The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1913-07-03
OUR wAsHINGToNLETTEE
BY CLYDE II. TAVENER,
Member of Congress.


Member OF Congress.
Washington cores pondence of The Times, |
Washington, June $3.50 silent.
ly and insidiously that the great
public is as yet almost unaware of
its presence, new trust is extend
ing Its tentacles out over the coun-
try. 1t is the mail order trust. Al
ready its strangling grip is tighten
ing about the million small town
and country merchants who are the
backbone Of national prosperity.
The mail order trust has capital
ICED women and child labor. Ii has
capitalized prison labor. 1t has
capitalized misfortune. 1t has cap
italized 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 falling into the trusts
Wall Street hoard.
One mail order house recently in.
creased its capital stock from $780,
600 to $40, 100000. A new 10000, 600
merger of mail order houses has
been formed. Wall Street finan.
ciers, including the Morgan banking
firm, has had charge of both these
financial operations. Still another
mail order house, with % acres oi
floor space, made a net profit OF
Sl7 900, 900 last year.
1t Is evident that the greedy eyes
Of the great mail order financiers
are turned upon the entire retail
business Of the United States out.
side 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 already being felt is
shown by the population statistics,
Nearly 1000 small towns lost popu.
lation in the census of 1910.
1t is declared that something must
be done by immediate legislation, OF
the parcel post will not be the com
ple:e blessing it ought to be. II il
asserted the solution Of the problem
will be in the form of a heavy tax
on mail order business. This tax
would, 1t Is contended, tend to stor
the expansion of the mail business
and to reduce its present formidable
size. The money thus collected
would be spent for road building oil
other local improvements In the dis
tricts which contributed to the mai
order houses.
The small retail merchant is the
prop OF distributed prosperity, ant
the growth of the mail order trus
serves no common good. Here is {
principle which works out: "If you
spend your money where you get it
you will he able to get 1t where you
/ spend it,"
/ Through systematic advertising
campaign, the mail order capitalists
have sought to poison the public
mind against the small merchant
The people have been told that Their,
are too many merchants, aud tina
their retail methods are wastefu
and costful. But | would point GU
the other side Of the question.
The Chicago vice investigation
showed that %, 600 women employees
of mail order houses are existing OF
starvation wages, many of them be
ing driven by poverty to lives o
shame. The mail order houses ar
the great distributors of prison
made goods. They are the exploit
ers OF misfortune, buying much o
their goods ut bankrupts' sales.
Rut who takes an interest In loca
affairs aud has Land In the up
building OF communities? Who's
goods are assessed for the taxes {,
pay for local Improvement? Who
when the crops have failed or tn
strike is on, and there is no cash t.
send away, extends the credit
which enables the community L
live? The local merchant and no
the Wall Street owned mail orde
house.
We want cheapness, lower cos
of living, that Is what we are nj
working for. But we do not want i
at the expense of the women wag,
slaves of Chicago and OF the million
little merchants of this country.