The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1909-04-15
Buying at Home.

or suggestion that we owe allegiance
TO any one, the cold, hard truth is
that the retail merchants of our
nome town are the best business
friends we have.
j The retail merchant conducts a
school Of commerce for our educa-
ton and the tuition is free Every
man, woman and child gets the ben
eft of seeing in the home town about
everything that is of real impor-
tance. In the store Of the retail
merchant samples of goods adapted
for use in the community are dis
played and skilled person is al
hand to explain the use and advan-
tages of such things.
This educational work is too com
mon for US to appreciate, but take
away the influence of the retail store
and the wheels of commerce would
soon slip and begin to run backward
because human progress is only pos
5ible where the people have an every
day opportunity to see things anG
make actual comparisons.
Suppose the home town contained
nothing more attractive than the
odorous railroad stock yards and
the lonesome, ungainly grain eleva
tor, what dreary old place it woulo
De- Take the retail stores out OF
town and what have you left?
1t is well to remember that the
tidy housewife only sends away 70,
4 dress after she has satisfied her
self fully as to style in texture and
color schemes by repeated visits to
the local stores which is only an
other evidence Of their value The
thrifty man must know exactly what
ne wants before he invests any
money in goods he never saw. Where
lid he get this necessary knowledge?
He got it by years CT education al
the retail stores.
Fellows, let US give the home mer-
chant credit for what he has done
and is doing for us. He is teacher
whose school is open to us twelve
months in the year. He keeps Us
informed about the progress of the
world by bringing its latest and bes
'ffe-ings to our door While we are
coupled WITH: our own work he
4earches the world over for thing,
hat will add to our comfort or pro
it and keeps them on display so We
can see them whenever we choose
and become educated to their value
and use. He protects US agains
+raud and deceit. He stands for the
quare deal
You never ordered a SO lightning
rod of your home merchant and thel
found your note for a thousand dol
lars in the bank next day as result
You never paid him $50 for a range
that warped out of shape in six
'nonths-without your wife getting
the money back He never charged
YOU S75 for a tailor buggy that
you found out afterward could be
bought anywhere for $50.
No, the home merchant is just like
YOU. He lives where he does busi-
ness and his success depends on max
ing a friend IF you and your neigh
Dor. Like you, he has to make
good"
The retail merchant is now the one
great factor in our commercial sys-
TEN and this is true solely because
he renders US better service than
we can get elsewhere Take him
away and our home town is gone;
take our home town away and we
deprive our children Of the retail
store, which is the greatest single
educational factor in modern life.
No, it cannot be. The retail mer-
chant will continue to abide in our
affections so long as we value ou,
homes, because the average Ameri-
can citizen is proud of his town Che
always tells how close his farm is t.
II and he secretly despises the meth
I'd of peddlers and the peddler sys-
tenn is now known to be the legiti-
mate father of the whole catalogue
house business.
FRANK D. BLAKE.