The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1914-04-22
Call on Wilson
Mail Order Foes
Spokesman For z5O,OOO Mer-
chants Says Rivals Meth
DDS Are Unfair.

upon our farms. who will not buy a
dollars worth of the necessaries re-
CURED from the home merchant IL the
cash Is at hand to SEND away from
home. They never give us a chance
to supply their wants and are general
ly ashamed to admit they do this thing,
which In itself shows the practice is
wrong. 1t is a fact that only when
the crop fails or when the strike Is on
and the cash Is gone do many millions
of our population ever think OF patron
izing the home merchant.
This campaign has great resources
behind 1t. 1t has brought n great reve-
to the metropolitan and farm press
and magazines of the country. We are
not here critlcising these great agen-
cies for taking the business, but we do
desire to enter n protest against those
who employ these agencies to adver-
tise their wares where they are not
known and where they have no inter.
est, pay no taxes, support no schools,
give nothing to charity and have no
interest whatever In the prosperity OF
any local community"
Referring to that very evident dis
position on the part of great aggrega-
lions of capital to monopolize the dis
tribution at retail of merchandise Of
every kind" MI. Moorehead said:
"As you have said, and to which we
cannot object, we care not how big
business may become, but when bust
ness becomes big by denunciation and
misrepresentation OF the little business
man 1t Is wrong in every sense and
when fully understood, we believe. will
not have the approval of the great
body of III people. There Is no ques-
ton, Mr.. President, but what today
the lines are being formed for a mo-
nopoly and control OF the retail bust
ness of the. country, first and more
particularly, through the great mail
order houses.
"Much has been said relative TO the
interlocking directorates and the finan-
cling of great enterprises In Wall
street, but nothing has appeared par
ticularly to date directing the attention
of the country to the fact that the
| great mail order houses of today are,
practically every one of them, financed
in Wall street.
II claim, Mr.. President, that every
| argument hat could be brought
against putting our country on a strict
ly free trade basis. against making a
maximum instead Of a minimum
wage for our laborers, against requir-
ing cur men and women to work more
than eight hours, against repeating our
immigration laws, Is a valid argument
against the concentration of the dis
tribution of merchandise at retail into
the hands of great mail order houses
and department stores to the elimina-
ton of the 250,O00 retail merchants,
independent business men, their own
masters, owning and controlling their
own business, helping to build up and
foster every good work In the 10000
communities OF our land.
"What are the moral, the social, the
| religious, the political and the econom-
ic problems involved In the possibili-
| ty Of the concentration Of the distribu-
ton Of our great centers through the
department stores and mail order
houses? Only to touch upon these
questions, might we not ask how
would this country be benefited moral
ly by the concentration of business and
population to a greater extent than Is
now taking place In our great cities
Would 1t be a good thing for any one
: to have merchandise retailed In the
lAERs city By employing woman and