The Omaha Sunday Bee
PART TWO
EDITORIAL
PAGES ONE TO TWELVE
PART TWO
SOCIETY
PAGES ONE TO TWELVE
w
VOL. XLLTI NO. 14.
v pn Who Manp ( .nmmprna Attams ot Vmnv Lilies
JVJr. Mete fonts i)t ttthu'fccjure'ts Ass'et
, IIORT talks and long discussions are to
S characterize the sessions ol tho Central
I Association of Commercial Secretaries
- m , V I n Vi lB lmTj Ifa fifth onmifll rnn.
I iymv.u AO lu uw.u .mi
yontlon in Omaha Monday, Tuesday
and Wednesday of this week. The sec
retaries believe in giving delegates a
chance to spout their views, instead of -giving tho
floor to one man with a paper to read as long as a
boulevard. So the papers will be short.- Then for
the backfire. If the man reading the paper has
made suggestions that have brought admirable re
sults in St. Louis, the man. from Dos Moines will
-within a very few minutes be able to get the floor
to tell whether or not tho same suggestions have
been found helpful in his town. If the man from
Hastings, Neb., gives a bright suggestion as to car
rying out commercial club policies in his town, the
man from Chicago will, before he forgets, have an
opportunity to say whethor or not such a suggestion
is of any value in handling the problems of a big.
city like the windy town.
ForHhe commercial secretaries, or rather the sec
retaries of commercial clubs and chambers of com
merce of the central states, are live wires and they
believe in moving right along in their sessions. To
this end they have planned their program with but.
one adjournment per day. This Ib the adjournment
for sleep the evening adjournment.
Oh, of course, theBe fellows eat, but their noon
luncheons will be partaken of through round 'table
discussions, so that business will be popping while
watermelon and spring chicken suffer.
It is a new idea to have the commercial secre
taries get together in association meetings. That
lb, It is not more than five years old in the central
Ktates. For years secretaries of commercial clubs
plodded along taking care of thoir routine work
without finding out how tho other secretary of the
other commercial club was working. The awaken
ing came. They suddenly realized that they are a
bunch of men of tremendous numbers in the United
States, Also, they sensed the fact that ttielr busi
iess is one that requires skill, tact and experience.
In short, they discovered that their business is a
)rofessIon, nothing less. The busluess of -commercial
secretrxy. as a profession is less than ten
rears old. ,
"It we are professional men why not have pro
CTMeSMSI yontion in omana iionaay, iuesaay Thfir th nrr.nl:nHnnn. nnrfctd ,nH t mis courses for commercial secretaries, r, I,, uner- II "HraF II
OMAHA,
fessional conferences?" said some to thoniBolves.
Four Becrotaries,' with J.-M. Guild of tho Omaha
Commercial 'club a3 the fjfthgot their heads to
gether some years ago and wondered about thic
thing. Each remembered that whenever he had
met a commercial' secretary anywhere, he had had
much in common to dlscuBs with him. Ho had
many problems 'to thrash, out with bim. So. these
five men wondered some more, and the result of
their wondering and planning was that in 1909 a
meeting, of commercial secretaries of the central
states was called at Cincinnati. Tho call soon
-proved that many others had felt the need of con
ferences for they Jumpod, the trains from every
state included in the list and flew for Cincinnati.
There the organization was perfected, and in, 1912
the first real lmeeting with a good scheduled pro
gram was held in Milwaukee, the riext year in Chi
cago, then in Indianapolis, until this year the fifth
annual meeting- is to bo held in Omaha September
22 to 24, inclusive. " '
Almost simultaneously rose the other sectional
associations, ouch ab tho Pacific States association,
the Southern States, the -New -England States and
the Canadian. Some of these -make all offlcera-of
commercial clubs eligible to membership. The
Central makes only secretaries of commercial clubs '
eligible. This restriction is held to on the com
mon sense ground that the problems of the secre
tary are not the problems of the president and treas
urer of the club. The official's field is to devise
and announce policies. The secretary's province is
to wrestle with the problem of carrying out. these
policies. So the secretaries have troubles of their
own, troubles that the other officials can never
share with them. ' "
So the secretaries swap ideas, not only of ways
and means that have brought success, 'but also of
methods and paths that have ,led to failure. Each
profits by the other's failure as much as by his
success. '
Last January at the first annual .dinner of the
Chamber of Commerce' of the United State's at
Washington, D. C President Taftsald: "As you
go on forming these local b6ards offtrade, and now
this central one, the National Chamber of Com
merce, you are making necessary d new profession,
Just as the Young Men's Christian association have
made another. The functions of ' tho secretaries of
those associations were so peculiar and needed sc
much experience in order that they might bo
effective, that schools were created for the educa
tion of secretaries. This is what you will have to
do in respect to the secretaries of the boards of
trade and of chambers of commerce. You will
have to have a school from which the new chambers
of commerce can draw their secretaries, who will
train the new membership in the way in which the
organization can ba built up, and give them a prac
SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 21,
tical Knowledge of how they can do what they aro
organized to do."
Following thiB suggestion both Harvard univer
sity, nnd the University of Wisconsin have Instituted
courses for commercial secretaries. P. L. Cher
rln'gton, an Instructor in the Harard school for' sec
retaries, is to bo noro for tho meeting in Omaha
and is to, be on the program. Civics and Commerco
In.' August, 1913, said concerning the work of the
secretary of a commercial club: "Ho must not only
be a man of enterprise and energy, but must pos
pens a knowledge of the scope and mission of com
mercial organizations and carry out its alms and
, purposes. He must bo familiar with all -current
economic and civic problems of the community and
stand ready to propose, initiate and execute desir
able Innovations and improvements."
Aside from getting a bundle of valuable sugges
tions out of a meeting of secretaries who are
located in a section of the country having common
lines of pursuit, the secretaries carry away with
' them something that Is a great asset in their future
' work, This- asset is nothing other than the
acquaintance they have made at the meeting. So
whrfn the Omaha secretary wants to write to tho
secretary in New York City in the future regarding
important commercial business, he can address him
as "Dear Dill, or Mike, or Frank, or John,",wh6
rubbed elbows with him at the banquet during the
convention. The Wichita secretary can address the
Milwaukee secretary, with whom he smoked a par
ticularly rotten stogey whllo attending the confer
ence. A certain Intimacy Is developed., And
acquaintance is fundamental with the secretary.
Since there have been no schools of commercial
cecretarles thus far until the Wisconsin and tho
Harvard ones wero instituted, the commercial sec
retaries up to this time have usually been selected
from two classes of men, newspaper men and rail
road men. These two classes of men seem to be
peculiarly fitted to take hold of a Job like this and
make a success of it.
On account of the comprehensive program ar
ranged for the Omaha meeting, many prominent
commercial secretaries from great distances aro
coming tp attend, although not members of the Cen
tral association. William Q, Farrelll, secretary of
the Commercial club qf Salt Lake City, is one of
these who is making a long trip to bo here. An-
1013.
warn
ff.KTUn Bus a ess ffanzfeh
other who comes perhaps as far as any other' aud
Id to be on the program Is P. L. Cherrlngton of the
graduate school of business administration, Har.
vard university, Cambridge, Mass. All he way
from New Orleans comes M. D. Trezovant, general
manager of the New Orleans Association of Com
merce. He is president of tho American Associa
tion of Commercial Executives, which will bold lt
annual session in St. Paul immediately after the
adjournment of tho Central Association of Secre
taries at Omaha. M. V. Eva Is to be here also from
Duluth, Minn. Ho is secretary of the Commercial
club at that place. Other prominent men will be
here from New York and other eastern cities.
All tho clubs in Omaha will bo thrown open for
the commercial secretaries and the courtesy of
these organizations will be extended to the visitors.
Invitations are constantly coming to the' local Com
mercial dub from the packing bouses, the stock
yards, and all large concerns in Omaha asking that
the secretaries take time to visit these plants whllo
In the city.
Here is an organization that doesn't believe
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
JcJf Business Atfnijfstr
tfirusrif (a versify, famlritge, ffasst
much In addresses of welcome. "Wo aro going to
take it' for granted that they aro welcome," sayB
Commissioner J. M. Guild of the Omaha Commer
cial club, and; are gblhg tb spend Very little orf no
timo listening ,to long addresses of welcome." Mon
day evening though, wj.ll. .be-dpvptpd to getting
acquainted, '"then -Tuesday-morning .the first thing
on tho program will be -the talk-byM. B. Trezevant
of. Now Orleans, on "Value of Acquaintance." Tues
day night J. H. -Sunderland is to address the secre
taries, and ho Svill Incorporate in His talk a little
of an address bfwelcomo.' 'Also' Mayor Dahlman
has been asked to speak' to, them at this, time. But
in tho meantime the. men. expect tp do. business on '
the assumption that they are welcome.
Wednesday evening on adjournment here, many
of the secretaries will' go at once to St. Paul, Minn.. 1
where .the national association Isto meet, The.
Sioux City Commercial club has wired an invitation
for theso to stop over at Sloii'x City In the evening
for dinner asllo guests of the Slbu'i City club. Tho
adjournment in Omaha 1b to b6, arranged in time
to allow the delegates to roach' Stoux City in time '
to fill this engagement. .
Some of tho'- larger- cities that aro' to be repre
sented at the convention In Omaha are: Chicago,
Now York, St. , Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth, Sioux i
City, Denver, Kansas City, Topeka, St. Joseph, St. 1
Louis, Fort Dodge,- Dos Moines, Clinton, Toledo, )
Dayton, Grand Forks, Fargo, Belle Fourche, Colo
rado Springs, Pueblo, Peoria, Winona, Madison, 1
Milwaukee, Salt. Lake, Wichita,. Shenandoah, Kala
mazoo, Sioux , Falls, Dallas, , New Orleans, Grand
Rapids and a host of cities and towns of Iowa and
Nebraska.
Speaking, of the benefit to be derived from such
conferences, J. M. Guild of the Omaha Commercial
club says'; "Attendance of a secretary at this meet
ing is the best possible investment a commercial
club can make of Its secretary's time and the club's
money. This is a chance for a secretary to got a
course of professional training in three days that
will niakea secretary an expert tp that extent. It
- I could get every secretary in Nebraska to attend I
would be doing more for Nebraska than X can do in
any other way. For if wo can make twenty-five or
thirty secretaries of commercial clubs In the state
work more intelligently it will be a boon to the
commonwealth,"