Deming graphic. (Deming, N.M.) 1903-1948, 1911-07-28

contentious and msny absurd argu-
ments made. pro and con. on the
mail order question. A great dea
Of abuse has been printed Of the
mail order concerns by the local pa
pers and most Of It in our judg-
ment, Is little short Of good adver-
Using, and ineffective argument
against the mail order concern. The
reason that country people buy
goods Of mail order houses. or Of
the dealers In some larger nearby
town, Is because they are influenced
or made TO believe that there exists
some advantage to them In trading
elsewhere than with the home deal
Ter. And this perhaps Is not stating
the fact sufficiently strong. There
are those doubtless who feel that
they are able to save a good deal on
the purchase Of their goods else
where than of the home dealer.
"0ne very marked oversight or
the part of local business men, and
Of the general public as well Is the
insignifcance and unimportance Of
things that often produce a lasting
and almost ineifaceable impression
Little things very often cause us u
reach decisive conclusions that ma,
be entirely incorrect and easily dis
proved, yet remain forever a settled
conclusion unless emphatically dis
proved. A 10 cent cast monkey
wrench may have the same finish
and appearance as a genuine forged
steel wrench. worth four or five
times as much. A 10 cent cast claw
hammer. polished and plated. ma,
have an equal appearance with a II
cent forged steel hammer.
"A shrewd salesman always seek
to impress his prospective customer
with the advantages to be enjoyed
by trading with him. and the mai
order man may very properly b.
classed as a shrewd salesman. HI
has no objection to the general pub
lie getting under the wrong i'm
preston, provided the error is in biz
favor. But what does the loca
merchant do to disprove the error
Nothing! Absolutely nothing. as
rule. He just sulks, that's all.
The catalogue man tells the con
sumner over and over from start Il
finish Of his big book that he car
and does buy and sell cheaper thar
any other dealer. He prints plausi
bic arguments why IL Is so--his bis
purchases, his ownership Of factor
les and his millions of sales annual,
ETC., ETC., are all cited. But die
you ever know Of one Of them Il
tell how much the rent. taxes ant
insurance cost on the big city block
How much the salaries Of the thous
ands Of employees amounted to an
nually? How much the million Of
SO Of big catalogues they put out
every year come to? How muct
the hundreds Of men at the head'
of departments which they emplo,
at 500 to $500 per month salar,
come to? How much the army Of
truck wagons they employ to car
the goods from cars to warehouse,
and from warehouses to cars come
to? No. they do not boast Of any
of these things. but we know thai
all Of these things in a big city cosI
great sums--enough to make the
goods thus handled and sold In 1
retail way. shipping direct to con
sumer, cost fully as much or more
than goods Of similar quality do
when sold from the retailers stock
direct to the consumer, without an,
packing. billing. booking or ship
ping expense like the mail order
house has to stand.
but the mail order man spends
great sums annually advertising anc
educating the public to believe II
him. The country retailer in the
small town holds his advertising ex
penses down to a dollar or two {
week, and most Of them not ever
that much. and many of them moth
ing. The result Is that the mail or
der man sweeps the country over
with his deceptive arguments and
gathers In the trade.
"A skilled writer can produces
sound logical arguments and proof