Evening star., 1942-05-03
United D. T.. War Fund
To Be Considered al
Meeting Here Friday
Commissioners Join
Board of Trade in
Sponsoring Proposal

Washington business and civic
leaders will meet at 8:l5 pm. Friday
in the Chamber of Commerce audi
torium to discuss the Boafd of
Trades proposal for a united COM
munity war fund for the District.
The boards membership is al
ready on record favoring substitu-
ton of single drive for the
separate appeals made by organiza-
tions here, and Board President l..
P. McLachlen joined Commissioner
John Russell Young in sending
letters to approximately TOO leading
citizens asking their presence at
the mass meeting.
BY adopting the principle of
giving once for all' Washington
would be- putting into practice a
method which has operated sue
cessfully throughout the Nation. Mr..
McLachlen declared.
'It has been brought to our
attention" Mr.. McLachlen said.
that rs cities in the country have
established war chests in one form
or another, and that 10 other cities
including New York, PHILADELPHIA.
Los Angeles, Richmond and Syra-
cuse, are seriously considering the
plan.
Community Benefit Seen.
1T is our thought that we can
benefit by the apparent solidarity
OF effort that is being put into such
campaigns and also by the national
publicity that such drives will
gather.
IF we can at the same time
satisfy all the legitimate needs of
our community for organized char
liable solicitations and eliminate
a duplicity of effort and appeals
by combining all the drives into
one grand fund, then, we believe
that we will make a definite con-
tribution to the community as a
whole"
Mr.. McLachlen added that if ap-
proval of the single fund drive is
secured at the mass meeting, the
funds organization will be set up
Immediately and the first campaign
of its kind here will be held early
in the fall
Charles C. Cabot, chairman of the
1943 Greater Boston United War
Fund, who was speaker at the last
membership meeting of the Board
Of Trade, said that by united cam
paign in Boston, that city's goal of
$7,600,000 was oversubscribed by
more than 100000.
Organizations Taking Part.
Participating in the Boston fund
were such agencies as the Red Cross,
the Community Chest, the United
Service Organizations and the Sol
diers and Sailors Recreation Com
mittee, Mr.. Cabot said. 1t has been
suggested that similar large organ
izations in Washington form the
backbone OF the proposed single
drive here.
Where united campaign is spon-
sored, 1t has become the practice to
set up an admissions committee,
which, passes on the agencies to
participate in the program, it was
said.
At the Board of Trade Offices it
was emphasized that, with many of
the former workers in separate
drives either now in the armed
services or in jobs which will not
permit their giving time for solici-
tation purposes. the personnel may
not be available for a series of
campaigns but might be mustered
for one concentrated effort. A
single drive, it was said, also would
produce a substantial saving in
operating expenses as well as an
economy of leadership"
Board of Trade officials, follow
ing approval by their own men,
bership. discussed the question with
the District Commissioners and
secured approval of the plan.