub: mit lists of auditing firms for a thor- ough audit of the county’s finances. About two weeks ago the commission- ers passed a resolution inviting the offi- | cecutive and | cers and members of the Advisory Committees of the civic fed- eration and the presidents of the 11/ Montgomery County banks to submit | two lists, each containing the names of 12 reputable auditing firms. The reso- lution stated that the commissioners desired to select from the two lists a firm to make a complete audit of all county expenditures for the past 16| years. The letters vesterday were the first official notification given the two groups of the action of the commissioners. Mr. James said today he would call | a_meeting for either Wednesday or | Thursday night 2t the National Press Club in Washington to consider the re- quest of the commissioners. He as- serted that he could not predict what action would be taken at that time. Mr. Hunter said he would communi- cate with the other bank presidents and ascertain & convenlent meeting me. Col. Payne Institute Speaker. Col. Frederick H. Payne, Assistant Secretary of War, will go to Char- lottesville, Va.,, tomorrow and make an address on “National Industrial Pre- paredness” before the Institute of Pub- lic Affairs, at the University of Vir- ginia. A SPECIAL June. July and August ‘WIRE YOUR HOUSE Main Hall: Chain Pendant and Acorn; 3-Way Switch. i 3-Light Shower; Switch. Kitchen Ceiling “2nd H Rosette; 3-Way Switeh. Units Switch 2-Light Showers; Pull Chata, Bal Colling Unit: Open i Switch. 5 Wiring, Fixtures and Bulbs, Complete as Listed, Installed, $100 Telephone NAtional 0140-2622 end Representative Will Call C. A. Muddiman Co. 911 G St. N.W. A large corporation has openings in' its’ sales department for several men of ability with or without sales experience. Men who feel that given the right opportunity they could earn not less than $5,000 d year; and who can furnish satisfactory character ref- erences, should answer, stating age, education and experience. Address Box 426-V, Star Office d State Bureau of Public Roads; | Lightning Kills Man In Heavy Western Maryland Storm Special Dispatch to T CUMBERILAND, The terrific land late terday which Raloh O, Smith, 27~ of W. Boyd Smith, farmer, Be ioie turnpike, met death from a o™ of lightning while sianding in barn door, caused much damag: ' highways. Roy Smith was b v stunned by the bolt that killed brother. The Williams and Murleys branch roads were washed out. Town creek was turned into a raging river and many Summer camps were de- stroyed. The National Highway for long stretches was covered with mud and debris, The road at Flint- stone and Auto Park was inundated and tourists were driven from the park by the sudden onrush of water, which _ completely submerged the plot. Evitts Creek Valley was badly flooded. A heavy, steady downpour continues today. W a0 - mber- in ad his FARM FOR ANIMALS| 5 ELD NUSHAGE Rockville Judge Imposes $50 Fine on Humane Society Near Potomac. ! Spectal Dispaten to Tre stag ROCKVILLE, Md, | Humane Edu 1 Sock Incorporated, fined $50 and costs by Judge Charles W. Woodward in the police court here yesterday afternoon, following its conviction cn a charge of maintaining a nuisance on its 80-acre animal refuge farm, near Potomac, this county An “zppeal to the Circuit Court was noted and the Lersonal bond of the president, James P. Briggs, of Washing- ton, in the amount of $300, was taken. The case vill be docketed for trial again at the November term of the upper 10.—The «f Maryland, A low stated, hi the farm s had been ig Filt o e odo a hundred yards from wk the animals werc pt, @ of a number « ©f decompost imity to a things he Chief Mo: e to be tectable some of seve! the visits. witness ome! within a ra the plzce sw numerous ca ons living and a half of i th m the far It was stated that around 200 dogs, 35 or 40 cats and a good v are cared for Woodward that th dantly fed, give! edi when nee: ell looked after rally and t the sanita s were good, h no more odor was also w they were not annoy of the dogs. ns constituted progress four | nours, ~about persons testifying. | State Att v Prescott con. | ducted the prcs School Heads Named. | cia ilson Sperow, principal of the and William | Diehl, principal | School, have been appoint two new s. Sperow goes to the Woodland Way High and Diehl to the South Poto- nac Street High. Crape Myrtle, $1 1-ft. Blue Spruce, $1 MARYLAND NURSERY Edmonston (East Hyattsville) 4 principals Look for the Schwartz Gold Clock on 7th St. ENGAGEMENTS aeacd ANNIVERSARIES S WEDDINGS ~> which demand Gift of Dia- Events the “Perfect” pure blue-white monds. Perfect IAMONDS from CHAS SCHWARTZ 8 SON One always feels much easier when buying Diamonds from s Jeweler whom he knows. Hun- dreds of folks know Chas. Schwartz & Son...and hundreds of folks will tell you—“What Chas. Schwartz says it is—it 15" AR The PERFECT HUNDRED $100 Others $50, $150 $200 upward e ; [ £ CHAS SCHWARTZ & SON Perfbet Diamonds 708 7th Street 709 1’! Street | Committee Selected to Settle| con- | 10 (Spe- | k High | high | NEW GROUP NAMED IN FISHING DISPUTE Differences in Potomac River Area. ! By the Assoclated Press. | Unable to reach an intended compro- mise, repres:ntatives of Maryland, vhu! ginia and West Virginia yestercay agreed | to appointment of a Tri-State Commi!-‘ tee to recommend means of rzconciling | their differences over lews regulating| fishing in the Potomac River and its tributaries. | Rejected by Maryland. A compromise offer by a special com- mittee representing the two Virginias| was refected by Swepson Earl, Mary- | land conservation ccmmissioner, on the ground that it made no concession to| his State. The committee suggested | that Maryland permit residents of ginia and West Virginia to fish in the| lower Potomac, the Jatter two States in | turn_agreeing 'to let Maryland handle all non-resident licenses for tributaries to the Potomac. Personnel of Committee. Earl suggested the Tri-State Com- mittee be instructed to work out a| compromise for presentation to the next Legislative Assemblies of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. M, D'Arcy Magee, president of the Regional Council of the Izaak Walton League who was presiding, selected for this nmittee Commissioner Earl as chair- !man; A. Willis Robertson, chairman of |the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries; Vernon E. Johnson, member of the West Virginia Game, Fish and Forestry Commission; Dr. Lewis Radclifft of the United States Bureau | of Fisheries, and representatives of the | attorney general's office in each State. | Earl will set the cate for the Tri-State Committee meeting. MAKE YOUR HOME COOL ... ATTRACTIVE WITH OUR AWNINGS You'll be acreeably surprised ho: it costs to have us make your awni Complete assortment of newest col “CORNELL WALL PAPER Co. Natl. 6708-6709 | {714 13th St. | | attenticn | | Damp Wash Rightway BLAST SINKS CUTTER LONG BEACH, N. Y, July 10 (#).— Three men were injured yesterday when the 38-foot Coast Guard cutter CG-23 burned to the water line and sank after a gasoline tank exploded. Roy McCausley, Joseph Nardel and Elton Twiford were taken to a hospital, where it was said all would recov: You'l enjoy your Vacation all the more . . . because of the Star Mail or leave your address or itinerary at The Star Business Office, and The Star will be mailed to you with the same dispatch as if you were in your oun home in Washington. * Even though every day will be replete with inter- est and pleasant surprises ...news from “home” will always be welcome . . . Reading The Star while you are vacationing will keep you posted as to local happenings. Rates by Mail—Postage Paid Payable in Advance Maryland and Virginia Evening an Sunday. Evenirg. Sundes 85¢ 50c 40c 25¢ 15¢ 10c tes ..$1.00 7Se 25¢ 50c 15¢ How often, when you need it, a par- ticular article of clothing is in the laundry! And what relief to get it back—QUICKLY! 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