Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-06
THE D. A, R. CAMPAIGN
A Statementin Behalf of Mrs.
Sternberg's Canvass.
POINTED CORRECTIONS
BOARD OF MANAGEMENT MERELY
ADMINISTRATIVE.
Not Dominated by Washingtonians-
How Nominations Were
Proposed.
POINTED CORRECTIONS

AS Tic udte the dSSeIuDldsc VI tIc
continental congress. Daughters of the
American Revolution, draws near, interest
in the triangular contest for the chief ma
tiona Office Increases. The candidates are
Mrs Sternberg of this city, Mrs. MacLean
of New York and Mrs. Lippitt of Rhode Is
land, and their friends are making the
most of the time still remaining for the
canvass In a recent issue of The Star
article appeared in behalf of Mrs. Mac
Lean containing assertions which are
regarded by some of Mrs. Sternberg's sup
porterS in this city unwarranted. Mrs.
Walter Harvey Weed vice president gem
eral and a member of the national board
of management, who is Mrs. Sternberg's
official representative. in explaining the
exceptions that have been taken to the
publication of March 81, has written to The
Star as follows:
1T is to be expected that the presidential
election OF society such as the Daughters
of the American Revolution will create gen.
eral interest through the country, and nat
urally your paper, occupying the position
which it does at the nations capital, would
wish to take sides with no candidate, but to
publish impartialy the news of the cam
paign as 1t progresses. But in the artic e in
question were certain Measurements re-
gardng the organization which require cor
rection, for if not corrected they are cal
culated to injure our splendid patriotic
society before the world at large and so
hamper us in work for our country'S
welfare and progress. For example, this
article states the national board of man.
agement of the Daughters of the American
Revolution is practically the organization
itself, for its power is almost unlimited
There is just one thing that seven members
of that board. which is constitutional
quorum cannot do, and that is run the
society in debt.
Board Merely Administrative.
IF this were true, and seven members of
the board could transact all the society's
business save to incur debt, then the at
lacks on the board and the outcries against
the Washington ring and the centrallza-
ton of power, etc. might mean something.
But as a matter of fact the constitution OF
the society reads thus upon the duties OF the
board
Sec 3. The national board of manage
ment shall be an administrative body. They
shall carry out the ordering of congress:
act upon applications for membership HI
vacancies in office until the next meeting
of congress; prescribe rules and regulations
for their own government while IN once,
and in general, do all things necessary for
the prosperity and success of the society,
subject however, to the approval OF the
continental congress-
From this it will be seen that the board
is purely administrative body, to carry
out the orders of the continental congress-,
in the national society of the Daughters
of the American Revolution is vested
No Washington Domination.
Next, it is asserted that the national
board as now constituted has for its ma
jority ladies who reside in Washington. and
it is their desire to keep the management
here AS matter of fact, of the active
officers of whom there are twenty-nine,
6ya live in Va the hers
residing in all parts of the country Many
of these officers are the wives of senators,
representatives or other government Off
cials and are in town during the sessions of
Congress. This was the very reason for
their election, no one is elected who does
not agree to attend with fair degree of
regularity the sessions of the board, for
the routine work of the society Is exceed
ingly heavy and requires the services of
many officials for its proper transaction.
The board, however is composed of the
twenty-nine active officers, who are elected
by the Continental Congress because of
their personal ability and fitness for the
work, and of the state regents or, in their
absence, the state vice regents, who are
elected by the chapters of their own states
and are ex-officio members Of the board.
Hence 1t will be seen that out of board
composed of twenty-nine active officers and,
II no vacancies exist, fifty-two state re-
gents (for each state territory and the Dis
trict OF Columbia has state regent, that
six, the five active officers resident In the
District of Columbia, and the District OF
Columbia regent, hardly constitute ma
jority. 1t is seldom that there are less
than twenty-five or thirty at the board
meetings, and the representation Is always
we'll distributed through the states, as re-
ference to the board minutes will show.
Functions of Board Changed.
In the early years of the society, when
1t was in the formative stage. the board