The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-03
BARGAIN COUNTER IN PARLIAMENT.

authority is in dispute.
COUNTER IN PARLIAMENT.
According to a dispatch in yesterdays
an attempt is being made to
many by government edict. Ostensibly
the bill submitted 10 the Federal Coun-
Gil and the Reichstag is in the interest
of tradesmen who. pursuing staid and
tim~e-honored methods, find themselves
left behind by what they are pleased
to consider the unfair competition of the
bargain counter. The complaint is
made that these slow-going dealers find
but little demand for their wares for
some time after a bargain sale. The
women. it is averred, are so beguiled
by the enticing offers Of graceless ad-
vertisers that they flock to the sales
and spend all their money for goods
which they do not need, merely because
they think they are cheap, but which
really are often, say the Mortified Ger
mans, higher in price than when sold
in the regular way by conservative mer-
chants. The surprise of the slow-mov-
iii6 1Cl uilQu over CnG ODeTaI1OnS
of the new, and, as they believe. PERM
cious. system Of traffic may we'll be i'm
agined. and the bill to put a stop to it
is a result and an Illustration.
But, ~astonished and aggrieved as the
old-fashioned shop keepers must be,
n out of pocket as they may find
themselves in consequence Of the too
tempting advertisements of their COM
petitors, it is not probable that the gov
would concern itself with their
woes to the extent of prohibiting bar
gain counters if it were not that other
and more important considerations were
involved. The members of the Council
and the Reichstag are sagacious enough
to know that it is unwise to interfere
with commercial processes or legislate
against one class Of citizens in favor
of another except for the most serious
reasons. The superior advertising
shrewdness Of the bargain counter men.
whereby they are enabled to sell their
rapidly n at great profit
to themselves, is not of itself an Of
Tense SO heinous as to demand govern
ment notice. Even a German mind must
comprehend that IL protection to other
merchants is necessary the latter have
the means at their own command. All
they have to do is to set I'D bargain
counters themselves, Inc by advertising
circumvent their rivals-as Hamlet has
1t, by opposing, end them" Plainly,
the Federal Council and the Reichstag
have some purpose beyond this. There
is cause to suspect that the august mem
bers of these bodies fear the demoraliz-
ing effect of the bargain counter upon
the women of the country German
women, it is well understood. are tame
and submissive creatures. The lad
vanceG" m is unknown among
them except as an occasional isolated
specimen who serves to point a hideous
moral drawn by German men and breth-
rem. The typical German frau is a
model of her sex according. to the plans
and specifications cherished and sacred
In masculine circles everywhere. She
is humble, meek, content with little, de-
voted to husband and children, retiring
and domestic in taste, frugal, and, above
all, ohedient. Up to his time the Ger
man husband has had but little diff
Guilty in keeping Her in due subsection.
She has shown but little disposition to
enter new fields. The. political arena
has not tempted her; she has not adopt
ed professions or other semi-pubIic ca
reers to any great extent; she does not
go ~"rampaging'' about as a lecturer or
reformer: II she is a Club woman the
fact is not known to the outside world.
She is simply, as yet, a plain "haus
frau" who looks well after the WAYS
of her family and has no unseemly am
billions. But the bargain counter may
destroy all this sweet feminine sim
plicity n t~ractability. Promise of DO
litical power may not tempt her to wan
der from her accustomed orbit: public
applause and the glitter of gay society
may not attract her, but the seductive
counter may be her undoing.
The chance to buy dry goods or other
wares Cor wears) at less than cost" is
n that even the gentle, w~ell-ordered
German dame will not forego. She
will insist upon taking advan-
tage of every Unparalleled ; op-
p~ortunity" within her reach and
will buy things because they are
cheap. or because she thinks they are
cheap, Just as her American sisters do.
In America the bargain COUNTS is a
great institution and is one of the chief
enjoyments OF women who have many
sources Of entertainment. But Amer
lean women spend a vast deal of money;
they are called extravaganza, and they
VIII n do have their own way in mon
ey pending as we'll as in all other
things. If German women once take
the bit between their teeth, so to speak,
and get a taste of the freedom and de-
light incident to bargains, there is no
telling where they will end. That they
must be curbed before it is too late Is
evidently the opinion of the men yet in
control.