Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1918-04-08

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tons conform themselves eventually
to even war.
The Mystery of War.
One of the dozen most prominent
! men in America is the secretary of
war, and yet he walked out of one
| of the busiest Offices in the world, and
there wasn't even a personal" in
the Washington newspapers until he
landed in France. Washington was
as surprised as the rest of the coun-
try when it read that Mr.. Baker was
in Europe. TIE comment in the cap
ital was: Its a fine thing that
Baker has gone across" Washington
has on intense liking for Mr.. Baker,
but the capital has made him prove,
point by point, that he is the right
man for the position he occupies. His
trip to Europe will strengthen the
public confidence in him.
Does Advertising Pay!
The Federal Trade Commission has
been carrying on exhaustive inves-.
LEGATIONS into all these futures of
merchandising and distribution dur
ing the past two or three years, and
as their finding and conclusions will
be very interesting as they appear,
hn on npf,y, ont Nj M
expected to find that advertising does
pay. William H. Ingersoll directs the
sales organization and makes the
plans for selling the Ingersoll watch,
and it needs no argument to convince
the public that he is getting away
with the job. Mr.. Ingersoll has point
ed out that the expense of distribute
ing goods is about double the cost of
making them, and an illustration of
this is found in the fact that you pay
for your potatoes about three times
what it costs TO raise them. Prob
lens in distribution have not been
successfully worked out to the bene-
fit of the consumer, as has been
demonstrated in many ways during
the past few months. Coal at the
mines is cheap enough, but when it
gets to the consumers cellar it has
reached an expensive figure. And the
men who raise cattle and those who
eat beef have nothing to say about
the amount produced or the price set
With 10000 wholesale houses, with
100000 travelling statesmen, and 1885,
900 retail stores in the nation besides
200 department stores, and several
thousand "chain stores what reason
is there to expect other than the
high cost of living?" Somebody has
to pay for all this service.
Distribution" we are to conclude |
after following Mr.. Ingersoll, has fall
len down very badly!
1t ought to be live subject with |
every person who sells advertising |
space to see to it that the advantages
of printers ink are pushed forward |
as an intelligent solution of the prob
lens that have made for excessive |
costs in nearly everything needed by
the consuming public. The manufa:
turers of Ingersoll watches are heavy
advertisers, and it indicates kat hey |
believe that this form of obtain ing
a distribution direct from the factory |
to the retailer is superior to the sys-
TEN in general recognition in the
country.
The Oliver Typewriter Company
has done brave thing, by cutting
out their selling agencies ali over
the country, and reducing the price
of their machine one-half. They
propose to do away with the cumber-
some expenses of distribution, and
give the public the benefit. In doing
this they are increasing their adver-
Using expenses; and it would seem
as though there should be no pub
Usher so blind but what he would see
"a hole in a grind-stone, and help
the Olive: plan.
The Postal Life Insurance Com
pany is another instance of a con-
Germ that lives UP to its titular Chris
tian name, and shows that the cost
of distribution, as represented by
armies of agents, is quite unneces-
sary. By the use of printers ink the
Postal reduces the cost of insurance,
thereby helping to scale down the
high cost Of living"
The basis of all these reforms in
our expensive way of doing business
lays in the printers ink can, and it
would seem as though publishers |
would awaken to the public interests |