The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1915-02-02
Confessions ST a
Mail Order Man
By Mr.. NJ. o. X.
Revelations by One Whose Experience in
the Business Covers a Range From
Office Boy to General Manager
WHAT YOUR MONEY HAS DONE
FOR ME.

You can't possibly realize what 1t
meant to a pleasure-loving and self
satisfied man of mature years to real
lie that you, my beloved contributors
of the past to my prosperity and COM
fort out in the small towns and in the
country, were getting up early in the
morning and were out in the cow
barns milking, and out in the fields
blowing, planting, harvesting, shock
ing wheat or husking corn while the
fingers swell and crack and while the
chilblains burn and throb SO that you
could send your quota of coin to the
concern that paid me the dividends
shat permitted me to lie abed in the
morning until my servant came ana
told me that my coffee or chocolate
was ready and that my bath had been
fixed SO that 1 might make the toilet
of the. morning luxuriously and with
beftting pleasure and comfort.
Dear reader, all this was done with
the help of YOUR money-the money
shat you sent to the big concern that
paid the dividends on my securities.
Acknowledge that when you awakened
and aroused yourself to a feeling
bf anger and honest indignation-for
which l did not blame you in the least,
because you had been a long and
steady contributor to my idleness-
then you had me on the hip and | was
compelled to seek some other method
of subsistence, although it did go hard
with me to be compelled to go to work
after so many years.
But you must not be too hard on me,
because l had merely taken advantage
of the existing conditions. had cheer
fully and joyfully taken your money.
had written you such optimistic and
jollying letters that you quickly ana
generously responded by sending the
cash with your orders and we had
taken the toll that we figured you
would stand without ''holler."
We had studied you, gentle reader,
and we had figured out to cent just
what you would stand when touch
was made. You must acknowledge
that we did not fail to weigh you con-
gistently and advisedly, because we
had succeeded IN exacting the toll
which made us prosperous.
The people are awakening to re-
alization of their condition, and the in
habitants of the small towns and of
the rural districts are beginning to
realize that they are simply killing the
future of their communities by sending
their money away to the big mail or
der houses in the cities.
We hear all sorts of recriminations
and hard words addressed to the peo-
pie in the villages and on the farms
who send their money away to the
mail order houses in Chicago and else
where, but the masses have consid-
cred it their privilege to do as they
please without regard for the interests
of their communities.
The country merchant pays his taxes
and he tries to do a business with his
fellow men that will permit him to
pay his taxes regularly and also give
him living profit on his sales
In many cases he gives you credit,
and even years on his books. Do you
appreciate it?
You do not. You run up a credit bill
with your local merchant, and during
the lean months you take full advan-
tage of his friendliness and his hope
that you will remain customer when
the prosperous months come around.
But what do you do? AS quickly as
you get some money in hand, so that
you can pay cash for your necessities,
and a few Injuries, you send the cash
away to one of the city mail order
houses, and buy from strangers, rath-
er than from the man who has helped
you in your extremity and who has
trusted you when you were in need.
There are very few readers of this
publication who have not done exact
ly this thing. There are very few per-
sons living in the country, away from
the centers of population. who have
not preferred to substitute the shadow
for the substance by sending their
money away from home when they
wanted to buy something.
And you know what you got. You
know what treatment you received.
You must acknowledge that, in the
long run, the stuff that you bought
through a catalogue was not all you
had expected.
What in the world can the attraction
be to cause a sober, intelligent man or
woman to deliberately select a
stranger as the repository of their
confidence and their money? Why
should the local man be outraged in
spirit and .mulcted in pocket because
you respond to that peculiar attractive
ness of the unknown-that desire to
gamble, to take a chance, with a
stranger?
This preference for trusting in q
stranger. rather than to have conf
dence in a neighbor, reminds me of a
little incident that occurred when |
made trip into Texas a few years
ago. l stopped at little town, and
at the station I asked the agent which
was the best hotel
There's two of EN-" he replied,
'and if was you I'd go to the second
| one up Main street"
rs it better than the other one?''
! inquired.
81 dunno he replied. shaking his
head, but l live at the first one.