Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1909-04-20

chants. delivered an able address On
remarks are so well worthy of reprodut
as follows:
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen of the
Southern Iowa Editorial association:
l am indeed glad of an opportunity
of addressing the members OF the
Southern Iowa Editorial association.
assure you I appreciate the honor That
your association has conferred upon
me in asking me to address you upon
the subject of Retail Advertising
A Potent Factor.
The newspaper of today has be-
come a potent factor in both our po.
litical and commercial progress. The
people obtain a large portion of their
information upon all questions OF inn
portance through the publicity given
these matters by the press. In the
publicity given, both sides of a ques-
tion are usually read by the people,
and the side which is best able to
most clearly state its proposition and
substantiate, the arguments for or
against 1t, usually have majority OF
public sentiment with 1t. A PROPOSE
ton may embody very much merit
and yet if the man behind the propo-
sition does not tell its merits, the
public may remain in complete 1g-
norance Of its extraordinary advant-
ages and continue to give their sane
ton and support to a proposition less
meritorious. l believe this to be as
true in business as in politics. People
move in the direction Of the least re
sistance They form habits of think
ing, in one way, OF doing things one
way, of trading at one store, and they
forget that there may be other views
Of a subject or other or better ways
of doing things or better or more sat
isfactory places to trade unless some
one informs them differently, so that
the successful man of today in any
line, and especially in the retail busl-
ness, must advertise. He must tell
the public of the inducements he has
to offer; why it is possible for him to
offer them, and he must continue to
insist that the advantages offered by
him are worthy the inspection of the
public in order that he may have an
opportunity to demonstrate to them
the truthfulness Of his assertion
, Retail Advertising Essential.
This he can only do through the
medium of retail advertising We are
living in progressive age. There
, has been a great revolution IN the re-
, tail business methods of the country
during the past Is years and the value
, of advertising is rapidly becoming
;, recognized as one of the most essen
tial elements In the organization OF
t every successful store
e Failure and elimination has come
i to the store-keeper who has not kept
], pace with progress. There Is no de-
, partment in any successful store to-
day, in my Judgment, that yields Sc
!, large a return Of dividends from the
v money expended as the judicionsly
managed and we'll organized advertls,
ine department There are multitude
, Of different methods Of successful ad
$ yertising employed by the retailers OF
:, the country, but to my mind the most
I direct and the most effective of all is
!: the newspaper and circular or cata
: logue.
Only Hope Is Vigorous Advertising
: 1t is not my purpose to crit1cise the
: organization of merchants associa
d tions; I have no quarrel with them.
7 have never found myself In sympathy
!. or accord with them nor have I evel
: been convinced of any particular
v benefit which has accrued to the mem
n bership of these associations because
Of their existence. I only call atten
tion to them for the reason that II
n nv opinion the merchant who expects
e to be saved from the competition 0
d the mail order house through meT
6 chants association Is following for
!. lorn hope and the sooner his attention
- lis directed to some other means OF re
: lief the better it will be for him.
: T have said that this is great evil
!" That it does exist and that It is her
: to remain permanently. There is n
8 escape by legislation. there is no sue
y thing as relief through public sent
II ment. 1t is now clean-cut issue be
tween the mail order house and tn
k, retail merchant for the business Q
l. every community The result will b
: determined by the future and 1t Is bu
le question Of the survival of tn
fttest. I say there is nothing left TO
: the merchant but to fight for his e1
! istence and there Is but one weapo
with which to fight The old adag
of Fighting the devil with fire"
yery applicable in this case. The ma
order houses of this country are liz
r line example of the value of retail az
vertising.
Advertising Brought Success.
lam firm believer in the generou
use Of printers ink attribute TO
,s very large degree what little success
/, - have made in business largely to tW
ID THINGS. First, effective advertisin
~ u, that brought people to my store, an
~ second, the fact that delivered IN
N goods when they came according
the advertisement.
I have frequently thought that m
N business was sort OF a mushroo,
~ business other words. 1t has grow
at out of proportion to my surrounding
,r 1t is a sort of high pressure bus
r. ness. That is to say. that throua
n strong advertising and keeping co
"a tinually at it I have gotten to a poll
ksx,f,, on a