Norwich bulletin., 1914-12-14
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Norwich Chamber of Commerce.

MT. Editor: As citizen and busi- ness man of Norwich for 90 years and a member of the Board of Trade and the Business Men's association Fl feel that perhaps a word relative to the proposed amalgamataion of these bodies under the name the Norwich Chamber of Commerce may be in or- der.
 The Chamber of Commerce of the U. s. of America was conceived by former President Taft; he, believing that the best thought of the business interests should be put in some con- crete form to serve in a way as a guide to congress in it's deliberating in order that they might have digni- lied intelligent opinion on legislation This National Chamber of Commerce was organized, April 21, 1912, for the purpose of binding together all civic, commercial and trade organizations. etc, in the country into central first annual meeting was held Janu- ary 22, 1918 with 260 organizations representing 42 states, the District of
 Columbia, Hawaii, the Philippines, Porto Rico, and the American Chamber. of Commerce at Levant. hay then the membership has grown very rapidly. The object of the National Chamber is to obtain by referendum and otherwise the consensus of opinion III regard Alc proposed leB1SlaI1On. Congress is appreciating the vast inn portance of this body governed as it
 is by the ablest men that can be pro- cured in the country and for those reasons the organization has become one of the most powerful and pFoba-
 by will be the most powerful trade organization in the world.
 Quick to see the advantages of such centra1ization of forces the
 Boston Chamber of Commerce was formed bringing together some 20 in-
 dependent organizations into one
 into bureaus who elect their own chiefs. As many bureaus as are nec- essary may be formed; for instance with a farm bureau all matters ap-
 pertaining to agriculture would imme- diately be referred to that division.
 The same would apply to legislative,
 banlzint. manufacturing, uansporta- l ton, merchandising, etc, who in turn would recommend their findings to the
 central bodys or chamber for it's ap- proval or rejection. The Boston Chamber has recently elected its of | fcers and governing board for the en- | suing year and attention has been
 drawn to the high class of men that have heen chosen, men of national | importance having agreed to serve as
 partments, thus giving their time and | the best of their ability to the great | work the Boston Chamber of Com
 merce has mapped out as a leadsr in New England.
 The San Francisco Chamber of Com
 merce, as far back as 50 years ago, began it's process of consolidation and was carried on until 1910 when four ! large organizations, with more or less Nover-1apping of duties, many of the 1 leading firms of the city belonging to l two, three and four of these associa- l tions, were united into one great
 Chamber of Commerce. convinced that | the city could not do itsedf justice with it's commercial forces divided. The Providence Chamber of Com merce has united all the independent
 commercial bodies under one banner during the past year and, at it's first
 meeting this season Of the committee of 100 held at the NarreCansett hotel, October Is. William Howard Taft, former president said that the modern Chamber of Commerce was a public necessity for any community, large or small. He pointed out that the mod ern chamber was entirely a different | institution from the old time board | of trade or by whatever name the commercial organization might have been called since the modern scahber
 represents not only the strictly com mercial interests per-se. but all that
 is intended for the conservation and