The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1914-06-19
Officers, Directors and Members OF
Chamber OF Commerce,
Marietta, Ga.

fled me in Florida, through your
Secretary that / had been elected the
President of this Chamber. This
was contrary to my expressed wishes
prior to that date. / did not &C
knowledge the receipt of the letter
ferred upon me, at that time, CT
since. l desire tonight, therefore,
to talk with you very frankly, to
thank you very much, for the cour-
tesy shown me, and to say, before
closing, I will speak further on the
matter of the Presidency.
First What should the Chamber
be?
In a broad sense; the Chamber
should be strictly and absolutely I'M
! selfish. Every worker should regard
his duties, as being only, for the
| best interests of the general pub
lie. All personal aggrandizemert
should be abandoned in the work
Personal interest should be strictly
put aside. Everything done should
be with an eye single to Maretta's
best interests. Its work in every
sense should be for the welfare Of
all. A spirit of energetic work
should be inculcated in all its meet
ings and councils. All tendency to
prCcrastination in effectively carr
ing out plans should be strictly for
hidden in each of the bureaus Of the
Chamber. It's work can only meet
with success, by strict activity
during the time allotted daily. The
work by the heads of the various bu-
reaus should be without compensa
ton. 1t sould be a free-will offer
ing by the person occupying the head
of his bureau. In all the councils
and operations, there should be
earnestly inculcated, a spirit of self
forgetfulness and generosity. If
this is not the case, the Chamber
cannot expect the willing, helpful
and generous cooperation of the
public, including the business men
and individuals. The most splendid
successful cooperation, will be es-
tablished, if the Chamber starts &C
lively, operations on a broad, gen
erous, economical basis.
Second; Chamber should be Edn-
cational.
The Chamber should be untirjng
in its efforts to collect informatio8
and data to be used for Marietta'a
general good,
Marietta is in great need of dc
finite and truthful information, CON
corning her position and advance
ment, as compared with other cities
in the State of Georgia, in her class.
The Chamber should reverence
Marietta. before any other city or
locality 1t should seek to secu,e
statistics, and distribute the same
! that each individual in Marietta
may become posted as to its present
standing in beauty and advance.
| ment
Every week column should APP
pear in Marietta papers SHOWING
what the Chamber, through its bu-
reaus, is doing. The greatest publ
city as to its acts and doings. Re.
ceipts and disbursements is always
most desirable. The Chamber is moi
a body to have secrets. Secretiye-
ness always engenders opposition
and suspicion The Chamber has nc
axes to grind, no favors to grant tC
special individuals. no schemes tC
establish, but all the time it must be
free from personalities, and a work
force for the general good of all
Every bit OF detail information
which can be secured through an,
OF its bureaus, should be distribut.
ed, and freely given out to every
one who wishes it, or who will r.
ceive it i'll Marietta or Cobb County
This Chamber should develop into {
body of enlightenment. Facts ant
truths freely put forth. always es
tablish a public spirit of good
Many get into ruts because they arr
not informed as to what is being
done around them.
Third. Non Political.
The Chamber, as a body. should b.
absolutely non-partisan and non-p0
litical.
1t will be hard for some of us tc
put away the tendency to advance
individual interests. This is al
most an inherent trait of the human
family. But in the councils of tn,
Chamber, this should. once and for
all, be put aside completely. If the,
are not. its efficiency will be great
~ circumscribed and it's usefulnes,
much impaired. 1t can only be eff
Gent by keeping its thoughts firmly
Il