The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1893-11-25
Scorcher.
Communicated

In your issue of the nth inst, there is
a short editorial deploring 1.-THE bad feel
ing that exists between the town and the
surrounding county" How strange when
the shrewd far-seeing farmer deplores a
disaster to the town as deeply as the mer-
chant deplores a crop failure!" Can we
fathom the depth of this all round deplor-
ing? Not in the light of "a score Of reas-
ons-none of them worth a cent" If there
were no cents in question. your town and
country would be the embodiment of
brotherly love where each would esteem
others better than themselves" and mot
one of you would say that aught of the
things which he possessed was his own,
but would have all things in common"
But, after feinting round your c~entless
reasons. why do you give away your fair
country's loving and peaceful character
by that terrible ~stroke-"right from the
shoulder"-when you say land yet we
have here merchant Il am glad there is
but one merchant 'bucker) and farmers
'bucking' each other as if natural enc
mics" (Too bad, Mac. Let the young
man revise your manuscript hereafter.)
And now that you are in the attitude, you
"let fly" again, and look at your bloody
work. We have the one doing all in his
power to get the farmers entire profit and
we have the other sending every dollar of
money he gathers to foreign dealers for
his goods" Bad American that farmer
is who would dare to buy in the cheapest
chant that can easily swallow at a gulp all
his profit and whine for more. Get him.
if possible, rightly imbued with a sense of
the inestimable value of protection for his
local merchant. ever though it should cost
him 'all his profit" Why should he re-
fuse to pay twenty-five or thirty per cent.
more for his goods to his local bucker
than when he sends to the foreign dealer?
1t is decidedly un-American according to
the gospel of protection. 1t is unbrother-
ly to the merchant who has such a deep
interest-''all his proft"-in his crop, and
straining every nerve to show that inter-
est by the quantity, quality and variety of
his "stock" and the price-just a living
price,. e.. all the farmers living. What
more does a farmer want? Especially a
protectionist farmer. You ask how long
can such a condition of things EXIST"
There's "a poser" I should have liked
to see your face when your pen reached
such depth on the cent question. Suppose
you had had space-which I see you had
not-perhaps you might have reached
some such answer as this-as long as the
farmer can buy larger quantity. better
quality and have a better variety to select
fhMn. and at a cheaper rase-carriage in
cluded-from the foreign dealer" than
be can buck" out of his natural enc
N.Y. c. o. D. That will settle the mat
ter with those who have cash. On the
other hand, it will last as long as there
are those who have not the cash. but who
can give a mortgage at twelve per cent,
with the interest added to his former &C.
count upon renewal, which is nor COM
pound interest-stupid-but business to
reach out to 'all the profit" 1t is accom-
modation-a great obligement-out of a
truly disinterested spirit which r~ejoices in
seeing a good crop, as it augurs a good
prospect of a good return for the good
done to a good brother. You do not un-
derstand the question. Let a younger
head tackle it. Let the merchant mind
his own business. He knows just where.
when and how to do it, and if he do a
little 'bucking" now and then, let the
farmer know it is for the good of his prof
it (never mind whose). Send o n SIS out
of the profit on receipt of this. or give a
mortgage at twelve per cent on your
toa READER.
rive had some hesitation about printing
the above, fearing its tendency to create i'll
feeling, but concluded to insert it with some
comments. We fear the writer has taken q
one-sided view Of the matter in question.
Here is the whole situation in q nutshell:
Farmer and merchant (now don't q it
that we mean just one m~erchant) are de-
pendent on each other. Under our present
system Of doing business on credit. the mer-
chants in this tow are compelled to trust
men for tens of thousands Of dollars worth
every year-and they d it. We ask these
farmers frankly II they could get along
| without that credit If they could, in heav-
ems name why not do it2 If the cash which
Is sent away for goods each year were spent
here, the farmers themselves would be BEN
| ef1tted by it in every way. We know there
| are some articles for which there is little or
no demand and which, as a consequence are
not kept in stock, which one is compelled to
send for, but we state our firm convictions
when we say that we believe a man can do as
| well buying for cash here. as by sending
away, and there is the added advantage OF
keeping the money ut home. Now for . lit
| tie experience of our own. Finding that q
representative Of the Northwest Grocery Co.
of Fargo, was around taking orders, We sell
ected a half dozen or SO articles most COM
monty used, and ordered a few dollars
worth that we might Judge for ourself Is to
whether anything is saved. After = care
full trial of everything bought, we hav
come to the conclusion that we can do fully
az well right here-possibly . trifle better.
The articles we got cost as much and were
not one whit better in quality than the same
goods sold here. with the one exception of
maple syrup. The tea was far inferior In