The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-08-14
THE SOVIET GROCERY

IN the Minneapolis Journal of last
Sunday, in the column conducted by
a. ]. Runded, the heading of The
Long Bow" is the following account
OF the way they run a soviet gro.
Gerry in the proposed days of Bolshev.
ic control of all business affairs:
my friend Cadwallader Wiseacres
was shipping clerk in the grocery
store where | kept the books, when
we all got together and decided to
take the store over. The first prob
lem, of course, was how to dispose
OF the Old Man. He had spent a life
time building up his grocery business
and he felt something of a pride in
it | believe, and a few of us felt
rather sorry for him. But he was to
be well taken care of under the law
recently passed by Congress for TAX
ing over grocery stores. Under this
law the Old Man was to get U. s.
Government Grocery 4 per ZEN bonds
on a valuation and the business was
to go to us pr~oletariat.
"The grocery delivery boy was not
quite clear On the point and we tried
to explain it to him.
LOOK here asked the grocery
delivery boy, I understand the Old
Man is to be let out under bonds.
Why not give him thirty days and be
done with him?'
I'VE finally cleared up this obfusti-
cation in the mind of the grocery de-
livery boy, but he was far from salts
fed.
About three weeks after we had
taken over the business, the grocery
delivery boy fell down badly. BY
lack of supervision of his cart. he
allowed one of the b~ourgeoise to an,
propriate from the back of the cart
a leg of lamb belonging to us prote-
lariat and we determined to fire him.
| was delegated to do the business.
So / said to him:
LOOK here, my boy, you are fred.
Do you get me?'
You can't fire me- said the gro.
Gerry delivery boy, I'm one of the pro-
prietors. | am one of those who ooh
over the business. Suppose l say to
you, You're fired" you wouldn't think
you were, would your
"'No, l said, L wouldn't. But Won
are fired just the same
But as the boy continued to deny
fact, we took it upon u soviet
and it was finally decided to modify
he discharge by allowing him a bonus
IN United Grocery As for his good will
IN the business. We thought that
about $4,000 worth of these As would
salve the hurt Of the grocery delivery
boy. but on the showdown he de-
$4,000 worth, so our soviet
compromised with him ON s25. 600
worth and he bought a secondhand
henry and lived high in other re-
'pects for many years, and without
work, till we lost sight Of him.
In the course of ten or twenty
years. 1t seems that these bonds came
and the Secretary Of the Treas
Try wrote for the money. We re-
SASu mat VIC udu not Sucn UNDER
standing Of the matter, but had
.hought that the United States was
rack of the grocery business. If such
we're the case. let the country paw
he bonds. They were, we pointed out
o the Secretary Of the Treasury
hree parties now in the grocery bus.
ness, the employees, the manasing
orce and the public. We, the first
wo, were doing our part keeping the
BUSINESS going. now let the public do
Is part and take up this small issue
4 bonds II 1t wanted them.
Public hades,' wrote the Secretary
4 the Treasury in reply, it is the
'uolfc that eats. It don't want TO
bills. That's old stun
so we got busy and overturned the
and In the resulting con.
usion. the matter Of the bond.
apsed." u
NTrrNQyaumF~TTF 7fHr ~ - NM N WaHNN H FHHNttl 3