The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-09-20
Cooperation in Community Life
Address by " Sne Secretary Of Chamber of Commerce.
Charleston S. c., at Community Progress Dinner

- . 3 G. 4 &C;
tsC my. and Tor that reason, if fer no
cthcr, was well worth While
Ny definition is that chamber of I
commerce is q nOn-partisan, non-scc-
tartan organization of the citizens of /
say community. banded together for I
tho cCnmon good and general welfare /
aad working IN cooperation to make |
tina. conmrnty better place in !
which to live and to work. Through /
a chamber OF commerce tho whole !
community is enabled to express its !
aspiri liens and its constructive I
thought anu to coin the same into |
concrete results. tt has been said that |
= chamber OF commerce does FOR Il /
city what the Individual would like /
to 10, only, ne does not know how to ,
start. A chamber OF commerce gath. /
ers within its fold all of the Interests |
Of IL community. city and county, rep |
r2scntatives OF labor and representa-
tivcs uf capitGi The professional and |
non professional men. In recent years
the modern chamber of commerce has |
opened it's doors and its facilities for
the use OF every organization that is /
ncn-sectarian and non-political. It's !
membership is thus gathered together |
in great membership meetings where I
men may touch elbows and give cor.
sideration to the community as Il |
whole. Special small groups are
formed and study is had in these /
groups OF the special needs OF the
community. The real needs of 2 COM
munity are then expressed in a prac |
ticdi, definite program. COmmi tee
are appointed to work out plans and !
secure final results. Other committees /
meet regularly and study what should |
be done in other well defined fields /
Of community interests. They elect !
one or two immediate needs and wC,'N
continuously week after week and |
month after month until final, definite
results are accomplished.
Any community ti.at thinks it suh- i
cient 10 form an organization, elect !
officers, hire few experts and then i
retire to its several counting houses t
and homes The individual members to !
give no time or leaving all the work /
solely to few officers or an employed /
secretary will and should be disap-
pointed in results accomplished. Co
operation means cooperation of all. /
Rome was not built in day, nor by /
one man or by dozen men. When |
the men OF community unitedly and |
constantly give of their time, thought !
and service for community betterment !
the sum total of all accomplishment
VIII bulk large indeed. Ii the mem |
bers of any Chamber of Commerce
think that they can hire man who !
alone can bring great industries to /
city or alone can accomplish great |
results, that membership is certain to |
be sadly disappointed. A man like |
that would not be secretary of any
commercial organization at small !
salary but would be at the head OF
some great industrial concern or othel /
great enterprise. Such men command |
salaries that would bankrupt ordinary
business concerns. Success is at |
tanned only by men working together
under constructive leadership. A
chamber of commerce is the machin |
cry by which men can be gotten to. |!
gether to study and work for then |
community. Through the Chambe: |
men give adequate expression to thei. |
thoughts and through the chambe.
men work together for the community /
they love and to which they are in
debted. The chamber of commerce is
always looking for real leaders. Woe
to the community whose time is spent
in throwing mud at and pulling down |
its real leaders.
A city's greatest asset is its lead
ers; men who think constructivcly; |
men who because of their years of
experience or natural bent, can Or
niryn ,NfA 4
through enthusiasm and well planned
efforC can bring about beneficial re-
suits
In every city there are a few men
fewer now than before our great war,
who think they owe to the community
nothing. The man who makes a state
ment of this kind is more fit tn be an
inmate of lunatic asylum than to
live among rational men. His very ex-
istence is the result of community
life. Through sacrifice he was born |
through contact with his neighbors he |
has existed and through their efforts |
he enjoys every pleasure and every
happiness of life. Such man should
be forced to live in a city without po-
lice protection, without schools |
churches, parks, Fairgrounds, paved |
streets, public theaters and other pub
lie amusemcnts and last, but not least, |
without the sympathy, elbow touch
and handclasp of his fellows. The
business man who imagines that he
can live independently of the activi-
ties of his fellow citizens is engaging |
in costly selI-deception. Every civil
lied man is dependent upon others.
The retailer needs customers. the
lawyer clients, the doctor patients;
the manufacturer laborers, the work
man employment Even the thief |
needs victims. the snob the gaping |
crowd, the tightwad, an opportunity |
to hoard money and pinch his spirit. |
Absolute independence" is a thing I
about which men boast-but it does !
not exist. The souls~of men are saved /
only nv their contact with othara Cod |