The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-13

bore, and who puts it off until she has
a long list of necessities which demand
attention. Then there is the Chronic
shopper who regularly tours the shops,
buys but little, but Claims that she en-
JOYS seeing the pretty. things even if
takes herself seriously, and she is general
~ thoughtless and selfish.
Mrs. Frederick Nathan, president of
the Consumers league, of this city, WAS
interviewed on the matter and gave her
views to d reporter fol-. The Tribune yes
terday.
81 look upon shopping in itself" said
Mrs. Nathan, "as a harmless diversion
The shop to an ordinary woman is like
the club or a saloon to man. She often
resorts to it to get away. from unpleas-
woman who is not attracted to libraries
or picture galleries for diversion, not
the resourceful woman.
THE prOpIietorS themselves do net OBJ
ject to the chronic shopper and they
claim always that it is pleasure to show
goods, for frequently the shopper be-
comes a buyer in spite of herself. /, for
one, approve of the chronic shopper, for
the more there are of this class the mo e
of the employed will be necessary. Mark
you, 1 think she should confne her tour
ings to such seasons of the year when
the stores are less crowded, and she
should never ask to be shown goods nsar
closing time.
ct used to be the CUSTOM, continued
Mrs. Nathan, for women to shop every
day; but nowadays the average woman
is too busy, and, in fact, she need not
sional purchasers, who will attend to it
and charge nothing for their services.
81 consider that every purchaser should
feel it her religious duty to 90 her >puy-
ing in such ways as to further the wei
fare of those who make and sell the
goods she buys. Women, however are
now realizing that individual actions nave
vital relation to the welfare or misery of
the community in which they i've, and
that they owe as much responsibility In
their shopping as they do IN what seems
at first sight broader questions. NO one
Willingly would care to buy stolen goods,
and In the same way they would avoid
Struggled goods, and so our consciencSs
must be aroused to other duties. How
few of us realize that every time We
spend money we are actually helping to
make something for good or. evil? II
is put in to take its place, and so one Is
thus dissemina ting low literature. There
are entirely too many careless buyers
'Then, too. I believe that no woman
o'clock in the day"
But would not that seriously interfere
with the woman who is employed, and
whose working day, perhaps, ends at
o'clock?' Mrs. Nathan was asked.
mo, fer, as lule, a woman who is
employed can get an hour or SO off occa-
buy after o'clock the employees would
be able TO get away by o'clock. Theo-
retically the shops close at 6, but it is
often and after when the employees
leave for home, and this necessitates
their working seventy hours or more a
week. The law requires that women
under twenty-one and boys under sixteen
shall work but sixty hours a week, ex-
cepting during the holiday season. but
this is violated all the time, and I re-
ally think the shoppers, more than the
employers, are to blame for it. The eth.
les of shopping, l fear, are in a very de-
rnoraliZed condition