The daily morning oasis., 1917-12-01
POLITICS AND THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

directors. meeting was held by the Nogales Cham
ber of Commerce few nights ago at which the principal
election to be held on the 9Th of December incidentally
a dominating Committee" appointed the notable
feature of which that all of its members are strong
and stanuch adherents of the Democratic party.
Now, the ostensible purpose of Chamber of Com
organization in any serespectng- -woud-be pro-
gressve community is to unite as composite whole the
business interests @ OF that community regardless OF
tons among its MEMBERS other than their standing as
putable business men, and the soe dominating impulse Of
each and every member should be the common advance
ment of the interests OF all.
Politics is right in its place; but it assuredly has
place in Chamber of Commerce any other organiza
ton the essential OF which are and must be
democratic in the true of the word The trouble with
of leading citizens is that they political
issue every gathering Of few people together mat
ter what the object of the meeting may be- AS men OF
undoubted experience they discuss integently every
point brought up until somebody says Election OF Off
GERS" Then up bobs and says: Nominate Bill Smith
for PRESIDENT Bill Smith half asleep over in corner
wakes up: Second nomination. Move nominations
closedp' "Carried And down the line, with the
final result that whatever the purpose of the meeting it
is defeated right there and the officers elected instead
of representing any proposed idea with which those active
in the meeting have made themselves familiar represent
in fact the usual predominatng power of the town po
hticaly.
Team work is fine thing no doubt but we cannot ad
mre its results politics for the that after victory
is once assured at the pos the average politician loses
all interest then and there Public Offices by this SYSTEM
are filled wear after Year by incompetent Inexperienced
ncumbents who attend to the peoples affairs in way
that business would tolerate in his office
shop for thirty days.
A Director of the Chamber of Commerce who is not
enough interested to attend meetings both incompetent
and inefficient and should be expelled asked to resign
And should he therefor seek to enqush his membership
let him do so by all means.
We are for the Chamber of Commerce. but we are
against politics and raroadng within the Chamber of
Commerce.
We are for thirty directors large instead of segre
eating by representatives of different lines of trade
There might well be half dozen of perfectly good
director material all engaged in the same line of business
Why not post names of all members election night
and allow general, indiscrimnate nominations?
What purpose do outgoing directors propose in ap
pointing nominating committee from among themselves
unless they to perpetuate themselves in office?
Should not members at large have voice in nominations?
-Nogales Daily Herald
The Herald has set up of straw and then
knocked him down. And the queer part Of the editorial
reproduced above is that the very plan that newspaper
advocates for election Of directors in the Chamber of Com
has been the practice from the orgnaon of that
body until At each annual meeting the names of