Show HOME MERCHANTS food REASONS WHY THEY DE SERVE YOUR SUPPORT MEANS MUCH TO COMMUNITY he Is at the head of the things that are good for the town and your self copyright by alfred clark ahe above head is a subject that can well be treated as open for dis cassion and consideration at any and all times it is also a subject that should interest all persons who have at heart the welfare of the community in which he lives and who wishes to sea it grow and prosper no person can afford to do what he knows will work an injury to the corn in which hei lives in justice to himself he cannot refuse his sup port to the home industries that are tor existence and the welfare of the town in which he goes to do his trading in considering this question it should be borne in mind that the coun try people like all other american citizens are always on the lookout for a place to invest their money that will bring them the biggest returns tor the least expenditure in this they are right and are justified in so doing but at the same time they should remember that they are dependent on the home merchant tor the money that they send to foreign markets it they should stop to think how these catalogue houses are operated and look into and know the true con dialon of affairs probably they would reconsider tue stand they had taken toward them in many cases the peo pie are ignorant of the true surround ings and inside operations of these concerns and think they are doing right in sending them their money they are led to believe that what they get from the catalogue house is the same article that the home merchant sells only at a much lower price the majority of the people do not know that they are buying the cheapest article that can be manufactured and be turned down by the seller 0 these articles when he wants anything ln the merchant s line he should be the first one to be consulted when the farmer intends buying he should be seen and arrangements made for the purchase 0 the article if he does not carry it in stock the home merchant advertises or should in the home paper this keeps the home paper in the field and helps the community along the people take the home paper because it gives all the local news that they cannot get any other way and thus the advertisements of the merchants are read by them if the people do not patronize the home merchant he can not afford to advertise and without avertis ad ertis ng a will soon prove a failure soon the home paper is sent to the wall for the want of support from the merchants it may have a large birc but aitho it uie mer chant s help it w ill soon be lost to sight then tie merchant la next to get out of business for the want of support and the town will decrease in population and the people will won der what the trouble is when the editor and the merchant leave town together the home merchant contributes to the support of the ch arch he pays his taxes to keep the schools up he contributes to the horse show the tall festival and the hundred and one things that he ts supposed to help out and give his support to he Is at the head of the list for everything that la for the good of the community and he deserves the honest and hearty cooperation of all the people all the time that are interested in the wel fare of the community in which they live the merchant helps to elect the men that are to represent them in the city county state and national at fairs and he Is ever on the go looking to the interests of the people the people like to be entertained and they will come many miles to some amusement given by the mer chants of the town where they are ever ready to go to sell their farm products the merchant cannot give thase entertainments unless he has the support of the people and it Is not fair to expect this of the men that are striving for a livelihood when the peo pie send their money to a concern in some far away city that will neither contribute to any of these enterprises its a shell game you pay your money without knowing what you are go ng to get that they are in reality paying more for an interior grade of goods than those sold by the home merchant which probably cost them a few cents more since the catalogue house has sprung into the commercial world and begun operations in the united states all kinds of schemes have been tried and worked to get the money from the people that are always looking tor bargains iso expense has been spared in their struggle for the almighty dol lar of the country people and they have been so tar successful at the great expense of the home town of the people that sent their money to these concerns magazines have been started tor the sole benefit ot the catalogue house and these circulated among the coun kiy people at ten or 15 cents a year they build up a circulation on this low price of hundreds of thousands this circulation brin gs to them mil lions of dollars in adi ertl sing from the catalog ie houses and this money ex for advertising Is more than doubled from the sales of these con cerns to the countr people who are losers by the transaction catalogues are sent out telling the people that the house from which they came is the cheapest place in the country to buy and it is it the person receiving this catalogue wants a cheap article not only in price but also in make and material the farmer re calves this catalogue looks it over and after reading the well composed guarantee or assurance that the goods described in it are the very best that can be found anywhere sends in rn order the house receives the order and immediately ships the articles wanted the farmer drives many miles to get them and when the box is opened it is found to contain some thing much below his expectations but this does not satisfy his mind on the tact that he has been duped and that he Is not getting his full money value in a second order he may be treated the same as the first one but still he may think that he has saved money by buying it where he could get it cheap at the same time the merchant at home has the goods on the shelf in his store waiting for them to be taken away so that he can leplace them with newer goods thereby keeping his stock fresh and up to late it he has not the article wanted he can order it from the wholesaler manufacturer and it will be sent to the purchaser in as good condition and short time as it it had been ordered from a cata logue house the home merchants business must be kept up and in order to do this it is absolutely necessary that the people at home patronize him and help him keep up with the times or else he will soon be out of the struggle tor existence among the country people the home mei chant should not be expected to pay the highest price for and farm products and then or take an interest in the surround ings thereof I 1 home trading makes home indus tries brings more to the town and keeps them there and it helps to build up the place but the town will be at a stand still so long as the people per in this way of robbing the home merchants of the right to live and do business among them it the people will keep their money at home there will be no need tor compliant the place will assume a lively air it will take on a metro poll tan look and the people will say to their neighbor that business is good and it will be as long as the people continue to trade in the home bets the least that a person can do toward the betterment of the corn and his own interests Is to keep the money at home and see to it that it is put where it is most needed and wanted this should be a vital question to all concerned in the welfare of his community and it should be an dished rule that one should not seek for things in other parts that he can get at home FENTON J LAWLER |