Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-06-29
PARADE OR HOME
The Scribe Defends His Position
 in Inc A. 0. H. Matter.

issue of the Democrat from John P. Sheehan, in which he seeks to cor rect alleged misstatements in an ar ticle printed herein Friday regard ing the relative merits of state parade of the A. o. H. and home for aged members of the order, ap- pears to have been prepared without much deliberation, or perhaps It would be better way of putting 1t to say that after reading what MT Sheehan has to say and then look over what he complains of, one would naturally conclude that he didn't see Fridays paper at all and acted on a garbled account of the A. o. H. matter.
 MT Sheehan charges that the writer drew on his own imagination fer the statement that several mem bers of the A. O. H. in Waterbury are opposed to the proposed state parade in New Haven, and yet he ad- mits that in one of the divisions the vote stood 22 to IT in opposition to ' the parade. Isn't 22 several? MT Sheehan's position on this particular point is something Nike that of the man who called his opponent liar and then produced proof which dem onstrated that after all the other fellow was quite right. MT Sheehan also infers that men whom he does not see at sessions of the organiza- ton don't know much about 1t and have little interest in It's advance ment. This is not a fair way or looking at the question. It is not the good fortune of every member of the society to be able to attend its meetings, but this should not be taken as an indication that he is disinterested in its welfare. The fact that a man seeks admission into society and pays his assessments according as they are called for is sufficient proof that he has more than passing interest in 1t. If not what prompted him to affiliate with 1t and whence the incentive to con tinue to pay dues year in and year out while receiving nothing in re- turn therefor except the pleasure e that comes from knowing that his membership helps somebody else. The scribe" which MT Sheehan gets after with his club has been mem Der of the A. O. H. in Waterbury for almost thirty years and he expects to remain with the boys until death sewers the link. He never made a demand on the organization for any thing, so that no matter what con struction one might put upon his speech nobody could prove that he is associated with the organization for mercenary motives. Hence, se feels, in speaking for himself and others, that many who belonged to the A. O. H. in Waterbury when it was by no means as popular as 1t is to-day, are still in the ranks even though they are unknown quantities to those now at the helm.
 But what matter about these things. The real question at issue sinners down to this: Would 1t be better for the A. O. H. to hold a state parade or abandon that idea for the present and put every cent it can spare into fund for home I for aged members who have no | place of their own?
 Mir Sheehan favors the parade. In this he is supported by great ma jority of those who voted on the question. The writer of the article to which Mir Sheehan takes excep- tion, and many others. don't look at 1t that way. Does Mir Sheehan take the ground that they have no right to differ from him without leaving themselves open to charge of making an onslaught on the gen. eral principles of the order? No other inference can be tortured from his communication, but perhaps he didn't intend 1t that way. This is a question, Mir Sheehan. on which Hibernians may and do honestly take opposite sides. and because one might favor a parade and another oppose 1t is no reason one should charge that the other had exceede his right. The A. O. H. always stood for freedom of speech, not for itself alone or any particular per sons connected with 1t, but for all mankind, so that while members are obliged to conform to certain rules and regulations they are not bound to say Amen" to everything that takes place there.
 Mir Sheehan is county secretary of the order, so that his estimate of the number of men in line at the coming state parade may be taken as pretty nearly accurate. He tells us that 10000 men will be in line. If this be SO it is fair to assume that the expense of the parade to those who will do the marching will not be less than s50.000. Counting ones days pay and other things. the fellow who takes in the glitter ing show will be lucky if he gets out of 1t for s. Multiply si0,000 by s5 and you have s50.000. This does not include the cost of seventy-five or a hundred brass bands and vari- ous other items which will have to be met by the several divisions. so that probably the sum total of a parade such as Is planned by the A. o. HI. will cost at least s60. .0OO. Nobody questions the right of the societies to make this outlay. but many claim that 1t would be far more practical to get hold of as much as could be reached of that money and apply 1t to some other M purpose.
 Doesn't a member enjoy the priv. II ilege of looking at this just as iI M strikes him. even though he may be III kw