St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1917-01-31

Continued from Page y
Mr.. Wilson Speaks

Mr.. Wilson explained that the time
allotted to him was sufficient only to
hit the high spots of his subject but
he hit those spots in a most convinc-5
ing manner and certainly worked the
formula on his audience which he
claimed was a panacea for dormant
business, that of teaching the public
to think.
He pointed to the town Of Hunting
ton, Pa, a place of $500, which had
accomplished great things by the pur
chase of an old hotel building to use
as community house. The building
was partly rented on the ground floor
and the rear made into an auditorium
for farmers meetings. The upper
floor was made into large rooms for
the accommodation OF farmers families
who came into town to shop, Offering
them a place to rest and eat, etc. He
thought it possible that ST. Johnsoury
might have possibilities along these
lines. He said such things were good
sound business because mere opporz
tunity for men to get together deVcl-
oped enterprise in the business men
themselves.
He said that in Olean, n. Y, a pub
market had been established at which
the grocers had risen up in arms but
that after it had been in operation for
two years those same grocers were
still in business and had discovered
that the farmers were carrying home
goods in the back of their wagons that
never left town before. He cited it
as an instance ito show that business
was reciprocal and drove home his
argument that the ''WiscSt town in
America" was the one which could
afford the surrounding country the
best mans of dsposing of it's products.
He added that an increase in bust
ness does not depend on an increase
in population. AS an example he
claimed that a section of Iowa where
the population had decreased showed
a large increase in business. He at
trfbuted it to a widening out of the
views of the people and called atten-.
tion to the barefoot farmers boy who
now had three lor four pairs of shoes
and dancing pumps. He gave as
definition of business the satisfaction
of human wants and that it had been
discovered that increased business in
tcreases the wants of the business men
and those connected with it. He cited
the work of the county agent as Gre
ating a desire for better things in the
home of the farmers and even went
as far as to say that the work Of the
catalog houses had not all been harm
full for the pictures in them had been
the starting of many a farmer to
town to buy the want that had been
caused by the picture.
Thus" he said, the first business
of a commercial club is to teach the
public to think" An instance of
what comes of the public thinking he
pointed out the rapid rise in the value
of real estate in certain sections. He
said that the value of real estate was
caused merely by the desire of others
to possess what you have and the
greater that desire is the more one
can get for it,
He suggested as q way to attract
men here was Ito be human yourself
The more human you can be the more
folks will like you and come and live
with you.
He scoffed at the idea that was pat
forward by certain efficiency experts
that the center of certain industries
had to Ire in certain places. He claim
ed that Detroit had no natural re-
sources to explain its automobile su-
premacy. zone reason that can be
named for it is Henry Ford, another
is Hugh Chalmers and still another,
r. E. OIds. If these men had been
transDlanted to Cleveland or any 9TH
er part of the country it would have
been the same. The automobile in
dustrial center would have been any
where they hung their hat"
Among other points brought out by
Mr. Wilson were two boasts made by
Vermonters, one that they had $780,
100000 in their savings banks, and
the other that they had very few for
eigners in their population. The first
fact he thought was a reflection on
their intelligence. because if others
could take that much money and
make enough money to get Il profit
themselves and pay interest on the
same it could be done by the Yer
monters themselves. He was at odds
with the other boast because he be-
Iieved the coming of foreigners would
enhance property values and because
everyone, outside of the American In
dian, at one time or another had been
an immigrant.