OCR Text |
Show HOME-TRADE CLUBS They Should Be Organized and Active in Every Community. PATRONIZE HOME MERCHANTS Thi Great Danger to Local Interests That Are Found In the Mall-Order Mall-Order Systems Educate 1 the Public. (Copyrighted, im, by Alfred C. Clark) Why should wo trado at homo? Why should wo consider homo In any way moro than any other place unloss It pays us financially? First, because It is our homo. Tho pride we should tako In tho prosperity of our homo town and our neighbors should bo sufficient suf-ficient Inducement to give them tho proferenco. Second, becauso beyond all doubt or question, It pays from a monoy point. Tho greatest mennco to tho country merchant today Is tho mall order business, and with tho decllno of tho country morchant comes lnovltable loss to tho citizens of both town and country. What at first was considered a great convcnlonco and an exhibition of commendable cntorprlso has grftwn to bo ono of tho crying commorclnl ovlls. Tho succoss of tho mall order houso is tho result of constant, extensive ex-tensive nnd Intelligent advertising. It Is not by persistent swindling ns some tell us, for no business wns over built up In that way. Tho homo morchant can do no bettor than to adopt tho samo method, tho Judicious use of printer's Ink. Whllo tho merchants aro the heaviest heav-iest Immcdlato losers, and could do Are you operating the tread mill to pour the wealth of your community Into the bottomless hoppers of the mall-order house? Are you driving your local merchants out of business? If you are you are killing your town and your own interests. aiuch toward checking nnd correcting this growing evil, by liberal advertising advertis-ing nnd publishing prices, thoy should not bo expected to do It all. Every newspaper should preach homo trade, svery teacher should Instil It Into his pupils In tho school room, ovory minister min-ister should preach It from tho pulpit. pul-pit. Tho debating societies and political po-litical conventions should discuss it. The Interests of town and country mil newspaper and church, and so-slety so-slety generally, aro so Interwoven and so Identical that whatovor Injures ono will ovontually Injure all. AVhon tho merchants aro compelled to bring on smaller stocks, and employ less help, and pay cheaper rent, they are not alone tho sufferers; the whole community com-munity feels tho loss. Tho prlco of real estato Is largely dependent on Its proximity to n good town. Rents nro lependent on tho amount of business, l'ho morchant can move to some othor :own nnd establish himself ngnln moro eadlly than can tho professional man mil many othors who have built up juslnoss through years of acquaint-inceshlp acquaint-inceshlp nnd establishment of char-ictor. char-ictor. If tho farmer, or property own-sr own-sr In town, want to soil out thoy aro :ho greatest sufferers thoy can't novo their proporty to somo placo whoro pooplo aro booming their town md country by patronizing homo. Tho remedy lies In education nnd publicity. In many placos that education edu-cation will como through bitter ex perience, but, In othor communities, whoro thoy nro quicker to detect tho approaching evil, nnd hoed moro readily read-ily tho warnings of tho press and friends of homo, thoy may correct tho 3vil moro readily. Wealth nnd powor nro corrupting Influences and tho mall ordor houses are probably not sending out as honest hon-est goods as thoy onco did. Thoy have learned tho tricks of Imitation nnd substitution nnd how. easy It Is to lecelvo tho public. Rut, If tho mall order man is honest, and his methods of advertising logltlmato In ovory way, his succoss is of no Interest to us ind will novcr benefit our community In tho slightest degrco. It crops should "all or sickness render us short of nonoy wo could not expect him to rust us for a dollar wo must always look to the homo morchant for credit in times of adversity. Who Is to blame? Tho mall ordor louso? Not In tho least. Wu alono ire to blamo. The near-sighted merchant mer-chant who laa loBt trado by not ac quainting the community with what ho has to sell nnd with tho fact that peoplo could obtain at homo, wuero thoy could personally examine thorn nnd roturn them If dofoctlvo in any way, goods at as low a price ns any cataloguo houso pan sell them, ovory man and woman Is to blame who sends nwny for goods; and ovory-ono ovory-ono who falls to ralso his voice In favor of homo trade. Tho editor holds tho most responslblo position and should bo tho leader In this movement. move-ment. Tho remedy has been outlined In a general way. Wo will suggest tho first steps. Let merchants buy at homo they cannot consistently ask others tc trado with them when they do not patronize their brothers In trado. The editors should patronize home, and even at considerable personal sacrifice rofUBo foreign advertising for lines ol goods In competition with tho home morchant. The editor deservos mort credit than he receives. Many a woll to-do farmer or city man would think himself perfectly Justified In sending away for all his groceries and cUth ln'g It ho thought ho could savo ton dollars thereby on a year's purchases, but most editors forfeit many timet Hint much every year by refusing nd vertlslng from distant firms In the samo lines of business as his home merchants; and sometimes tho home merchant even then declines to ad vertlse. Trnde-at-home clubs might bo or ganlzed, with mottos something like Club," or "I Patronlzo tho Homo Merchants," Mer-chants," or "I Ruy Nothing from Mai; Order Houses," for members to dls play. Tho acceptance and displaying of such n card might constitute a per-so per-so nor merabor. Much of tho trading away from home Is due to thoughtlessness and Ignoranco of business principles. Many persons consider only the first , cost; It thoy save 23 cents on a ten-dollar ten-dollar order by buying from a mnll order houso thoy consider that clear gain. They should bo shown thnt a morchant and his family living In their midst, keeps up a house, pays taxos, adds to tho social features, contributes con-tributes genorously towards public enterprises, en-terprises, etc. If by buying at homo tholr town gives support to sovoral moro local merchants, creating a bettor bet-tor home market, thoy get back n lib-oral lib-oral percentage. Evory man and woman wom-an takes moro or loss prldo In local affairs and Is willing to contribute something toward homo. Improvements, Improve-ments, if tho matter is fairly presented. pre-sented. Thnt Is why I say tho rom-cdy rom-cdy lies In education. Most mall order houses claim thoy aro onabled to sell choapor than country coun-try dealers becauso thoy buy In larger quantities and get especially low prices. This Is often a baso misstatement mis-statement of facts; lot mo clto an In-stnnco: In-stnnco: A stock man from eastern Washington was visiting In Kansas City. Ono morning, walking with hie nephew, who was n 'clerk In a load Ing wholesale hardwaro house, he askod where Wand & Co.'s store was located. "Don't think I over heard of them," ropllcd tho young man. "O, yos, I do romombor tho firm; thoy havo no store, they havo an ofTlco In (giving tho namo of tho building), but I don't see how thoy can soil hardwaro hard-waro as low as your homo merchants, for whllo wo sell thorn goods nt less than rotnll prlco, wo don't glvo them as low prices as regular dealors, bo-causo bo-causo they buy In such small quantities, quanti-ties, Just as thoy got orders." Tho stockman was greatly surprised, ho supposod ho had boon dealing with ono of tho largest firms In tho city. Tho mall ordor buslnoss has dovol-opod dovol-opod so slowly, and works so quietly that few persons renllzo tho magnitude, magni-tude, t has assumed nor to what ox- tont It Is now sapping tho llfo-blood of many small cities and towns. Even now wo hoar tho excuso glvon for sending nway for goods, that tho mor-chants mor-chants carry such poor stocks. Tho wondor Is that they carry any. |