Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-09-27
SHOWS WORTH
Of INVESTMENT
Campaign Manager of Cham
Der of Commerce Drive,
Shows How Results Follow

L. w. Sprague, manager of the re-
organization campaign Of the local
Chamber of Commerce, today dis
cussed questions OF vital interest rel
alive to the financing of the Cham
Der. Not only did he speak of the
ways and means. but also explained
how much of increased income ac-
cruing from the s25 memberships
will be spent.
"One OF the chief causes for the
failure of civic-commercial bodies of
the type of the Chamber of Com
merce is that they have insufficient
income to give their work stability"
Mr.. Sprague said. They are unable
to accomplish many things which
the public expects them to do be-
cause they cannot undertake them.
Long experience has indicated that
dues of less than $500 a year will
not provide sufficient money to as
sure to such a city as Perth Amboy
the service which 1t has a right to
expect from a Chamber of Com
merce.
Eighty per cent of the worth
while Chambers Of Commerce in
America have dues not less than
$500 and some of them much
more. They adopted these higher
lQuCo dllCA GlA Us kAAlB " aCOOAAAPAAoA
things with smaller dues falling. The
successful Chambers are headed by
successful business men who feel
that 1t is better to invest $500 in a
going project than to make a gift of
$1,000 to an organization which is
only partially successful or accom-
plishing practically nothing.
"A $500 member is worth more
to such a body than a $1,000 men,
Der for his interest is certain to be
greater.
THE policy of accepting large
sums of money for membership from
large corporations on the principle
of graduated dues is undemocratic in
character and in order to replace
this the plural membership plan has
been devised. Perth Amboy has
many concerns and bodies such as
its industries, stores, educational in
~terests, churches, whose pastors
ought to be members. unions clubs
and associations and probably a few
individual, whose interest in and re-
s~ponsibility to q community are so
great that properly they should sup
port a civic-commercial community
body in a larger way than the in
dividual of smaller means a do.
For these the plural membership
plan was devised.
This is a plan whereby any cor-
%poration or person may subscribe
from two to seventy-five member
ships. There are plural member
ships on record of 200 members.
These memberships are assigned to
persons whose participation in its
activities would be of value to the
chamber and to the community, but
who might be unable to take a
membership of SIS. Usually. sur
plus memberships are distributed
among men in the business which
has taken out the plural member
ship. Until assigned, however. a
plural membership has nj greater
voting power than an individual
membership. that is to say a single
vote. When assigned, those who
receive the surplus memberships
acquire the right to vote in their
w names
How will the increased income
be spent? The new body will have
larger tasks to perform. In most
Chambers of Commerce. in times
past, it has been the mistaken idea
that an inadequately paid secretary,
office rent and a small margin for
~incidentals would provide a going
Chamber OF Commerce. This type
of organization accomplished little,
If anything. and because of its use
lessness was not worth the little
money spent upon it. The modern
type of Chamber Of Commerce rep
resents a dynamic force in the COM
munity. 1t requires for secretary a
man of business and Chamber of
Commerce experience with highly
developed powers of leadership.
Executives of this type will COM
mand as large a salary as that paid
to a mar of similar qualifications in
the commercial field.
The actual cost of maintaining a
Chamber of Commerce worthy of
the name is from SIS to $40 a year
for each member. This is a well
established fact. When such a body
becomes a live organization its nee
essary expenses begin to mount
above these figures.
THE three years guarantee of
membership is another outgrowth
of experience. A Chamber of Com
merce can do much in one year but
a program of work that covers
three years is vastly better than a
one-year affair. To make 1t posi-
BILE, the directors must know what