The annual dues of individual members are $5.00 and carry with them the privilege of participation in any of the Association's activities, service on conTinittees and receipt of all the literature prepared by the organization. Gas company members' dues are based upon the population served, as follows: Companies serving less than 10,000 population $10.00 Companies serving 10,000 to 25,000 population 15.00 Companies serving, over 25,000, to 50,000 popula tion 20.00 Companies serving over 50,000 to 100,000 popula tion 25.00 Companies serving over 100,000 population 50.00 Foreign companies 25.00 Holding companies (in the event underlying com panies are in membership) 50.00 Manufacturing companies 25.00 Annual dues of gas-appliance manufacturers for company membership are $25.00. Only company members have the privilege of displaying at the annual gas-appliance exhibits of the Association.
' The National Commercial Gas Association stands ready to help every gas man and every gas company. Every indi vidual interested in the commercial development of the busi ness is invited to become a member. Every company in the business is urged to form a local or company section, to give its employes an opportunity for a closer acquaintance with one another, a more intimate knowledge of the policy and work of the company, and a truer stimulus for their every day tasks.
7. Example of local retailers' association.—An interesting example of a retailers' association is fur nished by the Retail Grocers' Association of Phila delphia.' Competition among grocers and deli catessen-store grocers and other retailers of provisions in. Philadelphia is very severe. It was estimated that the average income of the proprietor of such an es tablishment in 1911 was $640 per year after all ex penses of the business had been met. In order to in crease the margin of profit the Retail Grocers' Association has resorted to various devices, some of which have been successful; others, however, have been only partially successful, and some have been wholly unsuccessful.
In 1915 the association consisted of 458 members out of the 6,200 grocers in the city. All applications for entrance are passed upon by a committee, and each new member is compelled to purchase two shares of stock-, at $100 each, in the Girard Grocery Company— a jobbing corporation owned and. controlled by the association—in addition to paying an admission fee of $25 and one quarter's dues, amounting to $1.50. The jobbing corporation is owned entirely by mem bers of the association, but it deals with outside gro cers as well as with members. The activities of the
association have resulted in the establishment of two building-and-loan associations, a horse-insurance fund, a fire insurance fund, a death benefit fund and a monthly magazine..
8. Successful and unsu,ccessful undertakings of lo cal Retail Grocers' Association of Philadelphia has demonstrated that any undertak ings which do not confer a direct benefit upon the in dividual members are unsuccessful. Such, at any rate, was the outcome of the association's attempt to accomplish the following objects: (1) to maintain an employment bureau, free to both clerks and em ployers; (2) to carry out a plan of cooperative ad vertising; (3) to frustrate the plan of the regular brokers to sell directly to consumers; and (4) to bring the Standard Oil Company to terms by organizing the West Virginia Refining Company.
The principle applies to individual groups of in terest as well as to individual persons. This was clearly seen wben the Retail Grocers' Association at tempted to enlist the manufacturers' aid in strangling the chain stores. Their support of the manufacturers could not be won because there were about 600 chain stores in the city, while the association had but 750 members.
The association has also shown that any activity which would necessitate the revelation even to an as sociation secretary, of such illuminating facts of the business as those contained in the accounts and bills receivable can hardly be expected to be successful. The same may be said of any activity that subjects the individual members to a general association pol icy instead of to a personal policy in matters which may easily alienate customers, as, for instance, the collection of accounts.
The association has proved that no local organiza tion can meet and combat any trade policy which has national vogue, or which is used by the powerful manufacturers. The use of the trading stamp is a case in point. The manufacturers of "Force," for instance, adopted a trading-stamp plan that prac tically compelled the retailers to follow suit and use the Green Trading Stamps.
The reason why tbe Retail Grocers' Association bas been able to obtain at least partial success is that the interest of the association has been in accord with, rather tban run counter to, such forces as pub lic opinion and manufacturers' interests. Thus the pure-food bills were passed, and the handling of gro ceries by large department stores was blocked, partly tbru the aid of manufacturers.