Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1894-09-12

can place an army OF succeslul pisnes
men on the hi road TO prosperity is seldom
to be found, and l point with pardonable
pride to an array of prosperity and popu-
larity which has no parallel.
What do we care for the financial de-
preston that wears and tears with such
merciles severity all the big old-time,
overloaded concerns of this great land
What do our representatives care for the
hard times. and the scarcity of money,
the terrors of the tariff trouble and what
not? To begin with our own concern, we
state the simple fact that in the face and
the very teeth of this terrific panic, which
oversbadows all in the former years, our
sales for the last six months exceeded
those of the similar six months in 80
over one million dollars. Our magnifi-
cent and conspicuous representatives scat
tered all over the face of the earth swear
that they have doubled and trebled-that
the masses in self.defense with their little
handful of money have choked and
thronged their stores to make one dollar
buy double its worth in values. In the
meantime the hundred percenter, he who
made out of the people who always paid
the losses of those who never paid, runs
up the white flag, and when the red line
is drawn and the legal bloodhounds have
been satisfied, there is not a dollar for
the creditor or the victim himself; he Is
on the world for one dollar day the
racketer in the meantime has bought his
stock, slashing down the cold, hard cash
fifty cents on the dollar, the proprietor
and all his clerks at one dollar day
The panic that choked up the busy BEEHIVE
of the twenty-five percenter foted the
white flag over the headquarters of the
aristocracy of one and two hundred per
cent, on eternal time.
In the ages of the past, it was the prac-
tice of oldtime one and two hundred per-
centers TO maintain one uniform price
and fix pa,da on six and twelv months.
From the prices, wud impair their digni-
ty. wer tha to concede one iota and he
was the most popular man who wud xtend
the time from twelve to eighteen months,
sumtimes two years, mostly on ETERNITY
In the meantime, the Raketer and his
wheel-baro of "auction trash" came
along, lit in on the old ded town. Thes
proud, welthy old aristocrats, thaut tina
wud make short work Of him. Tha wud
cote pins and needles at one cent also,
but the paying peple demanded of the
old-time stifnekers why tha had chargd
them the 100 percent, xtra, befor The 70
per center, came along. Of cors ther
was but one reason, but one xcuse: awe
had to make up on the peple who paid
for what we lost on thos who never paid.
Their it is, even at this terrific tariff, 80
out of evry hundred go down. Volumes
upon the evils of the "Credit System
wud not count with greater potency than
that single sentence, "tha who paid, had
to make up for the land pirates who's pa
da was ava out beyond the confines Of
eternal time.
Thos of us who hav past the hat Gen.
tury post in the lane of life, remember
vel the Rip Van Winkle and Sleepy
Hollow methods of happily past era. L
really makes me smile, to take a retro
spect of the clumsy, stage-coach, snaii-hk'
bisnes, as formerly conducted. A mer
chant visited this mar ket only ono yea
and baut enuf to run him twelv months
taking no note of any changes occurring
during that time, condescending no prof
on his goods kept the Dutchman's On
Percent. Book-keepers were then Il
great demand, as the Credit System wa
in a furnishing condition, and a scrlb
who wrote a good hand was wanted TO
the OFFS Bible.
The flag of the Credit System was fly
ing hi, but it finally had to be haulC
down, for it was only qestiOn of a II
years when the merchant and his custo
mers would go TO THE WALL. The sPo,
CASH BEFoR DELIVERY style of bisne
kid Cock Robin with his repeater o
10 prices, qik sales and small profits
And now what a change has cum owe
the meecantile world? The octopus o
long credit has ben annihilated-cAsH o
J its equivalent has cum to sta. Th
sharp, discriminating buyer wants to ge
his goods, not only on basis of fou
months les the discount, but he wants al
additional concession in the prices, becau
he is paying cash, and he gets that con
cession every time in our establishment
, He is entitled to it and our rule for a
thes years has been, to Civ customer
real values that canot be matcht.
Freqently the qestion is askt, how di