THE ITINERANT TRAVELLER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 132, 6 March 1940, Page 4

THE ITINERANT TRAVELLER

ONCE again the itinerant traveller is on the rounds. A pleasant person enough to do business with and without a doubt in many instances perfectly honest with his customers in the deals he has to make. We have been informed by a recent visitor from the Old Country that the average New Zealander is gullible. Be that as it may, we are just as certain that the typical housewife in these parts has a fairly shrewd idea of values and' is therefore not needlessly taken down. Bat the question to ask oneself is whether or not the itinerant should be encouraged. Is it iair to the local businessman? The facts briefly are these:— The travelling salesman buys a snip line in the city, (possibly stale stock which, will not clear) packs his traps and proceeds to comb the country, districts, calling on the individual homes and driving quick bargains with the unsuspecting housewife. He has no ties, no interests in the town he visits; pays no rates, has no social connection and in fact is here today and gone tomorrow. His methods are pursuasive and he has the advantage of a personal interview. Every purchase made means money going out of the district, and every purchaser can have no redress should he or she become dissatisfied with the goods which have been acquired. Compare this with the position of the local shopkeeper who is endeavouring to give service. In the first place he is a ratepayer —often a substantial one. He is definitely connected with the town and has interests in all its organisations. He employs local breadwinners and therefore keeps local money in circulation. The fact that he has competition forces him to maintain a reasonable price level and a good standard. Being on the spot be must be prepared to stand behind his good& and provide a guarantee of quality. In a broader sense the local businessman is a unit in the composition of the town itself, and the greater the number of units a town can support, the greater will be the variety of goods on display, and the larger and more important will the town become as a centre. ThuL->'t will be seen that the duty of every right-thinking citizen is to shop locally, and thereby support and further the interests of the town of Whakatane in which we have our homes and in which we make our livelihood.