The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-02-05
MERCHANTS AND FARMERS

Commencing the order of DR. Gar
field, the fuel administrator, closing
industrial plants and declaring a
holiday once a week for ten weeks,
The Press and Banner of Abbeville
suggests that it would be a good
plan were the closing extended from
January 1, to September 1. Pre-
sumably, it speaks particularly if
| not exclusively for its own COM
munity and its reasoning is interest
ing. We suppose that anyone who
has had business experiences in a
town for the most part dependent
upon an agricultural community for
its trade has had the thought that,
were it possible for the expenses of
business to stop for three or four
months, during the summer until the
cotton wagons began to roll to mar
ket, the problem of making profits
would be comparatively easy. The
Press and Banner says:
"The plan for the stores to close
for one day in the week, too, should
be made permanent from January l
to September 1, only the stores
might easily close for two or even
three days in the week. In this way
the merchants could give better at
tention to business. The goods could
be sold on the three or four days
when the stores are open, and on
the other days the merchants, all of
whom are interested in farming and
farms, either directly or indirectly,
with the assistance of the clerks
could visit every farm in which
they are interested, see that the
crops are being properly worked, the
stock on the farms properly cared
for, the bitches properly cleaned,
and that the premises generally were
in proper shape. In this way better
crops would be grown, more corn
and food stuffs would be grown, ac-
counts would be kept more in line
with the promised results Of the
crops, and much more money made
and much less lose on bad accounts. ~
Whoever lends money or advances
goods to another is entitled to know
fully the condition of that others af- !
fairs. That is the principle upon
which all business is conducted. It
is well within reason to say that
thrift and production might be pro-
noted by an intimate cooperation
between an honest merchant and an
honest farmer. 1t is the exception,
al farmer who would not be greatly
helped by the frequent advices of a
trained business men, one under
standing how to keep accounts cor
rectly and how to estimate cost of
production and marketing. More
over, it is certain that during the
long summer months merchants and
their clerks are compelled to pass a
larger proportion of their time in
idleness. One suspects that Able
vile is not the only town in South
Carolina, in which three or four
split-bottom chairs and a checker
board under the spreading oaks are
necessary institutions in July and
August.
That The Press and Banners pro-
posal will at an early time be carried
out, one can scarcely believe. Very
many sensible proposals are dismiss
ed for no better cause than that
they are novel. Perhaps some day
a large supply store in Abbeville will
open including in it's business de-
partment of advice to farmers. 1t
will have one or two practical busi-
ness men to visit it's agricultural GUS
toners in the spring and throughout
the season of cultivation to show
them how to keep books, how to
make purchases and how to buy
enough and not too much. That
would be an extension of the idea
of our contemporary. If the small
farmers, the tenants, could have