Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-08-01
Commercial Travellers.
From the Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Charles Seymour, editor of the La
Crosse Republican, as President o
the Editorial Convention Of this state
made some strong points against The
custom of wholesale merchants o
employ -g commercial agents Oh
travellers, or drummers, as they are
generally styled. One of these gen
tlemen wrote him letter criticisine
his speech in this particular, claiming
that the system of employing travel
ing agents is cheap and convenient
way of obtaining business; that il
costs no more to secure business in
this way than it does to secure il by
advertising. Mr.. Seymour replies
through his paper, in an article o.
some length, maintaining that many
OF the largest and best wholesale
houses, both in this country and Eu
rope, do not employ agents; that the
system has become q source of i'm.
mense expense to the merchants; that
this expense comes out of the con.
sumers; that the agents are a source
of annoyance and waste of time to
the retail merchants The following
is the conclusion of the article, which
puts the expense Of the agent system
in strong light:
Fifty thousand guerillas, at the
low average estimate of twelve dol
lars per day each for salary and trav-
cling expenses, although many of
them largely exceed that, add to the
commercial burdens of this country
the round sum of two hundred and
nineteen millions of dollars annually;
sum which would defray the ex-
penses Of running a couple of such
Governments as the Republic Of the
United States. This fact alone shows
that between the wholesale and re-
tail merchants of the United States
an expense is incurred, equal to tax
upon each man, woman and child, OF
nearly six dollars annually. This
sum would annually construct q
thousand miles of railway. This sum
would buy fifty Thousand good farms,
This sum would in ten years, pay off
the national debt. This sum is ex-
travagantly beyond the benefits it
secures to the public and, if applied
to benevolent purposes, would sup
port quarter of million of people
in luxury. 1t is estimated that New
York city alone supplies $4,000 OF
the $4,000 guerillas; and it would be
cheaper to support that crowd in
some other style than that of travel
ing.
The sum that is expended annually
in maintaining the guerilla system
would be sufficient to erect and en-
dow a college every year, in each
Congressional District in the United
States, to the value of nearly ONE
MILLION OF DOLLARS.
The guerilla costs the wholesale
and retail merchants each year, a
sum that would be sufficient to ere ct
and endow an university to the
amount Of nearly SIX MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS, in each of the States
of the Federal Union.
The sum that is squandered by
wholesale and retail merchants up
on the guerilla system would pay
all of the freights on produce and
merchandise transported between
the Valley of the Mississippi, (north
of the Ohio river) and the Atlantic
sea-hoard And, yet, these $4,000
guerillas do not cheaper the cost OF
any commercial commodity and do
not add by their labor, one farthing
to the public wealth or productive
industry or substantial resources Of
the country. We do not wish to be
understood as aecommendingall these
gueriIlas to commit suicide, because
of their utter worthlessness to the
community but we would respect
fully ask, in Gods name-"W hat
good are they doing in this world y
1t would seem far cheeper TO main
tain them in some institution where
they might eat, drink and sleep, at
the expense of the public, instead of
travelling about as burdens to the
commerce of the world.
Is it any wonder that the statistics
of trade show that only five per cent.
Of those who embark in mercantile
life avoid bankruptcy and ruin, in
the face of such an expensive, per-
nicious and foolish system as that of
maintaining an army of 10000 men,
not at the cheap pay of cavalry or
infantry, but at twelve to fifteen
dollars per day for salary and travel
ing expenses, and all for no good