DUPLICATE TO THE SECRETARY: BALLOT (Not to be detached) CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MILLS BUILDING WASHINGTON, D. C., August 30, 1922. Your organization, as a member of the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, is requested to register its vote upon the questions submitted herewith on this ballot, which is to be detached and sent by registered mail at the earliest date practicable to the Secretary at the National Headquarters, Mills Building, Washington, D. C. This referendum is taken for the instruction and guidance of the Board of Directors in its action upon the questions presented. By order of the Board of Directors. This ballot will be counted only if received at National Headquarters, Mills Building, Washington, D. C., on or before October 14, 1922. (See By-Laws, Article XIII, on inside of cover.) .1922 TO THE SECRETARY SIR: of the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Mills Building, Washington, D. C. The (Name of Organization) i a member in good standing in the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and having a total membership of... votes to be recorded as noted below: .is entitled to. .votes. It desires these Do you favor making Par Remittance in Payment of Checks universal See page 4-13 throughout the United States? INSTRUCTIONS to MEMBERS The Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States has adopted the following instructions for members, and directed they be printed in connection with the ballot. I. Each organization member in good standing may cast one vote for each delegate to which it is entitled in the Annual Meeting. 2. The ballot shall be marked by entering a cross or the number of votes to which the organization member is entitled in the square at the left of the words "In Favor" if the recommendation is favored, or at the left of the word "Opposed" if the recommendation is opposed. 3. If the organization member desires to have its vote recorded as divided it may do so by entering the vote to which it is entitled in the squares to the left of the words "In Favor" and "Opposed" in such proportion as it sees fit. The total vote in the two squares must not exceed the total number of votes to which the organization member is entitled. 4. Fractional votes less than one-half shall not be entered. If so entered they shall on the canvass be carried to the nearest whole number. 5. The ballots which are so marked as to be clearly intelligible shall be counted. Where the sum of the numbers entered in the squares exceeds the total number of votes to which an organization member is entitled, canvassers shall in no case attempt to divide the votes but shall enter them as "In Favor" or "Opposed" in accordance with the majority vote shown on the ballot. Explanation HE Board of Directors in au thorizing submission of a report to referendum neither approves the report nor dissents from it. In order to inform the members as fully as practicable on the subject submitted to referendum a carefully selected committee is appointed to analyze each question and report its conclusions. The purpose of the referendum is to ascertain the opinion of the commercial organizations of the country, not to secure the approval of the recommendations voiced in the report. Only the vote of the member organizations can commit the Chamber of Commerce of the United States for or against any of the recommendations submitted by the committee and until such vote is taken the report rests solely upon the authority of those who have signed it. I REFERENDUM on the Report of the Committee on Par Remittance for Checks STATEMENT OF QUESTION The operation of the banking system of the country has been of continuous interest to the Chamber of Commerce of the United States since the Chamber's first annual meeting. In 1913 the committee of the Chamber which reported upon the legislation which later was enacted in the Federal Reserve Act recognized the importance of questions which might arise as the clearing functions of the reserve system were developed. At the annual meeting held in 1919 there was some discussion of questions which had then appeared, in connection with remittance by banks to reserve banks for checks drawn by depositors and used to make payment in other localities. These questions were formally before the annual meeting in 1920, at the instance of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce. The decision of the annual meeting was that the Board of Directors should appoint a representative committee to study the question whether remittances by banks for checks drawn upon them should be at par or after certain deductions, and to submit a report which might become a basis for referendum. The Board of Directors subsequently authorized the appointment of a Committee on Par Remittance for Checks. The personnel of this Committee as appointed was: GRANGER A. HOLLISTER, Chairman, Rochester, RALPH E. HEILMAN, Chicago, J. S. MCCULLOCH, Philadelphia, F. H. MONTGOMERY, New York City, JAMES S. PETERS, Manchester, Ga., J. H. SCALES, Louisville, JOSEPH B. SHEA, Pittsburgh, ROBERT H. TREMAN, Ithaca, N. Y. This Committee presented its report in 1921, and the Board of Directors then authorized that the report be placed before the membership for a referendum vote. Other matters before the National Chamber did not, however, permit immediate opportunity for this referendum. Notwithstanding the delay that resulted, the Board has now directed that the report should be submitted to a referendum vote of the organizations in the Chamber's membership at the end of the summer of 1922. Submission is accordingly made through this pamphlet. For the greater convenience of members and in order that they may more readily have before them both the affirmative and negative arguments respecting each important point, arguments in the negative are printed upon the page directly opposite to the passage in the report to which they refer. This arrangement causes the pages of the report and the arguments in the negative to alternate. The contents of the pamphlet accordingly are: The Committee's Report Arguments in the Negative. Page 4 5 |