The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-12-29
ALLEN WILL LEAD BUSINESS MEN'S
 UTILITIES FIGHT

directors of the State Business Mems Association in session yesterday af- ternoon at the Stratfield, arranged to keep in close touch with the situation during the coming session.
 After much discussion and deEbera- tion it was agreed to leave the mat er of appointing the legislative commit tee with a. small executive board, en. tdrely with President A. R. Jones. MT. Jones immediately announced that Normand E. Allen of Hartford would be continued as chairman of the com mittee. This met with applause and satisfaction. MT. Allen is head of lhe large dry goods house of the Sage & Allen Co. of Hartford. and has done remarkable service for public utilities tegislation during the past year.
 It is probable that most of the old members of ,hts important committee will be retained. The Bridgeport members are M W. Manwaring. A. M Cooper and s. E. Vincent
 After an excellent lunch in the main dining room the directors assembled In one of the parhors and listened to an address by Mayor E. T.. Buckingham. The Mayor after extending hearA y welcome to Bridgeport commended the business men for taking an inter est in State and city government. He said as a member of the local associa- tion he i1ad kept in touch with the work of the State body. He was glad to meet so many representatives from various cities of the state. s He then slripresSed on them the duty of business men to take part in the city government when called upon and he gave some graphic experiences of how hard he found it a year ago to get business men to go on the city boards. He said he had at least twenty refusals. This year he had not had so much difficulty. He spoke of tho police board appointments which he thoughr could not be im-
 He alluded to the agitation in many cities over the commission form of government. ''I think" said he, that our present system of city government can be made efficient If we have the right people In office, and 1t Is up to you gentlemen, to take more interest In politics and 10 help put good men in office.
 ''It may be that eventually a diff ferent system will be worked out that is advisable, but 1t all comes down to getting good men to take office. Someone said at lunch that of course the politicians will not favor the commission form of government. may be a politician, some say am, but am not opposed to any thing that makes for better government.
 "I am strongly in favor of the pro- posed plan to give the mayor more power. He does not have >enough at present to permit him to accomplish much. Mayor Gaynor of New York is praised for his fine work. but he can remove people from office when they do not suit him and has great .nowers. mayor should be given more power than Is done by our pres- ent charter"
 Mayor Buckingham was given three nt, ha nf marks.
 Alderman IT,. Fl. Jackson, who was present rose magnificently to the SUD- port of the much abused aldermen. He said in all his life he never saw 24 such conscientious men as comprise the board of which he was a mem Der. Figuratively he built halos around their heads. He deplored the common practice of newspapers to +alk of aldermen as though they were grafters. He said if the press would alter their tone it would be easier to get business men to serve on the board.
 MT. Jackson spoke strongly for the commission form of government and said he believed the time was com ing when that plan would be gener- ally adopted.
 s. E. Vincent told of what the Tax payers League was trying to accom-
 
 said his organization did not think the time ripe for commission government just yet.
 F. w. Bolande stated that the Bridgeport association was inquiring into the plan of commission govern ment and had had the matter ex- plained at a recent meeting by com petent speakers.
 Charles F. Merritt of Danbury said he hoped that Bridgeport would give the rest of the State the benefit of its experience and research. Perhaps if Bridgeport amended its charter sat isfactor.ly it might. be copied by the other cities.
 MT. Jackson and MT. Vincent had a lv enjoyed.
 Ralph O. Wells of Hartford spoke regarding public utilities legislation. He said that some seemed to tn nk the business men had already won, but this was not so. The opposition was now actively at work upon the Senators and Representatives and it was necessary that the business men be in position to continue their labors most vi~o"o"sly while the Legislature is in session.
 Senator M. W. Manwaring of this city created something of a sensa- tion when he stated he had heard from an authoritative source that the railroad people were confident that their interests would not be neglected and that even if some kind of bill should be adopted it would be no worse than the Barnufn bill of a year ago.
 The Bridgeport association was com by Secretary F. s. Valen- tine for the prompt manner in which it had contributed $500 to the public utilities educational! fund.
 President Jones stated the meeting l. a hoar, uerxx s.1rc. scSf11l in x,.rc,.1,