The Elbert County tribune., 1907-09-12
|MAK|NG A BLUFF
WELL-MEANING CITIZENS WHO
WORK ALONG WRONG LINES.
KNOCKING THE HOME TOWN
Her Commercial Clubs Fall In Work
Undertaken for the Improvement
Of Local Conditions.

In a western town not long since a
General Call was issued to citizens to
hold Meeting for the purpose of or
ganizing Business Mems Association.
or as the papers announced. Com
mercial club. According to the News
paper Reports of the event the meet
ing was a Grand Success, and some 40
or so prominent citizens enrolled their
names as members. Thus the Com
mercial club was started on its Career.
Among the active citizens and those
who we're foremost in advocating the
Club as an Important Thing for the
welfare of the Town. were Minister
| and a Lawyer. The good clergyman
was made the Secretary. a Banker of
| the town was elected President, and
| the Lawyer Treasurer. AS is usual
with such clubs, Constitution and
Bylaws were adopted an Executive
Committee appointed. and also Hus-
tling Committee to add Push to the
club. 1t was outlined that by harmony
and cooperation the town could be
Doomed and made much Better. One
of the Things desired was a Public
Library. Among the other Things
we're Manufacturing Enterprises,
| Creamery and another Elevator for the
town. to compete with the one Eleva-
| tor already located there.
| Six months of careful labor on the
part of the Commercial Club devel-
oped the fact that the efforts towards
| securing any of these Things were
| without results. There was no Library,
the Creamery Proposition was consid-
cred unfavorable, as the farmers could
secure more by shipping their cream
out of Town than the Creamery could
afford to pay, and as to the Elevator.
only part of the Stock necessary for
| its start was subscribed. An investi-
4, cation revealed that out of this very
| same town each day an average Of
more than 5000 was being sent to Out
| side Cities for Goods that might as
| well have been purchased at the home
| stores. 1t was discovered that the
Minister, who was the Secretary of
| the Club, all the while he was Advo-
| eating Town Improvement, was quiet
| ly Working among the Members of his
Flock to secure Orders for Groceries
and other goods to send to Chicago
Il
receiving five per cent commission on
| all Purchases made. The Lawyer of
the town, who was made the Treasurer
of the Club. was sending away for the
Clothes he wore, and even the Banker
could not find Carpets sufficiently good
1 in his home town, and sent away the
money to a foreign place for rugs, and
also a Piano that ornamented his
home.
These misled Enterprising Citizens
were working all along the wrong
lines. While they were Anxious to I'm
! prove the Town. to start the Creamery
| that, perhaps, would keep a few
thousand dollars year in the town
an Elevator that was almost unneces-
sary, as the one already located in the
Town was capable of handling all the
| grain produced in the neighborhood,
and would result in no saving or the
| bringing in of greater income, they
overlooked the Importance of devising
means of retaining Business to the
Town that was going away from it.
| The very ones intrusted with the
Building Up of the Industries of the
| Place were foremost in turning over
to other communities the Dollars that
should be retained to improve the
Home Trade. and make Wealthy the
community.
| Moral-!t would be well for mem
bers of Commercial Clubs to take heed
that the most important action for the
Club to take is to Devise Means of
Protecting Enterprises already estab-
lished instead OF gaining new Enter
| orises of Doubtful Utility.