The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-05-09
GheGntelligetrte

llOn lnNL lS Uelub ulhCuhbeu u lnlb um'
in some ofthe newspapers Of the country
A Milwaukee paper recently published ii
elaborate article on the subject, 10 shov
up what II termed the evils OF doip,
business through the agency ofdrummers
The gist Of its article was to point out
that business done through drummers wa
more or less illegitimate in its character
Thatis TO say,it was a forced business
The argument was that merchants did mo-
now-a.dayP,as formerly, buy goods Of theil
own voIition, or because they really had a
demand for them but because some shrcwd
drummer possessed Of pleasing address
and persuasive tongue, electioneered
them so urgently that they were induced
10 buy beyond their wants and means. It
is even said that men who fail some,
times put forward as an excuse the plea
that they were over.persuaded 10 buy,
and that but for this oyer.persuasion
they would not have lost control Of their
business. The Milwaukee paper, rea'
Boning from these instances, took
the ground that no small pro-,
portion OF The mercantile indebted
ness Of the country was directly traceablc
TO the constant visits Of drummers 10 the
stores Of the retailers throughout the
country, and to their irresponsible am
bition, MS class, to sell goods for the
sake OF promoting themselves in the IA
vor Of their employers. BY the misrep.
reservations and improper solicitations
Of these travellers, the country retailer,
thinking for moment that he saw rea'
sons to buy which really did not exist!
frequently gave his order for goods along
with his note for the last unpaid bill.
Had the same man been left 10 himself,
to deal in the old.fashioned way, lie
would have visited the wholesale store
perhaps only two or three times n year,
and perChance might have ordered some
few goods between times, but he would
never, at any time, have gone beyond
his means.
There was much more Of this charac.
ter in the article referred TO that does
not now occur to us, and some Of il was
quite specious, but generally speaking
the view taken did not evince u very
broad or accurate view OF the commercial
situation Of the country. No doub! it
is entirely true that in many instances
goods are pushed on 10 retailers by GER
tain drummers that prove al injury TO
both buyer and seller. But ali business
men know that, in comparison with
the whole trade done through drummers,
such transactions are merely as n
drop in the bucket, Such men
know that it is not the interest Of
merchants to force their goods, and that
no drummer who forces goods on weak
buyers increases his interests ut home
thereby, but, on the contrary, really in.
lures them. OF course all young and
inexperienced travellers are apt to talk
too much during the period OF their first
initiation, and so too most young mer'
chants are apt to oyer-buy themselves
before arriving at an exact comprehen'
sion Of the real wants Of their trade. But
this is by no means radical defect, nor
indeed one that attaches especially to the
sale and purchase Of goods by sample
through travellers. 1t is fair 10 presume
that most men pay something for theil
education in .business, no odds how they
attempt to carry it on, and the old fash
ioned way Of buying and selling had plen'
ty Of vicissitudes. This is shown
by tho history OF commercial pan
les in this country and in Eu
rope. No panic left more wrecks
behind it, in proportion to the business o.
the country atthe time, than that oi 1887.
Az that day business was not done to any
great extent through commercial trav'
elers. The drummer System is an out
growth OF the railroad system. And yel
ip 1887, and in the years preceding tha
crash, the retail merchants were deeply
in debt, having, in common with every
body else, over traded. Indeed the whole
history Of commerce is but history O
mischances, and perhaps at no time in i'll
history have: these mischances been so
few, in proportion to the magnitude O.
the business done, as in this, our day. II
has been said, for instance, that 95 mer-
chants out Of hundred fail. lfthis was
ever true Of the mercantile class o
Wheeling, ii certainly is not true to-day
as every person informed in suct
matters can testify. We doubt if j
was ever true here or elsewhere l
is very far, however, from true to-day
The estimate strikes us as almOsI
ridiculous under any circumstances
But if it was really ever fact tha
O5 merchants out Of 100 failed, and ii /
is not fact to-day, who, save the drum
mers, are entitled to the credit OF rescu
ing the business Of the country from Sucl
imminent peril? 1t is easy to see hov
more or less bad debts can be mad
through the fault OF traveller for a house
but, on the other hand, it is easy to Sc
how an experienced traveller can saw
his house from making many bad debts
The man who is "on the road" las 1t II
called) few years, learns more abon
the circumstances Of the trade mall Ia
villages, towns and cross-roads,withi tn
circuit Of his visits than his employer
can possibly know at home. He CLEAN
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