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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1909)
''V The Commoner VOLUME 9, NUMBER 9 DUCATIONAL SERI The Commoner. ISSUED WEEKLY. "- - T 1 " , cium.i's w. uhyan WlLI.MM J. IIHVAM Kelltornml Proprietor. . rtiMMicr. IliciMiti) I MK.TCAt.rK Edltorlnl ItooniH nml HiibIiicri ABrtclntc Keillor. Onico 124-210 Fouth 12th Street Fntfird ct ttie Pcstcfl cr at Lincoln, Neb., ns fccond-clnw rnnttcr 25Q . 5a tinr Yrar SI. 00 Tlircc MontliH - tlx Montlu OO Siticlo Copy . - - J j tlLfc ol Five or more. f mple Copies Free. TtrYttLT .... .75 Forclcn I'oMnKe 62 Cfiitu Extra. . SUBSCRIPTIONS can bo sent direct to The. Com- noner. Thoy can alao bo sent through newspapers which havo advcrtlHcd a clubbing rate, or through local agents, whero sub-agents havo been appoint ed. All remittances should bo sent by postofllce money order, express order, or by bank draft on New York or Chicago. Do not send individual checks, stamps or money. DISCONTINUANCES It Is found that a largs majority of our subscribers prefer not to navs their subscriptions interrupted and their ' broken in cnao they fail to remit before expiration. It 1b therefore assumed that continuance is dcplrod unless subscribers order discontinuance, elthor when subscribing or at any tlmo during the year. Presentation Copies: Many persons subscribe- for friends, intending that the paper shall stop at the end of the year. If instructions aro given to that effect thoy will receive attention at the proper tlmo. RENEWALS The dato on your wrapper shows tho tlmo to which your subscription Is paid. Thua January 81, 08, means that payment has been re ceived to and Including tho last issue of January, 1908. Two weeks are required after money has been received before tho dato on wrapper can be changed. CHANGE OF ADDRESS Subscribers requesting a chango of address must glvo OLD as well as NEW address. ADVERTISING Rates furnished upon appllca. tlon. Address all communications to THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb. Prosperity Items Hero aro two prosperity items as printed In tho Now York World: "Announcement was made that the Lacka wanna Steel company, one of tho largest inde pendent concerns, had reduced wages at its Buffalo works on an average of ten per cent. Laborers were the most seriously affected, be ing cut from 14 to 12 cents an hour. Consid erable Interest was manifest as to whether the officers had received a cut of ten per cent In their salaries, but Information on this point was refused at tho company's offices, No. 2 Rector street. ..mfSS0!ate,d Press dIsPatch, Chicago, March 4: k nnnnS !" g Coal. comPany ' Delaware, a $5,000,000 corporation operating mines in In diana and Illinois, was placed in the hands of a receiver today by Judgo Kohlsaat in tho United States circuit court. It is declared the coal company is solvent, but that it is being pressed amWwT to0 Jt owes a million dollars and that it will bo unable to meet tho interest on its bonded indebtedness. Rotations with tho pig steel companies and inability to recover from the panic of 1907 are given in tho bill of com plaint as the causes of tho coal company's finan cial condition. Preparations woro made for an cillary receipts in tho various jurisdictions whero the corporation has property judge Kohlsaat appointed-William Black general re ceiver. The assets of tho Deering company aro given at $7 075,000. It is said that $000,000 !b duo creditors this month, and $150,000 on tho March payroll,", ' uu ou WELL PONE, CHAMP CLARK 1 Mr. Clark, minority leader in tho house of representatives, failed to present tho regular resolution of compliments to tho retiring speak er. This has producod somo comment Onn must bo polito and courteous, but it is w as well that this resolution was not introduced on this occasion. Mr. Cannon, who is ZsomIIv a very likeable man, h, not entitled t the tH"a of any one other than the representatives of tho special mterests which he has f aitl f ully served leaVen How Guarantee of Deposits. Would Help the Traveling Man By Charles N. Crewdson, Author of "Ta es of the Road" In tho year of our Lord, 1908, tho traveling men of tho United States did not make one-half as much money as they did in tho year before, or in many of the years preceding that one containing that day of November on which the New York bankers sent out the telegram saying to tho little bankers throughout the land, "You can not have your money we have corraled from you." The traveling man was hit first and hit hard. Tho belt he got on his head nearly knocked him out of the ring; it made a big gash in his scalp. Even at this late date, a' year and a half after he received tho blow, his head is still a bleeding. In tho year of our Lord 1909, the traveling man will earn scarcely more than sixjy per cent of what he earned in 1907. His railway fare, cost for team trips, hotel bills and so on his trav eling expenses are now and were in 1908 as much as they were in 1907. His sales havo been one-fourth to one-half less than they were in 1907. The traveling man's salary is based upon the amount of his sales. When his sales shrink and his expenses do not, his salary is cut down. The salaries, therefore, of traveling men have been during tho year 1908 and will be during the year 1909 very much less than they were during the years preceding the day of that banker's telegram. , The reasons why the traveling man's salary is cut are, first, the merchants quit buying goods. Most merchants in the United States are stretch ing their capital to the limit. During a period of prosperity, they will carry a stock of goods much larger than their stock of money would amount to, if they were to cash in. A man with a $5,000 capital often carries a $10,000 stock. Those merchants who have been thrrough the mill know that Mr. Creditman in the wholesale house cares very little about him when the pinch comes, and that he can not expect any too much mercy from the wholesaler or the manufacturer. Therefore, tho merchant al though he greets his old traveling man friend with a smile sendB him away without an order; the merchant at most skins through with buying as little as he can. Another reason why the traveling man suffers is this, the wholesale houses or factories with whom the merchants are dealing, being pressed themselves are forced to call upon their mer chant creditors for money. The local banker being squeezed himself is compelled to tighten up on the merchant and not make him any loans to help him through the very time when he needs money the most. What I am going to say now, doesn't belong in this paragraph, or really does not come under the title about which I am asked to write, but I can not see why in the name of common sense every banker in the land instead of howling about a small tax on deposits, which he will, of course, make the man who borrows from him pay, does not wish to pay this little tax and give himself security and at the same time put himself in a position to make many times more the amount of ths tax from additional interests ho would receive from his enlarged deposits and ncreased loans. I used to think bankers were bright business men. The guarantee of bank deposits would help the traveling man. It would insure a stability of business because if the merchant felt that things would not tighten up and that he could borrow money from his banker in order to mcW his bills in the event he needed to do so would buy more liberally for his present needs; and ho would also feel less leary about placing orders for future shipments. This would enable the traveling man to do less traveling to -get the same amount of business, and doing less travel ng, it would lessen his expenses and tLrefore ZIT hiS, !alapy' Mr Creditman would be more liberal in extending credits and shipping tho goods tho traveling man sold. The .credit ? in wholesale house is squeezed Ltween two mill stones. If he does not ship goods tho traveling man raises cain with him, if he does ch ip too many goods that are not paid for the old man who wants his dividends, does not fS very kindly toward him. The result i credit man would rath be sworn "it by So traveling salesman than fired by the boss, there fore, when there is any doubt, the credit man "turns down" the order. When times are good and there is a chance for getting the money, the credit man does not force collections so hard; he does not offend so many of.the traveling man's customers. This tends to keep the volume of business bigger for the man on the road. It is volume of business that makes the trav eling man's salary. Let us say that a man sells ordinarily, $100,000 worth of goods a year, and receives for his salary and expenses five per cent of that amount, or $5,000. His traveling expenses are usually one-half of his gross com missions; this would mean that if he sold $100,000 worth of goods and- received $5,000 gross, his net salary would be $2,500. . Now, if his sales are cut down to $75,000,- his salary would bo just one-half as much as if he sold $100,000, although his sales would be cut down only one-fourth; this because his gross com missions would be only $3,750 five per cent of $75,000 and his expenses would remain $2,500. This would leave him a net salary of only $1,250. The man of all men who wishes stability in business, is the traveling man. Now while all of this hullabaloo was going on over nearly the entire United States, I per sonally, was down in little Oklahoma where the guarantee law was at work. This was in January, 1908, and I want to say to all of my good friends throughout the entire United States, that business was a humming down in Oklahoma while, she was flat in other parts. This is not guess work, but positive knowledge because my firm has men covering all parts of the United States. Me for the guarantee! (.Editor's Note: Mr. Crewdson travels all over the United States representing .the Outcault Ad vertising company of Chicago, .of which he is tho vice president. He is in touch with what other salesmen for his firm aro doing, and like wise being in the advertising business, is in a position to know what is going on in the busi ness world.) JOHN W. ROSSON John W. Rosson died at his home In Butler, Mo., Tuesday morning, February 2, at the ago of ninety-two years. C. W. Ray of Butler, re ferring to this fine character, says: "Mr. Ros son was a native of Virginia, was born in Culirepper county September 22, 1817, came to Calloway county, Missouri, in 1866, located in Bates county in 1889. He became a member of the Methodist church in 1839. His Christian character will long be felt by those who knew him. To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God, was his motto. He was a man of strong conviction, of splendid intelli gence, and unswerving devotion to that which he believed right. He was personally acquaint ed with Mr. Bryan, and paid his last tribute of respect, as a democrat, by voting for him in the last election." FAIRBANKS, ALASKA, GOES DEMOCRATIC Mr. Bryan has just received from Fairbanks, Alaska, a beautiful souvenir in the shape of a cut glass inkstand mounted in gold upon a walrus tusk. The tusk is an anciQnt one and beautifully colored by time, while the workman ship would do credit to any jeweler in the coun- r2 Thi people of the Fairbanks' mining dis trict held an election at which the following Too WaS, rded: Bryan 571 Taft 353 Debs 198, and Chafin 7. The souvenir is appreciated for its beauty as well as for the fact that it represents the po litical convictions of the hardy pioneers who aro bringing forth the hidden wealth of the distant north. Judge Wright discussed the objects and aims of organized labor with all the acumen of a nl 10 DssessGS a vast fund of ignorance concerning the aubjwi under discussion. ziia"?1 ' ij" ktlmumf' ni m.jali