The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-03-15
FOR BENNINGTON COUNTY
DEVELOPE NEhT AND
BETTERMENT
This Department Edited by Secretary
Willard w. Bartlett of the County
improvement Association
Trade at Home

operation with the Banner are to con
duct Trade at Home" campaign.
This should be commended by all. We
understand it is with the double OBJ
ject of discouraging mail order busi-
ness on the part or the public and OF
discouraging high prices on the part
Of the merchants, thus bringing about
an end desirable to all.
We would suggest third object,
viz; to encourage buying supplies in
quantities. The merchant can sell
more cheaply in quantities, but the
great saving to the consumer is in
time. If for instance family uses 100
cakes of soap per year think OF the
waste OF time in buying each separate
ly, Sometimes Q separate trip to the
store will be required, also time wait
ing to be served, etc. If it averages 5
minutes time to purchase and pay for
a cake, it will take 500 minutes, or
eight hours TO purchase 100 cakes.
But the whole 100 cakes could have
been purchased In five minutes. 1t
would not be difficult to enumerate
fifty similar things which could be
purchased in six months or years
quantity and thus save many hours
during a year. The writer has for a
number of years purchased practical
ly all his household supplies in six
months quantities and this has re-
duced the time spent by Mrs Bartlett
in shopping to almost nothing, and has
enabled her TO attend to her household
duties with ease and still have much
time left to give to community work
The money saving has enabled us to
stand back of and contribute to num-
erous community and social interests
in a way which otherwise would be i'm.
possible to people OF limited means.
The local stores exist primarily to
serve the people. service, however,
brings its reward and financial gain
ensues. But here hes the DANGER;
there is tendency for service to cease
being the object and for gain 10 bg
GENE the object, then the prices risS
This tendency gave the maiIS order
house onportgnisy. to spring u. Witch
merchants put the prices tod high peo-
pie turned tothem. They were clever
enough to see-that in the long run the
greatest. profits come only by giving
the sreatest service. But alas for the
local merchant, with mnch 1ofof his
business diverted he must keep up to
his high schedule in order to make a
liviag profit
Nvhat is the solution? just what ia
now proposed. A Trade at home
campaign, in which we all get togeth-
er in which prices all go down and
stay down. in which we all go to the
local merchants and stay there.
Cooperative buying and mail order
houses are always uniaeal. The most
efficient way to secure goods is
through local merchants. The former
are sometimes made necessary when
the object OF gain supercedes the OBJ
Ject of service in local dealers.
Let us get together for service. Il
speak as merchant) Let US pur-
chase strategically, let us manage ef-
ficiently for the sake of our customers.
Let us see how low we can keep our
prices. how high we can keep the quail
ty how much we can give for the
money, how much good we can do our
community. Let us forget the profits
and strive to serve.
Let us get together for our com
munity I speak now as customerl
Let us pay cash, let us purchase in
quantities, let us demand low prices.
tfar better go to the mail order
houses than pay high prices, remem-
bering that if we consent to pay exor-
bitant prices we are injuring our
neighbor by forcing him to pay the
same), let us be on our guard against
poor goods at low prices from adver-
tised firms in cities, let us give our
merchants credit for good quality ad-
ditional convenience and lack of waste
and breakage when comparing their
prices with those of outside firms.
In short let us all get together, let
US forget what we are to set out of it
and let us strive to serve. Let us see
how useful We can make our bust
ness to the community. how small We
can keep our personal wants and how
much We can have left to give TO
every good and worthy object. Then
let all enjoy our community life to-
gether.