The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-11-19

out the ehHetuesS 10 obtain bundles OF
these worthless scraps IS never dulled
To watch the often painful struggles
around the bargain counters" Is wor-
thF the close investigation OF p~sycholo-
| gists. What Is the germ OF the cFav-
ing TO possess these things, when every
atom OF common sense we may be able
to exercise cells us that no merchant
does business on the basis OF selling
things for less than their value? What
makes sensible, methodical, hard
working women snatch and clutch and
| buy tumbIed garments OF which they
have no opportunity OF examination or
Judgment? After eagerly paying pre-
clous money. they turn 10 the street
again With a look Of triumph on their
satisfied faces. Then huge advertise
ments which cost the merchants large
sums OF money are read b. thousands
who flock to buy; who pays the severe
ly high rates the newspapers demand
for these many-wurded invitations? Is
all this great expense added TO the ad,
vantages of the "bargain" they strug-
| gied To purchase? Do men toll and
contrlve at the cost Of hundreds and
thousands of dollars to attract shop
pers, simply In order to make them
presents?
II one saw at these sales only the
careless, vulgar women, whose chief
desire Is to clothe themselves showily
at little cost, It would seem more ac-
countable and more rational, hut many
handicapped dollars are SO spent by
c~lear-headed wives Of tolling men whose
money is a%nxlously saved. Forty-nine
cents become greatly less than half-a-
dollar In the glamour begotten OF big
type IN the Sunday papers. and kept In
force by the sight OF crowds pressing
into open doors, The moral wrong,
which OF necessity must be hidden
somewhere to produce these abnormal
conditions, never seems 10 make itself
known to these shoppers, Under-pay-
ment Of the producer and injustice 10
the statesmen and women Is suggested
by the clergy as a basis and urged as q
plea against this mode OF purchase. No
conclusive evidence has been shown at
these wrongs. though they are probable
and easily possible. The easiest solu-
tlon Is the ready deception of the I'M
thinking purchaser and the craving to
obtain things below their value, which
seems Unsuitable.
Why we should not bring the same
sense OF courtesy and honor, and the
same degree Of consideration OF others,
to bear In u shopping as we feel to be
indispensable in u other dealings Is a
mystery. That this alone, OF all the
ways In which we supply our wants, In
wolves no ethical right or wrong, no
mutual obligations, seems to have be-
come an unspOken conviction. The fact
that we intend to spend our money for
a certain thing seems, In the general
estimate of women. to revoke all ordl-
nary laws and permit us to cause no
end OF needless trouble, and to exact
time and labor without regard to the
relative result, and to exempt us from
any responsibility as to how we pro-
cure satisfaction. To decide within
reasonable limits what material we
want, how much we can spend, and
what quantity we require, is so easily
possible that for ones own comfort It
would seem natural and desirable to
start out furnished with that much
preparation; yet those who 81 equip
themselves are the few exceptions in
the great army.
OF all the methods by which women
earn their bread, few require a larger
equipment Of physical strength, quick
ness Of perception, and unfaillng pa.
tience than does standing behind the
counters OF our shops. In many places,
especially In those most patronized by
| women, delicate discrimination of color
and texture and other refined powers OF
observation are Indispensable. These
| almost always are linked with charac-
terlstics which belong 70 keenly sensi-
tive temperamepts; yet many n pur-
chase Is made after most painstaklng
effort and q l"ong-contlnued search for
| which not even a thought Of thanks Is
given, The buyer OF the difficult shade
OF silk or becoming bonnet may scarce.
ly he able to tell who waited upon her.
The ground taken by philanthropistS
and the clergy during the last year,
that women should deny themselves va
rlety and ornament rather than buy and
wear ttf-pafd work, and urging that
some interest should be taken in the
conditions imposed upon those who
serve in the shops they patronize Is
strong and defended by the very ele-
mental principles OF Christianity; but
within this large drawn circle comes n
standpoint of common honesty, and the
employment of the same ethical code
which we apply TO our use Of the trades
and professions. We would not require
n carpenter to spend hours in showing
and describing his tools and materials,
when we had no definite intention OF
using them: we would not ask an ar
chitect to draw plans OF houses which
we never meant to build, nor set a la
borer to upheaving earth mean
ing to plant or to pay for his labor. Yet
In the shops, where there Is no means
| OF defense, since the honor and consld-
| Grafton OF the shopper is the only pro-
lection, the merchants policy requiring
! ciVlllty to all, there are many who do
not hesitate to make n business of CIV
ing trouble, causing great fatigue, and
taking up valuable time, without In
tending to make q return OF any sort
whatever.
To search for what we require until
we find II, and get the best value posi-
! bic for what we spend. Is simply TO use
reason and Judgment: but all this can
be done without injustice 10 any n
But to use the shops aud their at
tendants as II they were for our gra-
tultous amusement Is an ever-presont
| wrong, committed 10 remorsetessIy that
we must assume Il TO be for the most
part wholly unconscious,
OF the weakness which makes us
buy what we cannot afford TO pay for,
| ono need not speak; Il Is q form OF err
o which brings its own quick pun
ishment. One does not continue uncon-
scious OF It; II soon throws on It's mask
OF expediency and makes It's unpleas-
ant voice heard. Nor Is the merchant In
this case without power OF %retrIbution,