Page 69 - Past Presidents' Club Book 1

/In A tithntM Supply and Machinery D ealers’ .-Issociation

the ci >nimissic >ner who had charge of the monev. and they said
"it you agree never to do ii attain we will not penalize vou.”
If you adopt this proposition, advocate with the manu­
facturer the cutting off of any man, even be he the president of
your organization, if he violates the terms of the agreement. I do
believe that the only effective way to get a profit on these
demoralized lines is to have something held back conditional on
the maintenance of the price. The argument may be thrown at
you that this is illegal. I do not believe it is. Even if it is illegal,
there are other illegal things done.
There are very few men among you who do not more or less
break the law. I know a man who went out on the Fortress
today, and others were with him. They broke the United States
law, and they knew it when they did so. The manufacturers
break the law. and there are bigger fish to fry than this Associa­
tion or the National Hardware Association.
M r. S c o t t: There are some who might object to their
money being tied up. as covered by this resolution. I should like
to ask if the same result could not be accomplished if the manu­
facturer should retain fifty per cent.
M r. M cI ntosh : 1 say no. positively and emphatically. If
you will have your unprofitable goods placed on a profitable
basis, you can afford to have your money tied up. That resolution
reads three to six months. In the jobbing hardware business it
is necessary to have it on six months. I do not think at the
present time it will be necessary in this Association to tie the
money up for six months, but that will be in the hands of your
officers, and I think you should have confidence enough in them
to work it out. Basing it on experience I say tie up every dollar.
Mr. F e r n l e y : When you consider it is money you would
not otherwise have, you can stand for the tying it up.
M r. S t r e l in g e r : In regard to what Mr. Scott says, I do
not believe you can lose what you never had. This is twenty
per cent vou never had, and you are only getting four or five per
cent and it will not be tied up. We are making five per cent on
goods, and to have that fifteen per cent it cannot be tied up. I
think the rebate cuts very little difference on the amount tied up

011 such goods as set and cap screws.