Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-10-22
S. l.. Platka Succeeds NJ. l..
Powell at Head of Association.
Dissolution OF Burlington COmmercin
club Leaves One Organization to
DO the Work of n Board
of Trade.

ports were submitted and officers were
elected, An amendment to the hy-lews
was also adopted Simon L. Platka will
succeed Max L. Powell as president of
the association.
At the business session the minutes of
the last meeting were read and APP
proved The report Of the treasurer was
read and accepted.
A vote was taken on the proposed
amendment Of the bylaws, Article I,
section . page 3. The amendment was
adopted and the section now reads as
follows:
Section 2--The objects of the associa-
ton are to promote the general welfare
Of the city VI burlington and to adj
vance tn" interests of its members -
protect its members from bad DEBTS and
frauds; to collect claims and to collect
Information az to credit, and general
information as to the standing Of an
! person or persons.
The only change from the original is
that the phrase Interests Of It's m"m-
| berg is substituted for Interests of its
merchants"
The following officers were elected:
President. Simon l.. T'la-ka; vice-presi-
dent, Henry H. Hagar; recording secre-
! tarY, Edward HanhridEo
| On motion of r. Is. Wright RISING
vote Of thanks was extended tine retiring
president. Max T.. Powell, for his serr-
| icos
The address Of MIR Powell was read
| in part as follows:
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS
when the retiring president was
elected to office in October of 1913 the
/ members numbered l6G The mem
| bership now is 200 During the last
year the scope of membership ha"
been enlarged and many new mem
bers have been taken In, including
professional men. The sentiment has
! been strong in Burlington that there
| should be one organization of this
nature which should do the work of
an ordinary board of trade. In re-
Spouse to this sentiment the BurlinE-
ton Commercial club met Thursday,
October Is and by unanimous vote =
! dissolution of the corporation was or
dered and committee appointed to
/ take the legal steps necessary In the
opinion of the retiring president there
should he begun an active CAMPAIGN
for an increase OF membership. The
/ Burling'ton Merchants association
should have a membership of at least
300 and when such membership is
obtained the dues should he reduced
to $40 year The president of the
Commercial club. j. l.. SuuthwiCk, and
the directors of the club deserve the
thanks of the Burlington Merchants
association for their cooperation to
this end.
tat ion, g..
increase it's membership and bring
into the association all public spirited
citizens who wish to cooperate for
the welfare of the city we must diff
fercntiatc between tho work done for
the benefit of all members and that
done for the merchants alone. Mr..
Powell recommended that the collec-
ton department tie pushed with the
| utmost vigOr that the secretary make
an active campaign for new members,
7eOecially those who have collections
to make, and the collection depart
ment should be conducted in the flu
turo to bring revenue into the as
ISOLATION. \ charge of five per cent.
with a minimum fee of $1.OO is rec
commended ON all claims for collec-
tons placed in the hands of the assO-
citation. This is about one half what
is charged by ordinary collection
agencies. The department ought to
be so conducted that no physician in
the city can AFFORD not to be mem
Der
The weekly luncheons have been con-
tinued throughout the year and the at
tendance at each has varied from 30 To
100 There have been many speakers of