The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1914-12-17

port. Stores have decreased their
stocks and eliminated some lines
they might have carried with.the sup
port of the whole community. Many
live merchants have found more fruit
full fields for their activity and have
left the remnants of their stock in
the hands of second rate tradesmen
as successors. Patronage of mail or
der house by the community makes
the country a less attractive place
in which to live.
A farmer one-hslf mile from town
asks twice as much for his farm as
does a farmer owning equally good
land ten miles from town. He as
serts that his farm is worth more
because he is nearer the graded
schools, the store. the depot and
the postoffice. Recently over 200
railway depots were closed and
agents removed. 1t is asserted that
in many cases the agent might have
been retained with a cut salary, but
express losses had already made a
cut in the agents salary so that the
only alternative was 10 close the
depot. Here again the patronage OF
the mail order houses via the par
cells post was contributing cause
of loss to the community.
am going to tell you a story,
for the truth of which l can vouch.
A young German settled in South
Dakota some 20 years ago and went
to work for some relatives OF his
and with the usual thrift he saved
his wages and at the same time
learned our ways and language. After
year or two he went to one OF the
leading merchants of the then thriv-
ing town and said that he had a
chance to rent a quarter section of
land to farm on his own account.
He displayed what cash he had on
hand and said he must have farm
implements and seed on credit. The
merchant had watched the boy and
he said to him: Young man, l be-
lieve in your integrity and industry
and / am going to stake you.
The first corn crap was flat fall
ure and as all the country was in the
same condition. prospects were any
Uul lOI Tic
but without complaint Mr.. Merchant
promptly extended the notes for an
other year and furnished more seed
with which to try again. The sec
ond year provided a bountiful har-
vest and all the debts were wiped
out. For the next two years our
friend was a good cash customer.
but not content to be renter he
contracts to purchase the quarter
section and here again Mr.. Mer-
chant Is called upon to extend cred
it, taking the good years with the
lean years until the place is paid
for. Time rolls on and we see our
friend with a full section of land
paid for and equipped with machin-
cry and with commodious buildings
and with money in the bank. He is
offered $40 an acre for his land.
Now comes the catalogue, and lur-
ed by the attractive words he sends
for a few small items which he did
not know he needed until he saw tn
pictures. His neighbors get the ha-
bit too, and soon the whole country
side begins to see how they have
been robbed by their home mer-
chants and they club together and
send for large quantities OF mer-
chandise. At first the town mer-
chants buy little less and cut price
a little to decrease their stocks.
Finally the live ones begin to slip
away, selling the balance of their
stocks to some mossback who is con
tented with fraction of the former
trade of the store. Stagnation is
q apparent on every hand. Years pass
and our friends children are ready
for the high school, but the village
school is no larger than it was ten
years ago. Now he will sell out and
move to Fargo, so he calls in land
agent and gets an offer of $40 per
acre. But says our friend,t i
was offered $40 per acre years ago
Its not worth that now" said the
agent. "You are too far from a good
live town" Our German friend.
writing his experience, says: 4
hung my head in shame when
thought of the way | had treated
the best friend l ever had in the
home merchant who gave
me a start | had beat him out of
a few hundred dollars in profits
he might have made on my trade
and at the same time beat myself
out OF $4,000 and my neigh bors
for ten miles around owning a hun
dred sections of land lost a clean
million of dollars"
This very summer all the business
houses of a certain Kansas town
closed their doors and for nearly
week every able bodied citizen turn
ed out to harvest the fast ripening
grain, while in a mail order county
near by the farmers vainly offered
IS a day for extra help. for they
had no surplus population to call