Chez les vélocistes et motocistes mosellans — L’Officiel du cycle, 21 April 1951, the Moselle Dealers’ Assembly

From L’Officiel du cycle, 21 April 1951, page 17: the report of the dealers’ general assembly in the Moselle. The title, headings, captions and lists are transcribed as printed; the text is summarized in Ebykr’s words, and the page images carry it in full. It belongs to the trade columns that the weekly addressed to the French cycle dealers, the vélocistes.

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CHEZ LES VÉLOCISTES
ET MOTOCISTES MOSELLANS

On nous communique :

[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. The communiqué reports that the extraordinary general assembly of the bicycle and motorcycle dealers of the Moselle, held at Metz during the “IIe Salon du Tourisme et des Sports” on Monday 2 April 1951 within the exhibition grounds, was of particular importance. The dealers met at the call of their trade chamber under its president Sibour and heard him, then Camille Hocquard, vice president of their group and commissioner general of the Metz show, then Simon, the secretary and finally Jacques Catinat, general delegate of the Fédération des Groupements Commerciaux et Artisanaux de l’Automobile, du Cycle et de la Motocyclette, who had come from Paris with R. L. Cottard, administrative secretary. Sibour thanked the federation’s representatives and gave the floor to Hocquard, who after a moving tribute to the late union leader Félix Lainé set out the trade’s wishes on the inadequacy of the discounts in force and described the work done for the Salon, whose Moselle dealers’ section had earned the admiration of Parisian visitors. Simon reported on the chamber’s administrative work.]

[Ebykr summary, on the general delegate’s address. Catinat spoke for nearly an hour on the questions that concern the trade. On apprenticeship he described the tax situation and the best ways to organize effective training, and the differences between the Moselle and the rest of France, where two taxes pile up, which he called abnormal. On cooperatives he urged action against all pseudo-cooperatives, which dealers who suffer from them should report in detail. On deposits he said the bill promoted by the federation should soon be taken up again by Parliament. Among recent parliamentary victories he cited the vote banning prize tickets and the filing of several bills against the snowball scheme, whose passage seems assured. On taxation he reported federal action against perpetual increases, notably on flat-rate assessments and the tax on services. His main subject was the problem of discounts in the cycle and motorcycle trade: he gave the history of the Interfederal Committee’s recent work and its results for cycles, while admitting that for motorcycles the situation differs because of the intransigence of certain manufacturers, and said contacts would continue. He also treated master craftsman certificates and the organization of the trade.]

[Ebykr summary, on the debate. A general debate followed in which Sibour, Hocquard, Zenner, Simon and their colleagues took part, and Catinat and Cottard supplied the details requested, particularly on the status of the craft trades, on which reform projects were under way, and on the multiplicity of fiscal and social charges, on apprenticeship, cooperatives and company stores and on discounts. The assembly then voted unanimously a resolution on the margin rates.]

[Ebykr summary, on the resolution. The text opens as the union of Moselle dealers meeting in extraordinary general assembly “le 2 avril 1950 à Metz” (the year is printed 1950 in the resolution, against 1951 in the report above). Having examined the reports of Sibour and Hocquard, who is also president of the Sauvegarde du Commerce Messin, on the discount rate granted to cycle and motorcycle retailers, it considers that the present discounts of 14 percent on motorcycles and 18 percent on bicycles are plainly insufficient for businesses needing large stocks and sales efforts, that the cycle and motorcycle branch alone is in this disadvantaged position, which risks the very existence of these shops, while other branches such as furniture and textiles enjoy reasonable retail discounts, and it notes the rate changes proposed by the Fédération des Groupements Commerciaux et Artisanaux du Cycle et du Motocycle. It resolves to do everything to obtain a quick decision from the manufacturers suited to the trading conditions of cycle and motorcycle shops. It asks the federation, first, to resume contact with the cycle and motorcycle trade chambers on the basis of the agreement proposals already presented; second, to ask all dealers’ unions in France for a motion of the same kind; and third, if need be, to approach the public authorities to make them feel the injustice of a situation from which the shops concerned suffer gravely and without cause.]

* * *

[Ebykr summary, after a three-star break. The writer praises the working atmosphere and excellent professional spirit of the assembly, which honor the leaders and active members of the Chambre Syndicale des Vélocistes et Motocistes de la Moselle. A banquet followed at the restaurant of the Salon du Tourisme et des Sports, attended besides trade figures and a respectable number of members by de Marin des Bouillères, deputy to the mayor of Metz, and Commandant de Trévelot de Trévalot, gastronomy commissioner. Cordial speeches closed the meeting, in which Hocquard, Sibour, Catinat and de Marin des Bouillères voiced their satisfaction and their wishes for the cycle and motorcycle trade and the economy of the Moselle. Kraemmer, president of the sporting group “Pédale Mosellane”, spoke last and showed himself well informed on industrial and commercial questions as well as the leader of a prosperous club.]

[A text-only article of two columns in black on a plain ground. The title stands across the head of the left column in heavy bold roman capitals over two lines, with an italic line of introduction below it. The body is set in roman type, with the names of speakers in small capitals, some words in bold and others in italic, and the resolution set in quotation paragraphs each opening with a guillemet. A small three-star ornament in the right column marks the break before the closing section. No drawing, signature or agency mark appears, and no edge cuts the text.]