The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-08-17

i
of mutual interest.
Some will say that it behooves the
merchant to cooperate with the
farmer and that the converse is not
true. They say 1.-The merchant can
not get along without the farmer"
gest, then, that the merchant "cO-
operate" for selfish reasons only.
They destroy the whole spirit of the
thing by that kind of suggestion.
Admitting that the merchant can
not get along without the farmer, |
want to say to you that neither can
the farmer get along without h mer-
chant. | might have denied the state
ment and said the merchant can get
along without the farmer and support
my statement quite tactfully if dog
gedly. Take any individual merchant
as an entity and, unless he be situat-
ed in a town with a population closely
approaching zero, that one can live off
industry. But that is getting down to
fine points for the purpose OF excep-
tons.
The farmer may get along without
the local merchant but he cannot get
along entirely without the merchant,
and he can get along much better and
more economically and with greater
all around satisfaction with his local
merchant than with distant empori-
ums. The largest mail order house in
the world until very recently sold al
most not a penny's worth of merchan-
disc to the people Of Cook county, H.
linois. Both got along without each
other. | shall not burden you with de-
tails. But when that mail order
house opened a down town sales room
where merchandise was sold over the
counter and service was given the
same as other stores, both merchant
and customer found they could use
each other to advantage. This is not
a tribute to the mail order house, but
merely a passing illustration OF the
fact that We can use each other when
we get down to a basis which is mu-
tually agreeable.
Now | said it is necessary that under
standing be reached before we at
tempt cooperation. l believe that |
am right.
1t is a fact tt be regretted and re-
garded with Serious thought that too
few of us know anything about "the
other fellow" Perhaps the merchant
knows more about the farmer and his
situation than the farmer knows about
the merchant. If so, it is because the
merchant is surrounded by farmers
in this northwest section-and sees
them and talks with them and hears
them talk among themselves every
day. whereas the farmer is not yet
quite surrounded by merchants. Had
the false prosperity Of the war and
after the war period continued for
several years, | am tempted to fear
that he would have been so surround
ed as the number of retailers certainly
increased-and bless their memories,
they're going broke mighty fast today
because they weren't business men.
II they had been business men they
might better have understood that
"all is not gold that glitters" and that
presumptive evidence of success is not
above suspicion. But that is irrelev-
ant to the subject.
Yet, while the merchant is so situat-
ed that he can probably study the
farmers conditions better and easier
than the farmer can learn his pro-
blems, l fear that not many Of them
make any real effort to get into the
heart of thes things. They don't fl
cure enough that it is any OF their bus
mess. AS the retailers representa-
tive, / like to roast the retailer first
and then square myself before / lose
his attention. So l want to say that
the retailer who doesn't figure that 1t
is any Of his business when the farmer
is up against 1t in any way-that re-
taller is not entitled to any considera-
ton from the farmer. Unfortunately.
It isn't an attitude Of don't give a
cuss" that stands In the way OF this
simple understanding. but rather the