The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-05-29
Confined from page Il

go tnSy nave q CIVIC Organization WIZ
a merchant at the head OF it,, one OF
the managers of Marshall. Field & Co.
The professional man at the head OF
such an organization is not so valua-
bic as the merchant, for the profess
siopaI man sees only one side of a
question. He is trained for that pur-
pose. and if he cannot get people to
go his way, he refuses to play in the
other mans back yard.
ST would like to analyse what the
are. 1t is our interest to see That
commerce and trade are fostered ana
advanced. The questions. that con-
stantly come up in trade require look
ing after. Tonight at banquet in
San Francisco they viii discuss Cred
it." Then a paper will be read on the
Merchant in History" giving views
on the value OF the merchant In the
history of nations.
Zone of the smaller missions of the
Association is to determine what sub
scriptions and donations shall be
made by the merchants for charity.
We have found it necessary to Coop
crate with the charitable organizations
in San Francisco to come to some sem
sible conclusion as to who shall call
upon the business men for assistance.
In Chicago there is a charitable asso-
citation which collects from the bust
ness men $780, year. and expends
half in salaries. we have found that
professional solicitors in San Francisco
have absorbed $1,000 out of 81. 500 OF
the collections. They would go to
kindergarten association say. and offer
to get up benefit for them and give
them $500 clear, for the use of their
name. They would sell say, 1900 tick
cts. and after turning over the $500
agreed upon, keep $1,000. These. peo-
pie come to the merchants all the
time. OF course it is hard for a mer-
chant to withstand a sweet, pretty
young woman, but there must be a lin
it. We cannot do this with the regu-
lar church organizations.
I'VE have stopped the blackmail
which was levied upon the merchants
in the name of charity.
THE next thing is to stop the trad
ing-stamp abuse. San Francisco was
tied up for a while by these trading
stamps and the merchants were all
paying tribute to the ones who plan
ned the system. I would strongly
recommend to you when any such a
thing comes to you, that you nip it
in the bud.
"You must create trade and make
your attractions known, thereby as
sisting in drawing people here. Take
Los Angeles for instance. They have
advertised the city everywhere and
people are constantly streaming into
it. They put up four new hotels last
winter, but even then they were not
enough to accommodate people.
ut has occurred to me that your
Merchants Association should plan
commercial excursions to the islands.
The way would be to communicate
with all of the leading commercial or
CARNATIONS in the States, interesting
them in the islands, and say if the
first excursion comes off next spring,
that will be time enough for you to
prepare If only you got one man
from each city you would be doing
well, for his disinterested views on your
beautiful place will be the advertise
ment you want to bring others. CO.
and other transportation lines. for it
is their bread and butter. and get them
interested in the scheme. To bring
people here, you must do something Of
this kind.
"one thing which the Merchants AS
sociation can do well is to cooperate
with the municipal government. When
our association started ten years ago
we had one of the worst municipal gov
ernments, as a whole. it was possible |
to create The system was so bad that
it seemed a hopeless task to try to |
reform it. Still by cooperating with
the officials. we put them on their good
behavior and were able to accomplish |
much more than if we had posed as
moral reforners. cursing them, and
then going to our homes without do
ing anything we got a new charter
The administration was placed on a
business basis and civil service obtain
ID. All this took number of years,
and I think that our municipal gov
.rnment is now one of the best in Am
ERICA Your Merchants Association
houId plan for the governments needs
t is a science would recommend to
-ou to follow this matter up.
THE question of what part in poll
les shall the Merchants Association
lay. We have always considered our
mission to be non-partisan. We be-
eve that a municipal government is
business organization and try to free