The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-02-16

to Pause and Consider.
| copyrighted. 1914. by Thomas J. Sullivan
There are many and various kinds Of
robbers loose today in this land of
plenty, but perhaps the two most un-
popular of them are the soil rObber and
the community robber-the farmer
who robs his land of its producing
strength and the consumer who robs
bis community Of its dollars.
The high grade, successful farmer is
the one who increases rather than di-
minishes the fertility of his land Ev-
cry year he changes his crop with that
one object in view. He subscribes for
and reads very carefully the agricul-
tural reports. paying particular atten-
! ton to the reports on experiments made
by advanced and progressive farmers.
! Why he does this is plain. He knows
very well that 1t would be useless to
! plant good seed in wornout soil It's
/ his wish and intention to make profit
on his investment in seed and labor as
well as In soil, and this, of course.
could not be accomplished If the soil
were not fruitful
Bleeding Home Communities.
Today there are hundreds of thou.
sands OF American citizens who are
bleeding their home communities by
taking out of the channels of local
trade the money needed to transact
business and sending it to dealers who
do not and who cannot by any posi-
BILE means return it to do its proper
and necessary work in local business
circles.
The big city mail order houses that
sell goods at retail through the medi-
um of catalogues to farmers and 9TH
ers all over the country buy nothing
from their customers They invariably
exchange goods for money. never
money for goods. They employ no
labor in the communities where their
customers must earn their living; they
buy no farm products; they own no
real estate; they pay no taxes: they
have no money on deposit in the local
banks; they do not advertise In the
local newspapers; they do not give
credit; they do not even pay the freight
on goods they sell. Every cent taken
by them out of the community is per-
manently lost to the business of that
] community.
! These are all plain and evident
truths, are they not?
We would ask this very same farmer.
who would be insulted were he charg-
ed with neglecting to keep his soil en-
riched to the highest possible degree.
to explain how he can deliberately
rob his community by buying his goods
from out of town concerns
! Farmer Planted In Community.
I The farmer plants seed in the soil,
and In order to produce results he must
keep that soil fortified. Being him
self planted in the community. he does
his trading in foreign city and there
by assists his community in becoming
poor.
/ Why should this farmer have great
er respect for the seed which he plants
than he has for himself, his family or
his neighbor?
There is a community in Minnesota
in the center of which is city en-
bracing about 10000 people, and it is
conservatively estimated that some
thing more than 100000 annually is
sent from there to mail order houses
for the purchase of goods which could
lust as well be secured at the home
stores.
This estimate is based on the figures
secured from reliable sources in the
aforementioned community = that is,
from the banker, the express agent
and the postmaster.
This. perhaps, is the strongest evil
dence of "robbing" a community.
The answer to the above may be
that man has right to buy where
he pleases 1t is his money he is spend
ing. and he has the right to send it
away If he wishes, particularly II be
feels that he is to be the gamer
thereby.
A Glorious American Privilege.
Quite true In this glorious America
of ours every citizen Is privileged to
consult his own pleasure in spending
his money. He can spend 1t or hoard
il up. or he may contribute it for the
purpose of building monuments to the
memory of great men. No one can
lawfully dispute that right.
Likewise the soil robber has the
right to use his land as he wishes and
without any consideration for its flu
ture fertility. The land belongs to
him. and he can do as he pleases with
it. He is free man. surrounded by
hundreds of laws enacted for the pro-
lection of his rights, st
Pause and Consider. n \.
The parallel drawn between the two
cases has tendency to give the com
munity robber chance to pause and
consider. a8f 81 s
i He should give the matter9very
serious attention and thought and en-
deavor to figure out method by
which be can increase its wealth, just
as the honest farmer increases the
richness and productiveness Of his soil
In this way only can large and sub