Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-03-17
WHAT Till BOARD OF
TRADE HAS DONE
Much to EntitIe 1t TO Gen.
erdI Support.
Every Progressive Cit
izen Should Be a
Member of 1t.


former President Lee Allen, referrin,
to some of the things that the Boart
of Trade has done for Americus. re
futing the idea that it has been of ii,
value to the community, and establish
ing the claim that it has upon the sup
port of business men and citizens O
affairs generally.
l sometimes hear men say that the,
see no reason for contributing to the
support of this organization. that j
has done nothing for Americus, ant
can show nothing for the money j
mas expended" said Mr.. Allen. Some
men have made this an excuse fol
Withdrawing their membership, an(
others give it as a reason for moi
uniting with the Board Both of such
classes of citizens are wrong in thel,
statements, and are doing themselves
and Americus an injury by their re-
fusal to assist in supporting the only
organization the city has to protect
and promote its business interests.
Indirect Benefits Cannot Be Gauged
The direct benefits that such a
body as this brings are hard to de-
termine, yet they may be many and Of
great value. The results of its work
run on for months and years after the
efforts have been made. The adver-
tising the Board has given the city is
an instance of this. We will be GET
ting benefits from it in after years and
not realize the source from whence if
came. l had this strongly impressed
on me by little incident in nv own
business. A year ago I advertised in
a Chicago paper that | had some Flor
ida lands for sale. In the last thirty
days / have had two letters. one from,
Illinois and the other from Oklahoma.
from parties telling me they saw the
ad in the Chicago paper nearly a wear
ago, and asking me if l sill had tho
land. One cannot always expect i'm
mediate results from advertising. Fro
quently the results come much later
than expected. Amy advertising agent
will tell you that, and any man en-
gagged by the railroads as industrial
and immigration promoter will cite
numerous instances where Industries
and immigrants came months and
years after the original correspond
ence with them There is no telling
how many Hundreds and thousands of
people know of Americus and Sumter
county to-day simply because of the
efforts put forth by this Board Of
Trade and from among them some
time We may secure decided benefits
Some Direct Benefits.
But we have had lots of evidence
that this organization is a direct ben
eft to the city and the county. Take
that matter of fertilizers alone. If
this Board had nothing to it's credit
but that one thing it would Justify its
existence and all the money it has
expended. Through this Board Amer
icus was retained as a basing point.
the farmers of this territory were saw
ed 81 on every ton of fertilizers they
used, and our manufacturers and
dealers here were saved the position
they occupied instead of being put to a
disadvantage as compared with other
shipping points hereabouts.
Take the case of the S. A. L. rail-
road. 1t was this Board of Trade
that voiced the sentiments of the peo-
pie that the city was not getting the
proper consideration in the matter Of
the shops. That resulted in the first
visit to this city ever paid by General
Manager Hix. 1t brought him and
other officials into direct sconnection
with our business men, it promoted
better understanding. AS a result
conditions have been better at the
shops and other direct benefits are
likely to accrue to the city.
"The Carnegie Library is the direct
offspring Of the Board of Trade The
good roads have been stimulated bv
the Board of Trade The hospital has
been helped by the Board of Trade.
The railroads, the express COMPANY
the telegraph companies, all corpora
tions doing a public business, know
that we are here, representing the
| business interests of the city, and
they give us a most respectful hear
ing on any matters that arise An
individual could accomplish nothing
but an organization representing 15C
business houses can accomplish
much. In union there is strength
And this Board of Trade is a tower
of strength to the business interests
of Americas.
Has Experience to Back it Now.
This organization" continued Mr.
Allen, lis only in the beginning d
it's usefulness. We have some ex-
perience back of us now We all live
to learn, and this organization has
learned many things during it's foul
year of life 1t will profit by It's
mistakes and benefit from its lessons
We know that one thing we must Dr.
is work toward securing small ant
varied industries, that steps must be
taken to promote and assist in the
establishment of factories on a small
scale that give promise of developing
into important enterprises. This is
the one great work that we must un-
dertake. And we also know that it is
not difficult matter to draw desir-
able white farmers to the county, thai
the advertising of our resources VII
/ ..r;oI, ,,,,,nb in that direction We