The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-02-05
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 5, 1919.
A BUSINESS GATHERING.

A BUSINESS GATHERING.
The mid.wintcr fair and Corn and
Glover convention is cmpha,ically a
business gathering. 1t is not a jun
ket. 1t is not held for fun. nor are
its promoters Interested merely in the
collection of a crowd for a few days
in the city. The GROVE is a good thing.
and we are glad TO have our %ncishbors
drop III and Sec us. Eut the gather
ing is held for the srecilic purpose OF
providing an opportunity for people
who are actually engaged in some
of the most important activities Of the
tical plans for the further improve
ment of their work.
In a Very interesting series of mag
aainr articles the writer tells OF his
experience in nldins in the adoption
of better farming methods in a little
New England community. He MAS a
successful business mHn from the city
whose business eye WAS always open.
ltc settled in the little Village. and
then found tina, some OF his surround-
ings werc undesirable. He wondered
Wfv. and he set TO work To lind out.
Vic found that farms had been per-
mitted To run down, and that there
We're few cases where the ownerS were
really making Il living. He looked
the situation over and studied il. He
,.,,.l - :, -, .,,, IS - l,,;. 49,
with which nc was familiar. He csti-
r,afed the value of the property in his
vicinity AT q million dollars, and he
considered that property as 4 manu-
featuring plant. There lay q plant
worth a million which was practically
mnproduc,ive, and which therefore
might be considered idle. while all
around there were hundreds of thou.
sands Of people actually ciamoring for
tho products OF the plant. Evidently
management Of the thing somewhere.
How he located the mistakes. what
they were. the means that he took
to remedy them. and the success
which attended his efforts would make
TOO long Il story for these columns,
hut the idea Of considering the whole
neighhorhood as a business institution
which ought TO be operated for the
heneri, of all its members is a sane
and practical M II can be applied
here.
Consider n area of the state with
Grand Forks as its center. sufficiently
large L have a cash value of fifty dol
lars. 1t will not he necessary 10 reach
far beyond the county line 10 include
enough territory. There We have rep.
resented a great business institution
with a fifty million dollar investment.
and fifty thousand stockholders. more
or less. Is tina, plant being so mar
aged as to pay operating expenses? Is
it paying a bare interest on the invest
ment? Or is il paying q good interest
and dividends in additiono We know.
everybody knows. thai, it is not pro-
ducing to the limit of its capacity.
Why not? We know that i, can be
made to produce more. Howe These
are no, academic questions. They are
practical inquiries such as are being
made all the time by the managers
of every successful business institution
in the world. And upon the manner
in which these questions, on the read
mess with which the management will
ADMIT its mistakes when they are
shown. and adopt new methods when
they are demonstrated to be better
than the old, depends the success az
the business.
1t makes a difference to every mem.
her of the concern how these cues.
tions are approached. and what is the
character Of the given. II
they are correctly answered. and later
action is taken on the basis Of the new
and better Information given. not only
will h farmer raise more OF the prod.
ucts peculiar to his business. but the
merchant will sell more goods, the
banks will handle more money. the
school teacher will work under better
conditions. h roads Will be bette,
built. the factory will employ nor
men, and every line of business viii
prosper. The problems discussed &c
rtght to tho root Of the business sue.
cess OF the community. and if a mar
living in the city of Grand Forks ha,
an interest in the prosperity OF hi,
" business and in the developmen
OF his own market he has a very vita
interest in what is going on at tn,
Auditorium this week.