The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1911-02-01
CITY BUILDING.

he COHlpcllllou dHlollS IiS wv
Tich-uuick Wallingfords and among
the honest but visionary promoters is
also keen.
How to secure the factories and how
at the same time to avoid the schemer
and the visionary is the problem for
the town.
The natural resources which attract
factories of any kind or size are
Cheap Power.
Cheap labor.
Cheap raw materials.
Good transportation facilities.
Nearness to good market.
The artificial advantages that can
be offered are
Bonuses.
Freedom from taxation.
Cheap capital.
Denison in common with other
western Iowa towns, has no sufficient
water power to attract The price of
coal for manufacturing purposes, while
not high. is not so cheap as in coal
districts.
Except for canning or for packing
we have nothing to offer in the way
of cheap raw materials.
Labor can be secured cheaper than
in large cities. The cost Of living is
less, rents are cheaper, there are no
labor organizations. A mechanic can
save more money at SIS per week in
Denison than at $25 per week in Chi
cago, and many of them are wise
enough to figure it that way.
Our transportation facilities are
fair. We have two trunk lines and
one good feeder that traverses rich
territory. We are in the midst of
splendid market for nearly every man
ufactured product.
So much for our natural resources.
They can be duplicated in score of
towns and bettered in some.
In the keen competition to secure
manufacturing plants we must there
fore rely largely upon artificial re-
sources.
Bonuses are usually unsatisfactory
whether in the form of gifts of sites,
stock subscriptions. free rent or other
device. They are attractive to the dis
honest schemer or to the visionary,
but not to the solid business man.
They seldom produce lasting results
The multiplicity of vacant manufac
turing buildings in many towns bear
mute but eloquent testimony to this
fact.
What then can we offer?
We believe cheap capital is the So
luton.
There often comes time in the his
tory of safe and prosperous plants
when the owners feel that with more
capital they could largely extend and
increase their business and make it
more profitable. If the owner must
pay eight per cent for his increased
capital on short time loan, which
may fall due at an embarrassing time,
he feels that he cannot branch out. A
business must be a good one that will
pay eight per cent, plus profit.
If this same manufacturer knew
where he could procure a sufficient
amount of capital on ten years time
it would be great inducement.
We believe that small ADVERTISE
ment in few trade papers to the eff
feet that Denison had 100000 to loan
for manufacturing purposes at two
and one-half per cent on ten years
time, would bring more responses from
than we could take care Of
DeniSOn is rich town. There
should be no difficulty in raising such
a fund. Each of the three banks
could well afford to subscribe $4,000
and the balance could easily be got
ten from other business men.
This money would be loaned on bus
mess principles and on ample secur-
ity. Not more than one-third of the
value of plant should be loaned to
any institution. Thus if the citizens
loaned 100000 il would mean the in
yestment of 100000 of outside capital.
What would the investment of
100000 to 100000 in manufacturing
plants do for Denison?
In the first place it would increase
real estate values twenty-five per cent
or more.
1t would largely increase retail
trade.
1t would increase bank deposits.
Every one of the plants would do bus
mess with the banks and further a
percentage of their employees would
become depositors or borrowers as they
wished to build homes and to estab-
Itch themselves in orr city