Mexico weekly ledger., 1916-06-22
Why You Should Buy in Mexico
When You Purchase From NJ. Q. Houses You Rob Yourself
BY CHARLES O. WRIGHT, of Mexico.

cause anxiety. dissatisfaction, and
needless planning.
Then, too, the home merchant Of
fers a system of credit, which (if rea-
sonably extended) certainly benefits
the individual as well as the CON-
munity. With no such a provision,
charity would be often called upon.
Standards Of living, already too low,
would go lower still, and personal
initiative would be destroyed.
There is also a satisfaction in see
ing before purchasing. Unsatisfac-
tory goods are thus guarded against.
Moreover, the home merchant is an
expert in his business. He is a good
Judge for the buyer. His advice is as
correctly and as conscientiously CIV
en- as that of the good attorney and
the family doctor and often with as
excellent results.
To the citizens and those in the
vicinity, the Mexico merchant also
furnished a market for produce. The
value of his services to the producer
is obvious; he furnishes a ready
market at a fair price, and ships the
farm products in Urge bulks, thus
saving transportation charges, which
decrease in rate as the quantity of
the shipment increases. Certainly no
mail-order house could be a substi-
tute.
So we see that ordering-by-mail is
not primarily more beneficial to the
citizen, because the m~ail-order price
is not far from the home price, when
all is considered; time and conven-
fence ire lost in ordering by mail; no
provision is made for credit, when
credit is necessary F; unsatisfactory
goods are often purchased because
they were not examined before paid
for; the expert services of the mer-
chant specialist, a man whom YOU
know pei sonally is lost; and no home
market is furnished for the home
products.
Now let us take our second step and
trace the ultimate result of mail-or-
dering to the community and its citi-
Gems. We will assume, contrary TO
what we have c that ordering-by-
mail offers greater advantages, and
that all the citizens Of Mexico pur-
chase from m~ail-order houses. What
will be the RESULT.
The first change to present itself,
under such a procedure, would be an
absence Of retail stores in Mexico.
The business men Of our town are
largely responsible for all we have
as a community, our police and fire
protection, u paved and lighted
streets, our good public schools and
churches, our system Of sanitation,
and every other public utility the
people of Mexico enjoy. The merch-
ants of our town are almost entirely
responsible for our hospital, our fall
festivals and the drawing of capital to
Mexico for investment. Our retail
are getting only a fair living from
their labor. They are not getting
rich from their businesses, for they
are trying to help Mexico. The pro-
fit they make is mostly returned to
the community in the form of salar-
les, taxes and donations. But Mex-
leo gets none of the profit that goes
to mail order houses. If the merch-
ants go, then what?
Taxes will go up, because the mer-
chants contribution will be gone.
Men who work at retail trade, and
there are a large number in Mexico
will be without employment. Land
near the business section will decrease
in value, because of a slack in the de-
mand for its use. Following the fall
in land value in the most valuable
section, will come a general decline in
the price of land. And mind you, tax
es are all the time rising, so that ado
quate revenue can be secured to main
tain the city government. Industry
will be discouraged and capital driven
away by the excessive taxes. With
land values falling, taxes rising UNI
employment increasing and popula-
ton decreasing, what will result?
Our public utilities, educational insti-
tutons, necessities and amusements
will go. Where, then tell us, will
Mexico be? Do you think we can
have a community without home
buying? From the above premises.
we can conclude that anyone in Mex
leo who purchases from maii-order
houses is a traitor to the interests of
Mexico, and a robber of himself.