The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-23
MEN, Wnr'EN
 AND THINGS

operandi.
 wasn't in the game myself, but was in close touch with what was going on,
 not as a locker on in Venice, or even an innocent bystander, but as a customer
 the cost of whose publication stood a
 in spite of this the fellows let me know
 what they were attempting to do. | It was then the custom for them to
 bid on any job offered, and it was well
 known that there was the hottest kind
 of competition, and so there was much
 price-cutting with the result that the in- dustryN was anything but profitable, and
 most unsatisfactory. It got so desperate that something had to be done.
 1
 1 have forgotten all about the details of
 the arrangement that to certain ex-
 tent relieved an intolerable situation, but J I'll never forget that one of the pro-
 prietors said Fellows, you can argufy
 and resolute as much as you please, but we ain't a-going to get anything until
 some of us get enough backbone to let
 a job go out of the office"
 In plain words, it was up to the print CTS to refuse to do work unless they got a reasonable price for it, and there fore it was in their own hands to remedy the situation. Now, I have told about that price-1xing commissions, boards Of equalization and other governmental lagencies are not going to bring down the
 high cost of living
 In the last analysis it's like salvation, a personal affair You can't convert people
 in blocks of five. They must come into the Kingdom one by one. Furthermore,
 you cannot make folks good by legisa- tion, although lot of reformers seem
 to think such thing possible, and trot
 to the legislature or to Congress to have
 laws passed to mend the morals of the people. It's possible to prohibit them from doing certain things by the imposi- tion of penalties, but real change oA
 heart is an individual matter
 l I'm a long time laying basis for my major premise, which is, if you want to
 bring down prices, quit putting your faith in Uncle Sam and realize once for all that you will have to learn to do without, Unnecessary things. You will have to
 school yourself until you are able to go into a store and come out without mak- ing purchase unless the article you want is reasonably priced, and in the range of your pocketbook. We need to educate
 ourselves in the art of passing up lux luries
 Many articles and books are being writ ten about salesmanship, and some of the
 big department stores and great manu- featuring organizations have schools in which it is taught I had a friend who was a clerk in a certain eStabli shment in i Birmingham. and he said if you wanted to force a sale the easiest way to do it. if the women complained of the price Of coat suit, was to say, Madam, 1
 realize that you want it, but evidently
 are not able to pay the price permit me
 to show you some cheaper ones" Nine
 times out of ten, he remarked she'll grab the high-priced one if she bankrupts her
 husband.
 I started to light in here on the femi-
 nine weakness which will not let sales
 man saleslady think that they are un- able to buy what they want irrespective of price, but there is a psychological twist in the average female which resents
 any patronizing on the part of a clerk. But do not let any man take glory to himself as being above such trivalities, for Peter bold as a lion when the sol diers came out to arrest Jesus, yet was shamed into denying Him with oaths be- cause shamed by a serving maid The trait is deep-dyed into the innermost be- ing of both men and women.
 We have a perfectly good American slang word for it and call it front It's a short word. but It has cost the people | of these United States millions of good dollars. Every man, woman and child in this land. Every one of us at times has ipaid tribute to it. It amounts to an obses sion in some people, and governs their whole lives. They go through the world crying aloud by their dress, their home. their car, their styles of living in hotels, or wherever they are found. Keep your eye on us, for we are able to have the best that is going. It's an American mania,
 and comes out in many places but nowhere better than in travelling abroad, where few are willing to ride in the sec ond class coaches, not because they are uncomfortable but for fear some one will think that they cannot afford to ride first class
 Take for instance the outcry against the terrible tax which automobiles are llevying on the finances of the nation. It has grown to such an alarming extent that the banks of the country have shut down on such loans. Now, the autonlo- bile may be classed both as a business asset and as luxury, I daresay that if the truth were arrived at it would be dis covered that the reason automobile buy ling is frowned upon by the money lend- | CTS is because nine out of ten buy CTS purchase a higher priced car than they can really afford just to keep up their front"
 This is not an indictment leveled against the high-priced cars. for there are plenty of Americans who can choose the very best without in any way imperil- ling their incomes. l simply kicked this industry as good illustration of the point I was trying to drive home. There lis no use in railing against the govern ment when the great majority of the citizens living under it are living beyond their means | am glad that the rich in I this country as a rule are free spenders, for do not believe in niggardliness. The thing am hitting is the desire to try 10 appear rich when one's account is in rel link at the bank. and the grocer. and the baker and the candlestick maker are un-