The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1915-11-27
COMMUNITY COOPERATION.
By R. v. Holland.

conditions or religious affairs, if
you own, or expect to own a
home, or other property in your
community, a few minutes ;
thought will convince you that it
is decidedly to your best interest
to patronize your local stores at
all times, provided investigation
proves that you can do so to as
good advantage as elsewhere.
l realize that there is a certain
class of merchants-and they are
still represented in many towns
and cities-who will not handle
standard products and who ex-
pect buyers to pay exorbitant
prices for goods of unknown or
doubtful quality and origin
merchandise on which they can
demand wide margins Of profit.
This class of "storekeepers,
however, represents a compare
lively small minority and is fast
going the way of the prehistoric
dinosaur and the nearly extinct
mossback farmer who "don t have
to read nothing about farming
Villages, towns and communi-
ties develop in accordance with
the amount and quality of effort
put forth by their citizenship, and
progressive, right-living people
who have long since learned that
it is neither profitable nor pleas
ant to live in non-progressive
communities. In nearly every To-
cality are fathers and mothers
whose sons and daughters have
been forced to leave home in order
to secure profitable employment
that should have been afforded
locally.
If you live on a farm you want
good roads, schools, churches,
telephone service, mail delivery
and a convenient market in which
to dispose of your products and
from which to supply your wants.
If you live in town you want,
in addition to the above, good
streets and sidewalks, wholesome
amusements-tho things that go
to make community worth liv-
ing in.
These advantages are the ma
tural outcome of, and are limited
to the growth and condition of
your locality, which is in turn de-
pendent upon the extent of local
trade activities.
Did you ever see really good
town that did not have good
storesY The two go hand in
hand.
personally know of an in
stance within the past year, where
a very wealthy man refused to
locate and establish modern
store in town of some three
thousand population for the rea-
son that an investigation de-
veloped the fact that the better
class of residents adhered to a
long-standing policy or habit, of
doing practically all of their buy
ing in the stores of nearby city,
or by mail.
On the face of it, this towr had
merely failed to secure new
store. On the other hand, think
for a minute what this rich. ag.
gressive man, with the up-to-date
store he would have put in en-
bodying his ideas and methods,
would have meant to the CON-
munity, 1t would have afforded
employment for number of r'en
and women, and would have
helped to develop new lines OF
trade. The owners personal and
business taxes would have meant
much within themselves.
Bear in mind that home trading
is most vital element in comm'lh-
ity welfare and progress. Con-
slider carefully the fact that por-
ton of every dollar spent in local
stores finds it's way to some es-
sential function for the support
and development of the neighbor-
hood, the general prosperity OF
which you must necessarily share
in.