The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-04-08

cat of it, to pay for them. The Wan who
uses the cutter may be benefited by it,
but many might have been, had the pay
for it been kept in the county. We are
by no means debating to men how they
shall spend their money, but we ask them
to look at the results which follow from a
certain way of spending it. Why should
men who come and settle in the county
and open shops and start business, not be
encouraged; and to whom should they
look for encouragement, if not to the in-
habitants among whom they dwell !? Think
you that if one is forced to shut up his
shop for want of being encouraged, that
he is the only sufferer? BY no means.
The Carpenter too, he must suffer by the
sash, blinds, &C., WHICH merchants keep
for sale, brought into the county. And
strange TO say these get sold altho' carpen-
ters live here and often have but little to
do. We feel inclined to ask the Mer-
chant question here, Suppose you are
indebted to me, would you not desire that
[ should purchase goods from you, so that
you could get out of my debt, especially,
since [ may be buying those articles else
where and perhaps abroad Most GER
tainly you would. Well now just reverse
it, and suppose am in your debt is it not
likely | would think the same? By such
process you may make little, but, we
are fully convinced, not as much as you
would make by encouraging home man
ufactory. Thesame might be said of those
plows, sleigh-shoes, &C., which you keep.
Cannot such be made here? And would
it not be better for all if they were? Let
us see, A farmer buys plow from the
store, without looking ahead, but in a
short time his points are worn out, and it
often costs hin more to get another than
a plow comes to, Or his mculdb0ard
breaks and the whole thing is useless
Now this IS not supposition, for we could
refer to a goodly number who have exper-
iencod this. Did they purchase those
made here, they could at any moment re-
place any part which might be wanting.
At first it is saving pennies to be paid
back with dollars. We know that it is
hard to make men feel and believe that it
is not the best policy to buy plows which
are brought from abroad, but just as soon
as they are in difficulty with them, then
they admit all. And Store keepers say
We must sell what we can make something
by. Well if this is the rule, namely, make
something, who would not, if they fol-
lowed this rule, send elsewhere for their
goods
We state here what we do knop, that
there is not an article which we buy from
the Merchants but what we could send
for it and get it at less price than what
we pay them for it. But this is against
our principle and we don't do it. We buy
from them because they ought to be en-
couraged, it is necessary there should be
stores. Were our object to buy oehere we
can buy cheapest, we would never buy
single article from Merchants here. What
we do buy, we do it with the full conyic-
tion that we are paying more for it than
1t would cost, were we to send Oft for 1t.
We are expressing ourselves here not by
guessing at it, but by kno1cing it to be
true. Should you ask why then do you
buy at all, especially when you are doing
it at so dear a rate? We answer. our
principle is to encourage our neighbors in
that which, in reference to the whole, is
good. Stores are necessary, and they
should be encouraged. So is with ShOps
and Mechanics. Besides we advocate that
the cheapness at which an article can be
bought does not determine the fact that
sho~ld buy it. But my present article is
already long enough. Yours,
A FRIEND TO POTTER.