The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-15

fairs In many foreign countries. has
given rise to an interesting movement
whereby it Is proposed that goods of
American manufacture be uniformly
marked made in u. S. A." This Is
a laudable and patriotic movement
and In no sense of the word would
we write ourselves down as unfriend-
y to Its success. We must confess
however, to the belief that under any,
thing like normal conditions the.
American manufacturer in most lines
can compete with the world. Local.
lty OF manufacture has never appealed
TO us as prime selling argument for
line Of merchandise. Because a
certain article Is made in PEORIA or
made in Illinois," or made in the
United States" Is not and never can
be the commanding reason WHY aay
one should buy it.
We need competition with some OF
thc excellent wares made in some
foreign countries, to stimulate us to
the highest endeavor. For purposes
OF home consumption the made in
America" label may be somewhat eff.
fective, but the forward looking bust.
ness men Of this country who long to
conquer foreign markets need not ex.
pect to find the people of other lands
overly anxious to buy goods labeled
with the mark OF their United States
genesis. If we as people intend to
exercise our prejudice against mer-
ehandise stamped made In Germany"
or made in Great Britain" or made
in France
There has been a great deal of hon
est breath and good many dollars
wasted on the subject of city and COM
munity advertising. None OF our
cities Or states can be criticised II
they enter upon advertising cam
paigns IN an effort to attract visitors.
permanent residents or industries to
them Advertisingly, however, we think
the notion Is unsound. None of the
units Of our country Is sufficient unto
itself. aad 1t is a blessed thing for
the development of a national con-
seriousness and national trade that
such is the case. "-ee1a
We should buy our favorite break
fast food because we like it, because
1t Is wholesome and because the price
Is right, not because 1t is made fl
Battle Creek. The fact that our shoes
are made in Brockton, our collars in
Troy, Or our clothes in Rochester,
really has little to do with the desir-
ability of the goods.
If we wish to advertise pickles or
tobacco or crackers, we should be
certain that all the conditions sur.
rounding our product arc right before
we attempt publicity. The package
should be right, the goods should COM
pare fayorably with competing brands,
the price should be right, trade chan
nels should be opened and developed
all the various elements contribu-
tory to success should be present be-
fore we expect advertising to do its
part.
Now, if city starts to advertise
there are probably great many
things about it open to criticism Pos
sibly its tax rate is high, its Water
system inefficient, portions Of it's
street paving bad. it's school board
behind the times. it's health rate low,
it's death rate high Such munich
pality has no more business to adver-
tise than has a manufacturer Of stale
crackers put up in an unattractive
package with an out-of-date maaufac-
turing plant and weak selling force
No! what we want is the national
point Of view. We want big men,
proud of the fact that thew are Amer
lean citizens, honestly trying to manu-
facture some article as we'll as they
know how, and genuinely interested
in widening their market. In saying
this we, of course, realize that there
are many businesses wherein freight
rates, local usage or other reasons
prevent the manufacturer from seek.
ing national outlet. ...
When 1t comes to advertising, bust
ness men would in our opinion do
well to tie up with an organization
which has established and developed
the national point Of view. 1t may
sound very peculiar, but actual analy-
sis shows that geography is a deter
mining factor in the placing of many
advertising accounts. The advertiser
feels that he would like to have an
agency close at hand. We have al
ways thought this a false basis upon