The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-12-09

at the thousands OF beautiful
pictures mailed from the larg-
est cities in the United States
direct to us, and we have the
right to select what we want
from them and enclose the
price together with an order
blank that was mailed direct to
us. After all, is it right? Are
we treating II home right?
Will our little towns ever be
cities? Can they ever be? Is
it right that we should always
live near some little town? Is
it right that we keep from them
the very food that makes them
grow? Money! Elf we appro-
pirate the food elsewhere we
may expect to see our home
towns weighed and found want
ing. Is it right? With hun
dreds of thousands of dollars
invested in all kinds of mer-
chandise, staple, fancy and
luxurious, grades from A to Z,
all kinds and all prices and
often terms to suit the pur-
chasers and We will not, unless
it's terms we are looking for.
Is it right? We complain of
high prices. We think we
should buy the brogan pillow
shoe for the same money we
paid for it twenty years ago.
Nay. verify! Do we blame the
retailer? Too often we do. l
will state, knowing whereof l
speak, that most everything we
use on the farm and in the
home, on the body and in the
body is sold at a closer margin
than that of ten years ago. For
the benefit of the dealer l will
say that the fault is not all his.
l am not paid by any one of
them for making this state
ment. l say it because I know
it. The cost of producing or
fitting an article for service is
almost double that of only a
few years ago and the article
may be no better. In cases too
numerous to mention l know
of things that cost more than
double to propagate them but
when we buy them from our
local merchant we don't have
to pay double. If we did we
would do without many things
that we now have. The prodi-
gious prices paid for labor is
the key to the whole situation.
Some one is getting more for
his or her work than they have
earned; and in many instances
the man that gets double for
his labor will howl like a wolf
when his merchant tells him
some he wished to purchase
has gone up a few cents; but if
we want to sell the merchant
something we are inclined to
want the top price, and think
we r being stung if we don't
get it, whether the thing for
sale is good OF bad. There is a
cogent credit business done in
this country, and when we owe
for something it is right that
we pay interest to that amount,
The dealer may be able to dis.
count all his bills and not owe
for an article on the shelf but
if they remain on the shelf, in
cases or on racks as the case
may be, unsold, untouched, the
dealer will soon face a depriva-
tion-but he has to take his
medicine. Think it over and
you will be very agreeably sur
prised to know how much you
can buy with the cash at home.
Our merchants take great pride
in showing a prospective buy
err their goods. That is part of
their business. That is right.
When you tell him you will
take such and such a thing but
you cant pay until later, he
says alright. When you buy
away from home you do not see
the goods, you do not ask for a
little time. Couldn't get it if
you did. The order you send
must be accompanied by a post
Office money order, otherwise
IN. G.! Our terms are cash in
the till before we show the
goods" Is it right?
In conclusion I will ask the
consumer to have mercy on the
merchant, and in the next Issue
l may ask the merchant to have
mercy on the consumer. That