Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-16


complishment of the following, which have
been started, but will require more hard
work and plenty of it to complete:
The care of INDECENT consumptives; the
construction of sufficient Fairgrounds for
children and adults; an auditorium and mu-
sic hail; more school buildings.
Beginning where the reports leave off,
the work of the association consists of the
interviews with the District Commissioners
and committees Of Congress and of the at
tempts to obtain the cooperation of the
District business men for the general good.
AS long as Congress controls the expendi-
ture of the District revenues these appear
ances before its committees on the District
of Columbia are matters of the first I'M
portance. 1t is of equal value to the COM
munity that every association of business
men shall keep in touch with the admins
trative officers of it's government, support
wherever possible. and opposing them when
full knowledge of the facts and the calm
Judgment of the association compel that
course Washington needs more intelligent
effort on the part of its business men to
cooperate with both Congress and the Com
mssioners. But the thing Washington needs
most, the thing which the association
should work for hardest, is the earnest CO.
operation of its business men for their COM
mon advantage.
Through officers and Committees.
Now. If the Business Mems Association
is to do Its part before Congress and the
Commissioners. as 1t should, and can help,
to promote cooperation among District
business men. it must do so through its off,
GERS and its committees. Your officers have
done their part think-with the exception
of certain members of the board Of direct
ors who will be reported by the secretary
and who should not be reelected in my
judgment. So have some of the committees
done their part. But many of the commit
or inc pox,
had only perfunctory meetings and made
perfunctory reports, and seem to have
never even contemplated the work for re-
suits, which Is their greatest responsibility
In the end, this association will prove q
useful success or comparative allure ac-
cordlng as Its committees assume and per-
form their separate tasks; and bespeak
Tor my successor president either that
the members retire from committees and
so have no pretense about the matter or
that they undertake their duties seriously
This ask particularly of the chairmen of
committees.
Plenty of work remains to be done
which will require all the energy and abil-
ity of the Business Mems Association and
all the cooperation 1t can obtain from and
give to other similar bodies. Some of it
might have been done this past year had
our committees been on the lookout All Of
II ought to be done as soon as possible.
Other Improvements.
Among the things which this association
can help obtain are: An improvement of the
telephone service. An inquiry into the pres
ent tax assessments to determine whether
or not certain reported discrepancies actual
ly exist, and If the present method of max
Ing assessments can be improved. Further
Improvement of alley conditions by reach
ing the owners of the aliey shacks Better
street cleaning. An appropriation large
enough to resurface the whole area of
asphalt which, having been laid prior to
nuy ont Nl,r I;zr
men now on special detail so that they NAV
be added to the present inadequate force
available for patrol duty. The redemption
of Rock creek from its present use as an
open sewer. A survey and the construction
of the preliminary pans for a duplicate
conduit to Great Falls, as urged emphatical-
ly in Gen. John NJ. Wilson's annual report
as president of the Board Of Trade The
purchase of ground for parks in the north
east and in that part Of the city which lies
beyond the boundary street. The develop
ment of the water front-river navigation
can be made of great commercial import
ance to the District; at present, with the
title to the wharf front vested in the gov
eminent. there is no general plan of deyel-
opment and no united effort to obtain one
The expansion of the clty's trade. The asso-
citation has co-operated with the Board of
Trade and the Bankers Association in the
organization of a new body-the Jobbers
and Shippers Association-with this object
in view. The interest aroused through 1t led
southern markets for the display Of goods
handled by Washington jobbers, and on
that train this association had q member of
It's board OF directors as representative
This same movement has stirred the city to
undertake a commercial and municipal ex-
hibit at the Jamestown Exposition to which
project this association should give some
thing more than the support of approving
resolutions.
Out CT all this has come a purpose on
the part of our merchants, jobbers, manu-
facturers and business men generally to de-
velop our city into Industrial Washing
ton. That can be done without making the
capital in any respect less attractive as
a pace of residence. To such movement
in my Judgment. business mems associa-
ton is committed by the very fact of its
existence. 1t surely can find nothing better
to do in the ensuing year than to work In
its shirt sleeves for the upbuilding of Wash
ington's commercial interests wherever the
opportunity offers.
Regarded as Important.
THE Business Mems Association can
take up no better work IN the coming year
than the following two items: The reclama-
ton of the Anacostia flats and the arch
ing Of Rock creek. The committee on pub
lie improvements for the coming year would
do we'll to take up the work of these two
proposed improvements where the outgoing
committee has laid Ii down. with view of
aiding the Commissioners to present them
to Congress as soon as that body con-
veneS.
Now. a word as to the reclamation of the
Anacostia fats. This matter has been un-
der consideration by our Board of Com
missioners for quite q while. Our commit
tee on public improvements has had many
meetings upon this needed Improvement
during the past year. The physicians of
the Government Hospital for the Insane.
the surgeons general of the United States
navy. the medical societies Of Washington,
the Washington Board Of Trade are some
of those who urged the importance Of this
work; in fact. all who have considered the
subject and are interested In the welfare
Of Washington and its citiyens have given
this matter their strongest recommends
Ia haa fhxxn ton, 81 Il.