Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1903-07-11
The Merchant and His Home Paper.

I'D themselves Iu6 l0I6ClOu VI ohO AOo''-
editor and the retail merchants in the
average town are not what they
ST ould be.
This is due to lack of understand
ing by each of the work of the other.
Sometimes ignorance is responsible.
sometimes it is prejudice, sometimes
it is case of looking for trouble.
The result is the same. There is
too little cooperation between the
editor and the merchant.
This may be partly due to the fact
that the merchants in many towns are
just learning the lesson of co-opera
ton among themselves. Just finding
out that fighting their neighbor down
the street is not all there is to sue
cessful merchandising.
Just beginning to learn, that
there is more to be gainedin bringing
more business to the town than by
fighting among themselves for the
trade which naturally comes to it.
On the other hand editors are FREE
quently narrow in their policy and
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 advertising medium.
No merchant can enthu'e over
advertising in poorly printed, poor
ly edited, and but partially circulated
paper which fails to bring results
On the other hand, no editor eau
enthusiastically work for town
whose merchants are narrow minded,
whose public sprt is below zero, who
are ack-biting each other,. whose
idea OF business is tearing down their
competitors. Such men care little
for the future of their town. They
do not make sue. essful business men
or successful towns.
The local pepper and the merch
ants are the principal factors in every
town. On them depends IN a great
degree whether it shall progress or
fall into a rut.
Then it is plain that no matter
what differences may arise over
politics, over the school election, Or
the numerous other little trouble
makers in the affairs of every town,
the merchants and the local paper
should always cooperate for more
business.
Every merchant who reads this
should follow it up with work to a
practical end. He should ask him
self few questions, such as these:
Can I not make more money b, do
ing my part towards bringing more
people to this town to trade?
Even though l am ''sore"at the
editor,am l not standing IN my own
light in refusing to cooperate with
him?
If assist and encourage the editor
to push the circulation of his paper
into that northeast district, will it
not result in more of that trade COM
ing to this town, of which | would
get my share?
Retailers associations are educating
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 it's
circulation into every possible nook |
and corner of the territory from
which they desire to pull trade. The
town which has the most widely cir
culating newspaper has the advantages
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 merchant and editor, theirs should
be straight business alliance for
more trade Editorial, Commercial
Bulletin and Northwest Trade, June
6, 1903.