Show HOME why farmer should give his support to the local merchant PRESERVES HIS MARKET depreciation of property must inevitably mean tion of agricultural property and encouragement of monopoly copyright 1 by alfred clack the most serious problem atiat con fronts the rural towns and villages of this country Is the competition of local enterprises by the cata logue houses of the large cities it Is a problem for which a solution must be found if the prosperity and sta of the nation Is to stand and the solution of th great lem lies in the ban of the people of the towns and villages and the farms especially the farms the people of the rural communities have everything to lose and nothing if you are doing these things it la time for you to stop ana consider the future you will have to look but a little way ahead to see the result and it will not be an attractive picture that greets you the prosperous corn munley 0 which you are now a part will fade like the summer flowers be fore the winter winds and almost quickly it Is the fact that there is a arket within close proximity to your farm that makes your acres valuable the men who maintain this local market tor ou are the men who cause the railroad trains to stop at your town take them away and soon the town will be wiped oft the map the churches will close tor lack of support the schools will cease to be a pride and your sons and daughters will lack the opportunity that Is theira by right of birth and your that are now valuable because they lie in close proximity to a market will show a cepi that will astonish you your interests are identical with those of the merchants ot your town by sending your dollars to the city you may cause the merchants to close their establishments but when they are forced to this they can pack their stock of goods and go elsewhere but you cannot rack up your farm and move it your acres must lie in the give your town a chance by patronizing your local merchants and you may confidently conf dently expect its growth in business and population and a raise in real estate valuation send your money to the catalogue houses and you may look for the reverse the picture tells the story of the possibilities to gala by sending their money to the catalogue houses by passing by their local merchants and sending their dollars to the concerns who have absolutely no interest in their corn these catalogue houses do not pay taxes in your town the local mer hant does they do not build side walks in your town the local mer chant does they do not contribute to the building ot roads over which the crops of the farms are hauled to market the local merchant does they do not help to build school houses for your children the local merchant does they do not assist in the support of your churches the local merchant does but there are some things the cata logue houses do tor you and the first and greatest of these Is to assist materially in bankrupting your corn munley the dollars they take away never come back to ou they will never help to make a city of your all lage they will never increase the value of your real estate holdings by making local improvements let us look at the subject from the standpoint of the farmer tor it Is the farmer who is the greatest patron of the catalogue houses the town or village one two or three miles from his home Is his mar ket tor the butter and eggs and other produce of his farm the halt dozen or more merchants of the town each anxious to obtain his full share of the business of the community maintain a competition th t affords to the farmer at all times top prices for the products of his farm it is these halt dozen merchants that make farm profits possible the profits are in no way due to the catalogue houses of the cities but the farmer persists in sending his dollars to the city he wants a buggy or a set of harness or a pair of stockings or any of the necessities or luxuries of life and to get them he takes out his mall order catalogue and looks at the finely printed cuts reads the well written description and pass ing the local merchant by the mer chant who has purchased his produce at the best market prices the mer chant who has helped to build the community he sends his dollars to the catalogue house in the city and takes what they choose to send him what is the result ono after another the doors of the local stores are closed and where at one time there were halt a dozen mer chants each bidding tor his share of patronage by offering fair prices for that which the farmer had to sell there Is now bajt one merchant who has a monopoly not only of the sell ing but of the buying as well and he pays what he pleases for the farmer s produce the farmer can continue to send his money to the catalogue house in the city tor his supplies but he cannot send his produce to the same place in disposing of that he is absolutely dependent upon his local merchant and by his patronage of the catalogue houses he haa killed competition and must now take whatever Is offered tor what he has to sell mr farmer are you helping to kill the goose that is laying your golden egg are you sending our dollars to the catalogue houses and by so doing kill ing the local industries of your towne are you putting your merchants out of business and creating a monopoly that will pay a what it pleases for the products of your farm bed you have budded for them whether it be fair or foul and it la up to you mr farmer to spend your money at home and in this way you can solve the greatest problem that now con fronts this country will you do ita |