The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-09-09
WE A AT HOME

Down in Missouri the Hannibal COurier-POst
has been conducting an intensive campaign in
the interests of the "Trade at Home" idea.
Among the features of that campaign-an eff
fort remarkable for it's cOmprehensiveness and
the results attained-was a series of page adver-
tisements sponsored by the chamber of COM
merce and the up-tO-date merchants of the town.
One of these advertisements was captiOned
Hannibal Is Not At Home to Peddlers." The
text urged housewives to refrain from patron
izing itinerant vendors and gave reasons, both
practical and ethical, why local merchants should
be given preference.
Not content with running the advertisement
in its regular edition, the Courier-POst printed
it on gOOd-sized cards and distributed them about
the city. In the upper right-hand corner ap-
peared the following:
Notice to Peddlers, Agents, and Order Takers
NO ADMTTTANCE! We don't need your goods
Hannibal merchants carry complete stocks and
WE TRADE AT HOME"
These cards were posted outside the doors of
scores Of Hannibal homes. That is a trifle
rough" on peddlers and agents, but it evidences
a loyalty to the home community that is well
worth emulating.
Perhaps Hannibal was suffering more acutely
from mail order house financial T B" than are
BOzeman and other communities Of the Galatin
valley. Nevertheless, we must look facts squarey
in the face, and one of these facts is that fan
too much money is sent out of this territory every
year.
That money never returns to Bozeman or the
Gallatin. It is lost, so far as this territory is
concerned, forever. The steady stream of cash
flowing to eastern mail order concerns constitutes
a serious drain upon the resources of our mer
chants, bankers, farmers, and manufacturers, anC
unless it is checked it will, in time, become a ser
ious menace to the financial health of the valley
Undoubtedly the constant re-iteratiOn of thi
'Trade at Home idea tires some people, but it il
by the repeated presentation of an idea that WI
are at first interested, then induced to study, an,
finally to adopt it. Surely the collective benefit
to be derived from trading at nome justify tn
stress that is being put upon the subject.
The permanent residents of any communit
cannot escape the responsibility they bear for it
welfare and prosperity. They cannot recOnci
protestations of loyalty with acts of disloyalty
Furthermore, they cannot successfully deny tia
sending money out of the community constitute
except in rare and peculiar instances, such an &C
If you have been thOughtlessly guilty Of di
loyalty to your community, decide now to tur
over a new leaf and help make the slogan, "Pa
ronize Home Industries" a REALITY. VIII
you need anything don't get down the catalogue
and see if you can't shade your local merchant
price three Of four cents. Go downtown and lOC
around. You will be surprised to find that, qus
ity, price and service considered, you can do ju
as well or better at home.
At the same time you will feel the. s~atisfacti
of having, at no loss to yourself, done your COZ
munity a service. You will know that you ha
helped to stabilize your financial envirOnmel
You will soon become aware that you have l.
the foundations for new friendships that v
endure, because they will be based upon mutt
respect and esteem.
It's a vital thing-this "Trade at Home" i'd
Are you going to help "put it across" in the full
possible measure? Your community is waiting
your answer!