The Plymouth Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1878-1901, 1879-02-06
Humbugging Farmers.

open!
Humbugging Farmers.
II every farmer in the land could |
read, and profit by the accounts CIV
en- in the american Agricttlturist dur
ing the past year only, OF the various
special frauds upon farmers. 1t would,
in the aggregate, be a saving OF hun
dreds Of thousands OF dollars to the
farming community. There Is set |
OF swindlers whose operations aie es-
pecially directed towards farmers. II
Is no reflection upon the intelligence
Of farmers that this Is so. These ras-
Gals know that all kinds Of fish are
not to be caught with one bait; hence
they operate upon clergyman. doc
tors, merchants and farmers, each In
a different manner. 1t Is safe to pre-
dict that there is new set OF traps
ready this spring TO catch farmers.
or late years The agency" dodge has
been played sue ccessfully, and 1t has
already been started thus early In the
season. These swindles are all after
one pattern. A glib tongued chap. No.
l, wishes to establish an agency" for
some crinkum. 1t may be stump
puller, machine for grinding the
knives OF moving machines, it may be
churn power, or spring bed.
Whatever 1t Is. chap No. 1, 8. mellow
or in some way. contrives to get the
signature of the farmer. Here is
where the trouble begins. We have
cautioned and reiterated the caution:
Farmers. be careful what you sign"
but this does not seem to be enough;
no matter how much care Is exercised,
the smooth. tongued chap. No. l, is
usually too much for the farmer. So
we say to farmers-don't act as
agents to anything. but il you will not
heed this, and the temptation as to
profit is too great to resist, and you
will diregard warnings, We beg OF you
farmers, don't sign anything. You
may be asked to agree to become an
agent, you may be asked to give your
address, so that the sample machine,
to be sent free. will come all right;
you may be asked for merely your
postofflce address. Take Our advice
which is the same as Punch's ad
vice to young people about to marry
-don'tl don'tl
Don't, do not-pray refrain from
signing your name to anything what
ever. Observe this and you are safe.
Sign your name on any pretence to
anything whatever. and you open the
way for the visit OF chap No. 2. He is
not smooth-tongued or persuasive.
He has come to collect his bill. You
have ordered 30 and SO. The goods
are at the depot. here is the bill, and
he wants the money. as he must take
the next train. You can't say you
never ordered the goods, for there is
your signaturel You can't deny it.
but you signed 1t as an agreement to
act as agent, or signed 1t as your ad-
dress-No. 2, knows nothing about
this-cares nothing about ii. but
wants his money. Here We again say,
don't. Don't be bullied into paying
it, but let him do bis worst. Show
him the door, and let him appeal to
the courts IL he dares. The game has
already begun, and hundreds OF farm
ers, to avoid trouble, will throw away
thousands OF dollars the coming sea-
son. Don't be bullied into paying
dollar on any such claim. At ihs
most. it can only go to jury OF your
neighbors to decide, but not one case
in hundred will ever come to that
One correspondent, in writing from
Massachusetts,, says that some OF his
neighbors think that an agricultural
paper can teach them nothing, yeI
one OF these very conceited farmers
had to pay $50, which he would hayt
saved had he read our humbug arti
cles, as the very swindle was exposed
here american Aqr'iculturist Jol
February.