The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-08-17
THE CREDULITY OF MANKIND
Catalogue Houses Quack Doctors of Commerce
Promises Not Guarantees


Sunrise to the Last Chance.
copyrighted. 1914 by Thomas J. Sullivanl
Said Il clever quack to a painstakins
business man, How many OF the pass
ing multitude, do you suppose. appre'
ciate your honesty or understand the
impositions of Quackery"
mot more than one in ten" was the
answer.
"Well." said the quack, you may
have the one. I'll take the nine"
That is the system upon which the
mail order houses operate. and nothing
more strikingly portrays the credulity
of mankind than their success. Quack-
cry Is a thing universal and uniVer-
sally successful In most cases it Is
literally true that no imposition is too
great for the credulity Of man.
Tho ouack Doctor Of Commerce.
The retail mail order house is the
quack doctor Of commerce. 1t prom
ises much and guarantees nothing.
Like patent medicines, the directions
are always on the inside, and you must
buy a nonreturnable package before
you can find out what they are.
The mail order house never helped
/ to build the little white school in your
district or turnpike the road past your
door. No mail order house ever took
you by the hand when you were in
distress and told you to let the little
| account run until after harvest next
year. No mail order house ever sold
you a vehicle and spent every cent of
its profits In the community where
you and your nefghbors could get 1t
all back again No mail order house
ever showed its patent leather shoes
under your table and retoiced with you
when you were glad, nor spoke en-
couraging words when afiictiGn visited
you, nor stood with uncovered head
beside the graves of.your children
Continent ls Unknown.
That the mail order houses are otter
| your money Is an undisputed fact
Every dollar sent to them leaves POUR
neighborhood forever. The mafl order
house may bear upon its face the
semblance of friendship, but no human
heart beats under its cloak of hypoc-
risy. Sentiment to 1t Is unknown.
The whole institution is as cold and
bloodleSS as corpse.
There never was farm in oil
| Christendom whose value was increas-
ed by the mail order houses. They are
parasites to which life is worthy of
notice only while they can draw the
financial blood out Of the communities,
to the upbuilding of which they con-
tribute nothing They create no local
market for the product Of the farms.
They have no property in the country
which can be assessed to help bear the
burden of taxation,
Can Duplicate Every Offer.
In every town in the country the 10
cal retail merchant stands ready to
duplicate every offer seductively set
forth in the catalogues Of mail order
houses, and more He will trump the
best trick the mail order house ever
J played If you will put down spot cash
: and accept from him class Of goods
devoid of respectable ancestry and
upon which no reputable manufacture
eTs name can be found, but in which
the disease germs Of prison made goods
are secreted-
He can sell cheap goods If you vii
buy them from him with your eye;
shut. He can meet the best price
ever made by mail order house Il
you will plank down your money ant
accept what he gives you without
question and without recourse. Bu
you must not expect him to be in hi:
place of business every day in The
year, ready and willing to make gooc
, any defect, ready and willing to stanC
back Of every article he sells with hi
own reputation and the warranty of
responsible company.
Local Merchant Needs no Advocate.
The local merchant needs neither ad
vocate nor defense. His methods res
upon principles that have built up II
this country a system Of internal com
merce which is both the marvel ant
the ndmiration Of the world His bust
ness is legitimate because its success
contributes to the general prosperit.
of the community In which it stand
as q thriving example Of honesty AM
industry.
1t does not require that a man shall
be endowed with unusual mental at
tainments for him to know that pr
vate monopoly in restraint of trade, de
signed to wiring extortionate profit
from consumers, Is detrimental to tn
best interests of the patrons Of tina
industry. Any combination organize,
for the purpose Of smothering competi
,, ton. whether It be Of capitalists, cap
tains of industry. laborers- farmers
warehousemen- transportation lines o
any other branch of the business world
Is essentially unethical. unwise and do
strnctive of business In the end.
The honest consumer must pat hin
self enthusiastically on the back whe
he spends his money In such wa
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