Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-03-26
Attma#t Ratmtt
How the Patrons "Paralyze Business. y

MAKER III lnclf elgnDOlnOOu Wnen MS lulm-
or friends quit patronizing him for tho great,
rich, bloated, bond-holdng city manufac-
turer, who can sell wagons cheaper than
the man who makes them by the road side
the poor, clever, Woodworking neighbor who
attends the same little church with you,
brother granger; whose children play with
yours and attend the same SCHOOL, What
will become Of him when the note falls due
which he expected TO pay by his labor on
wagons for you and your neighborsP What
will become of him when the mortgage is
toreclosed and his children cry for breadP
What will become of your neighbor. the
blacksmith, whose anvil rings merrily
down the lane, when everything is brought
from the bond-holding manufacturer and
the backsmth's fire goes out for want of
work? What will become of the little, conve-
Mont country store, whose owner has always
accommodated you when your crops were
short, and credit fed and clothed your chill
dren, when you buy from the rich wholesale
merchant, who does not know you, and only
cares for your ready cash?
In the first place, the writer of the FORE
going paragraph is begging the question.
He assumes that the poor wagon maker "
cannot make wagons as cheaply as the " city
manufacturer can make them aud freight
them to the farmers door. He assumes
that the village blacksmith cannot manutac-
ture his wares as cheaply as they can be
mado in the cities, where board probably
costs SO per week and other expenses rent,
fuel, &c, at prices to correspond. And he
assumes that the owner of the little, CON-
venient country store" who has made it his
life business to buy and sell goods, cannot
get them so as to sell to better advantage
than a band of Patrons, inexperienced in the
way Of business, can buy at wholesale. He
is evidently assuming good deal to start
with.
But, allowing these assumptions to be
correct, we propose to answer his questions.
"What is to become of the poor wagon
maker?" Well, if said poor wagon maker is
in danger of having mortgage foreclOsed so
that his children shall cry for bread, and is
really an industrious kind Of man, he can
go to work for some of those grangers for a
dollar day and board, chOpping cordwood
or laboring on the land. If he has consci-
entious scrupes against laboring for hire, let
him buy farm and go to making money in
the same manner as these oppressive Patrons
are doing.
And if that poor blacksmith cannot COM
pete with outside labor let him exert his
muscle in the splitting of rails or building
stone wall, where he can get what these
same grangers consider good pay.
And. then the owner of the little store,
whose generosity has led him to sell to one
man on credit and charge enough for his
goods SO that another, who paid the cash,
would bridge over the losses sustained from
his credit customer If he finds that these
inexperienced farmers can buy at Wholesale
better than he can, and consequently he
loses trade, let him make up his mind that
tradIng-not farming" don't pay" and
engage in the calling for which he probably
is better adapted than for trading, and milk
his kline, and follow his pillow, and join the
grange, and secure all the advantages which
our anonymous friend would have us believe
the Patrons enjoy at the expense of home
talent.
Our friend goes on to answer his question
as to what will become of those martyrs to
the great inquisition Of grangerism, thusly :
Your wagon shop, blacksmith shop and
store will be closed; grass will grow around
the doors, and the busy hum of village labor
will be heard no more in your midst; while
the manufacturers and wholesale merchants
You buy from will import from Europe the
supplies they sell you, and crush out home
industry or force it to the level of pauper la
Dor in Europe.
That is indeed sorrowful picture, if true
But, fortunately, it is not true. England
with all her "pauper labor" could never
compel us to buy all our manufactures
She undertook to do that about a hundred
years ago, and failed most signally. Any
article that we can produce at home more
cheaply than European workmen can pro-
duce it and bring it to us, we shall
not 60 to Europe after. But supposing
Europe, with her pauper labor, could make
a better and cheaper wagon than Yankee
maker, (she can't do it, though,) would it
not be for our interest to produce something
else which we could produce cheaper than
she can, and exchange with her?
Our theory, the theory Of the grange
movement, the theory Of justice and equali-
ty, is that all have an equal right to buy
where they can buy cheapest and sell where
they can get the best price. We are under
no obligation to buy our goods of the village
trader if we can save a single dime by buy
ing somewhere else, and get as good goods.
1t is none of our affair whether the merchant
can get living at trade. That is entirely
his lookout. If the farmer gets comfort
able living from his farm, the same chance
is open for the merchant-plenty of room
always and everywhere in America for the
man or woman who is willing to work
Those who try to get living and yet play
all the time frequently find it a difficult
task.
If any carriage maker, blacksmith, store
keeper, or other person who finds it impossi.
to take care of himself and get a living, on
account of the oppression of the oranges, il
he will apply to us we will endeavor
to get him job at shoveling on rail.
road, at 81 to $3.50 per day, at which
wages he can make living for others are
doing it. Wehave great sympathy for these
poor victims Of the grange movement, and
should be most happy to see them all sup
piled with situations where they would be
able to earn their bread by the sweat o.