The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-04-21


portaht meeting of the business men
Of Sumter and the surrounding coun.
try was held last night In the Elks
I-odst rooms, the meeting being rail-
iy insbshalf OF the Chamber of Com
n,srces which In, calling upon the bus
iness men and farmers to reciprocate.
The Chamber of Commerce has
heen working hard fer years to in.
crsass the business dee In the city
Of sumter and to mae the efforts of
The farmers more successful along all
lines. II has been preaching diver
s'hcation to the farmers for years
and recently II has organized the city
and county for Public Safety, a step
much needed now because OF the war
with Germany In which this country
's involved. as there is coming every
day q greater and greater need for
foodsruffs to supply this section and
warning nations OF Europe. The COM
mercial body now Is calling on the
people whom II has helped many
times TO help Il. by becoming men,
bers Of the organization. so that IT
can Gerry on i's work.
Mr.. A. c. Phelps. the president of
the organization. In opening the meet
Ing and telling It's object gave some of
these reasons for calling the meeting
and asking the support of the people
Of Sumter and surrounding country.
Ne praised the secretary of the or
Eanixation. saying that the organiza-
tion had the right man In the right
place and that 1t was due to the man.
aging secretary that much of the eff
cisnt work of the body was being done.
DR.. II. M. stuckey. one OF the mem
bers OF the directorate of the body
was called on and also urged the i'm.
portance OF the Chamber of Com
merce as a factor In the community.
Mr.. I.~C. Strauss pointed out that,
u was the duty Of business men to
support public institutions for tn,
good'of the community. He said that
. good living was MI that any one
should demand OF a community, not
right to accumulate. He stated that
maybe one enterprise secured by the
organization was worth more To- the
town than all the money spent for its
support.
Mr.. f. ID. Cole. a comparatively now
resident Of Sumter who has been cho-
sen Ehember of the commercial body.
urged the farmers to work hard. to
use more fertilizer and to raise more
crops, and he said that they would
come clear of debt. after three hard
years. with plenty left over. He said
the town needed more factories and
the business men should subscribe to
sny OF them recommended by tile
Chamber OF Commerce He offered q
prize OF s25 to the boy in Sumter
county who raised the most specklcd
peas. and s25 to the boy who raised
the most corn on one acre. the Cham
Der OF Commerce to decide the win
ner.'
Mr.. Phelps pointed out that the
Chamber OF Commerce would not
endorse a plan. unless 1t saw that II
was a good one. The men on the
board OF directors OF the commercial,
organization were business men and
when they recommended an enter
prise. the men OF Sumter might sub
scribe to II as good proposition. The
directors would not recommend 1t un-
less they were willing to put their own
money into II.
Mr.. f. w. Dabbs was sorry that
the Farmers Union was not as we'll
organized as the Chamber of Com
merce. lie said that II had been
working along the same lines re-
Gently advocated In such a systematic
campaign by the Chamber of Com
merce. The work could not have
boen done 40 well. he said, except for
the fact that the Chamber was we'll
organizcd. He said that lots OF work
was being done among the farmers to
make them see the situation which
confronted them and to act according
iy- and the farmers. doing much
work In the direction pointed out. I!c
thought that results would be seen IN
the near future and that within nine
" days this county would be not only
seif-sustaining. but would have a sur
Plus or food to send to some movc
unfortunate neighbor.
He said that the Chamber of Com
merce should pat itself on the back