Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-04-10

addition, the extra cost of boots, increas-
ing the annual expenses Of all who wear
them, augments the cost of everything
the journeyman has to buy, so that his
selfish effort has resulted to his absolute
disadvantage. 1t is for the interest of all
who have anything to do with production
to give the consumer his fair equivalent
in a good article at a reasonable price.
ANY other course, however sagacious it
may appear, is really injurious to it's
'egoistic" author.
There are many who admit this princi-
pie in the direct interchange of this class
of services. They can see far enough to
recognize the fact that the doctor for his
patient, the lawyer for his client, the ar
tlsan for his customer, must act on the
principles we have stated. and best con-
suits his own interest when he works for
the Interest of his patron. But they are
often blind to the evidence, abundantly
offered to one of quick discernment, that
the same law holds true in the mere dis
tribution of products.
An old merchant of this city once told
us that he thought more tradesmen failed
through lack of interest in their Gus
toners welfare than for want of devo-
ton to what they selfshly considered their
noted when in the retail trade for his
candor in advising his customers against
any purchase which he thought would
not give them permanent satisfaction.
He would always forego sale if he be-
lieved the article under examination was
not the one which the buyer really
required. When he left the retail
trade, and engaged in a large wholesale
business, he continued to practice upon
the same principle. He did it conscien-
tiously as a matter of duty, but he al
ways insisted that it was also the true
mercantile policy. His customers could
pay him because they were enabled to
sell everything they bought of him at q
profit. They liked to trade with him be-
cause he sought their interest, advised
them what to purchase, and would not,
to clear out his own stock, transfer to
their shelves any article he did not be-
lieve they could turn to advantage. He
would often take back to his own present
loss, some fabric which proved unstable.
He called such dead stock "shopkeepers,
and he often declared that he would
rather dig hole in the ground and bury
them than to have them lie year after year
on the shelf of his patrons, continual
reminder that they had made bad bar
gain in the purchase.
This may sound strangely to some of
the fast young merchants of our day, but
it is the true theory of business. The
distinguished writer we quoted in our
last article may sneer at this as an 'altru-
istic" method, ruinous to enterprise, be-
cause it seems more outgoing than self
seeking; but we can assure him and all
others who will listen, that He who wrote
an ha
''Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy
SELF" has with the same hand established
the irrepeaiable laws OF trade, and
breach of one is q violation Of the other
He who seeks his own interest in loving
regard for the well-being OF others will
find the rule of Christian ethics profita-
bic for the life that now is, as well as for
that which is to come.-N Y. Journal Of
LOn7nlelce.