The record-union., 1895-06-22
A sen SIBLE VIEW.

many citizens of Santa Cruz have re-
Gently expressed Themselves as being
tired of giving money TO bring soldiers
and organizations to that town. They say
that it is very doubtful If the money so
expended yields any very valuable re-
turn to the city.
There is an ephemerous advertising ad-
vantage in bringing people to town; but
the principle underlying this is the same
underlying the value of all Advertising
If q town has natural resources: if it has
prosperity; if 1t has capacity for growth;
if 1t sustains advantageous commercial
relations, the bringing in of a large num-
ber of people will make these things
known. But If they do not exist. the
bringing in of people simply advertises
their non-existence. If a merchant ad-
vertises his goods, and can sell valuable
articles really cheap, advertising is ad-
vantageous; but if the price of his goods
is exorbitant. or if the quality ia inferior,
advertising only the sooner exposes these
defects. 1t may be set down as funda-
mental principle of advertising that it is
valuable to things possessed of merit. and
of but temporary and transient value to
those things which possess no merit. A
medicine, for illustration. may be valu
able remedy for some particular ailments.
If 1t is really q remedy, the broader the
advertisement the more people will know
of it's merit; but after all, it is the merit
of the thing advertised which confers
success, not the advertisement itself. This
principle cannot be too strongly i'm
pressed, nor too plainly stated.
Advertising merit confers knowledge
of that merit upon the world, and the
knowledge once acquired, the merit does
the rest. Populous cities are the result Of
employment. There are no populous
cities depending entirely on pleasure
| seekers. Great commonwealths cannot
be builded upon the unusual and ex-
ceptional. The number of people who
are able to visit seaside resort are COM
paratively few. and they are never of
class who take up their permanent resi-
dence at a place of resort. A few may
build houses and live there for season;
but no such towns have commercial and
manufacturing prosperity. The towns
whose social and other activities are
spasmodic and seasonable amount to
nothing in the long run. Tourists as a
class resemble swarm of bees that make
no comb and deposit no honey, but take
flight after short rest. The beehive
that yields honey is the one in which the
bees locate permanently, become an organ
lied colony and pursue their industry
under the form of organization known to
bees; and this is just as true of towns,
cities and commonwealths.
Since the discovery of Yosemite Valley
over 250,000 people have visited 1t, and
yet the permanent population of the
valley does not exceed twenty five peo-
pie, and it has not increased in the past
twenty years. The visitors to Y Yosemite
| Valley did not find commercial activity;
! they did not find a center of commercial
life; they did not find it to be basis of
manufacturing enterprises-in short, they
! did not find place adapted to the resi-
dence of men, and simply because there
were no occupations open to their in
dustry. Occupation is the means of sub
sistence, and populations must subsist.
Santa Cruz has been the favorite resort
of the people of the interior for thirty
years past. Part of it's growth is at
tributable to this fact. But resorts multi
ply; and there is nothing more ephemer-
Gus than the reputation of pleasure
ground. There are medicinal springs by
the score noted for marvellous cures of
various ailments, which ceased to be
popular, and eventually have gone into
disuse The springs which were known
as "cure-alls" thirty years ago are not
known at all to-day. New springs are
discovered and the newest is sure to ab-
sorb all the popularity.
The Colum bian Exposition at Chicago
brought into that city probably two
millions of people. But the commercial
and industrial activities of Chicago were
not augmented. Population bears an
inevitable ratio to its activities. In fact,
the Colum biRn Exposition left Chicago
in the breakers Of bankruptcy. It was
worth something as an advertisement OF
the marvellous growth of that city; of its
magnitude as commercial emporium;
and to the extent that it disseminated in
formation in regard to these things II
possessed a value, but it possessed nc
value beyond this.
The tourist business of Southern Cali
fornia advertises the advantages of that
country, but it has ceased to be an impor-
tant element of growth. 1t has long since
been subordinated to the real causes o.
growth which existed in that country
that is to say, the tourist business may
contribute in slight measure at the pres
ent time to the industrial development O
the natural resources of Southern Cali
fornia; but if the tourist business was tc
be discontinued, that growth would now
proceed.
We recur to these things because ther.
is prevalent fallacy that Fourth o
: July parade, circus, a flower festival, OF
water carnival are the beginnings o
municipal growth. We are now having