The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1913-02-21
OF
PARCEL POST

The merchant will have the cata-
logue. He will be the agent. He will
be on the spot, knowing the citizens.
He will know the quality Of goods
and be able to guarantee them. And
he will be there to be questioned and
to answer II the goods are not salts
factory.
The customer will come to him,
give his order for the goods very
gladly, and have the dealer make his
protit, as he should make It,. And the
dealer will be able to have the goods
shipped direct from the manufacturer
to his own individual customers, and
the country dealer can have the goods
sent, If he chooses, through the par
cells post, with his own name fast
ened upon the parcel.
In other words the local merchant
can be, II he chooses, as big and as
complete a merchant in his own COM
munity as any mail order house in
the world
He will have the catalogues of all
the manufacturers. He will be able
to take his commissions, and yet be
developing his own trade, by adver-
Using Individually In the local news
papers, and by encouraging the man
ufacturers to advertise in the local
newspapers he will. be abe to take
the order from his customer, send the
order to the big manufacturer, have
the goods delivered for him through
the parcels post, and after making his
profit he will be able to sell the
goods at least as cheaply as the mail
order houses can afford to sell them
and in many cases much more cheap
ly
Let the country editors and thu
country storekeepers remember what
experience in this country proves al
ready--that work on very great
scale cannot be done as efficiently as
on a smaller one with closer indi-
vidual attention.
The storekeeper who attends to his
customer, who adjusts complaints
and makes things right, who can give
advice, and, who, with the parcels
post, will be able to deliver immed-
lately anything that is ordered
less than one-quarter Of the time
\ that the mail order houses have been
delivering-that storekeeper, backed
UP by the country editor, will know a
prosperity that he has never known.
For years the country editors have
worked for practically nothing. They
have had little public advertising,
and they have had miserable, under
paid advertisements from the local
storekeepers, who could not afford
to do better. They and the store
keepers have lived a hand TO mouth
existence. The editors of this conn-
try, some twenty thousand of them
supplying the public with informa-
tion, defeating the schemes OF ras;
Gals and public grafters, doing BY
distribution of knowledge the most
important work In the country, have
been on the whole less we'll paid than
the average janitor in the court house
OF fair sized town.
With the parcels post, and econom'
ical, efficient, intelligent advertising
by local storekeepers and nationa
manufacturers, that will change.
II will now be worth while for the
big manufacturer to appeal direct tC
the consumer, for with the parcel:
post he can deliver direct to the con
sumer.
We beg to inform the editor of thu
Potter County Journal, and our col
league, Mr.. Peet of the Whitesvill'
News and the Genesee Times, tina
prosperity is not to be gained b!
fighting against the parcels post o
by helping the small storekeeper Il
fight the great mail order house.
You must help the small store
keeper to beat the great mail orde
house with the aid of the parcel
post.
Remember that every storekeepeT
once the parcels post is started, /
himself the center of parcels pos
zone which he will control.
1t will do the big mail order hous
no good to establish a department 1
each state, since the merchant In hi
own zone, will be able to distribut
his goods under the most advants
geous possible circumstances.
Let the merchant take all the bus
ness he can get. And let the loci
editor take all the advertising he ca
get--incuding that of the big ma
order houses, If they choose to advel
tise.
No man ever helped himself {
helped another by excluding bushes
or refusing any man, big or little,
fair chance.
The editor has no right to refui
advertising that is honest and prope
No small storekeeper has rigl
TO ask that it be excluded.
The business OF the storekeeper
to give getter service than the ma
order house can give. and he can
that now that the parcels post Civ
him the power to deliver.
The parcels post is here. Th
newspaper has predicted always tn
It would come soon. 1t Is not pc
feet by any means. The local edito
and the local storekeepers must u
their influence to see that 1t is ma
perfect.
For the first time in our histoI
editors that are intelligent, throug
out the country, will begin to recei
fair reward for the work that tn
do. And to say that the minimu