Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-13
CHAMBER SUPREME
COURT Of BUSINESS
Continued from First Page.)
sightedness; but. as he says himself, he
was not far-sighted as to the possible
growth of the chamber.
Shows Marvellous Growth.

"The growth Of the Chamber Of Com
merce of the United States is mar
velous." he said. ut really seems al
most like a dream to me. 1 went into
things in the chamber in the second
year of its organization with some
thing. Of an opinion that it was i'm
practical to carry out the big ideas
the retiring president. and Harry A.
Wheeler of Chicago. who was the first
president. had. but they were so con-
fdent that l was won over. and l came
to the conclusion that if they could
to the thing that then seemed to me
like a dream l could do so. too.
But now, in fact, the chamber has
really developed beyond ANYTHING
predicted at that time. None of us
had as big a vision of it as it has
turned out, and it seems to me that
the time is certainly coming when the
important way in this country
THE Chamber of Commerce of the
United States Is bigger than any one
mans ambition. There are organiza-
tions in this country which are domi-
mated by one or two big men; they
are the leaders. and they stand head
and shoulders above others, doing all
the work and directing all the policies
But nothing like that happens in the
national chamber. All the men are try
ing to be big men. and 1t is a strange
and curious fact that the work OF the
chamber has broadened all OF us and
made US bigger men than we were
when We began to work for it and the
things it stands for.
Cites an Example.
AN instance in point as to this came
up at the convention which has just
closed here in Washington. Some of US
felt that a certain man. because of a
large amount OF special knowledge he
has, ought to be required to serve on
the board of directors In the last cou-
pie of years there has been a very
general desire to be honored with a
dictatorship. Business men all over the
say. One man from certain section
particularly wanted that honor this
year We told him we had decided that
the man with the special knowledge
was the man to go on the board. and
he came around the next morning and
said:
We'll, I've been thinking that mat
ter of the dictatorship over. You fell
lows are right. He is a better and
bigger man than 1 am and he can do
more for the chamber. So I'm going
to withdraw my candidacy and I want
you to let my friends know what say"
Mr.. Rhett used this illustration to
show the spirit of self-sacrifice that
governs the men in the chamber. He,
personally, is fond OF the word "serv-
ice," and he believes in what it means
with a gripping belief that is shown
in his eyes and his forceful gestures
when he talks. The new president of
the Chamber of Commerce of the
United States does not believe that the
chamber can be of service solely in
business.
Service to the Whole People.
The chamber can be Of service to
the whole people," Mr.. Rhett declared.
THE idea is sweeping over this coun-
try like wildfire that welfare work is
a large part of business ideals. Take
the question of immigration and the
study that has been made Of it by the
chambers committee on that subject.
1t can be the business Of the Cham
Der Of Commerce of the United States
this coming year to see to 1t that i'm
migrants are properly distributed
throughout the land and that proper
steps are taken to educate them to not
only speak the English language, but
along some line of occupation"
He continued:
my idea of the mission of the
Chamber of Commerce of the United
much to give but it has something to