The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-11-21
Association Invited
to Join C. of C.
Plan Before Joint Meeting of
Boards of Directors.
MERCHANTS DISCUSS MATTER
Raise Several Questions on Re.
ceiving Invitation.
American City Bureau Expert
Outlines New Plan.

A proposition from the directors of
the ChamSer of Commerce, following
the joint meeting Of that body with
| the directors of the Topeka Merchants
association held today was extended to-
| the directors of the Merchants asso-
| citation to disband that organization,
largely abolish its personnel, and enter
fthe Chamber of Commerce on the
basis of having 16 per cent of the dues
| collected by, the Chamber of Com
| merce, up to $4,000 devoted to the
interests of the merchants of Topeka,
| expended under the control of com
mittee of merchants, members of the
Chamber of Commerce.
Motion Passed Unanimously.
! The motion which was passed unaz1-
| imouSly by the Chamber of Commerce
directors and which extended the in
| vitation to the Merchants association
officials was made by George T. Nc
Dermott, lawyer, and seconded by
Z. H. Crosby, department store owner.
1t followed the presentation of a
detailed plan for the amalgamation
| of the two bodies presented by j. B.
| Wiles, of the American city bureau
| and a discussion by the directors of
| the two organizations of various fea-
| lures of the plan.
The directors of the Merchants as
ISOLATION on receipt of the invitation,
raised several questions which were
| still under discussion late this after
noon. The Merchants association di-
rector wanted to know when the ANAL
gamatfon would become effective,
whether the Chamber of Commerce
would pay the $1,000 toward the sup
port of the Merchants association
which was part of the 1922 budget
of the Chamber, and whether they
themselves, as directors of the asso-
citation, had authority to disband It
without a vote of the members.
Into One Live Organization.
Better one live, vital organization
in a city this size, than two, no mat
ter how vital they are nor how well
they are functioning," Wiles declared
in opening his analysis of the situation
which is confronting the two org1hiza-
tions.
He took in detail the budgets of the
Merchants association and the Cham
Der of Commerce, and the program of
activities of the two organizations and
compared them, sparing neither in his
comments on the points on which he
believed they had gone wrong.
c. of C. Will Handle Work.
"'Ninety-five per cent of the activ
tiles which have been attempted and
successfully accomplished by the
/ Merchants association in 1921 and
1922 could just as we'll have been ac-
compl:shed by the Chamber of Com
n@rce, if the Chamber of Commerce
could have looked to a united mem
bership including all the merchants
as well as all the other lines of bust
ness and professions in Topeka Wiles
declared.
Plan Outlined by Wiles.
The plan which Wiles outlined in
cludes the practical abolition of the
organization of the Merchants asso-
extraordinarily cutting down the
overhead expense. This means, he ex-
planned, the elimination of the secre-
tary or manager of that body, his
duties to be performed by the Cham
Der of Comperce. 1t includes the
cessation of the payment of dues by
the merchants to the Merchants as
ISOLATION, and the joining of the
Chamber of Commerce by the sixteen
members of the Merchants associa-
ton who are not members of the
chamber at the present time.
1t includes the management of af-
fairs which particularly affect the
merchants of Topeka, and which have
hitherto been handled by the Mer-
chants association, by a merchants
committee of the Chamber of Com
merce, appointed by the board of di- !
rectors of the Chamber of Commerce, |
and supplied with funds from the |
funds of the Chamber of Commerce
. Whether this merchants committee |
shall consist of five, seven or nine |
men, and. be known as an executive |
committee, or whether it shall consist |
of a large body of merchants. repre- |
senting every line of merchandising in
the city, was left to the choice of the |
Merchants association directors in the |
motion which was passed by the d.
rectors of the Chamber of Commerce /
Budget Is Analysed.
Analysing the budget of the Mer-
chants association, Wiles found that
the expenditures of that body in 1921 /
amounted to practically $500, exclu- (
sive of the salary of the manager, and i
that this money was raised thru the I
collection of dues, from the members, I
and from special assessments. He
pointed out that taking $4,000 as the J.
normal annual income of the Cham /
Der of Commerce, 16 per cent would I
correspond roughly to the percentage
of merchant members in the chamber /
and would yield approximately $4,000 /
per year, to be expended by the mer-
chants own committee"nearlyd double /
the amount which they have been ex-
pending as the Merchants association,
and with no Merchants association
dues or assessments to pay.
The question of the segregation of
dues of the merchant members of the
Chamber of Commerce to pay the {
$4,000 was brought up and was
strongly denounced by Wiles.s If you
are coming into the Chamber of Com
merce and disbanding the Merchants
association, disband it, and come in;
don't come in as the Merchants as
ISOLATION and retain your organization
within the Chamber of Commerce
with amalgamation just a name,
Wiles urged them.
Bringing up the question of delin- /
QuenCy IN OueS, WnlGn Is racing DOl1 L
organizations. Wiles claimed that it is
due to the duplication of work. with
Merchants association and a
Chamber of Commerce, citizens are
going to hesitate between them, as TO
which they shall support and belong l
to, and end by belonging to neither"
he declared 1T is only a city of i
100000 or more people in which you
can afford to duplicate these organiza-
lions and get by with it,"
Causes n Division.
This duplication has already caused
a division among the citizens of YOUR