The Ladysmith news and Ingram news. [volume] (Ladysmith, Wis.) 1905-1906, 1906-01-27

| kota commercial clubs have Deen OF
ganized recently and are now WORKING
| for the advancement of the business
| and social interests Of their respective
towns. This is move in the right oi-
rection and the Trade Journal oelleVes
| that every town in the great sta'e vi
| North Dakota, and for the naICel VI
that every other state in the great
Union. ought to have some kind OF an
organization that would have teEo-
ency to bring the merchants ana posf
ness men of the towns more closely
| in touch with each other. Ihe com
| mercial club fosters proper puollC
spirit and co-operates in civic Detter-
ment. 1t reaches out after more lraoe
and sees to it that the town gets all
the trade that rightfully belongs 10 IT,
| This is the kind of an organization
| that is needed in every village OF the
country and this is about the time or
| the wear when such matters ought TO
he considered, as all new ventures
should start with the new year. Inc
people of a village may be particular
Nv fortunate in being located IN one
of the most fertile and productive sec
lions of the state and the town may
have prospered from the beginning,
| but there are several matters that
ought to be looked after that would
bring still greater prosperity to the
people
We have not the space, nor do we
deem it wise to map out campaign
| of work for such an organization, put
we will make some suggestions as to
| the work that might be taken up in
| town.
| One of the most necessary matters
at the present time is a campaign or
education among the farmers showing
them the advantages OF trading at
home. On authority that cannot be
questioned we have learned that farm
ers in the vicinity Of many villages III
| the Northwest are patronlzlng cata-
| logue supply houses to the extent OF
| s.. 500 to 5000 a month on an aver
| age. Which means that this amount
of money is being sent out of the
country, and it is about time that the
merchants and others united IN
| campaign to put stop to this KIND OF
| business. If the matter were taken
| I'D Systematically it ought to be COM
naratiyely easy for the business men
! of a village to convince the average
| farmer that he could get better value
| for his money at home than he can by
sending to the catalogue houses. Gen
eral merchandise is sold just as cheap
at home as it is by the catalogue
houses, and cheaper in many IN
stances. considering the quality of the
goods, but the farmers have not learn
| ed these facts, and it is up to the busl-
ness men to use the same methods
that the catalogue houses do in get
| ting their business before the people.
| Among other things that might be
/ taken up by the commercial clubs is
| The matter of better roads, transpor-
tation, rates of insurance, good
streets, clean alleys, proper methods
| of advertising the town and the sur
rounding country, securing manufac-
| turing establishments such as
| creamery, cement block establishment
| and q score of other things that would
come up from time to time as the
needs became apparent.
| 1t is not only the financial end Of
such an enterprise that would be bene
| fetal to the community, but there is a
social side as we'll. The simple fact
that the people get in the habit OF
working together would probably re-
suit in the greatest gain after ALL
There is nothing that would be as
| beneficial to the social welfare OF the
average village as to have all it's citi-
| zens actively and Systematically work
| ing for the benefit of the whole town.
Church workers say that the best way
| to broaden a mans religious life is to
put him at work The same holds
| true in business and civic affairs, A
man may sit and dream about what a
| town ought to be, but these dreams
are apt to be forgotten. Once let
man take hold of a specific piece OF
work. however, and then he begins to
realize in an effective manner what
GOOD citizenship really means. So it
should not be overlooked that not the
least part of the work of commercial
club is to improve the citizenship OF
it's members by putting them to work.
! CT paIYl Trade Journal