Mike sees in a catalog a silver vase that he would like to get for Aunt Bee's birthday. It seems Mike accidentally ordered a copy machine from Amalgamated Copy Machine Co. There's a 10-day free home trial. Mike decides to go into business with his friend Harold and make copies for people in town. He hopes to make enough money to buy Aunt Bee's gift. Ernie Newhouser, from Amalgamated, shows up at Sam's house. Sam manages to put off Ernie and then goes to talk to Mike. Mike figures he'll fill the order and then mail it back. But he trips over the cord and damages the machine, but it still works. Mike takes the machine to Emmett's, but he can't fix it. He then tries to get a bank loan from Cyrus Tankersley with no luck. Sam finds out about the machine and gets upset. Harold tells Sam that Mike used the machine again so he could buy Aunt Bee's gift. Understanding what Mike went through, Sam tells him he'll keep the machine.

Sam receives a letter from Jackson Television Productions. Their debate program will discuss which is better, big city or small town life. They request two citizens to come to New York City. Representing New York will be writer Harding Capehart and socialite Pamela Mason. The City Council pick Emmett and Howard to defend the honor of all small towns across America. It's the night of the show and people gather at Sam's office to watch the show. The show begins with moderator Mr. Jackson introducing the panelists. Howard concedes many of the points that the city representatives make. Emmett and the folks at home start to get frustrated with Howard's reactions. Howard returns to Mayberry an outcast and admits he got carried away on his first trip to New York. Sam sent a Manhattan newspaper an apologetic poem Howard had written about Mayberry. The paper prints the poem and Sam reads it to the Council. Everyone then forgives Howard.

Andy and Sam think it would be a good idea to have a "Civic Youth Day". They would have some children take over as Sheriff, Head of City Council and County Clerk. But just for a few hours. Mike is chosen to be Sheriff, Arnold Bailey will be Head of City Council and Martin Barton will be County Clerk. The boys study for two weeks about their jobs. On the day, Sam, Andy and Howard quickly find out that the boys know quite a bit about the jobs. Later at a luncheon, the boys are to tell what they learned that morning. The boys don't have much to say. Sam apologizes because the men really didn't give the boys the added knowledge that they obviously wanted. The boys clearly embraced their roles with far more enthusiasm than anyone thought.

Howard complains to Sam about the lack of new residents and wants to hold a special city council meeting concerning Goober. The council says that Goober is going to sheriff's academy two nights a month and worked under Andy. The men vote down Howard's motion to hire a sheriff. Emmett inadvertently tells Goober about the meeting and Goober is now upset. Howard comes up with a plan to stage a bank robbery. He wears a stocking to disguise his face and uses a water gun to hold up the teller, Hilda, and leaves with a bag of money. Howard gets into his car but it won't start. As Goober comes over to talk to Howard, Hilda comes out and points out Howard as the robber. Goober arrests Howard and many of the townsfolk see Goober take Howard to jail. From his jail cell, Howard tries to explain himself to Goober and the two start to argue. Sam holds another council meeting at the court house. At the meeting, Sam uses some psychology to get Goober and Howard to be friends again.