The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1914-09-10
FARMER WRITES ABOUT
BUYING AT STORE

Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette
Recently the Gazette has been pub
fishing a series of articles the pur-
pose of which has been, to impress
on Its readers the Importance of
community interest as conductive to
community success and achievement.
Primarily the articles dealt with the
significance to any city of the atti-
tude of it's residents in their buying
of the necessities of life Home trad
ing was advocated first, last and all
the time.
These articles have gained wide
spread attention. They have been re-
published in various sections of the
state and many communications have
come to this office concerning them,
The most recent letter was from a
Cedar Rapids lumberman, whose
satisfaction was sufficient recon-
pense for the effort this paper made
in producing the series. He enclosed
a letter which should be of Interest
all over Iowa. 1t was written by an
Iowa farmer and already been pub
lished in the Farm Journal of Phil
a%delphia. 1t has a message which in
terests farmer and city men alike.
Read it and let it sink home:
I'VE farmers need awakening to
the fact that We have Enthusiastically
reached the period where we must
think and plan. am one OF the slow
German farmers who had to be
shown and 1 ann now giving my eX-
perience that others may profit, for
knowledge is more expensive now
then ten years ago. Twenty-Five
years ago | began my farm career.
I had fifty dollars. Our furniture was
mostly home made-chairs, 49, cup
boards and lounge made from dry
goods boxes, neatly covered with ten
cent cretonne by my girl wife. We
rented eighty acres Being a boy OF
good habits l got all needed machin-
cry and groceries of our home mer-
chants on credit, until fall crops
were sold. The first year was a wet
season and I did not make enough
to pay my creditors. I went to each
on date of promise and explained
conditions. and paying as much as
possible, and they all carried the
balance over another year. They con-
tinued to accommodate me until | was
able to buy a forty acre piece of my
own.
"As soon as 1 owned these few ac-
res the mail order houses began send
ing me catalogs, and gradually l be-
gan sending my loose change to them
letting my accounts stand in my
home town, where l had got my ac-
comodation when l needed it.
1--WE then had one of the thrift
lest little villages in the state-good
line of business in all branches, mer-
chants who were willing to help an
honest fellow over a bad year, and
a town full of people who came twice
a week to trade and visit. Our coun-
try town supported a library, high
school, band, ball team and we had
a big celebration every year. A farm
near a live town oon doubles in
value. l sold my forty at a big ad-
vance and bought an eighty, grad
ually adding to it until / had two
hundred acres of the best land i'll
Iowa. | then felt like asking no
f%avors, and found it easy to patro-
nize the mail order agents who came
almost weekly to our door. 1 regret
to say that l was the first in the
county to make up a ~neighborhood
bill and send it to a mail order
house. Though we got bit every
once in a while, we cot in a habit of
sending off for stuff.
Gradually our merchants lessened
their stocks of goods-for lack of
patronage. Finally WI began to real
ize that when we needed a bolt
quickly for machinery. Or clothing
for sickness or death, we had to
wait and send away for it, which
wasn't SO pleasant. One by one our
merchants moved to places where
they were appreciated, and men of
less energy moved in. Gradually our
town has gone down; our business
houses are "tacky" in appearance, a
number are empty, our schools,
churches and the walks are going
down, we have no band, nc library or
ball team. There is no business done
in the town, and therefore no taxes
to keep things up. Hotel is closed
for lack of patronage. Go down to
the depot when the train pulls in and
you see the sequel in mail order pack
ages.
Mine years ago my farm was
worth $195 an acre; today I'd have
u Adlo AlutlCl " oCll IL az p1ot oil
acre. 1t is too far from a live town"
so every farmer has said who
wants to buy it. He wants a place
near schools and churches, where his
children can have advantage l
have awakened to the fact that in
helping to pull the town down, it has
cost me $500 in nine years. Like
the majority of farmers, l didn't fig
ure far enough ahead.
This sort of business mean the
doing away with country towns.
What will it mean to farmers to
have only a few large cities at a
distance of five hundred or one
thousand miles? What are we going
to do with III children, who are de-
handing even better advantages than
we had.
"Those cities who we help to build
return no favors; they take our mon
ey but offer no credit in time of need
If We want high schools and SO forth
we must raise the money and build
near our farm houses or send our
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