The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1876-09-13
How Merchants Have Abused
Their Occupation.

| POINT PLEASANT, Sept. II, 1876.
Editor Herald.
| My few remarks are intended to
show how merchants have abused,
and injured their trade and themselves.
1t has been done by their own impru-
dence and the inconsistent acts of
their patrons. This is why 1 say SO.
Merchants are selling goods as We all
know, with the view of making mon
ey, and this is the way they 60 about
it. A man will open a store some
where, and buy large stock of goods,
which he wishes to sell at reasonable
per cent. so he can make living for
himself and family. When he has
begun business, and begins to have a
good trade, he gets little greedy, and
wants to steal little more custom, so
he ventures to put some of his leading
goods down below what his neighbor
store keeper is selling at, and even
lower than he can afford to sell for,
but he expects to have all the custom
after while and then he can make it
all back. When his opponent finds
out he has his customers stolen from
him, he makes an effort to reclaim
them, and this is the way he goes
about it. He put his goods a little
lower than his good neighbor did his.
and it finally winds up by one or the
other, and sometimes the two being
ruined. 1t is very strange that they
will run in opposition to each other
when they know it is to their advan-
tage to work together as a class of
traders. do not mean by this that
they should unite and run so closely
connected that they would govern pri-
ces to that exUens Which "vulu W q
disadvantage to all other people. 1
only want them to fix reasonable
per cent. on goods and stand up for
the same, not allowing others to beat
them down in their prices below what
is living per cent.
Some men that can sell at these low
prices and make money, does it in this
way. They do it by taking advan-
tage of ignorant persons that know
nothing about the prices of goods and
are governed by the merchants say so
of the price and quality of such things
as they want.
1 will now show you how it is that
the customers have helped to injure
the merchants, 1t is done by a man
or woman going to a store and calling
for certain articles, and when the mer.
chant has thrown them down, they
will ask the price, and when told, they
will say, "what,! my goodness! I can
get it at so and so at some other store,
naming the place, at the same time
they have had it offered to them at q
very low price, knowing that they
were in the habit of trading at other
stores sometimes. Now the merchant
being anxious to keep his custom, he
will say, if Mr.-can sell his good:
: at such prices, I can too. Then the
very liberal patron will see that he
has the advantage of his merchant
r and he will go on at a considerable
rate, telling what he can buy goods at
of certain other men, and he will fin
ally get his goods for less than they
cost at wholesale. After a few year
, striving for success, the good merchant
is ruined entirely, and the wholesale
K merchants that credited him are con
, siderably damaged. Now, the ques
: ton arises, where did the money all g
+ to. 1 will answer, it went to tina
+ most liberal patron, who beat the mer
}, chant down ON his goods and got then
T. for less than they cost. l have beer
t present and have seen and heard jus
l. such trading going on, and that is VIII,
q | 7 ooaoL- me- 10