La Junta tribune., 1907-05-18
FINE FIRE STATION. THE BOARD OF TRADE
Every Town Should Have a Lively
Commercial Club.
'lc PLACE TOO SMALL FOR ONE
Modern Conditions Require That Each
Community Must Work Out II. o~"
Saivation-Eusiness Mems orsanixs-
tons Growing More General.


tons Growing More General.
Nearly every town that has its eyes
open has board OF trade. II may b-.
called commercial club or a business
mems league or something OF that
sort. but. whatever its name may ic.
The purposes of the organization are
to boom the town The board Of trade
IL n modern idea. II grew out OF
near the whole thing In ancient days
and didn't need commercial club to
push IL along. II had no competitors
to speak OF. But that was Rome, Italy
at any rate, what is now called Italy
Az 10 Rome. Ga. aud Paris, Tex. and
New London. Mo. the case Is quite
different. These towns and all other
towns ON the map have competitors
to burn. competitors 10 compete with.
II they simply drn. along nj the Tall
end of the cart ot progress. they wont
amount to much. Each town mus,
work out It's own salvation.
The board OF trade Il one means Of
town saIyg.iou. This Organization IL
made up OF the business men iu the
community Tie banker is in l, aud
the butcher. tbe baker and tile candle
stick maker Thc merchants and pro
fcsslonal mrn are IN Il. The preacher
ought 10 be IN 1t. Everybody ought to
be IN Il that has ,'ic Interests of the
community ~ heart.
During tie past fcw years tic town
lat
iievelored surprisingly Nowalay there
are many towns Of less than thou
sand population. particularly In the
middle west and the FAR west. which
have nctice boards of trade. There
can be no denial OF the rrroI these or
gnniza,lons do When properly con
Quoted. ns most Of them are, they not
only develop more ncichborly and
friendly feeling among the members
themselves. which always helps a
town. but they reach ont and draw
others into the fold. They are really
boards Of public promotion.
The most important officer In the
board OF trade is not necessarily the
president. Usually II is the secretary.
and for this office wise board Of
trade selects a man stili young enough
to be enthusiastic FOR progress and
lively enough to jump ut chance
when lie sees II coming up the road.
In addition TO this, he should have
enough life in linn TO chase around the
bend In the road and look for oppor
tnnltics that may be lurking some
where just waiting to have somebody
a l,a. ..f H.,
town.
But II il 10y no means wise TO depend
altogether upon your secretary or pres-
fdent. The officials can do little with
out general cooperation. II few
men baIk and pun back. the team can't
pull forward as 1t should one or two
malconteuts and chronic kickcrs IN a
board OF trade or commercial club
can do more harm than whole nest
of hornets. Harmony aud activity are
the prime essentials.
Every town should have its board OF
trade There are many ways IN which
the common interests may be advanced
by organized effort. Let the board
agree upon some definite plan or cam,
paigu, whether 1t be the locating OF q
shoe factory or the promotion of a res
idencc section, and then get down 10
solid work. You can do anything worth
doing II you dig II, and hustle You
can't do anything worth doing unless
yoa do. That's self evident
The new western and southern towns
know tile value OF the local board OF
trade as n town booming proposition.
Many eastern towns might profit by
their example. aud there are older
towns In the west and south which
could slough OF n, lot of their dry rot
and perk up amazingly If only some
body would get 10 work and organize
the business am, professional men fnr,
mutual defense aud advancement.
A lively board Of trade or club for
town promotion is one of the surest
signs that a town Is alive.