Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-06-28
Silently and Insidiously Extending its
Tentacles Over Country and
Strangling Dealers.
OF CAPITAL AT I'M
MENsE FIGURES RECENTLY.
Retail Merchant Is Prop of Distributed
Prosperity and Mail Order Trust
Is Bad Thing.
By Clyde H. Tavennsr.

washington, June $3.50 silently
and insidiOusly that the great public
is as yet almost unaware of its pres
ence, new trust is extending its ten
tacles out over the country. 1t is the
mail order trust. Already its strang-
ling grip is tightening about the mil
lion small town and country merchants
who are the backbone of national pros.
perity.
The mail order trust has capitalized
women and child labor. 1t has, capi.
talized vice. 1t has turned all these
things into dollars-dollars which
should have found their way into the
tills of the country merchant, instead
of flowing into the trust Wall street
hoard.
One mail order house recently in
creased its capital stock from $5O0,OGO
to $4O,00O,0O0. A new $1O,OOO,0OO mer-
ger of mail order houses has been
formed. Wall street financiers, inelud-
ing the Morgan banking firm, has had
charge Of both these financial opera.
tions. Still another mail order house,
with 63 acres of floor space, made
net profit of $l7,OOO,OOO last year.
1t is evident that the greedy eyes of
the great mail order fiuanciers are
turned upon the entire retail business
of the United States outside Of the
great cities. 1t is also plain that
gigantic trust is rapidly forming. The
small retail merchant is facing ruin.
That the grip of the octupus Is al.
ready being felt is shown bye the popu-
lation statistics Nearly 1000 small
towns lost population in the census Of
1910.
Need of Legislation.
1t is declared that something must
be done by immediate legislation, or
the parcel post will not be tie com
plete blessing it ought to be. 1t is as
serted the solution of the problem will
be in the form of heavy tax on mail
order business. This tax would, It is
contended, tend to stop the expansion
of the mail business, and to reduce is
present formidable size. The money
thus collected would be spent for read
building or other local improvements
in the districts which contributed TO
the mail order houses.
The small retail merchant is the IRON
of distributed prosperity, and yhe
growth of the mail order trust serves
= no common good. Here is n principle
which works out: eff you spend your
, money where you get it, YOU will be
able to get it where you spqrl it,"
{ Through systematic advertising
campaign, the mail order capitalists
have sought to poison the public mind
against the small merchant. rLe ppo.
pie have been told that there are toe
many merchants, and that their retail
methods are wasteful and costly. But
, | would point out the other side of the
question.
The Chicago vice investigation show.
ed that $4,000 women employts # mail
order houses are existing on starvation
wages, many of them be;rg lriveL by
poverty to lives of shame. Tho sail
order houses are the great distributors
Of prison.made goods, Th-y are the
explOiters of misfortune, buying muoh
of their goods at bankrupts sales.
But who takes an interest in local
? affairs and has a hand Ia the upbuild
ing of comuntes' Whoge gcois are
assessed for the taxes to pay for local
Improvement Who, when the crops
have failed or the strike is on and
there is no cash to send aWay, cl5suis
the credit which enables the comnn:ty
to live! The local merchant and not
the Wall street owned mail order
house.
We want cheapness, a over cost o.
living; that is what we are all working
for. But we do not want it at the e\.
pense of the women wage slaves Of
Chicago and Of the millioa little ncr
Il. n Al