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The first state-wide “Own Your Own Home” campaign in the United States is reported to the division of public works and construction development of the department of labor. ‘The cam paign is on in the state of Indiana and behind it as the directing force is no less an organization than the In diana State Chamber of Commerce. There are eighteen cities in the United States in which “Own Your Own Home” campaigns are under way or about to start, but the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce is spon sor for the first movement for a cam paign to take in every hamlet, village, and city in a state. It is understood that this ‘campaign may be extended over a period of five years and it is not improbable that the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce finally may de cide to maintain as a permanent ‘de partment of its organization an “Own Your Own Home’ bureau which will be on the job every day of every year. A. W. McKeand, extension director of the Indiana organization, has writ ten the division of public works and construction development asking its co-operation in the Indiana campaign. All the machinery of the department Seatacafe eld, will be lined up to co operate and assist whenever oppor tunity offers. A representative of the department of labor will go to Indiana to study the “Own Your Own Home” organization there to the end that its attractive features may be passed on to other cities and states. The follow ing from Mr. McKeand's letters indi cates the scale on which the Indiana campaign will be prosecuted as well as the method: “The Indiana State Chamber of Commerce has, for the past few months, been planning an “Own A Home” campaign. We have held our state meeting, organized our state-wide committee and secured the co-operation of most of the commer cial organizations in the state, and we are now starting out to secure the co operation of the rest of the organiza tions. We have a definite plan of procedure, and it has been adopted by our people in the mass convention with representatives from practically every city in the state present. Briefly, our campaign is to use $150,000 paid space in the newspapers and operate a general publicity de partment for news stories, prepara tions of posters, window dressing, speaker's bureau, traveling exhibits, etc. “We have organized a state-wide committee consisting of one man from each line of business whether directly or i directly interested in the “Own A Home” movement. There are thirty one organizations now actively work ing with us, and there are a number, of others that are fairly well organ ized that we will hire as soon as, their executive committee have passed upon the plan. We have four sub-committees studying the prob lems of finance, survey, city planning and advertising. These committees are made up of well known people from all lines of business in all parts of the state, and they are actively at work on their plans at this time. We are then building a complement to the statewide organization in each town in the state. The statewide organiza tion passing down to the local com munities its plane and suggestions and working with the local communi ties to make such changes as are needed to suit local conditions. From our long experience in the commercaal organization field we know that no plan set up in any one place will suit all local conditions in another, so for this reason we are going to place our plans in charge of special committees in each town in the state and help them fit the plan to local conditions.” FORMS ORGANIZATION ALL BY HIMSELF (From the Anchorage Times) A fellow named Drayton—Thomas |B. Drayton, to be more polite about it, and politeness costs nothing, other wise we should not employ it when dealing with the person under discus sion—has organized all by himself, in his secluded retreat in the environs of the Resurrection bay town, some thing which he dubs “The Alaska As sociation.” He is the president, sec retary and treasurer of this phantom organization, conceived during the long stretches of the night in the wilderness home of the originator. In flamboyant words employed in the prospectus, the father of this ill-be gotten, ill-conceived andll-omened ef fort calls on all true Alaskans to en roll under his banner, and reminds them, very casually, that a dollar, or two, once in a while—the oftener the better—would be very acceptable in deed. We have a copy of this typewritten “prospectus” before us as we write. We propose to publish it in its en tirety, to show what this fellow is doing. Publicity is all that is needed to put an end to the malicious activi ties of these knockers. We repro duced an editorial from that nonde script publication called the Saturday Evening Blade. It it it was stated that the information on which it based its attack on the government railway project was obtained from a “corre spondent in Seward, Alaska.” We think we know now who that particu lar correspondent is. But here's the “prospectus!” Take a look at it: The Alaska Association Seward, Alaska, April 7, 1919. Dear Sir: A number of Alaskans are forming an association in which your membership is desired, if, as we believe, you approve the conclusions and indorse the purposes outlined in this letter, andentical copy of which is being sent to a large number of men of character, intelligence and proved loyalty to Alaska. ‘The chief purpose of the association is to promote the building of the pro posed government railroad from Sew ard to Fairbanks. Under the pseudo-management of Mr. William ©.oes, and the men ac tually in charge under his alleged di rection, the railroad project will not be completed within any future period now reasonably or probably certain; for the reasons, as we believe, that these men are incompetent to build the road, and are also unwilling to complete it so long as public moneys are available for salaries, expense ac counts and other charges in which they are interested. We believe the removal of these men from the positions they now oc cupy is absolutely indispensable if disaster to the entire Alaska railroad project is to be averted. For political and other obvious rea sons, their removal through a direct appeal to the President is perhaps not to be expected before the assembling of another congress; but as a matter of information for yourself, it may be said that the new committee on ap propriations, and all senators and rep resentatives, will have detailed infor mation of railroad management in Alaska during the past four years, which will defeat any appropriation to be disbursed by these same men. The preliminary work of the new association will be two-fold—to house clean and simultaneously effect an im mediate prosecution of the railroad project. Thirty-one million dollars of our money is gone. Grief is now useless. Accusations and recriminations will be made in congress if made at all. Accusations and recriminations are in expedient for us, as our assocation is not to assail a band of daring loot ers, a combination of bold grafters, but merely to effect the quiet dismis sal of a collection of unfortunate men whose incapacity has brought misfor tune upon us and jeopardized our in terests, but whose chief fault in a personal sense is a mania to hold and prolong their jobs despite a knowledge of their unfitness—a situation in which blame may well be tempered with pit. While our $81,000,000 is gone—a large part we know not where—still much may yet be salvaged by prac tical and competent railroad builders and, as the government has been so deeply involved, congress will go, through with the project without much delay if it be first assured of an entire change of management and a thor ough housecleaning in all the v vari ous departments of the engineering commission. We want your membership—active or passive—and all that you are able to contribute of brains, influence and experience; and we will also want a dollar of your money now and then. May we have them? One of your friends will personally solicit your membership, THE ALASKA ASSOCIATION, PRIDAY, MAY 2, 1919.
Newspaper Details
Cordova Daily Times
Cordova, Tennessee, US
Fri, May 02, 1919
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Cynthia N.
USA 24 Jan 2026
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Cordova Daily Times
