The San Francisco call., 1910-06-08

manently: Ihat is what the work or
this wholesale committee of the Mer-
chants association will be, and it can
safely be left to them to do it well.
San Francisco is entitled to an eX-
tropolis of the coast and the largest
distributing point and headquarters.
TRIPS TO INTERIOR POINTS
One of the most important points if
we want to increase our trade is to
get the man who sells the goods and
the man who buys the goods person
ally better acquainted with each other,
and to bring this about there should be
periodical trips to interior points Let
it be distinctly understood that we are
not on sights eeing" trip. Let us
not attempt to disguise the fact that
it is business trip pure. and simple,
get acquainted with our trade, ascer-
tain the requirements of the trade so
that we may better be able to prepare
ourselves to meet these requirements.
This is the great Pacific coast mar
ket, the trade belongs here, and there
is no question in. my mind but what
by this new committee we shall have it
here in the very near future.
EDUCATION OF TRADERS
The next point upon which I would
like to touch is one of the most i'm
portant points to be taken up. 1t is
the education of the retail trade
1 would like to remind the big retail
merchants that they have been able to
become representative retail merchants
because they have had the patronage
cludes the jobber, wholesaler, manu-
facturer. his employees, their wives and
their children. 1t is their patronage
that has enabled these people to be-
come large, prosperous and representa-
tive merchants-not the New York,
Chicago or st. Louis people, but San
all others, owe the utmost loyalty to
the San Francisco jobber, and they
would show 1t by issuing instructions
and seeing that the instructions are
carried out too, to the effect that every
dollars worth of goods that can be
bought in San Francisco must be
bought here.
Let them remember that every dollar
that remains in San Francisco and cir
culates in San Francisco, a part of it
must come back to him.. The moment
gone permanently and he need never
look for any part of it.
COUNTRY MERCHANTS PART
AS to the retail merchant in the coun-
try the same thing applies. Whether
a merchant is doing business in Oak
or San Diego, primarily he is a Cali
fornian. Anything that benefits the
state and keeps the money in circula-
tion in the state must eventually bene-
fit him. Anything that hurts the state
and withdraws the money from cir
culation in the state he can not dodge
his part of the loss
The way trade is sent away from
here when it could just as advantage
ously and prof1tably be kept here is, to
my notion absolutely objectionable and
almost criminal against the interests
of our local community.
The patronizing of home industry is,
after all, the A B G of commercial
prosperity of any city or state. I have
no doubt that in the aggregate there
are hundreds of thousands of dollars,
perhaps millions, sent out of the state
kept in the state If the retail merchant
would just realize the Importance of
keeping it here and make every effort
to keep 1T here.
BUSINESS ORGANIZATION
The next thing 1 would like to touch
upon in the line of Improvement of
business is the organization of the
Wholesale house. Are you properly or
ganized? Are your statesmen really
statesmen, or order takers? Are they
and do they understand your lines so
thoroughly that they impress the retail
merchant with the fact that they know
what they are talking about when they
Next to your salesman, how about
your credit man? He can turn down
an order without losing the customer If
he understands his business, and can
fix it so that whenever you want that
mans trade you can have it, even
though you have already turned him
down.
DISHONESTY IN FAILURES
While we are on the matter of
credits, / want to get something out of
my system that used to have occasion
to talk about some years ago, and that
is, % cent or so cent settlements that
are given to retailers who fail and who
should be compelled to go out of busi-
ness.
Now when it comes to the man who
deliberately fails for the purpose of
swindling his creditors, there is abso-
lutely no excuse whatever, under any
circumstances, for that man to receive
a settlement and to be permitted to re-
main in business.
If you want to improve the business
conditions of the wholesale merchant
let him swear off right now ever Civ
ing any settlement to anybody who has
! failed dishonesty.
POINTS FOR WHOLESALERS
To summarize in regard to good or
ganization of a wholesale house:
F'irst-Intelligent and capable sales
men. 1 find that low priced men, as a
rule, are dear.
Second-Ambitious, painstaking and
conscientious stock clerks. who fill or
Third-A shipping department so or
ganized that there is no delay in the
| forwarding of the merchandise
Fourth-A combined effort with the
railroad companies to give you the very
! best service in transportation and as
many through cars to the smaller towns
as possible; and
Finally-'1n union there is strength -
| GROWTH OF CIVIC PRIDE
There is saying that Competition
| is the life of trade.p That is true hut
a ind nf