Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1909-12-22
DAY
OBSERVED BY new
ENGLAND SOCIETY
.IoIly Dinner Marks Celebration
in Essex County Country
Club, West Orange.

Formally observing Foretathers' Day
the New England Society Of the Or
anges last night had dinner AT the
Essex County Country Club. West Or
anee which will go down in history as
one of the most enjoyable affairs ever
given there. From the lively start
given bv the ambitious musicians who
furnished melodies during the dinner
10 the concluding humorous speech of
George \. Post there was not dulI
moment
Although the Rev. DR.. Charles f.
Aked. of tie Fifth Avenue Baptist
Church. New York, gave splendid
historical resume of the early English
movement for religious freedom that
was consummated. happily, by the emf
grafton of the Pilgrims to New Eng
land. and paid the traditional respects
10 the early colonists. the other speech
makers took humorous views OF alalfs
and preferred keeping their audiences
amused to paying tlowery tributes OIL
speech to the early settlers.
In the absence of Judge Ihomas A
Davis, president of the society, Joseph
Drexel Holmes, first Nice-presldenl'
acted as POSTMASTER. and, despite MS
seant opportunity for preparation MT
Holmes having returned on Mohoay
from Bermuda, he made an eNceilent
presiding officer. The prayer was OF
fered by the Rev. DR.. Stanley Wnlte'
formerly pastor of the Hillside Prespy-
terian Church, Orange, and at present
identified with the Presbyterian Board
of Missions in New York. Following
the usual custom. toast to the Presl-
dent of the United States was drunk
standing Mr.. Holmes then proposed
q toast to their absent president, Wnlch
was given with cheers for Judge Davis.
THE Mayflower Man and the May
flower Faith was the topic of Dr.
Aked, and the brilliant New York cler-
gynaan, who has a wide reputation as
An after-dinner orator. held his audi
ence enraptured with his talk. He
lauded the Pilgrims as body of people
who had been the life of every nation
in which they were placed and had
proved a veritable iron in the blood,
Job T.. Hedges, when he spoke seri-
ously, paid his respect to the group of
American citizens who refrained from
exercising their privilege of voting, and
declared he'd brand the man who did
not participate in election and then
disfranchise him. He said there was
set of men today who claim TO be
Americans who would dare decry a
man who is politically active and
aetually treat him as If he were leper.
1.-THE man in this country who does
not recognize he owes a duty to others
in exercising his suffrage, no matter
what walk Of life he may find himself
in. does not know how to correctly spell
the word American" declared Mr..
Hedges. If I lived anywhere else but
in this country 1 would be apt to call
Americans a little inconsistent. The
canker of political inactivity is one of
the worst dangers to the future of this
country, and that is no joke. Men are
either citizens or they are not; this
country is a country OF precept and eX-
ample and the man who does not set
an example should forfeit his rights
TO citizenship.
zone thing I hope to be remembered
as saying tonight is that no man has
the right to be an American unless heI
exercises the right to cast a ballot, the
preliminary casting of which gave him
the right to the manhood he claims to-
day.
Mr.. Post, who has recently joined the
ranks of commuters in the Oranges,
gave talk which stamped him as
humorist of the finest type. He con-
vulsed the group of staid business and
professional men at the festive board
with fund of rich satire that was
hurtled in various directions, and par
ticularly at the expense of Mr.. Hedges.
The speaker was frequently applauded
and with his talk the evenings festivi-
ties closed at midnight.
The clubhouse was attractively
adorned with Christmas green's and
poinsettia entwined with the decora-