PRODUCE & MARKET REPORTS FROM DAY TO DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 94, 22 April 1935, Page 10

PRODUCE & MARKET REPORTS FROM DAY TO DAY

SHOPKEEPING ETHICS

STANDARD SET UP

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, March 30.

A new organisation to protect the shopper and the fair trader, and to establish a precise standard of "truth in advertising" has been inaugurated. It is the Retail Trading Standards Association, founded by the heads o£ a number of large retail houses in the 'country. , Its object is expressed in the adopted slogan "Straightforward Shopkeeping." To secure this aim a set of standards has been drawn up, and will .be adopted by the members of the association. Examples of the standards include:— "Sale pri(\e" really means a reduction from the normal price. ' Merchandise displayed in the window is identical with similar articles sold -in the shop. ~ , ~ A piece of furniture described as antique" is at least 100 years old. . "Woollen" ia applied only to material made of wool. . ' The names of the men behind the movement will give confidence to the public ■ that the objects the association has set itself will be carried out. They ""are:— Sir Woodman Burbidge (Harrods); bir Ambrose Heal (Heal and Son); Mr. 1. J. Marquis (Lewis's, of Liverpool); Sir Frederick Richmond (Debenham); Mr. Snowden Schofield (Schofields, of Leeds); Sir Sydney Skinner (John Barkers). EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING. ■ /At the inaugural dinner there was what is believed to be the biggest attendance of retail traders ever recorded in this country. Mr. F.J. Marquis, chairman ot the Incorporated Association of Retailers and Distributors, presided, and explained the objects' in the following terms:— "We are trying to bring into one of the oldest trades in this country a standard of trading practice. We are seeking to show the Government that we are anxious and'willing to improve our trade and to preserve the interests of. the consumer. We are seeking to make advertising more effective as an instrument of trade by giving to advertisers and to the public an accepted meaning of wqrds which, traders agree, properly describe the character of the goods. "The other night I heard Mr. Baldwin say that in the future, regardless of Which party was in power, there -would probably be an increase of Government intervention'in' business. We are very anxious that our trade should be left free. "The public have become accustomed to .Government departments undertaking the control of the marketing of various forms of agricultural produce, and are competent to judge how much they have gained as a result. It ia our belief that distribution can "best be controlled by the voluntary co-operation of those who have the technical knowledge and experience that befits them for the job. "We recognise that we are 'dependent for our success in retailing upon our ability .to interest the public in the story that we have to tell about the goods that we have bought for resale. We know that, in the long run, we can only be successful if the public believe the things that we'say. For some time past there has been in* current use a slogan about 'Truth in Advertising.' It has represented an aspiration, ■ but there has never been a standard attached to it by which truth could be measured. We have determined, so far as retail advertising is concerned, to provide precisely that standard. VOLUNTARY EFFORT. "I hope that the Retail Trading Standards Association will be incorporated by the Board of Trade. It is a voluntary association of men engaged in the processes of distribution and using advertisement for the furtherance of their trade. We have adopted an emblem in the form of an arrow, surrounded by three letters, S.S.S. The arrow is a symbol; the letters indicate that it is the 'Sign of the Straightforward Shopkeeping.' This emblem? can only be used under licence from the association. Before any person is allowed to use it he must- imdertake, by written agreement, to render himself subject to the decisions of an impartial tribunal, independent of the trade and representative of public opinion. "This tribunal will have the powers of a Court of Justice, if not of a Court of Law. It can reprimand a delinquent who unwittingly breaks" the covenant of the licence. It an expel from membership any person who is guilty of using this emblem as a shield to cover deliberate deception and withdraw his license to' use it auy more. BOOK OF TRADE TERMS. "The code on which this tribunal will form its judgment is the book of trade terms that we have published. The terms are precise in their language, clear in their, technical definitions, but they are the common words that are ordinarily understood by the public, and by which the normal shopper is influenced in the' spending of money. "A'distinguished public servant and exCabinet Minister, Lord Amulree, has agreed to become the chairman of that tribunal, which will be the bar to which, every retailor in this country who joins us must, if called upon, come up for examination, and, if need be, for judgment. Our programme is not designed only for large-scale businesses. It is a programme for the preservation of standards in shopkeeping, and that is to be found equally in the small towns and villages of, this country as it is here in the City of London." Mr. Selfridge said that there was one feature of the association that • particularly appealed to him. It was the first formed by.retailers which faced squarely an aspect of its duty to its customers. The whole purpose for which the association was formed was to express that duty. The profession of distributing had no monopoly; its individual members depended for their livelihood upon their customers' giving them their onfidence. "We do not wish that they should be our customers for any other reason." DIVIDENDS DUE. Alexander Sliitea—ls per shore .... Apr. 29 Associated Newspapers, Ltd., Sydney —Interim 2 per cent, on ordinary and preference ; Apr. 30 United Provisions, Sydney—half-yearly pref. at 6 per cent, per annum, less tax Apr. 3D British Tobacco (Aust.), Ltd. —quarterly on preferonce at 6% per cent, per annum Apr. 30 United Building Society, Auckland— 0 per cent, per annum Apr. SO Australian Iron and Steel (pref.)— at 7% per cent, per annum, for half-year ended May, 1931 .■... May 1 E.S. and A. Bank—lnterim, 2% per cent May 1 D.l.C.—pref., 6 por cent, per annum May 1 K.Z. Investment, Mortgage and Deposit Co.—final of 3 per cent, at the. rata, of 5 per cent, per annum May 2 Perpetual Executors and Trustees of ' Australia—half-yearly at 6 per cent. per. annum ~ May i Bank of Adelaide —final half-year at 4 per cent, per annum ..' May 8 Mosglel Woollen—Ss 2 2-5 d per share May 13 Broken Hill Proprietary—half-yearly, la per share' May 15 Smith and Smith, Dunedln—pref., la per share June 1 Bank of NtZ.—final, 5 per cent .. June 15 An excess of expenditure over revenue of £135,710 for the eight months of thefinancial year ended on February 28 was disclosed by the Queensland financial re-, turns issued by the Assistant Treasurer (Mr. F. A. Cooper). For the same period last year the deficit was £912,103.