The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-09-13
Trade at Home.

So T---------- fTFt: - - p
Every word that The Charlotte OBJ
server says in the article below con-
corning Charlotte is applicable to
Sumter. Read 1t and quit >. pat
ronizing the mail order houses.
Spend your money at home where you
make your living. !, '' "
The Observer says: 4.,
"One solid car load of catalogues
from Western mail order house re-
Gently arrived at Charlotte in gov
ernment mail sacks and the contents
were taken to the Charlotte postoffice
for distribution by parcel post to va
riops sections Of the Carolinas. BY
sending this carload Of mail-order
catalogues to Charlotte by freight; the,
Western mail order house gained hun
dreds of dollars in postage. It took
several years. to pass parcels post
law and when It was passed local
merchants all oyer the country were
protected through, the zone system" .,
THE maii order housess put up ,,l .
gfsfr hght to have . ons;I = -rats e.,
parcel post packages. % they could
send . package from ocean to ocean
as cheaply as they could ten or twenty
miles, away. SO. when we passed the
parcel post law we very wisely created
the zone system, making packages
pay according to the distance they
travelled, which was equitable,
But, this parcels post zone system
has been largely nulliAed through
postal regulations that have allowed
big catalogue houses to ship supplies
by. freight TO different, points in the
United States, then distributing them
at local first-zone rates-directly
against the spirit of the parcels post
law which Contemplated that pack
ages SHOULD pay from their sources Of
origin rates according to the distance
travelled.
IT is appalling to see such shi.-
ments from mail order houses great
books Of hundreds Of pages and illus
trations, coming intp our; state, each
book costing a dollar or more to pro:
duce, and then to realize that our own
people here in North CAROLINA are
supporting this outlay of, money by
their own purchases that rightfplly
should be made. of Tar Heel m!ar-
chants and .hometowpe business men.
You can't see what you are buying,
but the. printed words near the. illus-
trations tell you that. lit is just as
good as the best. bpt cheaper." We
hold no brief for this or. that. mer-
chant who pays his taxes here, has his
lmoney invested here and, furnishes
employment to scores of people. deal
ling in reliable goods that will be ex-
changed or, your money back, but we
do contend that this spirit Of, patron
izing mail order, houses in the. North
and West just because, they send an
T. .
elaborate, 30O-page catalogue with
gaudy covers, and tell yop they, can
save you money, is drain and a
curse upon any community. -.
THE whole question is rapidly be-
coming one Of whether the merchan-
dising of the country shall be concen-
trated into the hands Of the few great
mail order houses in the larger cities
Tor whether the merchandising shall
be done on an equitable basis. among
retail merchants through the cities
and towns over the entire country. =,
"And to those who reside in the
farming districts and rural communi.
ties, We want to say. that today every
first-class department store in Char.
lotte and. elsewhere ia. the Caroiinas
maintains an up-to-date mail Orde,
department to take care Of your re.
quirements if you can't get to town
So If you must use the mail, leave
your money In your State. If you
have any pride or interest in NORTH
Carolina you will do this next time
YOU want something In hurry l.,
parcel post"