There is no class of people doing more important work. These women and men have our children under their control day after day, week after week, year after year. They are giving them the ideas of government. Do you want the children of America to be loyal men and women? What is the reaction? The Soviet group iwhich is springing up everywhere in Europe. I think we have got to take a very much keener interest in public education. We have got to raise the standard and pay the men who teach much better. These men and women are planting knowledge and they are invoking power. They are teaching our boys how to think. Let us see that the best men and women that we can get, without regard to cost, shall do that work. As they do their work to-day, so will our republic be to-morrow. [Applause.] We want a Department of Public Health, I think, with a man at the head of it who would have a seat in the Cabinet. It is also evident that we want a Department of Public Works. Government activities in connection with the public health and the public works are scattered now in a dozen different departments, and there is much overlapping and additional unnecessary expense. We want to organize our government now and get rid of the committees doing things that our departments are organized to do. There is one new element coming into our political life that I think will be a good one, and I speak from knowledge of the situation both at home and abroad. That is, the influence of woman. If she takes hold of politics as she did of the war, it will be of great advantage. If the women had not backed up the draft we could not have put over the war. They were a unit to support the war, and now that they are in politics, here and there they are bringing in this human element into the home life that is needed in dealing with the things that we are talking about. Just one other matter, and that is the question of American agriculture. It is the main stablizing force among our people. The farmer is never an agitator. He believes in God; and as a nation we must hold on to our religion, whatever it is. Some religion the men of the nation must have if the nation is to live. The farmer is a steady, a fixed unit. But he is drifting from the farm into the cities and the towns. If our agriculture drops behind and we become an importing nation, then we must have the biggest navy in the world to keep open the roads of transportation. We must do everything we can to make life more attractive on the farm. Build up better lines of communication, better roads, give the farmer schools as good as those in the city. Encourage the building up of the proper kind of cooperative organization among the farmers. To-day there is a very broad spirit of discontent on the part of the farmer, a feeling that he is not getting his fair share of the consumer's dollar. The farmers sent their full share to the war, and sent their women into public service. If the American farmers had lain down or struck, the war would have been lost to the Allies, absolutely. He fed the American army and fed the English army, and sent large amounts of supplies to the other Allies. Now, the things I have talked to you about are not at all exciting; they are rather elementary and basic. There is not much new in govern ment except for those who know nothing of what has gone before. We must stand steady. Don't rock the boat. Hold to the things that we know are good. These commonplace things are just about as unsensational as the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, but, as they lie at the foundation of our religion, so are these things fundamental to the policy of our nation, -law and order, respect for the rights of property, rights of mankind, equal opportunity and equal obligation. All those things are the things that we have got to stand for. We must avoid class legislation. The problems ahead of us are not political problems, but problems of everyday government. We must put our shoulder to the wheel; get behind them and pull together. If we do that our problems will disappear like snow before the noonday sun. Good-bye, and good luck to you. [Prolonged applause and cheers, members rising.] ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CLUB The annual meeting of the Club was held at the Clubhouse on Tuesday evening, April 20, at eight P.M. A quorum being present President George S. Smith called the meeting to order. Detailed reports from the various committees were read by the Secretary and adopted. President Smith called the attention of the members to the fact that the past administration had paid particular attention to the business side of the Club's affairs which should receive equal emphasis with the social side of the Club. Following are some of the reports from the various committees: HOUSE COMMITTEE The House Committee - during the term just ended - has devoted a great deal of time to the study of the operation of the various departments. The Club's volume is so large that it was felt that more than in smaller organizations - it was necessary to set down definite policies for operation, estimates, or expense, quotas of business to be attained, and in general — to institute a system which would not only comprehend all these things but would also supply the Committee with much more detailed figures than it has previously had. In December, 1919 in pursuance of the above a Budget was prepared for all producing departments of the Club-itemizing and approximating such expenditures as could be anticipated. In addition sales quotas were given to each producing department and estimates were made of the probable expense percent. Constant effort is being made to hold each department up to this planned volume and to keep within the planned expense. As a result the Committee feels that operation is on a much sounder basis and it is possible to apply a much more definite standard in judging the increase of business month by month. (It should be mentioned that in the Club Reports all overhead expenses rent, light, heat, power, etc. have been pro-rated to departments and this, of course, still further tends to make of each department a separate operating unit.) - Several months ago it was found necessary to institute a Cover Charge of 10c. (5c. in the Cafeteria) to compensate in part for the increased cost of materials and wages and for the loss of profit from the bar. In this connection it is gratifying to know that so far as total volume of business is concerned - increased business in the other departments has more than equaled the shortage in the Bar Department. W. E. SKILLINGS, MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE Chairman. I herewith submit a report of the Membership Committee for the period beginning November 1, 1918, and ending April 1, 1920. During this period fifteen hundred twenty-one (1,521) applicants were elected and qualified. There were three hundred fifty-six (356) resignations, one hundred thirty-three (133) deaths, and one hundred ninety-nine (199) memberships were forfeited. Of the resignations thirty (30) were withdrawn, and of the memberships forfeited, fifty-seven (57) were reinstated. The total membership of the Club on April 1 was seventy-five hundred one (7,501), of which seven thousand sixty-nine (7,069) were resident and four hundred thirty-two (432) non-resident memberships. The waiting list on November 1, 1918, was three (3) and on April 1, 1920, it was one hundred forty-nine applicants. Following are the figures showing this condition: Since the last annual report submitted November 1, 1918, your Committee has arranged two seasons of entertainments. During the season of 1918-19, there were 40 events (20 addresses, 10 luncheon meetings, 3 motion picture exhibitions, 5 concerts and 2 illustrated lectures). The influenza epidemic in October necessitated the cancellation of practically the whole program for that month. Notable among the guests entertained were Chas. M. Schwab, Sir Harry Lauder, Ambassador Naon, General Edwards, Col. George H. Harvey, and Lt.-Com. Albert C. Read. Last June, as an experiment, the Committee arranged for a special City Club night at the Pop Concerts, which was so successful, it will be repeated this year, in May. During the season of 1919-20, your Committee has arranged for 38 events (18 addresses, 3 luncheons, 9 illustrated lectures and 6 concerts, the election returns and a reproduction of the Harvard-Oregon football game). Your Committee has found increasing difficulty in securing prominent speakers. Out of 57 invitations only 25 acceptances were received. Out of 27 speakers, II required an honorarium. In response to a demand from some of the members for an entertainment Saturday afternoons, your Committee arranged for two events which met with a fair degree of success. A special sub-committee has been appointed to investigate this matter and report to the next Committee the advisability of arranging a series of motion-picture exhibitions on Saturday afternoons during the winter. Your Committee is pleased to report that there has been an increasing interest in the Thursday night dinners, previous to the addresses, the average attendance being 202. The attendance at the meetings in the Auditorium has also been satisfactory, especially at the concerts and illustrated lectures, which leads your Committee to believe that such events should be held with greater regularity and frequency. Appropriation for year ending Dec. 31, 1920. $4,000.00 1,849.20 Leaving an unexpended balance of. $2,150.80 ALFRED R. SHRIGLEY, Acting Chairman. HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE The Hospitality Committee begs leave to report that it has held frequent meetings since its appointment. Some member of the Committee has been present at the Clubhouse each day during the luncheon hour for the purpose of receiving and assisting new members. When a group of new members has been elected the Committee has sent a letter to each new member similar to the form annexed hereto. The Committee gave two large receptions to new members in the auditorium; one on February 10, 1919, and the other on February 4, 1920. Each was attended by several hundred new members, and addresses were made by the President of the Club and other members representing the various Club activities. A spirit of genuine good-fellowship prevailed on these occasions and we think that the new members appreciated the welcome and hospitality extended to them. An appropriation of four hundred ($400) dollars was made for each of the entertainments and our committee is pleased to report that a substantial portion of this appropriation was unexpended. Wм. T. A. FITZGERALD, ART AND LIBRARY COMMITTEE Chairman. There have been 337 volumes acquired for the library since November 1, 1918, as follows: Fifty-seven of these were donated and the remainder purchased from the Committee's appropriation. Several art exhibits have been given in the Art Gallery on the mezzanine floor. An exhibition of paintings of airplanes by Lieut. Henri Barre was given in December, 1918. A set of pastels by Clara Lathrop Strong showing scenes in Siam and Djibouti was exhibited in June, 1919. Monsieur J. F. Bouchor (Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur) Official Painter to the French Armies, exhibited a large collection of war paintings in November, 1919. A joint exhibition of sculpture by P. Bryant Baker, of London, and of paintings by John Nicholas Haapenen, was given in February, 1920. Cards of admission for ladies and friends of members were available for these art exhibits. The attendance was large, especially at the exhibition of paintings by M. Bouchor. Several works of art have been loaned to the Club during the past year and placed on view in the Clubhouse. The Club has received several gifts of paintings and sculpture. Two mural paintings by Vesper George were presented to the Club by the artist. Among other gifts was a bust of Capt. John Lauder, son of Harry Lauder, presented by the sculptor, Hugh Cairns. A painting showing American flags at the Statue of Strasbourg, Place de la Concorde, Paris, July 4, 1918, by M. Bouchor was purchased by the Club. The statement as to the appropriations and expenditures of the Art and Library Committee from November 1, 1918, to April 1, 1920, is as follows: Appropriation - Nov. 1, 1918, to Oct. 31, 1919. - . Unexpended balance- Nov. 1, 1919. . Appropriation - Jan. 1, 1920, to Dec. 31, 1920. Unexpended balance - April 1, 1920. $2,105.00 1,887.18 $217.82 850.18 2,625.00 527.45 $2,097.55 C. B. BREED, Chairman. |