The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-20
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
ANNUAL DINNER AT HARMONIC
HALL LAST NIGHT.

The annual dinner of the Chamber of
Commerce was held at Harmonic hall
last evening. The walls were adorned
with festoons of the national colors and
at one end was the portrait of the late
Presidents Mckinley framed with Old
| Glory and at the other was the por-
trait of President Roosevelt set in fes-
toons of the national emblem. AT $50
about 200 guests sat down.
The post prandiaI exercises were
opened at S:45 by General e. E. Brad
| ley, president of the Chamber, who said
in part:
Gentlemen: 1t is again my pleasant
duty to welcome most heartily our
guests and members to this our annual
dinner. While l. am glad to say that
general prosperity has prevailed as a
rule in our own land, still a number of
untoWard events have occurred to re-
tard progress and cloud the situation.
| The most notable examples of the lat
ter have been caused by the differences
between labor and capital The great
coal strike in the anthracite regions now
| at an end was the greatest exemplifi-
| CdllOl VI THESE ullL6IGllteS lildL HAS OG-
CURED in a., generation Men were
thrown out of employment, the wheels
of progress were impeded and the minds
| of all our people, from the president
| down, were concentrated with anxious
| solicitude. The hopeful citizen sees in
these Industrial disturbances omens for
good. Better opportunities for the safe
| investment of small sums held by the
people at large will be created and in
| general that the final outcome will re-
suit in benefit to all mankind.
| Tonight we have more Of our men,
bers present than we have at our reg
ular monthly meetings-and we only
have about one in three here tonight
of our total membership, but that pro-
portion / am sorry to say is far greater
| than we get at our stated meetings.
The affairs of our chamber are in many
| respects satisfactory. We have a fair
ly large membership. and ! really think
loyal one. We have lawyers, doctors,
university men. merchants, manufac-
| turers, mechanics, all busy workers in
| the world. Our financial status is also
| fairly good, and we are paying our bills
with our accustomed promptness and
regularity. Some things about our city
government might be improved, or in
| fuenced for good by concerted action;
our great-semi public corporations
might also be moved to do some things
or concede some things that would re-
dound to their own greater popularity,
and enlarge their usefulness to the peoL
pie they serve. In the near future We
| L. a. hpry H. Nf roll
road transportation, for both humanity
and freight, discussed by some exper-
fenced and able railroad man, who by
education and experience is emlnently
fitted to give US useful information re-
garding the subject under cOnsidera-
| ton.
In coming to a close. may 1 not in
vite, yes urge. our members to reserve
at least one night per month for the
benefit OF the Chamber, the city and
themselves BY so doing, good will re-
suit to all concerned
| To our guests, who honor us by their
presence tonight, I will say, on behalf
of the Chamber, that we sincerely ap-
preciate your coming Whatever of sue
cess this annual dinner attains, will be
| III REGdtGSI IlIedSulS uue W yOuI Cpul -
teous efforts in our behalf. When you
| go Srom us tonight, we trust you Will
| take with you only memories of the
pleasantest character. Surely our kind
liest and most grateful feelings will
follow you. Again, welcome you all to
the full enjoyment of this occasion.
He then introduced Captain Samuel
A. Smoke, u. S. A. military instructor
of Yale university. Captain Smoke in
part said:
| l wish to thank you for the honor
that has been conferred on me by an
invitation to be present this evening
and enjoy this dinner in such delightful
company I feel like the young girl
whose beau had long been pleading for
just one kiss. He finally got one, and
she said shyly, John, I am afraid
like it too we'll; you may have anoth-
er." And so after my experience in
New Haven, think l enjoy it so much
that you may have me whenever you
like. (Laughter.)
You are gathered here tonight as
representative business men, before
whom, in the absence of better man,
1 represent the army. You are all ia
miliar with the past deeds of the army.
You know how from the bone and
sinew of colonial manhood our revolu-
tionary army was formed of the sixty
eight mile ride in one day of Israel
Putnam from his Connecticut farm to
Bunker Hill. 1t was he who became
the first major general in our army;
and, gentlemen, the spirit put into the
army by Putnam and his kind has
been singularly we'll preserved
Referring to rise and progress of West
Point and it's sister academy he said:
The question of increasing the attend
ance at these academies will come be-
fore the next congress, and l recon-
mend this fact to your favorable con-
sideratiOn.
After a recapitulation of our princ1-
pal wars ard showing that history re-
cords our past unpreparedness, and al
though we have triumphed in the end,
the best lesson may be found from the
disgraceful defeats that attended their
beginnings and the contemplation of
hundreds of thousands left behind.
When the war of the rebellion began
statesmen thought it would be ended
in three to six months. He stated it as
his opinion that if the United States
had q we'll trained army ready to be
aoIIod n+ ~ inStant's notice these time