The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-08-05
COMMUNITY
OF INTERESTS
Equity the WatchwOrd Of
Modern Progress.
BY o. A. CHARLES.

The American Farmer and Con-
suner, a prominent farm journal be-
lieves in community Of interests.
That publication believes in CONNER
cial clubs also that farmers should
belong to them. Here is what that
paper says about It:
Every town should have a good,
live commercial club of which the
farmers in the neighborhood should
be members. These clubs can do
world of good in arranging for inn
provements in the public highways.
In the event that the town Is deficient
in the matter of varied and complete
stocks of goods in all lines it nigh
well become the duty of members OF
this club to see that that want is sup
piled. There is no reason why farm
ers should not work in harmony with
business men and there is no reason
why they should not be eligible to
membership in commercial clubs"
Not only should merchants and
farmers be eligible to membership in
commercial clubs, but / believe every
resident of town and community
should not only be eligible, but should
be urged to become a member.
This brings us to solution Of
the problems of every neighborhood,
Of every town and its vicinity says
Up-to-Date Farming of Indianapolis,
whose editor is the founder of the
Society of Equity.
The Worla Is Made Up Of People
Who Live In It.
"The world, in the sense of its
population, is made up of the people
who live in it. These people, both of
choice and Of necessity, follow differ
ent vocations."
"Yet eve-y one has right which all
the others must not only respect, but
protect and each has interests which
all the othe"s should regard IL nothing
more. In lact, when properly under
stood, almost all human interests are
mutual. In society, organized or un.
organized, each individual, and espe-
cially the classes that pursue different
ceilings, are dependent upon each
olner. The mechanic would have lit.
tie to do If there were no business
people to employ him, and business
men would go into bankruptcy II
there were none to buy of them. The
physician would stay at home in
poverty die nobody live in his locali-
ty but doctors, and the lawyer would
be briefless and moneyless IL there
were none near him to go to law.
The merchant and the grocer would
need neither bank nor money-till were
there no one in town or surrounding
country but merchants and grocers,
and farmers would live in the antiQu-
ated ways Of the forgotten past were
there none to buy and consume their
produce, and no merchants from
whom to get supplies for their mod
ern needs. And we may say of as
other classes they would go shabbily
dressed and supperless to bed were
there no farmers in the county.
All Human interests Are Mutual.
"An abiding sense of the mutual
dependence upon each other, and
each upon all, is what promoted the
founder of the Society of Equity to
build it upon a foundation so broad
as to cover the varied interests of
every rural community and to well
come to it, councils, under reason.
able restrictions, all whose mutual
interests prompt them to work in har.
mony for the uplift Of agriculture, and
the establishment Of equity for all.
All Should Be Devoted to the Build
ing Up of Home.
"There then, is the main point we
wish to impress on our readers-that
all should be devoted to the building
up of home. None, except the farm
| ers themselves, can be more inter.
ested in securing to the farmers fair
and profitable prices for farm pro-
ducts than those who do business
with the farmers. The better prices
farmers receive the better customers
| thCy tiCJ thC bCttCi ipiC w Wv buoi
| ness; and in no way can farmers bet
ter serve their own interests thar by
patronizing their home merchants and
business men. Prosperous towns are
surrounded by prosperous country,
and prosoerous country has pros
porous towns. Farmers sometimes
imagine they make small gains by
patronizing distant houses-mail or
der houses, to be plainer-but such
gains are very doubtful, but as to
the injury to home merchants and
general home interests, there can be
no doubt.
No Home Merchants, No Home Towns
IF all farmers did all their trad.
ing at some distant houses, there
would be no home merchants nor
home towns, and local interests
would suffer. Every deal carries with
it profits to some one or it would
not be made. If you trade away
from home, the profits on your trade