The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-11-30
TRADE AT HOME.

n.y.
on staple articles and making all sorts
of big sounding claims for your cash.
They do not offer to exchange their
goods for the farmers eggs, poultry,
butter or other produce. They don't
trust a penny's worth, but make you
pay cash before o get the anu
freight besides. If anything is wrong
with the goods or they do not suit,
they will not exchange them for you.
They pay no taxes into your city or
county treasury, with which our
schools are maintained, roads, bridges
and sidewalks built. They do not
contribute to our churches, charitable
Times.
There is truth in every word in b
above, and we wish this paper could be
instrumental in making all our readers
believe that it is better for all persons
to patronize home institutions of all
kinds. This matter, however, pactaEes
a good deal of the nature of the OK
and bull goring case to be found in the
old blue-back spelling book. A good
many people cry buy at home" when
goods they have for sale are concerned;
but when they want to buy articles
that others in the community have for
sale the principle is forgotten and their
orders go to other cities.
There are business men right here
n Wilmington who raise the cry q:
support home industries; buy at
home and want the newspapers 10
wage war on the mail order business,
and still when it to supplying
they send to job offices outside of the
state; they do not advertise with the
papers; they contribute six dollars Or
less a veal by way Of subscription to
the support of a city paper and not
a cent more, and then 'criticise that
paper for it's lack of enterprise and for
not fighting their battles against the
custom of u people Of sending to
other cities for goods in their line.
Were we to mention the names of
some of the business houses in this
city we could put in such a list our
readers would be astonished. Some of
our business men who are looked upon
as the most progressive and doing the
most to build up our city are the ones
who give the least or no patronage to
home newspapers and home job Of
fees. 1t is we'll for the newspapers
and job Offices that all the business
men Of the city are not SO narrow
minded and selfish as these, for if
newspaper in the city.
There is no city in the state where
the papers do more for the advertising
and up-building of their city, in pro-
portion to their ability aud capacity,
than ours and in non of them are the
efforts of the papers so poorly appre-
ciated OF their financial departments
SO niggardly sustained. 1t stands to
reason that did the papers of this city
receive better home patronage they
could give their readers better papers
and could do better work in aiding to
build up the city.
We are glad to know that these criti-
cisms do 10 apply to all of our bust
ness men. There are some who recog-
nize the truth of tie propositions
above stated and who gl7e the papers
hearty moral and financial support,
both from a of justice and be-
cause they believe the papers to be an
aid in the development of the city,
and they know hat the better sup
port the papers get the more efficient
they will become in the work.
We are not pleading the baby act
for The Messenger. That is not our
way. We are only giving the facts as
they exist and as every business ma
in the city who has slven the matter
a thought knows them 10 be.
Those business men or the city who
do not want to patronize home papers
and job offices are perfectly free, of
course, to refuse to do so, that is their
unquestionable right and privilege;
but they have no right to expect these
papers to fight their battles against a
class of mail order business which
hurts their trade or to critize the
papers for not spending more money
in charging their plants and improv,
ing their news service. And again, 4
merchant who is too stingy or too blind
to his W interests to advertise t.
home people what he has for sale has
20 'ght 70 complain if those people
send to other cities and buy there
from business men who have thu
sense and mercy to attract attention
: To their goods By attractive adrcr
, tisements.