Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1921-10-06
Community With Such a Reputa-
ton Suffers as From a
PeStiIence.
RESTS WITH THE CITIZENS
People Can Create and Maintain Pros
perity If They Will Keep Their
Money at Home in Cir.
cuIation.

Do you want that to be said of
your town? Of course you don't, for
you wish, as matter of local pride, if
for no other reason, to have your
town stand high in the estimation Of
the world. But are you sure that you
are doing everything in your power
to place your town in the position
which you wish to occupy? That is the
question that every person should ask
himself or herself at frequent inter-
walls.
When things are running smoothly,
when times are good, and when it is
fairly easy to make a good living for
the wife and Riddles, it is so easy for
a man to forget that these things do
not come to a town as a matter of
risht kind of effort on the part of the
citizens of the community. It is so
easy for a. man to grow careless and
think that because this condition ex-
listed it will continue to exist without
any effort on his part or that of the
other residents of the community.
That is why it is important for every
one to stop and think seriously once
in a while about what it would mean
to him if the prosperity that makes
life worth living for him should take
wings and fly away.
Nobody Loves a Dead Town.
Nobody likes to live in a dead town.
No one even likes to visit dead town.
That is why you sometimes hear that
warning, "Stay away from that town.
It's dead one" The town which has
the reputation Of being dead one suf-
fers as if from a pestilence. Bust
ness men seeking new locations will
have none of it. The live travelling
salesman, even, will give it a wide
berth. Those who live in it will get
away if they can.
When a town is live and prosperous,
local business is good, real estate val
ues are high and stable, labor is in
demand and wages are good, the
streets are we'll lighted, the residents
and their property are protected from
robbery and fire and good schools are
maintained for the education of the
children. When a town is dead, there
is little money in circulation, store
buildings stand empty with "For Sale"
sign hanging on the front door, there
is little employment for the labOring
man, the streets are dark, the schools
are crippled.
What sort of town do you want to
live in? There is only one answer to
that question. You want to live in the
live town and enjoy all the good things
that come to the residents of such
community.
Answer Easily Found.
The only question then is as to how
these prosperous conditions can be
created Or maintained and it is the
easiest thing in the world to find the
answer to that question.
If the people of a community will
keep their money at home and keep it
in circulation among themselves, they
need have no fear of ever being COM
PEELED to live in a dead town. IT the
people will patronize their own@busi-
ness men instead of sending their dol
lars to the mail order houses, the
prosperity of the community will take
care of itself.
The local stores, to very large ex-
tent, make every town. The taxes
paid by the business men of the COM
munity are the principal support Of
the schools and public institutions. 1t
is the taxes paid by the storekeepers,
to a large extent, that make possible
the public improvements, the fire pro-
lection, the street lighting and the
many other things which make town
worth living in. The mail order house
does not pay any taxes in the town
from which it gets it's money. 1t does
not help to support the schools or
the churches. It does not help light
the streets or maintain the fire de-
partment. It is the aim Of the mail
order houses to drive small town mer-
chants out of business, so that the
people will be compelled to send to
the cities for their merchandise and
they are spending thousands Of dol
lars every month to accomplish this
purpose. If they should succeed, who
would pay the taxes that are now
paid by the local merchants? It's
certainty that the mail order house
would not pay them.
Issue Is Clear Cut.
Every dollar spent at home helps
to make the town live one.
Every dollar sent away from home
to the mail order house helps to make
the town a dead one.
The issue is a clear-cut one and is
squarely up to every resident of the
community, whether resident Of the
town itself or of the country surround
ing 1t. The man who does not care
whether he lives In live Or a dead
town, If there is such a man, need
waste no thought on the subject, but
the man who wants to live In live
town cannot get away from 1t. 1t is
up to him to make his town a live one