The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-02-09

a stranger or comparative stranger,
IN select his socks and his neckties.
etc. and to give him rock-bottom
nrice. He would rather do his own
selecting and see the goods and be
his own Judge as 10 their value etc
You are mistaken. The countryinah
knows that as rule hlgher moral
itv EXISTS among tradesmen to-day
Than ala a quarter OF century ago;
he knows merchants are not the "goug-
ers', they used to be: he knows that
even if il were true that the stand
ard of morals is no higher now than
il used to be- competition has forced
merchants to deal on the square. anu
that the day is at hand when honesty
is indeed the best policy. whether the
merchant be inately honest or not ana
that this is day when il is uni
versally conceded that only the httest
in all things can survive and merit is
the one thing that tells: that manufac-
turers of goods and merchants VINO
retail them seek to sell their goods
more by merit than by diplomacy OF
chicanery. not necessarily because the
manufacturer or merchaht IL hloi
honest than were their fathers. but
because il is better business TO make
merit do the selling.
In these latter days il is no longer
dangerous or even risky TO send DOL
lar bill or a two dollar or five-doilar
bill in an ordinary letter. Uncle Sam
has run down and punished the dis
honest mail clerk and letter carrier
and postoffce official. made them un-
derstand that their sins will find them
out. until the breed is pretty well eX-
tinct and mail robberies and holdups
are rarely ever heard of in this part
of the country.
And thus il is that the possibilities
for the retail city merchant that have
been opened up by the parcel post sys-
TEN are vast and far-reachins. To
nut il in a nutshell. IL brings the conn
trymau in your store every day in the
year instead of one day in the year.
That is to say. il does this thing If
you are up to snuff and take advan-
tage of the parcels post system. How
How TO Reach Him.
In the first place. you must let the
countryman know where YOU are. what
YOU are and what you have TO sell and
what inducements in the way OF meri-
torious goods, square dealing. sound
Judgment. etc. YOU have to offer him.
How are you to find him and let him
know about these things Use print
ers' ink freely Use the newspapers
to find the countryman and enable the
to ind YOU
When YOU nave once !OONu MIN anu
made him once find you. keep in touch
with him with letters, circulars, cata-
loeues. etc.
Going back TO the original illustra-
ton: You got him ia your store for
the half a dozen pairs of socks through
your newspaper ad. When YOU sent
him the socks by parcels post you
sent in the same package an attrac-
tive circular or folder telling of the
neckties and handkerchiefs and col
lars and cuffs you have and the prices
of the same. just as YOU did in person
when the cOuntrymrn entered your
store in person to ask To be shown
socks. When the cOuntryman opened
his package of socks and was pleased
with them and With YOUR selection for
him. he read your folder or circular
with pleasure. even delight. and noted
various things on IL that he needed
and that he did not think Of when
originally ordering the socks. and he
writes to YOU again and again during
the wear when he needs things in your
line IL - the same way with the
women who buy millinery. etc. and the
same way about the groceries. and all
other lines that come within the range
% the parcels post regulations.
The possibilities FOR the honest
saua -e-dealinE retail merchant or the
parcels post are vast and II Is the
greatest blessing both 20 the country
man and the city merchant that Uncle
sam has ever offered