The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-03-26
MERCHANTS BACK
OF NEWSPAPERS

! from experience that the legitimate
advertising appropriation of nearly
every business house in the city is
| used up largely through fake schemes
from which you gain no publicity. The
grOcers and the general merchants are
giving away their advertising money
| for charitable purposes upon one pre-
text and another, and robbing them
selves of the benefi S upon one pre-
text and another, and robbing them
se'ves of the benefits of real legiti-
| mate advertising that their business is
entitled to.
The word advertising" in Walla
Walla has for number of years been
made TO cover Multitude of charities.
If your lodge, church, or any other
association must raise some money.
advise it to dispense with The directory
or program and accept from you in
cash a smaller amount of money, paid
right out of your till for there is where
it must come from eventually any way.
| Then charge i. to some other account
than advertising
/ 1t is safe to say that if the business
men of this city once adopted the plan
of keeping their advertising funds
solely for legitimate advertising pur-
poses, thai al the end of the year they
would al have more good, hard money
to give to the support of the church,
the park, the lodge and other necessary
civic associations. Let your advertis-
ing fund have chance to do you
some good, and see what the result
will be.
What the business houses of this
city like to see is the people coming
! to town and from their homes to the
retail districts. The newspapers and
periodicals are the legitimate vehicles
by which this sta of affairs is
brought about Nothing pleases pub
Usher more than to see the business
section of the city thronged with peo
pie. and our columns filled with prof
itab'e advertising. We feel this way
because your prosperity is our pros
perity. No newspaper or periodical
could survive upon its subscription
list.
Every member Of your association
knows that one of two firms cut loose
with some good live advertising by
which the people are invited to visit
their stores, you all profit to "a certain
extent. If the people can be persuad-
ed to come down town we all pick up
a little trade. The biggest advertisers
will get the biggest bunch of it, but
the next day more of the merchants
join in the movement and still more
people are on the streets and in the
business houses. When this highly
sa isfactory condition has been reached
then we are all prone to think il will
continue indefinitely and begin to
slacken up on the invitations to the
buying public First one firm will
stop his advertising and then another
until the invitation has dwindled to a
mere whisper. In a few it has winked
out and there is nothing doing, until
another move is made.
We are all too prone to short sight
edness in our efforts to gain some lit
tie advantage from the efforts of our
neighbors. We stop our own adver-
Using in the belief that some one else
will make a sufficient noise to induce
he people to come down into the re-
tail district.
Every few days the publishers glad
ly lend their aid in exposing the
methods of some itinerant peddler of
groceries, or scheme of trading
stamps You object to the illigi innate
competition of this class of fakes. The
publisher is only too glad to help you
retain the trade that legi imately be-
longs to the merchants of Walla Walla,
and now they come to the merchants
and ask for their support in suppressing
the illigitima e trafficking in the adj
vertising business. This is done not
alone for our own benefit, but for the
benefit of every member of your as
ISOLATION.
The publishing business is just as
legitimate as the grocery business or
he clio hing business. We can prosper
only as you prosper and if the adj
vertising peddler will let you alone,
and permit your advertising money to
do it's legitimate work, you will cer-
tainly prosper.
Your very truly.