Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-11-17
The Merchant and His Home PAPER

|
For the good of the town and prof
to themselves the relation of the loca
editor and the retail meachant in tn,
average town are not what the,
should be, says the Rockford Regis
ter.
This is due to lack of understandings
each of the work of the other. Some
times ignorance is responsible, some
tlm sit is prejudice, sometimes it il
a case of looking for trouble. The re
suit is the same. There is too little
cooperation between the editor an6
the merchant.
This may be partly due to the fact
that the merchants in many towns
are just learning the lesson of cooper
alton among themselves. Just finding
out that fighting their neighbor down
the street isl1o all there is to sue.
cessful MERCHANDISING. Just begin
ming to learn that there is more to be
gained in bringing more business to
the town than BY lighting among
themselves for the trade which natu-
rally comes to it,
| On the other hand the editors are
frequently narrow in their policy aud
neglectful of their business. They
may give too much time to politics
and too little to their real business,
that of publishing paper and giving
their merchants the best possible ad-
vertising medium.
No merchant can enthuse over ad-
vertising in poorly printed, poorly
edited and but partially circulated
paper which fails to bring results.
On the other hand no editor can en-
Enthusiastically work for town whose
merchants are narrow minded, whose
public spirit is zero, who are back
biting cath other, whose idea of bust
ness is tearing down their competit-
ors. Such men care little for the fu-
ture of their town. They are too sell
fish. They do not make successful
business men or successful towns.
The local paper and the merchants
are the principal factors in every
town. On them depends in great
degree whether 1T shall progress or
fall into rut.
Then it is plain that whatever diff
ferences may arise over politics, over
the school elections, or the numerous
other little trouble makers in the
affairs of the town, the merchant and
and the local paper should always CO.
operate for more business.
Every merchant who reads this
should follow it up with work to a
practical end. He should ask himself
a few questions such as these:
Can not make more money by do
ing my part toward bringing more
people to this town to trade?
Even though 1 am ssore" at the
editor, am not standing in my own
light in refusing to cooperate with
him?
II assist and encourage the editor
to push the circulation of his paper
into that northeast district, will it
not result in more of the trade COM
ing to this town, of which [ get my
share?
Retailers associations are edueat-
ing the merchant to campaign for
trade along border lines. The next
thing is to bring the local editor into
camp as an ally.
The merchants of town should do
all they can for the editor. In turn
they should insist that he give them
bright paper and push its circulation
into every possible nook and corner of
the territory from which they desire
to pull trade. The town which has
the most widely circulated newspaper
has the advantage in the fight for
trade. Circulars ought not to be as
good an advertising medium as the
local paper.
This is straight business. Politics,
school elections and sensitive natures
should not be mixed in the relations
of editor and merchant Theirs
should be straight business alliance
for more trade.-Rockford Register.