The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1924-01-17
REFIlECnoNs OF THE EDITOR
Continued from page 1

AAOAOoS AAAOthV06 III Uu6Iu6b0. QuL Lue
system operating in this county dis
courages honesty and discouragei
the effort to do high class work
When those two things affect any In
dustry In q community, that in
dustry and that community will fall
behind in that kind of service until
such time as there is a reversal, and
1t is no easy task to change the
methods of business that have been
followed for q generation.
Some attempts have been made to
change these conditions, and they
resulted in failure because the pub
lie were not taken into the plans and
there was no cooperation. The first
attempt at improving the printing
service in the community was to
standardize the product and the
prices, so that customer would pay
the same regardless of what printing
office he went to. The first result
was that the best printers began to
increase the volume of their busi-
ness and the poorest printers be-
gan to lose Instead of trying to i'm
prove their work they cut prices and
blocked the whole effort of stand
ardizing the service. The tfght-wad
customers got their printing little
cheaper and the easy-going custom
ers often paid little more than the
proposed standard prices. 1t was
game of fair play some OF the time
and deception some of the time, with
all the printers getting bad reputa-
lions due to the trickery of the trick
lest.
The second effort at improving the
printing service to the public was to
get the different shops to specialize,
one to handle calling cards and
fancy stationary, others legal blanks
and other similar things, another the
forms that required perforating,
punching, numbering and binding,
and so on till each printery had It's
own speciality and its special equip
ment to produce anything in that
class. After a lingering effort on
that plan with only two shops trying
earnestly to conform to 1t, the sug-
gestion was made than as | was get
ting along very well in the news
paper business, l could afford to |
drop the commercial printing alto-
gether and let the others have it
among themselves. | had built my
new printing house and allowed |
space for two job presses and some
other machines and had installed the
most expensive part OF 1t. Sugges
tion was made that if / would sell
my large job press and quit SOLICIT.
ing lob printing, just take care of
what was brought in to us, the
others would have chance to build
IN good business, could afford to
improve their plants more nearly on
Mo had hQpn A6VO-
eating. / jollied the other fellows
and told them it would be fine if they
would sell and ship their presses out
If the county and let me have free
hand to put in the ultramodern
9ouipment and show high efficiency,
turning out better work in less time
md at as low prices as ever. They
auehed at the thought of me keep
ny nrices down when l could DOM
nate the field, and told me that II l
believed in the specializing and
tandardizing | was advocating, and
wanted to play perfectly fair would |
axe the first long step to bring 1t q
bout. and sell my big press. L =
ooked around and found buyer for a
t and finally sold it to him with the 7
that he would take 1t t
ut of the county and not bring 1t r.
ack to place 1t in competition with
nyone here, and he kept faith with c
ne. That was about six years ago O
nd the business of job printing has {
ever been standardized, quality Is o
O better. and about the only differ C
nee is that all the old job presses ii
re six years older and more rickety, Il
nd people in this county are send a
~ away for more printing than c.
YER. Il
That brings us back to what said
l the beginning, "It is hard to get a
rinting done in Bingham county be- n
ause there are so many home print V,
lg houses. The printing business p
as been revolutionized in twenty n
ears, but most of that which is done al
Bingham county is done just like tc
was twenty years ago, except that h;
le price is higher" pl
What Is needed is for somebody sc
it'll money and courage, to install
,mplete modern equipment, offer a tn
)od service to the public, and have tn
e public give it fair trial and p1
EN- If it is worthy of support, IL 1t al
better for the money, If 1t is done so
the right time, if it builds an in tn
lstry that creates property and it.
xes and payroll and is honest and fiG
pendable, il it gives employment wi
young people, If it teaches them in
ofitable trades, if the working con- M
lions are desirable so that the nj
is not a hatcher of ia
likes and troubles. but builder of
rmony in the industry and the tn
the public can give it fiji
yal support and have the benefits 1t ne
lngs, or they can act the tickle part Or
d leave an over-inyestment stand tn,
: partly idle to pay taxes on un- 81
1t ruins the owners. Flu
A few years ago 1 selected and sta
spared orders for the purchase of me
out $1,000 worth of equipment leg
i considered that l would prob col
" have to spend another three ar,
,usand or so in advertising and PEI
letting to get enough business to Flu
Ike it a going concern, this Job do
nting branch of the work. l did my
ne counseling among people who ma
troI a good deal of printing, to pre-