The Press., 1912-05-22
Annual Meeting
Of State Federation of Wom' ems Clubs at Stafford
 Springs.

i Phipps of Waterbury, presided, ant
 i'll the absence of the recording secre tary, Miss Nettie O. Smith of Cheshire
 Mrs. Lewis Mclaughlin of the Cur rent Events club was elected secretary
 pro tenn. Rev. Marian Hastings Jones, pastor of the Staffordville Congrega ] tiona1 church, member of the hostess
 club, gave the invocation. Mrs Willis H. Reed, president of the en
 tertaining club, and Rev. R. O. Clapl of the Congregational church, vel comed the guests in short, cordial ad dresses. ..-..s
 Mrs. Phipps ill her response assuree the Stafford ladies that the Federation appreciated their hospitality, ant
 should enjoy it to the utmost. Mrs. Phipps said in part: 1T like tc think of our wo mems clubs, scattered
 throughout the entire state, as smaller
 lights, making brighter each commu
 nifty, and when we come together II these large meetings it seems like { great brilliant illumination. w.
 have heard of your food-waters O. devastation, but may this flood oi women leave only a mark of helpful
 ness. We have had our anticipation and now comes our realization, anC
 in our retrospection may we not thinl
 of our own selfish gain, but hope tha we have given some inspiration tt others. We are only small part o.
 the nearly a million club womer
 scattered throughout the world" !"
 Greetings were received from Mrs.
 Philip Moore, General Federation
 president; Mrs. Alvin R. Bailey
 General Federation director for New England; Mrs. T. K. Noble, honorary state president; Mrs. J. R. Buell.
 state regent D. A. R.; Canal Zone Federation, Panama; Vermont statt president, Mrs. Watson l.. Wassom
 Maine president, Mrs. Stanley Plum
 mer; New Mexico president, Mrs. Laura w. Johnson; Missouri presi dent, Mrs. Harriet E. Sheppard; a1it from the following states: Minnesota, Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, Michi gan, North Dakota, Iowa, California, Georgia, South Carolina, Wyoming. Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Wis consin and Pennsylvania, all of whicl are now in annual meeting.
 Mrs. I. s. Jennings of South Nor
 walk, chairman of the Civics commit
 tee, told of club work throughout the state. Among the efforts mentioned were the giving of Civics place o1 the club program, beautifying cities and towns, placing waste paper anG garbage receptacles, fly campaigns, city ordinance observance, pure food investigation, restoration of ceme' teries, sane Fourth of July agitation, garden contests, making more attrac- tive school buildings and any work which makes for good citizenship.
 Mrs. Anna Sturges Duryea of Bos
 ton, finely equipped worker for the "World Peace Foundation, made an eloquent plea for world peace. "Prob. ably there is not person who believes in war, yet somehow there seems tC be glory to many in the glitter and glace of gilt buttons. But where is the glory in flowing blood? Gen. Sherman said, War is hell;' and ii was Gen. Grant who said, T am tired of war, and Let us have peacep The agitation for peace among nations has brought about positive and accurate movement which has been surely and steadily growing since the "First Hague Conference'' in 1899. Through the new conditions brought about by modern civilization we have come in- to closer touch with foreign nations, and we have come to realize that, though many still insist in calling them strangers, they are, or are will ling to be, our friends. The walls of separation have been broken down and we are so closely allied, socially and commercially, that we suffer when they suffer, and we must stand or fall together. Time was when it was necessary for nations to fight in order to establish themselves, but with a growing larger conscientiousness we now feel our brotherhood, and know that the time has passed when any good can come of injuring another nation. Time is too precious to be interrupted by war and our prominent men of business all over the country say, If we fight to a finish we are bankrupt, whether we lose or win. Peace among nations is no theory, but possible, practical thing and will come when we have a better under and fellowship with the world nations. All the nations of Christendom are now piling up arma- ment, and America, without an enemy, has spent more than $2, 25O, : 900, 900 for wars past and present, while it is fact that not 15, 1000 American soldiers were ever lost by foreign bullets. No nation has ever declared war against us since we be- came a nation, yet the last U. s. treasury report shows that 70 per cent. of the United States annual in- come is extended for army, navy and past wars. We can protect our na- tional life in not only theoretically but in practically better way. The peace organizations, in working for the abolition of war, have this better thing to place in it's stead. People cannot be educated to this viewpoint at once, yet many of the cruelties of