Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-03-06
Farmer and Merchant.
Continued from Page | \

not fit a tad-pole. Do you mean to
say that when you buy a suit of
clothes you can tell whether the
goods went through all these pro-
cesses or not, and don't you recog-
nize the fact that all these processes
add both to the cost of the manu-
facture and good quality of clothes?
Don't you expose your Ignorance by
saying you can tell these things
There is where the difference comes
in in buying goods from the cate
logue houses In the first place you
don't see them before you buy them
and nine times out of ten if you did
see them you would not be any bet
ter off.
/ remember of hearing Senator
Dolliver say, in an address last fall,
that he believed that all catalogue
houses were started as frauds and
were still frauds.
Let us examine shoe. Do you
know that you can make a differ
ence of from 25c pair up on the
manufacture of shoes? See here,
they can put in paper between the
soles and you cannot see it. Be
tween the soles they can either put
in good piece Of leather or they
can fill it up with scraps but what a
difference it makes to tho manufac-
turer. Oh yes, you can see all this
by looking at the shoe, can't you?
You don't know a thingabout it un-
less you know who manufactured
the shoe and know their reputation
for honesty. Do you suppose for a
minute that manufacturer who
values his reputation is going tc
put such work as that into shoe
and sell it to the retail merchant
and tell him it is Of good quality
He knows he is liable to be found
out and when he is he is not only
going to lose the trade OF that mer-
chant but will be exposed in every
merchants paper in the country.
We can go through the whole rig
amaroll of manufacture and find the
same condition. You study this
thing and you will come to the con.
clusion that you cannot tell quality
l found fellow today who did MOI
know me very well and I borrowed
three knives Of him. These TIRES
knives | hold before you and if any
one in the audience will come be
fore me and tell the difference in the
quality Of these knives, | will give
him all three, yes, and they dom
belong to me either. One sells foI
Goo and the other two for PIC a
piece. Tell quality, I tell you, 20,
don't know thing about it. Yes
| but someone says | can tell b.
breathing on the blade. Don't yo,
know that the way the moisture il
left on the knife blade depends OF
how that blade has been polished o,
finished? But, says someone, bladel
of all good knives are polished anc
yet ] have in my hand a knife tina
sells for 60c. On one side thu
blade is polished and on the othe:
it is not. Yes, we can tell quality
This whole question hinges on tina
of quality and nothing else.
Now, l want to tell you something
if YOU can buv your poods cheape
in New York than you can in Van
chester, or at your nearest town ant
get the same quality; if you can blu,
them in Chicago cheaper than yo'
can at home, quality for quality
then you ought to dc it. You ow,
nothing to the merchant because h
is in business in your locality, ant
if he has no better excuse than tina
for being in business, he had bette
get out. Ii you can buy the sam
goods for the same price at home
then | want to tell you that it
business for you to do it.
Let me show you another plac
where some Of US fellows make
mistake. Take, for instance, job
D. Rockefeller. When he wants t
equip new refining plant wit
probably millions Of dollars wort
Of machinery, what does he dc
Does he go into the corner and max
out an order to send to one VIII
claims he is selling cheaper tina
,, anyone else? mot on your life,
John don't do business that way
He sends word to all the manufa'
turers who make the goods he want
to buy, and the fellow who will Sc
them the cheapest is the man VII
gets the order. Now why don't 20
t do that way? This is business
When you want to buy a bill {
goods, why don't you make out you
order and trot down to the HON
merchant and see what he can d
on it. Find out what .hey hav
first. Why don't you do bushes
just like the best business men d
and that is to investigate at HON
first. / have no sympathy for til
fellow who makes out an order an
sends it to a Chicago catalogu
house and gets skinned" He doe
it without knowing a blame thin
about what the goods would COZ
him at home. IL your home mel
!. chant can furnish goods to you a
cheaply as men in Chicago, consic
ering the freight and all, why nc
/ buy from them? If | could find
retail merchant who could not con
pete, or who could not do bushes
under these conditions, | would tie
him to go straight up or down.
is all matter of dollars and cents
Now l want to show you some
thing. am little bit modest an
| won't tell what this garment il
but no doubt the ladies will kno,
) (at this place the speaker held up
ladies shirt. This is a piece {
goods that came out of store rigL
here in v0,1r co,,ntv todav fThi