Document e7nppR4xEYRmdBxKzOgY4e8Og

Drugs, Oils and ramis lent-- Progreaalve-- Tn MONTHLY paint, turpentine, oil, etc., which is not strictly pure, or incorrectly labeled, or w ith le tters of a wrong size or on paper of a w rong color. Such a requirement would be unjust in the extrem e, for it is adm itted that the catalogue had these laws been enforced there would have been only one kind of paint available in the states concerned, and this one kind of paint would have af F E B R U A R Y . VJ22 O F F IC E S : 509 and 510 T H E B O U R S E houses and irresponsible m anufacturers out side the State CANNOT BE REACHED under this law, but could continue to do as they are now doing. Even if the gu ilty party could be reached, which would be rarely, if ever, done, it would surely be a glaring w rong to m ake an forded but little comfort to the dealer. In those states, as soon as the laws were safely on the statute books the wide-awake salesmen promptly began to liven the business by carrying their P H IL A D E L P H IA . U. S. A. B ell T ele p h o n e, L o m b ard -- 1239. S U B SC R IPT IO N P R IC E . $2.00 P E R A N N U M . innocent one a join t crim inal w ith him. Second.-- This law does not restrain any irre sponsible or deceptive painter, for he can adul terate the very best class of goods and apply competitors' formulas in their pockets and pointing out the superiority of their own. It was no longer a question of r t Britain and Coloniea, 8 ahillinga 6 d. Postpaid. them a t such a tim e th at he could not ba de service or reputation or quality, but Single Copiea, 20 centa (1 ahilling) each. O a. H E C K E L . Editor nd Publih*r. tected. It lays the foundation for him to claim th a t the goods w ere sold him in ad ulterated form and to cause endless controversies. For exam ple, suppose he w ere sold turpentine sub simply a matter of composition without regard to workmanship or technical experience. Then was there and then stitu te as a turpentine sub stitu te and a fter will there always be, in like circum VVM. A R T H U R B O R L A N D , M a n i g i n i Ed ito r wards claim ed it w as sold him as pure tu r stances, weeping and wailing and gnash pentine. Third.-- This law would necessarily IN ing of teeth for those dealers who hap 10 lh< Pbiladelphi P o it Offic, * Stcond C R EA SE PR IC ES. I t w ould narrow down pened not to be the agents of the pre 0 ,, . Matter- com petition and the ta x and red tape incident ferred formulas. to its enforcem ent would necessarily be re The weak point in the paint industry Paint Legislation Again Virginia has once more broken out with a paint law, sponsored by the State Hardware Association and backed by a petition signed by some 600 members of that association. Since its first introduction it has been amended and reamended so that it has been hard to keep track of its meta morphoses, but, at last accounts seems to be the familiar formula labeling bill, with its provisions restricted to house paints, paste paints (not colors in oil) and similar materials. In this form it was found acceptable by the Richmond Paint, Oil and Varnish Club, which seems to have been "fright ened stiff" over the situation. Meanwhile, in the Hardware Asso ciation itself a backfire has been started by some of the wiser members who re cently sent the following letter to all their fellow-members over their joint signatures: C harlottesville, Va., February 9, 1922. SENATE BILL No. 159, KNOW N A S THE "PURE PA IN T LAW ," NOW PE N D ING BEFO RE THE VIRGINIA L E G ISL A T U R E . We, the u nd ersign ed hardw are and paint dealers and m em b ers o f th e V irgin ia R etail Hardware A ssociation , are opposed to th is bill for the reasons h ereinafter given and urge our representatives and frien d s in th e L eg is lature, as w e ll as d ealers and consum ers throughout the S tate, to spare no effort to DEFEAT this bill. We are aw are of the fact that Mr. Thomas B. Howell, secretary of V irgin ia R etail H ard ware A ssociation, and M essrs. Fulton & Wicker has sponsored th is bill, and th at Mr. Howell, in his official cap acity, has secured en dorsements of it in the form o f a postal pre pared by h im self and self-ad d ressed and askmg the members o f the Hardware Association to sign at once and return to him . It w as MOST N A T U R A L for them to do th is w ith out taking tim e to d ig e s t it. They knew th at Mr. Howell's in ten tion s w ere good and probably never dreamed that he had fallen into the error he has done. We not only do not object to any fa ir law flected in each one's c o sts and no one would be benefited but the schem er who could not be reached and would continue to flood the country is the distributive machinery. Between the manufacturer and the consumer with w orthless goods, reaping a harvest, w hile stand the salesman, the jobber, the the already burdened merchant w ithin the State would suffer. Is this any tim e for piling prices on the customer? There are other objections, but these are retailer, and often also, the painter, each of whom requires his modicum of lubrication that the machine may func enough. Let your representative know that tion. Between the maker of lead in oil you w ant the bill killed and ask Mr. H ow ell to acknowledge the m istake, for it was a m istake and withdraw his support of the bill. C harlottesville Hardware Com pany, Inc., and the consumer stands only the painter (the dealer doesen't count be cause if he doesen't keep and sell the J. Edwin Wood Co., C harlottesville, Va. commodity at the right price, the R. F. H arris & Co., C harlottesville, Va. What effect this letter may have is at present unknown, but we do know that the reasoning is sound. Just why, how, or by whom the Vir ginia dealers were persuaded to attempt "hari kari" we have no means of guess ing; but that is what it amounts to for them. That painters should advocate and back such measures is quite un derstandable, but that dealers should fall into the trap is incomprehensible. Perhaps, after they wake up they will find that they have been sitting on the wrong end of the limb while plying the saw! Any honest man may advocate a law such as that of Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia and Colo rado, penalizing misbranding and mis representation and requiring a state ment of net weight or measure and a responsible name and address on the package, whether of paint or of any other commodity. Such a law, if en forced, protects the public against fraud and enables him to buy what he wants or thinks he wants; but laws that go beyond that limit simply facilitate the task of the hot-air salesman and instil in the public a false sense of security. The formula on the can may mean something to the man who knows what it means, but of itself it certainly does not mean either good paint or bad paint; and from the point of view of public service, it is vicious in that it sets up a false and misleading standard. painter will buy direct). Between the mail order house and the consumer stands only the printed catalogue. In the year of our Lord, 1921, it cost the consumer less than $2.00 to make a gallon of lead and oil paint (not count ing his labor), while the dealer sold him high-grade prepared paint at from $3.50 ' to $4.00. And now, in Virginia behold him backing a measure that, whatever else it may do, must inevitably increase the cost of prepared paint. There may be logic in it, but the logic is not ap parent to a plain outsider. Painters back such measures for reasons well understood by themselves and by those who know the painting business. Anything that hampers or retards the prepared paint industry is clear gain to them--for the present. Finally a state paint law is not merely a law unto itself. "Behold how great a forest a little fire kindleth." North Dakota is sire to all the rest of the brood, some of which, if closely ex amined, would show the bar sinister. We confidently predict that if this Virginia bill becomes a law, even in its mildest form, it will promptly prove as prolific as a guinea pig and that its progeny will bear little resemblance to their mother. Any manufacturer who, from mistaken motives of self-interest, may now contemplate this measure with complacency will find that he has been indulging in day-dreams in close proximity to a hornet's nest. which w ill be b eneficial to the public, but w ill Formula laws are now on the statute do all in our pow er to help fram e one. This ne should be defeated like its predecessors at a sim ilar n ature have been d efea ted several times before, notably in 191b when such high class men as Senotors K enneth N. Gilpin, Geo. L- Brow ning and the la te S. M. P a g e and a number of others put them selves to much trou ble to help kill it. We object to this bill-- First.-- Because it subjects the Innocent dealer to heavy fine and even im prisonm ent if books of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming and Mississippi. In the last named two states they are new, in the rest, of eight or more years standing. In some of them they are enforced. In some of them they are spasmodically enforced. In none of them are they strictly en forced. A law unenforced is infinitely U. S. Senator W. S. Kenyon of Iowa, author o f the K enyon p ain t bill, now pending in the Senate, has been appointed a Federal .Judge, U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Eighth District, by P resid en t H arding. The appointm ent on the Federal bench has long been the S en ator's ambition and was made by President Harding as soon as the vacancy occurred. It is predicted that the ultim ate failure of the "Agricultural bloc," o f which Kenyon was the virtual leader, will soon follow. . n4 .--........ - . , ,, mni ii iin rl ' I