Norwich bulletin., 1913-02-13

N programme Of excepuoHd mtei cSi
 lhat which occupied the winter
 .on of the New London County
 c.-icaI society held Wednesday aa-
 con in the Converse Art gallery
 meeting was of especial. note oW-
 tD the presentation of .. handsome
 xo1 portrait of the late Hon. David
 Wells the gift of his daughter-an- .avr Mrs Marietta Allcroft, of Eng land, and an exceptionally 1nteresuns address on the Graphic Arts by Ozaas Dodge. Mir Dodge had an unusual display of engravings te illustrate nls talk. many of them by the best known masters The whole collection valued at about $4,oo0. was loaned MT Dooge for the occasion by the Frederick kep- pel S, Co. of New York city. Botn before and after the meeting MT. Dodge accompanied those present apout tnS room, pointing out the differences ana notable points of the various engTav- ines The most valuable piece of work of the whole collection was small line engraving valued at s6se. There was also an interesting display ef MT, Dodgess own work.
 Presentation by L. o. Smith
 President Ernest F. Rogers presided st the session and spoke briefly lie csIaed upon Leonard O. Smith for re por4 ca securing the picture of the late Dayid A WeTFs, . former president or the society MT. Smith spoke as fof- lows, the picture being unveiled ourihs his address:
 MT. President. Members Of the New
 London County Historical Society,
 Ladies and Gentlemen:
 Ton will remember that at our last uEoe6fng in Slater hall one year ago ear honored president Ernest sE. hos ers expressed a wish that the society might have a portrait of the late Davld A. Wells to hang among others or those who were once presidents of th1s se- ctety. Jonathan TrunabaH and l were appointed committee to see II sucn a one couEd be obtained.
 Letters were written by MT. Trum- b1iI1 to two or three outside ---c1ties where he had hoped to secure one, but none could be found.
 Finally fl occurred to me to write to Aas daughter-1n-1aws Mrs. Marietta A1fcroft, in England
 She replied. *I much regret that no ror4rsftz existo But she expressed 111uch interest in the plan, stating fur ti1er that his memory was very dear to her and added that if we would nave an enlarged engraving made Of 9 small picture which she enclosed she would pay all charges and take pleasure Tn presenting 1t to the society
 Tn the name, therefore, of Mrs. Marietta A11croft, your coaaanaittee present this portrait to the New Lon don Historical society,"
 Two Distinguished Names.
 It is perhaps fitting that I should add a few words more concerning h1m whose name we thus honor by placing this portrait upon the walls of our historical society. The records show that the first president of the society was our distinguished citizen, Hon. Lafayette S. Foster It gives me all name because MT Foster was a Frank lin boy-boIn in my own native town The people in the town of Franklin take great pride in counting him an honored son
 worthy successor of MT. Foster was Hon. David AInes Wells, Massa- -chusetts boy born in Springfield in the year 1S2es graduate Of Williams school. ME. Wells was the author of several text books on chemistry, geolo- gy and physics.
 After the close of the Civil war he was made chairman of a committee to inquire into methods of raising the revenues of-the country and was final Iy appointed commissioner of internal revenue of the United States
 He rendered other distinguished ser vices both to the state and nation
 Later in life he became a, strong advocate of free trade, but in this he did not have the support of the dom inant party nor of a majority of the people of the country
 Accepted by A. H. Brewer.
 President Rogers thanked MT Smith for his efforts in securing the portrait and called upon Arthur H. Brewer for a speech of acceptance MT. Brewer, who was an intimate personal friend of the late MT Wells. gave many "reminiscences and told of his charac- ter.
 It was MT. Wells, said Mr. Brewer who was really instrumental in saving the union back in 1884, when the United States bonds were in a, peril ous state of depression He was then a teacher in Troy, N 4, and ne sprang prominently into public life through the publication in that year of an essay on the resources and debt-4 paying ability Of the United States, bearing the title of Our Burden and Our Strength Originally prepared as an essay for a local club, it was almost immediately reprinted by the Loyal Publication society of New Y ork and also by the United States government and became the great pamphlet of the war period. circulating in this coun- try and in Europe, where it was trans. lated into French and German,t to the extent of many thousand copies and strengthening the credit of the govern ment-as was expressed at the time as much as would have been accom- plished by a great and successful bat tie. One result of this publication was conference between President Lin- coin and Mir Wells, at the request of the former, in February, 1865. as to the best means of dealing with the great national debt which the war had en- tailed and the best method of raising the revenue through taxation for the payment of the interest and for de- frayfng also the great concurrent in- crease in the expenses of the govern ment. Congress subsequently raised a commission to inquire into the matter and MT, Wells was appointed it's chairman. The report of the commits sion, mainly the result of MT. Wells inv estigations was of such a ma sterly character that the commission was dissolved and a special office. running for fei1r -eaFs never before OF since