The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-14

B ! MORRIS w. BUSH
 New president of Birmingham Cham Der of Commerce
 
 read and adopted by the meeting. The report in part follows:
 To the Members of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
 l "Efficiency" and service have con- tinued to be the watchwords of the Bir- mingham Chamber of Commerce throughout the year just closed. The 1 effort to make results measure up to the standards set has been persistent | Following is a report of some of the activities of the chamber in 1915 l Of most vital importance to the vel I fare of the Chamber of Commerce has been the reorganization campaign con- ducted so successfully in November l Greater efficiency and larger results | will come from this movement Presi- dent Johnson will present this matter in greater detail.
 | One of the most active committees of the year has been that of good roads l Its members were energetic in bringing about the organization Of the Forrest l highway, from Birmingham to Rome i ] tomobiles made the run between the l two cities when the highway associa. ttion was formed. A Birmingham citizen, l Richard w. Massey, was chosen preS1- dent and is bringing the highway rap | idly to completion.
 | An event of the utmost significance
 to Birmingham and especially her ship pers and other business men, was the completion of Lock IT on Warrior river This opens the river to naviga- tion from the Gulf of Mexico to Cor dova, distance by water of more than 400 miles. The Chamber of Commerce special committee is cooperating with l the board of. revenue in this vital mat ter, and doubtless vii have something | of a tangible nature to submit to the membership at an carry date.
 MAKING FRIENDS
 1 The attention of every member is drawn | to the settled and persistent policy of the Chamber of Commerce yof securing for our city the friendly attitude of every
 community in the state as far as possible. l One of the really big things which con vinces our sister cities that Birmingham jhas an unselfish desire to serve them was l the crop diversification campaign of 19l4- l1915. Alongside this movement has been the organization and continuance of the i Alabama Merchants association. Other l
 time, and the general offices of the Cham | Der of Commerce in every case have en- deavored faithfully to serve our sister cities.
 ! Gratifying results have been obtained by
 the Board of Trade division during the
 year. Under the direction of President Rosenberger, the work has been carefully
 planned and has been pursued with en- ergy and persistency. The fire insurance
 committee, which had done good work in the previous administration, continued Its | activity, and several conferences were l held with the city commissioners. Through l these meetings, active cooperation on the
 part of the city was secured, and this was 1 extended through all departments hav- | ing In any way to do with inspection of I insurance risks or the keeping of proper 1 ties in such shape as to reduce the fire l hazard to a minimum.
 1 Practical results were obtained by the | committee which co-operated with the Chamber of Commerce committee in in
 ducing local concerns to purchase all | stamps at the local postoffice. Through thoughtlessness and indifference, many in- dividuals and companies made purchases of stamps, aggregating thousands of dol
 lars every year. elsewhere than through the Birmingham office. The retiring post, master recently stated that very sub- 1 stantial increase of receipts during the 1 year 1915 was due to the work of the two | civic bodies mentioned.
 l The latest matter taken up by the Board of Trade, and of the most |practcal was that of an adjustment of | the 1916 license schedules of Birmingham merchants. Upward of 200 merchants met, and representative committee named at l this meeting has held conferences with the 1 city commissioners. An adjustment satis- 1 factory to the merchants, and which will | still produce the revenue needed by the | city government, has been made. Much ! credit is due the executive board and lead ] ing business men for care and wisdom shown in handling this matter.
 INDUSTRIAL BUREAU | Commentator is due the industrial bu- l reau committee, and more especially to an l individual member of the Chamber of | Commerce. for the publication of 10000 of the booklet, What's Made in Birming- ham," This booklet included 64 pages of matter and advertising. and carried complete alphab list of the articles made in Birmingham, and classified list of the firms producing them. This book let was issued practically without expense to the Birmingham Chamber of Com merce Not a day passes but that in- ouiries are not received for it. and copies have been sent to towns all the way from California to Maine. A number of sales have been made through this booklet. Many copies have been sent to the Amer ican agents of foreign concerns.
 The committee of the Chamber of Com merce is working in close harmony with a similar committee of the Birmingham Real Estate exchange This cooperation cannot help but secure desirable results.
 In 1915 it was demonstrated that the Alabama Merchants association has come to stay Upwards of 2OOO state mer- chants accepted the cordial invitation of Birmingham wholesalers, manufacturers, bankers and others, and spent three days in August as our guests It was the largest gathering of Alabama merchants in tho history of the state, and every person was more than satisfied with the effort put forth by Birmingham to make his visit agreeable and profitable.
 The leading educational feature was the meeting addressed by w. P. G. Harding and Norman Johnson. MT. Harding S visit was especially timely. His hint, as a member of the federal reserve board, to Alabama cotton growers to be alert for higher prices was followed closely, and has been worth hundreds of thousands, perhapss millions, of dollars to them.
 A number of desirable meetings have been secured for 1916. The most impor- tant, and that which will call for the largest measure of hospitality by our cit
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