Year: 1873

We clip the following sensible cor
respondence from the Brownsville Bee:


There seems to be a general desire
amongst the people of the South to go
just as far away from home to buy such
articles as they need, as they possibly
can. They have not yet learned to
support their home institutions but
have q general desire to get away from
home to buy everything they want. No
matter what facilities they have here
at home, they have an idea-which is
very mistaken one-that they can do
better somewhere else. If our farmers
want a plow, rather than have one of
our own blacksmiths make it, they
send off from home for it, thinking
perhaps, because it has brighter fin
ish and gaudily painted stock, that it
must be better than they could get at
home. If any of our citizens want a
set of harness, rather than have them
made here at home, they will send off
and pay more and probably get bad
and refused stock thrown off on them,
while at the same time they have men
trying to make living and build up
business here at home.


If they want carriage or buggy,
they must have one from Cincinnati.
To get one from there, with freight
charges, it will cost more than they can
get the same article for here at home,
which are warranted by the makers,
who are responsible for any deficiency
in them. If they are swindled in
these foreign articles, who will they go
to for redress? They can't send the
articles back North for repairs, and the
consequence is, they have inferior bug
gies, inferior harness, inferior plows,
and before they get through with the
article, they are little sorry that they
ever bought them. The few articles
herein mentioned do not cover the list.
1t extends much further, and over
more history than we have space to
enumerate.


The excuse for all this is, that they
can buy everything cheaper away from
home. This we doubt. 1t may be
cheaper at first, but will it prove cheap
er in the long run? viii it build up
OuI w lAtI DdC
the mechanic to come amongst us?-
He has no encouragement from
the people. He knows that what he
makes will be brought into eompeti-
ton with northern manufacturers, and
he can't afford to work at the same
prices. His material costs something
to get it here, it costs more for labor,
and then his reputation here at home
is at stake. He knows that his work
is here at home where it can be thrown
back on his hands, if it does not come
up to what he represents it. The
northern mechanic knows that when
his goods leave his house for the south
ern market, that he will never see, or
probably never hear of them again, so
what does he care what he throws off
on the people. Northern city work is
like great many city people; it has a
heap of polish and looks well, but
when it comes to the solid work and
use, will it stand the test?


Ourpeopleought to be imposed upon.
They deserve nothing more. If they
will not encourage home industry and
patronize home institutions, encourage
the building up of home manufacto-
ries, the best thing for them to do, is
to patronize foreign institutions and
run the risk of getting swindled.


This home patronage is good thing
for our people to think about, and we
hope that they may take it into consld-
Grafton. Let us offer home institutions
some encouragement and try to build
them up, even if it costs us little
more to do it.