Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-06-04
SELLING NEW MEXICO TO NEW MEx1cANs.

In this modern day, men have to realize
that the secret of lies in craftsmanship We
are all statesmen, attempting to sell something to
the public 1t need not be recited that the secret
of success in merchandising lies in salesman, and
in that almost exclusively, for the buyer for the
house must be salesman when he is buying He
must think of what goods the public will buy and
whether the goods win be attractive at the price at
which they must be sold Goods well bought, are
half sold
The doctor must sell himself to the COM
munity That is to say, the public must be made
to believe in him and in the value Of his sery-
ices The preacher must "sell' the idea of the
religious life to the people, making them willing
to pay the price in selfrestraint and service which
it will cost them in order that they may have
the great benefits of religious character
The man who aspires to office must 'selI' him
self to the public BY his record and his policy he
must make them wish to have him as their repre-
sentative.
We might enumerate indefinitely by way Of IL
Illustration. Practically thing in life involving
the persuasion of others to a line of conduct is
matter of craftsmanship.
When a visitor comes into a community he
soon reaches certain decisions. He believes, either
that the people progressive or backward; that
the community will grow and prosper or that II
will stand still; that the natural resources Of the
community do or do not offer opportunities; that
of the community SELL the visitor one idea or
the other.
If the visitor who contemplates change of
location concludes that the people are progressive;
that the community will grow and prosper; that
the natural resources give promise of great flu
ture; that the schools will properly care for the
needs of his children etc. he has been "sold." He
concludes to buy by investing his money his time,
his energy and his personality in that commu-
nifty
That is what makes cities and states grow
without 1t they will stand still Therefore what
the cities of the state and the state itself need.
to do is to so order their affairs and so exploit
their opportunities to the world that the outside
people will believe and buy"
But no salesman can successfully sell goods.
with the merits of which he is unfamiliar and in
the worth Of which he does not believe. He must
know his goods first Then he must believe in
them. With that basis to begin with he is inspired
with the energy Ind selling power to make sue
cess of it, In other words, he must "sell the
goods to HIMSELF before he can sell them to other
people.
New Mexico has made little progress in the past
twenty years, There reasons but they are
durable ones. The chief of these reasons is that
the people OF New Mexico have not really sold"
New Mexico to themselves. They do not believe in
her possibilities and her future they should.
The present management of the journal found
in this state admittedly bad condition of gov
eminent. 1T was 1nSnCere, IueIIlclent eXIrdNA-
CANT dishonest and even corrupt. The people had
been sold" the idea that the crowd in control
was too powerful to be dslodged and that there
was no use to try to dislodge it. 1t found the
states highest officials insisting that the state
was worthless except for grazing purposes-and
found the people half sold to that idea 1t found
men insisting that all the Worthwhile mineral re-
sources OF the state already being operated
1t found the people of the Rio Grande valley had
been "sold" the idea that drainage too
pensive and was inefficient The people had been
"sold" the idea that great progress and prosperity
were impossible. Therefore the people had largely
surrendered to the conclusion that it inevitable
that New Mexico was to be backward state. This
idea was deliberately sold to the people by
group Of men who knew that their continued dom
nation was dependent upon keeping the state
from becoming inhabited by a preponderance of
capable active, independent, aggressive and
women
In other words the real possibilities of New
Mexico were kept from the people, The idea of a
growing, prosperous empire, has never been cul-
tivated in the minds of the people, New Mexico
has never been sold" to New Mexicans. We can,
outside world until we first sell" it to ourselves.
Like all other statesmen, we must first know our
goods and believe in them, Then sell to
others.
Probably there are not ten people in the
state who appreciate the real greatness of the
possibilities of this state Few know that Colfax
county can be made an empire for successful dry
farming Few know that very great agricultural