The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1916-03-09
LETTERS FROM THEPEOPLE
Editor Courier.Renorter.

Editor Courier-Reporter:
Supplementing the observations of
Gordon c. Moores, in a recent issue of
your paper, wish to say that SPEND
ing our money at home only applies
70 the consumer (thc person who is
trying to make his little old dollar
cover as many bare spots as possible.
All others are immune. In addition
70 the ham what am" we have in
hennewick, where all but the blind
may see, Grain & Milling Co..
we'll equipped with modern machin-
cry and expert help to turn out fancy
grades OF flour as well as all kinds of
feed. l know from personal exper-
fence that bread made from their flour
is good enough for any American king
to eat. But go into the various feed
and grocery stores in this town and
you will find more brands of flour
than there were colors in Joseph's
coat and liable to be made any where
from st. Paul to the Pacific Coast, and
our miller in turn is sending his goods
to other points to come into COMPETE
ton there with home products-he
has to or shut up shop. Ask any of
these dealers why they don't patron
ize home industry and they plainly tell
you that the buying and selling of
goods is not a matter of sentiment, but
a business proposition, pure and SIM
ple-that in buying in car lots near
the source of supply they get better
rates and they always give their Gus
toners the benefit of the doubt, and
that is the crux of the whole matter.
We all buy where we think we can do
best.
For many years buying at home has
been the bone of contention between
the two great political parties. The
party now in power believes that the
American people should be allowed to
buy their necessities in any part of
the world without undue restrictions
at boundary lines, but unfortunately
the great war will prevent fair test
being made, both as to reduced cost
of living and sufficient revenues to de-
fray government expenses and it is
very probable that people will vote
about as usual this fall on the tariff
question.
Every day in the year there ap-
pear on the streets Of Kennewick dali
ly newspapers from the four leading
cities of the Northwest. Page upon
page is given to display advertise
ments of all kinds of goods imagin-
able in the various cities. But not a
howl do you hear from these cities,
their merchants or their newspapers
against the mail orders houses. No;
they will slap you on the back and tell
you to go to it; for they are out for
business and are willing to both give
and take. But the conclusion is when
a newspaper in little town begins to
whine about sending money away,
about the only thing that will save the
merchants of that town from "innocu-
descre tude" would be to get SUBJ
sidy from the federal government.
But Kennewick can not afford to go
on that list, for if one-half of the
great things that has been said about
Kennewick in the past ten years should
come to pass, we are going to have
mail order houses so tall here that we
can stand on the top of them and look
right over the top Of Jump ff-Joe
right down into the streets of UNA
tilla for this will be the great as
sembling as well as distributing point.
The main reason given for buying at
home is that our merchants are the
life of the town and true enough, too.
But we know too, that some of our
best business men pull up stakes and
go elsewhere. have in mind two
mercantile firms of this city whose be-
ginnings were modest to say the least.
One was dry goods and the other dry
goods and groceries and they pros
pered. One had to go into larger
quarters at two different times, but
the wanderlust got into their systems,
so they tucked their belongings under
their wings and flew away to greener
pastures, but we, as their patrons,
have our reward in knowing that our
loyalty to them while here, helped
them to enter fields of greater activi-
ties, but now the once busy corners
are as quiet as the old saw mill town
at the mouth Of Snake river. Honest,
now, did these gentlemen do any more
for the valley in general and the town
in particular that the man who owns
a modest cottage on back street and
whose only occupation is to do quick
ly and well what so ever. his hands
findeth to do? j. N. ELY.
Always Safety First