Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-02-05
STAND BY YOUR COMMUNITY.
Patronize Local Merchants and SUPPORT
Local Peopie

The Lake Geneva News in a recent
| number contained an excellent article
on the subject of patronlzing home
| merchants in preference to the large
mail order houses of Milwaukee and
Chicago. They said:
Upon almost any wagon load of
freight, hauled from the depot, there
may be seen on many of the packages
and boxes the name of one Of the large
mail order houses of the northwest.
rms indicates that some of our citizens
are buying goods out of town. Pur-
chasing gUods of the foreign dealers
and not patroniziDg home industry.
Ihese circumstances would lead the
thinking man to believe at first blush,
that there is something radically
wrong with our homo merchant.
Now is this true?
Our friend buys out of town in
mall order concern, he says, because he
can buy cheaper than from our home
merchant. This of course, is true to
a certain extent, but he Substantiates
that fact upon an unfair basis. The
buyer prOcureS a catalogue from the
mall order concern, selects a list of
articles he wishes to purchase, makes
up bill Of goods amounting to from
S2o to $50, goes to the bank and buys
draft, sends his draft with the order
for the goods, and gets his goods
cheaper than he can from the local
store in the ordinary course of trade.
Now the secret of the mail order man
to sell cheap, is in the fact that, this
has been a cash transaction; he is
enabled to sell cheaper, because, he
receives the money for his goods when
he receives his order for them: there
fore he turns his capital almost every
week or month, and in so doing SO
makes the same profit if not a greater
one than the local merchant, who gets
larger profit in the ordinary course
of trade and waits three months for
his pay. The local Storekeeper being
almost compelled to do a credit busi.
ness has his capital tied up about three
fOurthS of the time in book accounts,
and it is impossible for him to compete
with the concern doing business on
cash basis.
Now if the next time our friend
wishes to make purchase of bill of
groceries, will take his bill to his local
dealer and let him know chat it is to
be cash transaction and let the
dealer figure on that basis, the local
merchant can and will furnish him
the goods as cheap, if not cheaper than
the mail order man, and give him as
good a quality. Then if the goods
bought at home are not of the quality
represented to be the merchant will
ADJUST the matter; where if they are
bought abroad the purchaser will
have to keep what he gets.
These O11ttnrc nav cootp cn,oH b,,t
however small, they are serious enough
to attract the attention of some of our
citizens. 1t seems unfair for man to
take the money he gets from his neigh
bOrS and send it away to benefit a
concern in foreign town, not lending
to the community where he gets his
money the support he is morally bound
to give it,
This is a problem that warrants
consideration, and if considered fairly
and in an unprejudiced way the local
merchant will profit by the result.
You may say this is all bosh, that
you have made your money and you
will spend it where you please. All!
but is it all bosh?
Our local merchant contributes to
the welfare of our community in more
"oJo oAoh OiC' AuC ouprOIC yOu
should give him coupled with the
support Of the other citizens, coatri-
buteS to the maintenance of our local
prosperity, take away the support
that you should give him and you
cause local adversely.
You may be retired merchant, or
farmer or whatsoever you may, living
upon the interest of your money, and
you In all probability, have made your
money in the community in which you
live. Then when retired from business
your duty to the community does not
cease, but on the contrary increases,
your money having been made among
your neighbors, they in turn should
have first class call upon the benfits
of it. Not that they have any legal
lien upon your wealth, but the moral
obligation to them exists.
The prosperity of local industry,
commercial and otherwise, is depend
ent upon the citizenship of the
community, and the greater the
prosperous condition of local affairs,
the greater the benefits to all classes
of people in the community.
The mail order man contributes
nothing to our local organization, they
hire no labor nor money, pay no taxes
nor lend in any way to the support of
the schools
Think these things over, give them
careful study and consideration,
unprejudiced. and determine if it is
not better to support home industry.
TRIAL GOES TO WOOD COUNTY