The Washington herald., 1919-01-21
CHAMBER WANTS PHONES
KEPT UNDER u. S. CONTROL
Members Declare Federal Supervision Should
Continue Until Congress Has Investi-
gated-Mr Harper Outlines Policies.

Continued government control OF the
telephone systems was favored by the
board of directors of the Washington
Chamber of Commerce at meeting
held yesterday afternoon at the cham
Der rooms. II was resolved that the
directors of the Washington Chamber
of Commerce favor action by Congress
which continues the control and oper-
alton of telephone systems by the gov
ernment until Congress shall have
thoroughly examined the question OF
their future disposition, and deter
mined upon a safe and proper proce-
dure with respect to them; and
That a copy of this resolution be
sent to the Senate and House Of Rep
resentatives of the. United States"
To Pick CandIdates.
1t was decided that the chair should
appoint nominating committee of
five members to nominate secretary,
a treasurer and a general counsel for
the ensuing year. The five committee
members will be announced today.
The executive committee, with pow
er to nominate all chairmen. vice.
chairmen, and even the personnel of
standing committees for confirmation
by the board was announced as fol-
lows: "A. Leftwich Sinclair, w. F.
GUIDE. f. c. Graham, James F. Oys-
ter. Harry King, James T. Lloyd, Ross
p. Andrews and Charles w. Semmes.
Col. Robert n. Harper was author
lied by the directors to appoint dele
gates TO a convention of the league to
enforce peace. to be held at the Hotel
Astor, February and 6, and to the
Rivers and Harbors Congress, which
will be held in Washington, February
to Z.
Tumulty Sends Cong lions.
Two letters were read TO the d.
Tcctors, one from Joseph Tumulty.
congratulating the chamber on their
choice OF Col. Harper as president of
the organization, and the other fro n
;. Shcba, chief secretary of the Jap
anesc delegates, thanking the cham
bcr for its courtesy to the delegation
during its stay in Washington.
A special committee on Americaniza-
ton was asked by the board yesteT-
day to cooperate on Americanization
plans with the DEPARTMENT of the In
terror, at the request of that depart
ment
Membership of the Washington
chamber in the United States Chamber
of Commerce was renewed.
Harper Announces Policy.
Col. Harper then announced that he
would appoint a steering committee
to make the Chamber of Commerce
interesting to the general public from
a commercial standpoint.
The general policy of the chamber
and the work and legislation for which
the chamber will work during the
coming year was announced by Presi-
dent Harper.
My general policy" said Col. Har-
per, shall be to carry out the provi-
sions of the constitution of the cham
Der as laid down at the time of its
organization and wheE / was its presi-
dent.
Conditions in some detail, however,
nave changed and new and important
propositions sprung into existence
which will require the officers and
committeeman to specialize by concen-
trstion of effort. but at the same time
the fundamental principles of the
chamber. which are to promote the
general welfare of citizens of the Dis
trict of Columbia and to adopt ways
and means for advancement of their
business interests by creating a field
for the exercise of concerted thought
and action will be the guiding spirit
at all times. and I believe is plat
form sufficiently broad to make the
chamber a most valuable instrument
for the business interest of the Dis
trict.
ut is impossible for me to lay down
a strict policy for the future. as I be-
.ieve the best results are obtained by
meeting conditions as they are pre-
sented. There are. however, a number
of very important propositions which