The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1919-10-03
the merchant is expected to give lib
erally or. lose caste with his custom

the merchant is expected to give lib
orally or lose caste with his custom
ers.
The above, coming under the head
of operating expenses, make the re-
t%ailer's gross profit and his net profit
two vastly different items. Yet, the
commissions "%preliminary investiga-
ton" and it's preliminary passing of
judgment upon the retailer conveys
the impression with the average con
sumer that the local merchant is the
one big profiteer il the high cost Of
living question.
Furthermore, the local merchant is
the man who stays on the job and de-
livers the goods to the great mass of
consumers. He has to face his S
toners every day and shoulder the
blame for soaring prices, whether he
shares in the guilt or not. He is too
lei to effect a perfect organ
ization behind which to hide and boost
prices at his leisure. He has to buck
the mail order house, which usually
gets the cash from his credit custom
ers; and the retail mercantile bust
ness has the record of making more
bankrupts, accordingly, than any other
business in the world.
And again, the commission states
that the local merchant should not ad-
vance the price of goods on his shelves
which have advanced in wholesale
price. Tommyrot! If the merchant
does not keep in touch with varying
wholesale prices, the first thing he
knows he has half a dozen different
prices on as many different packages
of the same article.
And what is the result if the whole
sale price drops on an article which
the merchant has in stock? Personal
ly, we know of one merchant who lost
several hundred dollars on a carload
of flour which did not arrive until
after the price had dropped more than
50 a barrel. He had to sell at the re-
duced price. Why should he not be
consistent and sell at the advanced
price when the market price of his
stock increases?
And how about the jobber and whole
saler, whom the commission treats so
charitably in its first formal state
ment?
The jobber may have his office in
the sixteenth floor of some city block.
He seldom sees his customers, per-
sonally. Advancing freight rates and
labor costs are the least of his troub-
les. His profits are practically net
profits. He belongs to a country
wide organization that has political
influence. His "dead-beat" customers
are blacklisted through commercial
agencies, and he enjoys a hundred
and one other business advantages
which the local merchant cannot.
But the Montana trade commission
either negligently or purposely re-
Trains from publishing a tabulated
list of his profits, as it has done with
the local merchant.
W. believe in straightforward in
vestigations, aimed at the root of the
evil to be eliminated; but we do not
believe in any trade commission OF
investigating committee jumping post
haste at a conclusion, which, while
undoubtedly made public in good faith.
only tends to wreck vengeance or the
parties who are bearing the brunt of
the hard times and carrying the ma
jority of over until better
days arrive.
The above editorial was ritten sole.
ly in the interests of fair play anc
not at the request or with the know.
ledge of any retailer. There are re
tail profiteers as we'll as other brands
and these, i: is hoped will be ferreteo
out by the Montana trade commission
But we do not believe in branding al
local merchants as profiteers merely
because the commission found some
to be charging abnormal prices fol
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