The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-04-11
MUST GET BUSY.
CONTINUED from Page one,

tContinued from Page One.l
each Individual; we do not accept
firms. Our dues are $14 per year for
resident and 81 for nonresident men,
bers, payable quarterly in advance.
The dues of new members are prorated
to begin the quarter after they are
taken in. The money derived from
dues, fees and entertainment is suffi-
Gent to meet all club expenses. pay
rents and all salaries except that of
cigar stand Melted $500 profit last year
and we hope to double that this year.
Have Few Committees.
''Our business is handled by the
board of directors and the commercial
committee. the latter being composed
of IL members. We meet the first and
fourth Mondays of each month to audit
bills and transact other work not done
by the committees. The commercial
committee is our all important one. 1t
is headed by chairman appointed
from the board of directors and is
comnosed of members from every class
OF business. Wholesale and retail mer-
chants, newspaper men, bankers, man
ufacturers and real estate men all go
to make up it's personnel 1t has
charge of the work to secure indus
tries, conventions, raising bonuses and
all manner of important work. We
have found it a big mistake to make
a club top heavy with committees.
Many clubs have too many committees
and these are loaded down with too
many members. Pueblo is a city of
IS, 900 and it's commercial club circular
states that the club has e committees.
All the members of the club are either
on committees or the board of direc-
tors. 1 believe that our success is due
to small and few committees.
Our finance committee when at
work make an active house to house
canvass. Our membership committee,
composed of only three members, ac-
companied me not long ago on q cam
vass for members. We worked two
days and secured IS new members. I
want to say for the benefit of Secretary
Poole in his work for new members:
Don't make out a list of men you want
to see. Take two or three good men
with you and make a house to house
canvass. Go straight through and in
the end you will see them all and will
have missed nobody.
Offer No Bonus.
1--WE have had but Indifferent sue
cess in securing new industries. be-
cause we offer no bonus. We tried that
scheme and found it a failure. We
paid one firm $4,000 to come to our city
and it had no sooner got settled down
than it began to f1irt with another
city and soon left us, lured away by
the smile of the dollar. An industry
that requires bonus is generally IN
a bad way and needs the money to
put into it's falling business. firm
that will jump one town for a bonus
will jump again. Instead OF giving
bonuses to outside industries to come
to town we foster our own industries.
The growth of the small industries al
ready located in your city is the best
city-building scheme In the world. The
large industries Of the country that
now employ thousands of men are IN
every case the ones that made small
and humble beginning. This plan in
sures a conservative and steady
growth of a town. Nothing is to be
so feared and guarded against as
mushroom growth. There is always
dangerous reaction.
I'm October, 1905, our club had about
800 members, all of them inactive. They
were paying high rent and accom-
plishing nothing, but rather were 1ast
approaching a state OF decay. rev
gether one day and decided to either
make a live wire of the club or bury
it, They first hired a secretary and
then raised a fund of $500 with which
to carry on litigation against rail-
road that was discriminating against
Lincoln in freight rates in a manner
something awful to contemplate.
"At that time the big shippers were
Indifferent to rates and tariffs They
had the rebate system. But the en-
actment of the Hepburn Dill Wakeo
them up to action.
1--WE won our suit and got a good
rate in this instance. BY hard ana
persistent work we made the club a
live wire. We have plenty OF money
on hand all the time by using the as
sessment plan and making these sub
scriptions a yearly affair and mat
| ter of course. The club takes lead
| ing part in every movement for the
good of the city and has accomplish
NV nnnnartPd action.
Advice About Railroads.
about railroads. 1 am an old
railroad man myself and my exper-
| fence with the roads and as secre-
| tary of the club, leads me to urge
| upon you the advice to set forth your
| grievances clearly and in order and
| first go to the railroad neads OF de-
! partment and take the matter up
| with them. If your claim is just you
will usually get fair treatment.
Never go to a railroad commission ex-
cept in case of last resort
I'VE raised our convention fund OF
| $4,000 by assessment and only spent
| two weeks on the proposition. One
| of the clubs most important works
| and the one from which it gets the
best and most definite results Is the
running of trade excursions twice a
year. They cost about $4,000 each'
but they are winners.
| whenever country merchant
| comes to town we always entertain
him at dinner and give all our jobbers
O. crack at him. We sell him all he
wants in Lincoln, if possible. We
take care that he does not get out
of the state to buy goods. even If we
cannot satisfy him.
"Our state fair is conducted by the
board of agriculture. A few years
II ago 1t was as big a failure as your
| Kansas fair. But when the state took
boc yn6 n
success. 1t makes money every year
and brings 1nn 000 visitors to OH