Montpelier examiner., 1912-06-28

bargains. The country resident like
to wear a suit or a dress from a Chi
cago tailoring establishment; q Chi
cago woman very frequently goes Il
New York for her costumes, Will,
many a New York woman patronizei
Paris costumers. We are a nation o
bargain hunters and th-t is why We
SO frequently are stung with bad val
ues. We would fare much better II
the long run If we stuck to our home
merchants.
The home merchants goods show
for what they are. The advertised
out-of-town product is risky. Every
experienced man knows that mail or
der houses can secure large shipments
OF goods under well-known brand!
that In reality are manufactured to de
ceive, goods that resemble but are moi
like the real goods the people expect
to receive. This is one OF the tricks
of the trade that can be put over or
the unsuspecting and gullible public
| tiduiu5 away lTOm hume.
The parcels post, II 1t becomes a
law, will enable unscrupulous houses
to get by" with more adulterated
goods, for the mail order barons can
then advertise any well-known brand
of manufactured products by the can
bottle or case, delivered at your post.
office for 30 much, fiat. The use of the
well-known name will be seeming
guarantee, when in reality it will be
nothing of the sort-nothing but bit
of cunning, we'll executed and carried
out to the letter. The public pays the
freight for It's lack of allegiance to
home trade.
F. E. French, chairman of the board
OF governors of the American League
Of Associations, speaking before the
Southern Merchants association. said:
To-day the peoples problem is to
conserve our natural resources and
keep the farmer on the farm. Will the
gradual impoverishing of the village
store keeper keep the farmer on the
farm. Will the decline of the social
| center, the decline of the schools and
the decline of the church facilities
keep the farmer on the farm? VIII
long-distance shopping do more for
isolated communities than the sight Of
real goods and the warm touch of liv.
ing people? Will the picture catalog
or the hearty salesman do more to
keep the vital currents between seller
and buyer? Would a heavily laden
parcels post messenger, running be
tween mail order agency and a dis
tant farm, often through foot or two
OF mud or snow, compensate for the
disappearance of the mart and con.
gress Of our country's rural life-the
independent. thriving. hospitable
store?
ut is our duty to sustain that store,
and to do 1t now. That store is i'm
periled by pending legislation, wheth-
er by the institution of local or
general parcels post. II this new serv-
ice be established by the government
even with the best of motives. we
must admit that:
THE postal deficit will be increased.
THE countrys commercial system
revolutionized.
"The delivery of legitimate mail de
layed.
"The population of rural communi.
ties depleted and their progress re-
tarded.
And that the government will pro-
mote class legislation, for in seeking
to favor the farmer, who needs no
such preferment, 1t will subsidize
commercial interest whose basic busi-
ness principle is hostility to the best
trade distribution.
Every thinking individual agrees
that rural free delivery has been of
great benefit, but the masses of the
people do not agree that financially
Improbable service shall be put upon
its feet at the cost of the man who
has been the mainstay of the farmer
in season and out of season-the
country storekeeper."
You dwellers OF the country, think
twice on this bill. Your home mer.
chant has carried your account when
your crop failed, when your barns
burned, when one of your dear ones
died. He has been your friend as we'll
as your creditor in times of mental
stress and financial depletion VIII
the city mail order house, plethoric
and fat through the workings of the
parcels post bill. be your friend when
you have no money? Will 1t carry
you until you can make good and get
on your feet again?
You know 1t will not.
Go slow, then. before you vote to |
kill your home merchants business |
Remember the story of the goose and
the golden egg. Stand by the home
dealer and the home town. Don't let |
the politicians throw dust In your
eyes. Get after your congressman and
write him your feelings in this mat
ter. Organize your neighbors and
work against this bill. for 1t is dras-
tic and far-reaching. and against the
interests of your town and your prop
erty.
BYRON VII IAMq