Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1915-11-11

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as know, that it is mighty hard |
to keep our boys and girls on the |
farm. | know a man in Iowa
that owns a beautiful farm with
a twenty-five thousand dollar
farm house, lit with electricity,
heated with steam. bath room on
both floors and an automobile at
the door. and yet he can't keep
his boys and girls on the farm.
I'll tell you how to drive every
boy and girl off of every farm in
the state of Minnesota: Kill all
our towns SO there won't be a
town from Minneapolis to North
Dakota no social, no moral, no
religious, no political centers--but
one long sweep of farms and
you'll drive every boy and every
girl off every farm in the state of
Minnesota. The way it is now,
a few are willing to stay on the
farm for after the days work Is
over, they can get in the auto
mobile, drive into town and
attend the moving picture show,
the church festival, the lyceum
course of chautauqua, and they
go home satisfied. But kill all
these towns so that the train will
whistle at the water tank and
stop on Wednesdays for milk and
you'll drive every boy and every
girl off every farm in the state.
But you say, Mr.. Plattenburg,
this is an economic question. We
can buy cheaper in Chicago than
we can at home. | don't believe
| it. Not if your merchants are of
the right kind. know | you want
to be fair and loyal to your home
town although we are often un-
fair and disloyal without think
ling. | know of a good fellow in
my county who sent an order for
groceries to a mail order house
and then went to his local grocer
and borrowed a ten dollar bill to
pay the freight. Let us give our
local man at least a first chance.
When you make out your next
order, put the price after each
article. foot it up, and the freight
or express, take into considera-
tion the quality of the goods, go
to your local merchant, lay it on
his counter, and ask him if he
can duplicate it for the same
price. And I've got a ten dollar
| bill to wager that he will do it.
But suppose you could buy goods
even ten per cent cheaper away
from home than at home, do you
think it would pay you? The
average family spends about five
hundred dollars a year for sup.
plies. A saving of ten per cent
would mean fifty dollars a year
In twenty years you would have
a thousand dollars. But in the
, meantime if everybody does al
you do, our towns would all bt
dead; our farm lands would bt
out one-half. in value and how
much would your thousand dollar!
be worth in comparison to that
On the other hand be loyal Il
your community build up a good
live hustling town, and double tn.
value of your property. Aftel
all, is cheapness all we are look
ing for? If it is, | can tell yo,
several ways by which you car
buy goods a great deal cheapel
than you are buying them now
Tear down the tariff wall ant
have absolute free trade SO tina
the Chinaman who works for ter
cents a day, lives on rats ant
rice and birds nests, and th'
Italian, that works for fifteel
cents a day, and lives OF
spaghetti, and the Bohunk tina
works for twenty-five cents
! day and lives on goolash, and tn.
] Austrian that gets fifty cents
! day and lives on sauer kraut ant
! limburger cheese, can dump thei
cheap made goods of Europe AMI
Asia rnon the American con