, 1908-03-18
MERCHANT AND CUSTOMER,

Strange as IL may seem, In small
towns there Is less of harmony and
unity among all the citizens than IN
large cities. Interests being necessa
lily OF a limited nature, merchants pull
for themselves n are prone to be en-.
vious and jealous of the success of RI
walls in he same line of trade. The
same thing Is true of the professional
men. This lack of friendliness not
only keeps them from getting together
and discussing matters of vital impor.
lance TO the community as n whole.
but actually drives them farther apart.
A matter for the good Of the town pro-
posed by n is very apt to have cold
water thrown upon it by a rival. In
the large city this Is not true for the
reason that the trade must of neces
sity be divided into many parts aud
none can hope to secure anything like
q monopoly.
Laramie Is getting large enough to
take on the airs of the large city. Tho
spirit Of rivalry should be of a friend.
ly nature. Competition between mer-
chants and professional men should be-
Of that friendly, generous character
that tends to foster and encourage the
growth of all.
There are many ways in which the
business men of n own the size of Lar
annie can help each other and the peo-
pie at large, but the thing most pro-
life of good is to get together and
talk 1t over" A touching of elbows
and the imparting of ideas brings
greater results than anything else.
That is the benefit of a live CONNER.
cial club. If one merchant or profes-
sional man has a grievance or an idea
1t can be given to all at the meetings
of the club. Questions as to freight
rates. the construction of country
roads-those arteries Of trade that are
ting-and all live topics can be best
solved by a number of wise heads.
A commercial club need not neces,
sarily be a place where merchants get
together and combine against the To-
cal consumer. The latter must have
consideration and it is the duty of a
club to see to 1t that goods are sold
as low as is consistent with fair deal
ing. A combination generally works
In restraint of trade, rather than IA
extending l.. If consumers come 10
the conclusion that their patriotism To
their home merchants Is being taken
advantage of TO arbitrarily raise prices
they are very quick to send their trade
TO mail order houses or to merchants
of nearby cities, This is where the
consumer comes in, and he should be
given an active membership and an
active voice in the organization for
the general uplift of the community. II
The price of a certain commodity Is
raised in price. there is no reason why
for illustration. the creamery finds it
necessary to advance the price of but.
ter to the merchant one sent per
pound, the people of the community
should be told why 1t is necessary for
the merchants to capitalize that in.
crease at o hundred per cent. The
creamery. too, should be given an OPP
lSANuhiNs " captain Just why 1 ais
was necessary. All these things are
proper subjects for discussion in a com.
mercial club. Every detail of the bust
ness of the community at large may
be bettered by an exchange of practi-
cal ideas and the adoption of methods
that will not only get trade, but
keep it.
The Republican is satisfied hat the
people of this city and of this county
are just as loyal to home institutions
as any like number of people on the
face of the earth, provided their at.
tention is drawn TO the fact that they
can do as well by standing together as
they can by separating themselves in,
to units and standing separately
Wholesale prices and carload rates
give the merchant all the advantage
he should have in the disposal of his
goods. These two things are all that
he should expect the consumer to give
TO him as a profit. And the merchant
in turn. should patronize the other mer
chant in all those lines he does no.
carry in stock. In days gone by, the
writer has known dry goods and cloth
ing merchants of this city to lay in d
good supply of tea and coffee and other
imperishab e groceries while they were
buying their stocks in the east. That
was depriving other merchants of their
home tow of that much trade that
legitimately belonged to them, and at
the same time it was setting a bad
example for customers of both. In
this connection, too, the printers of At
community dislike very much to have
a letter written to them or a bill pre-
scented with a heading printed by a
firm in some eastern city, particularly
when the local printer would have
been delighted to have duplicated the
work in both quality and price.
All of these things can b. aided by
organiZation-by an interchange OF
ideas and mutual aid. The Republi
can is not going to be satisfied with
conditions in this community till ev-
cry merchant, professional man and
citizen is pulling in unison for the be-
.~r-. - ~ ~ Ia. -4.