Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-11
Cooperation or Merger?

sacrifice personal and sectional jealous
les and prejudices and stand shoulder
to shoulder in the battle for Washing
ton. For at least thirty years Wash
ingtonians have been practically and
intelligently experimenting in order to
ascertain and utilize the most efficient
organization or cooperating organiza-
lions of citizens which can be devised to
develop the Greater Washington.
The Board of Trade was created
twentyseven years ago on the basis of
this principle of the vital necessity Of
harmonious and energetic cooperation
among Washingtonians. 1t was land isl
democratic organization, with small
dues and high ideals. representing fairly
well all sorts and conditions of men in
Washington. It has a fine record of
useful civic service.
It has never been dominated by our
merchants and manufacturers. and the
latter Ga strong but not controlling fac
tor in the board learned by a series of
tests that the board was too non-com-
mercial in its membership and organi-
zation to respond quickly and adequate
ly TO mercantile and industrial demands
for action to meet commercial needs,
small and great.
To specialize in meeting mercantile
needs the Business, Mems Association
and the Jobbers and Shippers Associa-
tion were, therefore, in succession
created.
Ten years ago determined effort was
made to merge into a great, primarily
commercial organization the then ex-
isting commercial and non-commercial
bodies. First the ambitious and COM
mendably active Board of Trade COM
mittee on commerce and manufactures
fought hard but unsuccessfully to get
the board to agree to provide from its
revenues between 5000 and $1,000 an
nually for a separate Commercial Sec
rotary" to conduct an elaborate com
mercial campaign, the boards total
revenues at that time from all sources
and to meet all expenses being about
$4,000 annually. After the board had
refused to devote all its revenues to
commercial development or to increase
its revenue by doubling its dues the
proposition was urged of merging the
Board of Trade, the Business Mems AS
ISOLATION and the Jobbers and Ship
pers' Association. Finally the last two
organizations merged logically into the
Chamber of Commerce. as the city's COM
mercial organization, leaving the Board
Of Trade to represent broadly all Wash
ington.
Commenting on this result The Star
said in 1907:
The community needs now, and
Will need in the future. both a gen
erai representative citizens asso-
citation. like the Board of Trade. to
speak for all Washington in respect to
issues affecting the general welfare, and
a compact, quicklyac combination Of
Its merchants. manufacturers, jobbers
and shippers, laboring solely for the de-
velopment of commercial Washington.
The former organization should exact
very small dues, should include all pub
Ic-spirited citizens, commercial and
non commercial. in its membership, and
should deal with broad projects of gen
eral concern. The latter should be
smaller in numbers. with comparatively
large dues. and should bring to the
work of quick trade promotion the in
tense vigor and enthusiasm of direct
financial interest"
Since 1907 the Chamber of Commerce
has not developed solely on commercial
lines, but has broadened into a general
representative body on lines parallel
ing the Board of Trade The merchants
finding that they could not so control
the chamber as to secure from it prompt
and adequate treatment of both small
and great mercantile needs formed
again new purely commercial organi-
zation. the Retail Merchants Associa-
ton, which has good reason for its
existence and has been performing a
useful public function.
Hi=tory repeats itself after ten wears
and the merger of the Board of Trade.
the Chamber of Commerce and the Re-
tail Merchants Association is now pro
posed. Indeed. the present suggestion
is that all citizens associations shall
disband and that their members shall
join as individuals the proposed merger.
Everybody agrees that the greatest de.
gree attainable of unity of action is a
Washington necessity Everybody con
cedes that the acid test of what must be
done or left undone in organization is
the demonstrated resulting public bene,
fit. What mergers and what co. operations
then should he effected to promote the
capitals welfare1
Since the Washingtonians of the las,
thirty years have not been idiots. the
lessons taught by their experience with
mergers give pointed. useful hints to
the Washingtonians of today.
These suggestions are: "A that
Washington needs III its business: q, a
general representative non-commereiai
eicot anti-cnmnicrcialj organization, like
ike Board OF Trade: t2l commercial
organization nike the Retail Merchants
Association and the Chamber of Com