Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1912-04-19
DISCUSS THE NEEDED
GRANTS PASS PAY ROLL
And Refers To Chinese Lettuce and
PARKWAY Goods That Gould be
Produced Here.
To The Editor OF The Courier.

ID lut LulL'l "l A"N
In a recent editorial you express
ed the idea that what Grants Pass
needs is a payroll" The express
sion carries with it the conviction of
l-s writer that Grants Pass does need
something, and that quicker the case
is properly diagnosed and remedy
administered, the better it will be for
the prosperity of the community
Yes, Mr.. Editor, Grants Pass
needs a payroll But the Grants
Pass payroll will not come from the
immediate seeking after a payroll as
we are apt to place the term in our
minds. In this case what appears
at first thought the long way round
will in the end prove the shortest
way.
Ask the average citizen where the
Grants Pass payroll is coming from
and he will invariably. with glance
toward the forest clad hills, say.
From box factories, furniture fac
tories and railroad shops But he
is looking over the head Of the quick
est and surest, the real source of the
Grants Pass payroll, a source that
when properly nurtured and cultivat-
ed will find the factories and rail
road following on its heels.
Grants Pass does not need more
box factories till she stops shipping
in canteloupes and cabbage crates,
tomato boxes, etc, from California
filled with the product of the Chinese
gardens. She does not need furni-
ture factories until that day comes
when the Daily Courier carries fewer
advertisements of second hand house
hold goods for sale and when the
legitimate furniture dealer does
more business than the second hand
man The railroads will come when
the railroad man knows the time is
ripe; and none will know it sooner
than he. His finger is always on
the public pulse, and when our COM
mercial pulse throbs with sufficient
life, he will commence driving spikes
and building shops.
Our first duty, then, toward the
creation of Grants Pass payroll lies
right here at home and our first eff
fort must be to arouse healthier
local patriotism Let made in
Grants Pass" mean more and let
grown in Grants Pass" whet the ap-
petite till the Chinese-g grown truck
from the south loses its flavor and
only the Grants Pass egg or the
Grants Pass potato or the Grants
Pass butter or beef appears upon a
Grants Pass menu Then you'll
find the box factory working overtime
to supply the boxes and crates for
the surplus fruits and eggs and veg
etables; and the furniture factory
suppIanting the second hand man
ana tine Nrants Pass payroll viii be
tangible something
Let NE point the moral with
simple illustration One of my neigh
bors grew lettuce for the market. A
local merchant would not handle it
because his patrons demanded head
lettuce and my neighbor was growing
leaf lettuce The lettuce grower re-
turned home. sowed the seed OF head
lettuce and shortly appeared before
the merchant with the salad crisp
and green and dewy. But the mer-
chant refused to take It unless it was
traded OUT and that too at a rate
that left no margin of profit to the
grower.
The Chinese gardener continues p,
ship lettuce to this merchant. getting
cash. not "tin money" in pavment