Evening star., 1947-01-18
Investigating the Chest

The Federation of BuSineSSmen'S
Associations could do the Commu-
nifty Chest lot of good by investi-
eating it thoroughly Provided, of
course, that the federation is gen.
timely interested in real investiga-
ton. If proposals to investigate are
made with no thought of carrying
them out. but are advanced merely
to create the impression that some
thing is rotten, they deserve no more
respect than other hit-and-run
tactics.
Debate on the BusinesSmen's
Federation resolution indicated
friendly rather than hostile ap-
proach That is all to the good. The
Chest was formed to a large extent
by businessmen and philanthropic
citizens, sick of the repetitious waste
of separate appeals, month in and
month out. Their aim was to COM
bine these appeals into one. In re-
turn for admittance to the Chest,
individual agencies would submit
their budgets to study and approval
by businessmen and citizens. BuSi-
nessmen have remained prominent
in control of the Chests affairs.
Their methods would interest other
businessmen.
The question of salaries ought to
be gone into. A careful investigation
by another group of businessmen
might help kill the ."high-salary"
bugaboo. Good businessmen prob
ably would reach the conclusion of
others who have investigated the
salary scales-that competent people
are required to administer the
spending of several millions of dol
lars annually and no money would
be saved by hiring incompetents at
salaries lower than the low salaries
already paid in this field.
The question of what agencies
properly belong in the Chest is more
difficult. If the businessmen or any
other group of citizens could supply
a wholly acceptable answer it would
be a boon to the Community Chest.
There Is an impression that the
Community Chest now embraces a
great many more agencies than it
started out with eighteen years ago.
That is not correct. There have been
many changes in the Chest member
ship. But the net addition in the
number of agencies, in eighteen
years, has been only one.
A valid criticism of the Commu-
nifty Chest Is that in the annual
appeals for funds the emphasis is
placed on the needs of the aged and
the inf1rm, the sick, the children, the
under-privileged who need physical
aid in one form or another. But the
function of number OF Chest
agencies is propaganda, and some
people whose hearts are moved by
the annual appeal in the name of
charity-and charity can cover a lot
of ground-do not believe in some of
the propaganda and resent the fact
that as Chest contributors they help
to pay for It.
Perhaps investigating businessmen
might be able to devise some prac-
tical and economical bookkeeping
method under which contributors
would be urged to designate the
agencies they wish to support, with
definite assurance that their wishes
would be followed. II that could be
done the results would represent
poll of the public's estimate of Chest
agencies from which it would be
more readily determined whether
an agency's Chest membership is a
liability or an asset to the Chest
The Chest belongs as much to the
Federation of Businessmen's Associ-
ations as it does to anybody else.
1t is the common property of Wash
ingtonians. The more interest shown
in its functioning by everybody, the
greater the benefit to the Chest and
to ourselves as good citizens.
A. cLlI AxaI