Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-08-29
PICTURE BOOK WilES.
How the Catalogues Lure Buyers
With Deceptive Cuts.

WIN cCSSPtis
The head, the hoof and the hide OF
the mail order business is the cata- !
logue, and the meat of the catalogue
Is the picture. In these voluminous
books the larger catalogue houses pic
ture everything from hog ring to a
portable sawmill They picture things
which they have and which they have
not. Everything goes in this great book
of books. If they have not the real
thing that the picture represents, they
have something lust as good and
cheaper" says a writer in Maxwells
Talisman.
They invite you TO send in your
money. for this is strictly cash in adj
vance proposition. If they have not
what you order they will send you
something else, but be sure to send
your money in with your order. That
is important You will have no oppor
tunity to examine the goods and com
pare the quality with Other grades. but
what of that2 1t is such an exciting
moment when you come to open the
bag and see the color of the cat.
The catalogues are sent to every fam
lily where there is a possibility of Sc
curing an order. And these picture
books, supplemented by persistent ad
vertising in the agricultural and reli-
gious journals. keep Il constant stream
of money flowing from the legitimate
channels of trade into the Golfers OF
these catalogue concerns.
The business policy of the old grange
movement was shortsighted, and the
results proved it to be impracticable
1t was born of prejudice and Il miscon-
ception of the organic laws of trade.
The country needs the town as much
as the town needs the country. And
the middleman is an essential cog in
the wheel of everyday trade. To cut
out the retail merchant and business
men generally in the country town is
to destroy the small trade and social
centers the prosperity and growth of
which will always determine the value
of farm property in their vicinity. The
nearer farm is to a consuming mar
ket the greater becomes the earning
power Of each acre and consequently
the greater its value in the general
market. The catalogue mail order idea
if carried out to its ultimate conclusion
would wipe out every village and small
town and leave nothing but individual
farms and few large distributing
centers, with complete monopoly on
the essential commodities. Local cen
tiers of consumption that now furnish
the market for large per cent of the
farm products would disappear from
the map, and the social and edUcationa
advantages afforded in Il large com
munity could be found only in 4 cata
logue center, and there would be Ut
need for more than one of them. The
greatest trust in the world is the idea
covers every possible field of trade and
brooks no competition.
Civilization as we know it is base(
upon reciprocal obligations. In the or
binary course of trade the local mer
chant furnishes a market for the small
er produce of the farm and also pro
vides a reasonable assortment of good
for the use and convenience of tn
community. For these accOmmoda
tons the community is under ii re
ciprocal obligation to give him tn
preference Of trade-at least to Civ
him a fair chance to compete for tina
trade This principle is recognized b
the community when it demands tina
peddlers take out a license.
The nNn who sends his money ava
from his home town for goods that b
can buy at the local store loses NOR
than he can possibly gain. He strike
at the very root of his own prosperit.
1t is n penny wise and pound FOOLS
business. Every hundred dollars ser
out Of the county reduces the worl
ing capital of the county just tbs
much. A prosperous country. town IL