Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-03-01
MATTERS OF LOCAL INTEREST

away and leave single store ,1ntrrncI
in your efforts to save them Now oar
wonderful book has brought jov In man.
a mothers heart. Read these testimo.
malls and see what results It has accom-
plished. Can you then, in the light ~
these facts. and remembering now you
must answer to God and your consc.enc 3,
ut the last day, can vol, Iask let n mere
matter OF four or five dollars come he
tween your innocent child ana the saliva
ton Of his immortal soul?
The men who succeed best with fbiS
sort of appeal are FIRST, perhaps. the mos
hardened reprota;es: and, second the d.
vinity students. y .theolo2ue with q
deep, husky voice, capable OF breaking
down bit occasionally, can have any
good woman in tears by a judicious use
of this final appeal.
No matter how lar a man may fall
an convinced that if he still retains a
longing for his lost state. his good Dali
mon will never quite desert him. I have
been IL csnvasser. it is trne and am
sorry for it. ! have fosted the Chap
paal!a Combination upon "a Trusting puo
lie. | have sod the eXtraragant thing
to farmers and fishermen on the Maine
coast ana to planters and POI whites in
Georgia. But never; no, never though
tempted and inst gated many n time hav4
| fallen so low as to be book agent. 1t
seems 10 me that when a man is Selln,
supposedly religious books at exorb.tant
prices to some poor old woman for IN
salvation of her children. that man has
taken the ultimate. the final plunge Oi
al:
The canvaGsCr, ordinarily, is an eco
monte parasite. He has no vl,il excus
for existence. He is not conducting
| business that is, in an economic sense,
lcg!timate: and he knows it. If he fail
to realize this when his customers are
vell-to-do people, it VIII come home ~
I him when he tries to deliver one of his
orders" to some poor. struggling fam
ilv whom he has overperSGaded into buy
/ IA, Oh when tnoy Tp1lit needed
money Tor clothes and food. If he is not
| devoid of humanity and conscience h,
/ will let the poor customers off. many d:
/ time, and thus save his SOUL from Ia.
! devil at the cost of playing the deuce
/ with his business.
TIE delivery of the article, after it |.
4 sold is indeed the test Of success in the
/ canyaSSng business The cnthLsia 81
which the agent aroused grows cold, III
victim sees that he was over-urgcd ant
/ wishes that the canVaSSer might be called
/ back before delivery time And when th+
time comes he may try to beg of tr Il
= get more time or to escape the Who'll
thing by simple obstinacy The agent t.
be sure has a good legal claim, and as
last resort he may threaten to take le
1 gal measures, but the victim is ap: to Sc.
that there is small danger of that New
/ EnglanierS being conscientious. though
they may buster good deal. will usually
come up to their obligation and pay Tho
bill. But if they refuse to take and pay
the agent is practically helpless; Rathei
1 than bother with the law he will try I,
compromise by reducing the price, an!
rather than have grateful of cheap bu
costly, merchandise left on his hands, h
\ will often sell at a figure that cuts of
entirely his forty per cent.
! The agent, especially the young agent
| is thus pretty completely at the custon,
ers mercy although. luckily for him, tn,
| customer seldom realizes his power
Moreover. he finds out early in his ca
| reer. that he is thoroughly at the mere.
! of his employers. They assign him a
! first to territory that has already bcei
canvassed once or twice, Or else they pu
him in some little country town t,
squeeze few unwilling orders out of {
| hand-to-mouth population Then, out %
the many failures among their men the!
pick out those who have done well, II
spite of hard coalitions and they sept
them into fields where it will pay The
company to have them work; Some com
| panieS are fairer and more liberal thar
others but the best of them will tell lie;
| about territory and do divers other SIR
| prising things. They are not nice in theii
| methods. "a
! For all the sufferings of too patient vic
| Tins, for all the SquanderingS of poor peo.
| pies hard money. the big subscription
! publishing houses are primarily to blame
| They induce young fellows to go into thC
| business; they train them in tricky meth
| DDS; they instruct them how to plead
| poverty as an appeal to their customers
sympathy; they teach them to live on tn,
! public and then they squeeze them dry
and throw them away.
The canvaSsing business is usually ar
| eXtravagant way Of selling the veriest
| trash at eXorbitant prices to the peopie
| who can least afford to buy. 1t ought tt
| be stopped. But to stopping the can.
vasser or his emplOyer-it is axiomatiC
| that nothing can do it, nothing short G.
| a great military power. | should havs
| liked to see anyone try to stop me, whei
| | was canvaSSer. You can discourag 2,
| him, however and the only way to attack
| the company is through the canvasser
! high license fee. demanded of every
| man who goes into the business, would
be help. but great deal can be accom-.
| plished towards abating the nuisance b,
| instructing the public now to turn til,
| agent down. This has been one of tn,
| purposes of this article.
There is one defence that when steadily
| maintained will discourage any agent liz
| matter how frantic he may be- and tha:
| is the defence of nOn-resistance. Simply
| say: 1T is of course all Very fine. but
| don't want it. Not today Don't argue
| don't depreciate. Show no interest what
| ever. Tell him that you are not interest
| ed and above all that you don't want one
| today You will be invincible. The agent
| or have nervous prostration.
farmer near Urbana, ~ Y, found
so mice which had made nests in the
nf =