The daily sentinel., 1909-08-03
HE THINKS IT
HIT THE MARK
Mir. /. y. Bunting,
: - EditorFDafly seitihel.
Grand Juurtion. Colo.

Il Editor Daily Sentinel,
Grand Junrtion. Colo.
Dear Sir;
AS a citizen and business man OF
Grand Junction. I cannot allow your
ditorial of July 30th Who Shall
! Pay the Larger Toll" to pass by
unnoticed In my opinion ,this edi-
torial comes nearer hitting the mark
than any article / have ever read in
Z fact, ! think 1t is such a splendid
article. that would suggest the
tChamber of Commerce have il re-
printed in circular form and mailed
out to every properly owner in Grand
junction.
The writer was in the mercantile
! business on Main street In Grand
junction for a number of years. in
rented building. Our firm always
lcontributed what we believed TO be
our portion and some times more, TO
any thing that was for the upbuilding
/ of Grand Junction; on the other
/ hand. the owner of the building
which we occupied. as far as ! know,
has never contributed a single dollar
in any manner towards advertising
and building up our city. AT that
time the property occupied was worth
/ $4,000; 1t is now, | estimate. worth
! 5 700. The owner has continuous
/ ly received good interest on not only
the actual cost OF this properly, but
/ the present value of it,
Now the question is, is it fair for
the merchant with a small stock OF
goods worth probably not to exceed
one-third or one-half the value of the
property he occupies. to continue TO
contribute to the upbuilding of this
! % uh { Il nv.
merchant that in ninety gases out of
a hundred, their business does not in
crease in proportion as the popula
tion increases in any city. This is
| natural for the reason they will con
tinue to have more competition.
while on the other hand, the greater
the increase in the value of the prop
\ erty he is occupying, the more rent
| the merchant must pay.
II is certainly up to the property
owner to contribute the larger pro-
/ portion of the funds necessary TO
/ keep our country and especially our
city. advertised. and thereby Increase
! the value of both our ranch and city
/ property. -.
AS you say, the merchant is always
around and Is generally on hand and
| in most cases our liberal contributor.
/ Now while this is fact, we do not
want to give our merchants and
business men to understand that they
have been any too loyal. While it is
a fact they have contributed a larger
| portion of all,the money that has ever
been used in the advertising of Grand
junction, nevertheless it is my opin-
ion they should continue to be good
liberal contributors; but. as you say,
1nn tnaa ~ ha ha hot
is being increased in. value every
year, is the proper man to contribute
the large percentage of the funds
necessary to carry on the campaign
of advertising, which the Chamber of
Commerce is now undertaking.
II is my opinion that If all the
property owners between Fourth and
Sixth streets on Main street, would
contribute $50 for each lot or build
ing, and say S25 for property owners
in other business districts in Grand
junction, while these amounts are a
mere pittance as compared with the
value OF their property, nevertheless.
in my opinion, il would raise sum
that would Increase the value of their
property great many thousands of
dollars.
| understand the Chamber of Com
merce Is endeavoring to raise about
$4,000 for this campaign of adver-
tising. This should be at least $l5,-
600 or $4,000 and the property
owners and business men and citizens
generally of Grand junction and this
valley. can well afford to raise this
larger amount of money and | know
any amount which can be raised and
turned over to Secretary Mahony to
use as In his Judgment looks best, you
can look for some splendid results.
Now, friend Bunting. | think Sc
much of this article that | believe the
Chamber of Commerce should have il
printed in circular form and distri-
buted to every property owner in
Grand Junction.
Yours truly,
AN EXMERCHANT OF GRAND
JUNCTION.