Daily Kennebec journal., 1919-12-05

I
an especially sntsrprising merchant
would hire a man 20 sweep the cross
walk in front Of his place "a that
women shoppers from the opposite
side Of the street might be induced
to come over and enter the store.
The first disciplined police force wss
provided for New York In 1S4S. while
a paid fire department was started
in the same year. Thus passed the
era Of the old night Waterman with
his lantern and his calling Of the
hour. Householders no longer were
compelled to pay for protection to
life and property out Of individual
pockets, for the city took up the po-
Iieing of the streets ana the hghtins
| of dres.
In speaking Of democracy a. self
government" we lead ourselves into
| the error of thinking that government
| viii reflect the ideas and opinions
Of each individual. AZ a matter OF
fact, government in only the crystal-
lized opinions of the dominant group
| in the community. Sometimes this
group of leaders II made Sup OF Ia
! telligent, patriotic and progressive
! men; but in other cases 1t may be
! an aggregation Of selfish reactionAries
or prejudiced class-representatives.
Local government vill take on the
complexion Of whichever sort OF men
make up the ruling group.
Fundamental changes in meth
| DDS of government. alterations IN
schemes Of taxation, city planning,
| welfare work by the city. and many
, other matters Of lesser importance
| are in the air. None Of these can be
decided right without an open dis
cussion by the men who know some
thing Of them, and without increas-
ing the proportion of citiSens who
will take time to know before going
| to the polls to execute judgment.
| Genuine conscious, concentrated com
munity thought il one Of the rarest
gems known to man. The Chamber
4 Of Commerce is the best institution
that has been developed SO far in
the new century, to make the pubic
think.
In the great National Cash Regis
ter factory there are posted hundreds
of piacards bearing the one word
Think" printed in large red letters.
| The size and display OF the WORD
| challenges attention. 1t is the nrst
demand made upon the employees
each morning and the last At night.
It may seem like an unnecessary
! wail-motto, but II marks the diHer- :
ence between dull and routine ana
| inspired work. AS soon az men real
ly "think" they become creative. op-
timistic, earnest, efficient.
! Not SO many years ago Chambers
Of Commerce were resolution
! bodies. II was the habit for small
groups of men, fond of argument or
publicity to meet and solemniy pass
resolutions" advocating pr denoun-
cling measures that came before them.
Having thus formally expressed their
op;nions it was the further habit
! to go home and forget the whole cir
cumstance. The good citizens hao
: spoken. Their dignity or indiffer-
ence prevented them from doing
more!
In the light of modern efnciency
these methods seem absurd. Ae'
hundreds of Chambers of Commerce
followed this practice and then WOE
dered why their towns did not eager
ly respond to such alleged leader
ship
When a city has suffered from one
of these resolution" associations, It
ia difficult to make the people appre-
ciate the possibilities that lie IN q
thoroughly modern organization.
They are apt to say that the ne"
Ane will be Just like the old one."
But the modern chamber OK com
merce is planned to get results. II
knows 1t must have:
% A working membership
(2) An adequate income
90 A definite program OF worR
! az A system Of committee organ
ization and control
60 Proper publicity
/ co. Intelligent local surveys
| (D Comparative measurement of
| work
| (S) A good Office system
! OF these eight elements the first
/ four were often absent from the old
style chamber Of commerce. In fact,
none of these eight elements were
/ present in the measures required to
supply excellent service to the pub
! lie.
/ To bring together working
membership" involves a vast amount
Of educational work on the part Of
| the hackers of the organization. Pub
tic indifference. Interpretation and
open opposition must be met and
overcome. A sufficient proportion Of
the citizenship must be taught the
underlying philosophy Of civic
commercial progress. Nothing short
c. civic revival will accomplish
this result in most places.
The income Of the association de.
pends directly upon the confidence
reposed in it by the community-on
condition. Of course. that the In
come arises from memberships. The
payment Of dues is the acid test by
which 1t can be determined whether
the organization is trusted or not.
The necessity for a definite Pro-
gram Of work Is perfectly obvious,
yet in years gone by chambers Of
commerce blundered along from one
exigency to another. never know
ing whether the public mind was be-
ing opened or stified by Its activ-
tiles. The directors would sit down
around table and one would sug-
gest this or that to be done. Since
no clearer ideas were forthcoming
the intellectual accident became the