The daily silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1903-1907, 1904-03-07
YOUR ENEMIES, NOT
YOUR FRIENDS
Transient Solicitors for East
ern Grocery Stores-SeC-
Ond Grade Goods

The attention of the Silver State has
been called TO the fact that a party oil
people, five or six in number, have
camped here for time, and are can
vassing" the town and surrounding
country for orders for groceries for a
concern in Chicago. That the people
Of this county are letting themselves
be separated from their money by
these people seems hardly credible, and
yet, If the reports are true, this bunch
of "canvassers" will clean up hundreds
OF dollars in profits that might better
be spent in the upbuilding of home en-
terprises.
II is indeed unfortunate that the
lawmakers of the state have failed to
PASS measures that will protect the
home merchants from these transient
solicitors. and incidentally protect the
people who do not give the matter the
consideration which would convince
them of the folly of buying from
agents. Yet, as is shown by investi-
cation, there is nothing on the statute
books to prevent their coming into
the community, taking orders and
money and delivering goods; worse
yet is the fact that they are not even
required to pay a license. either to
town or county, and are able to com
pete with the merchants who have
i rye sums of money invested here,
who pay out annually for help and
other expenses more money than these
agents will ever have, and who con-
tribute to the maintenance of our
schools. our government and our pub
lie Institutions, in the form of taxes,
Possibly the legislators took it foI
granted that the people of Nevada
were sufficiently loyal to the state and
inte. ested in their own welfare to such
an extent that their own inclinatfons
would be enough of a safeguard. with
out the passing of laws; indeed, Il
should be So
II the buyers of groceries who ars
approached by these transient solicit
ors would only investigate the quality
of the goods offered, comparing ths
goods with what Is offered over the
counters of the home merchants. take
into consideration the prices quoted
and then make due allowance for the
fact that the solicitors are unknow
and irresponsible parties who will no
be here in the future to make their
guarantees good, and that the pur
chaser is shown a small sample. which
may or may not be true representa-
tion of the goods, they would not hest
ha d0Xyn n
a very short time Nothing Is gained
by patronizing these people. If tht
goods they sell are what they repe
sent. and are as good as the purchase
would buy at home. then he may b.
assured that he is paying always az
much and generally little more thar
he would have to pay the home dealer
and the only man benefited Is tn
agent who gets a big commission.
There is a certain fixed valuation II
all lines of merchandise; grocerie
bought of the jobber or wholesaler cost
n certain amount, no matter VINO puys
them. and there is a certain fixed ng-
ure under which the goods cannot be
sold at a living profit, no matter wha'
the conditions are. Now. who can az
ferd to sell the goods the cheaper, the
home merchant who buys In CARLOAD
lots and who is compelled by the com
petition of the other home merchan
to sell as low as possible. or the tran
sient agent-peddler who must add ta
the cost of the goods railroad fare, no
tel bills, livery hire, and then the com
mission which must be equal to the
profit the merchant expects to realize
at the least?
The next time one of these smooth
solicitors 3 approaches you with pFopo-
sition to sell you bill of groceries'
examine the quality carefully tax
his prices and terms, and before you
place the order, call on your nome mer-
chant and see what you can do on the
same order. II everybody did this
inst once-the solicitor would very
quickly drift on to greener fields.