Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-02-07
WORK FOR GOOD Of
CITY To GET BUSINESS
[Continued from First Page. I
helping solve the business and mu-
niclpal problems of the day.
MIR. Tripp Introduced Sneaker


nicipal problems of the day.
MIR. Tripp introduced Speaker
Mr Havens was introduced by
George b. Tripp, president of the
Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce.
The Harrisburg Chamber of Com
merce," said Mr.. Havens. is a part of
great movement. All over the coun-
try old business and trade bodies are
Delng replaced by up-to-date Cham
bers of Commerce
A practical organization is one that
combines active, intelligent effort for
Industrial development with active, in
tell1gent effort for civic development.
ClVlcs and business are so related to
each other that you cannot separate
them"
Speaking of the duties of trades
bodies, he said
Getting factories is one of the
most troublesome question a Chamber
of Commerce must deal with. Excess
I've effort to get factories has one
great danger. 1t has danger of sue
cess. There is such a thing as get
ting too many industries. The old way
was to get information from any and
all sources and then write letters to
prospective factory builders.
There is newer way. Fifty per
cent of those letters were not ans
wered; As per cent. of the industries
sought were good. The new way is
for group of business men to form a
pool for the financing of new indus
tries.
The things that interest the man
looking for factory site are, geo.
graphical location to suit the trade
sound and accommodating banking
system adequate transpoI ltion facili-
ties and a good labor market And
right there you hit the thing a Cham
Der of Commerce has the most to
deal with
He then sketched the requisites of
good labor market as necessitating
an up-to-date, sanitary city of parks,
good schools, reasonable wages, work.
ing hours and satisfactory living, con-
ditions
The question of good recreation
facilities is serious matter for u
city seeking industries. The laboring
man is also demanding recreation fa-
cilities in factories. A protit-sharing
plan is another of the things a labor
ing man wants these days"
Now l hope there is at least one
hard-headed business man among you
who is saying to himself that this is
all very fine in general way, but he
would like to know if it pays. I like
to meet that kind of an individual
because our experience in Cleveland
has been that after he has once been
convinced that 1t does pay, he becomes
one of the most ardent supporters of
the work
"One department alone of the Cleve-
land Chamber of Commerce saved to
that city, annually nearly twice the
amount of money required to main
tain the entire organization. | refer
to the information bureau for the in
vestigation of soliciting schemes. 1t
Is conservative statement to make
that the business men of Cleveland a
few years ago were giving from $75,-
600 to 100000 a year for fraudulent
and useless schemes represented by
INSCRIPTIONS and unknown solicitors
As to the Solicitors
we began to work on that propo-
sition about five years ago and it was
hard proposition; for every solicit
ing scheme was a little different from
every other one. and each had been
devised by a most capable brain, and
each scheme was hedged about with
such apparently authentic credentials
as to make 1T appear above suspicion,
and almost every solicitor was him
self the men of imposing appearance
and pursuasive address, or else most
convincing woman of most convincing
qualities.
ut took some time for us to train
ourselves to this work, and it has
taken still longer to train the business
community to recognize the value and
meaning of that work 1t has taken
long while to convince the business
men of the responsibility he assumes
when he gives $500 to a solicitor
to save his own time. We will save
his time If he will let us, and we will
also save his money. and still more
important, we will save the whole
business community's money. 1t has
taken time, as l have said, and we
found it necessary to indict few of
the most imposing Representatives of
the solicitor class, and to send some
of the less important ones to the
workhouse.
But the lesson is learned, and