Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-05-30
Don't Be Persuaded.

What blessed faculty is that
which enables man or woman to
say no, and then to stick to it! Of
course, one who practiscs the posi-
tive must also learn to think before
he speaks, else he will be unjust to
himself as well as others. No one
class of our people need to acquire
this habit more than farmers, and
when they have become accustomed
to use the word more frequently and
emphatically than they do at pres
ent, itinerant peddlers and agents
will find their occupation gone, or
at least slightly less remunerative.
The patent gate or bee hive man
calls Oh the farmer and asks him to
purchase his wares, or the right to
use them; the farmer, knowing that
he does not actually need them, says
no; but the smooth, oily tongue of
the agent soon gets a decision in
his favor, and there are two sales
effected instead of onc-for the far
mer is sold and the agent sells his
wares. When we glance over the
list of patent gates, bee hives, OK
yokes, chnrns, fences, and thou
sand and one other worthless things
that have been sold to farmers, and
are at the present time being hawk
ed about the country, we cannot
help urging every man to acquire
the habit of saying no! There may
be one or two better churns than
the old fashioned one used by our
grandfathers, but how many thou
sands of worse than useless things
have been sold under the name of
Improved patent churnsr' The
same is true, Of nearly all Of the
smaller implements used about the
household and farm; the inventors,
manufacturers, and peddlers Of the
same having tlourished amazingly,
simply because farmers could not or
did not say no. Ali the vile nos
trums that are distributed through
the country were sent there by the
manufactures simply because they
know the weakness of the masses;
and swindlers Of all kinds, from
wine plant peddlers down to coun-
terfeit money dealers who send
boxes Of sawdust to their dupes,
flourish for the same reason. Ii is
passing strange that men and wo,
men who possess any intelligence,
can for a moment suppose that any
country quack or city quack doctor
possesses opportunities or the brains
to concoct medicine of more value
or potency than the thousands of
learned men who grace the profess
sion. The same is true in regard
to plants; and it farmers will re-
member this one thing, that no
travelling agent ever did introduce
new plant, fruit Or vegetable, they
will be duped less often. When
any one calls on you and pretcnds
that he has something new, that our
regular nurserymen or florists do
not know all about, set him down as
a swindler, and not only say no,
but hasten his departure from your
premises. If our farmers had SO
served the peddlers of AMaAengi,
or strawberry tomato, wine plant,
coffee plant, and hundreds Of other
such wonders, they would not only
have saved many thousands of
dollars, but have had a far better
opinion of mankind in general.
Learn to say no to all this class, and
never purchase q thing which YOU
do not actually need, and then only
Of those who can prove positively
that they are the accredited agents
Of reliable firms. Cultivate this
habit until you can say no to habitual
borrowers, and to the merchant OF
grocer who asks you to run in debt
for things which are not positively
necessary to your own comfort and
happiness, and that of your family.
We know how hard it is to say no
under certain circumstances, even
when every attribute of our nature
tells us that it is right. Half the
miseries Of mankind arise from this
source, and they might easily be
obviated if each person would only
be honest to himself first, and then
to others.-Rual Neao Yorker.