The herald., 1897-10-19

to attract, but to hold trade. To -four
ish for any length of time he must be in
the center Of a population large enough to
furnish the daily crop of nibblers to take
the places of those who, discovering the
false lure. refuse to rise again to his bait
The German government Is making
strong effort to regulate commercial hon
or. A bill published by the imperial gov
ernment recently provides for the punish
ment Of misstatements in advertising and
other trade abuses of unfair competition.
The history of the enforcement of such
a law would be watched with interest
Can a man be forced by law to tell the
truth concerning the commodity he has
to dispose of? 1t seems matter for edu-
cation. not force, to reach. The broadening
of our business men to a realization that
lit Is the small business man who sees
only the dollar he is about to grasp. The
great merchant has studied the science of
trade until he realizes that real. lasting
success in any business enterprise means
the accomplishment of one thing-make the
reputation of the seller the dynamic force
the business then will hum.
There Is perhaps no word in the vocabu-
larry Of trade so much abused as the word
bargain" The bargain counter Is for
women especially an alluring temptation.
No distance is too far for her to travel.
no physical exertion or discomfort too
article because the cost price Is cheap
another long suffering word. A bargain
is primarily getting more than your mon
| ey'S worth. The bargain counter has le-
gitlmate use. Over the honest bargain
table passes broken lots. remnants, waits.
estrays that clutter up shelves and inter-
fere with clean stocks. 1t should never be
an outlet for poor goods that the firm
should not sell or its customers buy. Re-
liable, thoughtful merchants. usually con-
servative In business methods, in order
| to force trade. sometimes throw on as a
! leader through this avenue full lines of
up-to-date, saleable merchandise, marked
at or below cost. 1t is exceedingly doubt
| full II this serves any purpose but to edu-
cate the public to a false idea Of values,
for your competitor, meeting your price.
goes one better, and the fever becomes cpl
demfc, endangering the commercial exist
ence of any firm inoculated with the virus.
| There is legitimate profit due the work
| of every business firm; let the man who
does not make a fair percentage sell the
goods; the more he sells the sooner he will
be out of the field. Coach the public long
the other line-a willingness to pay a
fair price for honest goods. The little each
| patron saves by cut In necessary ar
ticle cuts a small figure in the household
economy, while the aggregate may be ru-
inous to the seller
deep and holy joy If 1t can get something
for nothing. The desire is always at freshet
| tide In the heart of man and woman. The
craving grows with feeding. To cut prices
must soon be added car fare as a premium
to the buyer. The car fare bid expands by
successive gradations into a cart and span
of ponies, and is the end yet? "The de-
scent to Hades is easy" dissatisfied, the
public will continue to hold out its cup,
| like the charity child of Dickens, demand
| ing "More, more"
| Let us hope the climax has been reached
| and there will be a reaction to less perni-
cious and illegitimate trade methods. Club
schemes have already fallen into disfavor,
as benefiting neither buyer nor seller. 1
| think 1t has been for some time the sense
| of most business communities that they
should cease to be creature of retail
trade.
No sane business man now denies that
advertising influences buyers, but the thou
sands of dollars are yearly thrown away
| in injudicious, useless efforts along this
line. swelling alarmingly the cost of doing
business. People like to be asked to come
to your establishment; they like to feel they
are wanted: but the kind of messenger
| that carries the invitation influences its
reception.
The legitimate use of a store window Is
to attractively exhibit samples Of goods,
and most people, especially women, resent
the use of them as an advertising medium
as an intrenchment on their window shop
ping rights. Making of windows variously
colored signboards not only greatly les
sens the attractiveness of the store, but
well distributed throughout our city, moth
ing is better calculated to give an unfa-
vorable impression of trade conditions
There can be too apparent effort to
| force trade. Nothing requires more good
horse sense than advertising, both as to
matter and medium. Is the matter con-
| else, clear? Will it reach the patrons
| Novelty Is good, but should be used eau
tiously. Brains, in a recent number, makes
some pertinent remarks right here:
when you get ready to tedl the public
what you are going to do. tell your story
we'll and thoroughly. but tell it simply.
l. Don't tear your hair or froth at the
mouth. . =. Act like solid business
man. not fly by night fakir. The
man who just jumps up and down might
as we'll stand still. . . Work up a good
solid business by solid business methods.
Coax wheedle, suggest and argue, but
don't try to yank trade in by the hair. AS
Bill Nye once sagely observed. When you
want to kiss a girl don't grab for it; take
your time-it's there
The resolution to refrain from engaging
employees not possessing recommenda tions
from former employers and alluring clerks
| away from other merchants needs no COM
| ment Any business man will endorse the
first clause; any gentleman the second.
| In regard to the prosecution of dishonest
employees and patrons, 1t Is sometimes a
nice question to settle just how or when.
Mercy should temper Justice. But. broadly
speaking, it is a crime against the moral
! status of the community to compound a
felony j. G. Holland in his we'll known
lecture on Faith in Humanity" says:
| a a a n of
some lapse from integrity in the business
world. Every mans sin is everybody s
business. Every sin shakes mems conf
| dence in men, and all mankind have a
duty to make common cause in its exter-
mination."
And now to touch on the resolution con-
| cerning the change in values caused by
recent legislation and increasing business
activity.
| You all remember the definition of the
| Inference between the ordinary man and
| the chump. The ordinary man recognizes
and grasps an opportunity when it comes
his way; the chump don't know good
thing when he sees it.
| Merchandise has been sold for long
time in Los Angeles 1t discouragngly small
profits for the ambitious merchant. 1.
Justice to himself, he should right now ad-
vance prices. The goods on his shelves are
in, true business economics worth just
what he can replace them for in the open
market.
Gentlemen, the resolutions are open for
your discussion. Do these evils exist or
| has the board of directors been misled ?
If they do exist. do they not demand dras-
tic draught of some remedial agent?
| We do not presume to tell merchants how
to conduct their business, but we have
known many to fail because of an inability
| TO o,,1 Trtcfi iao