New Britain herald., 1915-04-20
COMMUNICATED.
Appropriation For Appeal Made For
 New Britain Institute.
New York. April 20. 1915.


 pruning hook. inserted by the common council in the appropriation allotted to the Institute. must be pullel out. Economy in municipal administration and lower tax rate are, as a rule, to be commended, but not when the bur den of retrenchment falls unjustly on free public library. If you believe in the Institute and its increased eff ciency, your place is at the city meet ing where the appropriation comes up for reconsider ration.
 Rallying to the defense of a library might easily call forth the familiar phrases about our responsibilities to rekindle the dying torch Of literature and culture. But that is not my pur- pose. Finance Is q subject dealing with hard, cold facts. Brevity and to- the-pointneSs, are frequently twin souls of any appeal, to say nothing os wit
 After a somewhat detailed study of the Institute and it's needs, l suggest the following reasons why the city meeting should restore to the library the $3,000 clipped from it's budget by . the common council and restore also the $1.50O Topped off by the board of finance and taxation if possible:
 CD. Because it is foolish to econ- omize on essentials. Try to solve the 1 nigh cost of living by eliminating your board bill or room rent, and you will l ma that there's d limit to economy so 1t is with the Institute which con- i tributes to New Britain that wonder i Iully composite intellectual food which we call supplementary education. The | city cannot get along without the li- brary and the library cannot stand fatal cut in its appropriation. (2) Because in economy, the human side takes precedent over the techni- | cal. I heard Commissioner John A. l klngsbury of the New York Depart ment of Charities say. recently, that | In practicing economy he always man. aged to err on the side of humanity. rather than on the side of efficiency l Noicing this same attitude, Marcus M. Marks, president of the Borough of | Manhattan, says that the real thing 1 in his job is the man who walks on the pavements or who lives in the tene- ments, not the pavements and the ten- ements, important ts they are in bor- ough administration. Can you imagine 1 any agency in New Britain which touches humanity more closely than the Institute?
 It Is free,--open to oall,--stimulating to democracy. 1t ranks with the pub lie schools in the difficult work of assimulating strangers from many lands who are fortunate in adopting New Britain as their home. Through the Institute they learn the best of our local and national traditions while books in their native language tend to preserve for them the lustre and finer sensibilties of customs in for eign lands.
 And when you come to what child ren find in the Institute, the typewrit- CT acts as though it would like to purr along for hours. Alice in Won derland never had a more delightful experience than some of the little folks who have happened to wander to the storyland realm known as the Children's room. Most any Saturday afternoon, members of the common council can find New Britain future citizenship damned into over-crowded quarters, their bright eyes shining ghostly clear in the dim light of the
 
 wholesome amusement. With a de- creased appropriation such sights as these could not be.
 Through the children, the Institute has an ever-increasing reflex infu- ence in the homes. Let the young friends of the ckildren's room tell their own story:
 My father could not read correct so one day I brought home d book in which he was very much interested so he went on reading it and now he can read a book without mistakes"
 My mother often sits down and reads them (children's books) when her work is done and she is tired"
 My mother would take my book ard read it 2nd my h"others would help her if she could not pronounce the word"
 Such little notes as these in childish scrawls comprise a large share of the Institutes bill of particulars on the side of humanity. An error of s4.50O on this side should be made at to- nights city meeting. not because it's human to err but because humanity demands such errors.
 (3) Because the library exercises an elevating influence, a chance for everyone to get above the smoky anh noisy industriaiism that saturates New Britain to greatness.
 (4) Because the city and it's gov ernment is on trial in this situation. It behooves the fifth city in any state to treat it's public library with due consideration. This is un age of watchful and critical observation. one city of another.
 hn suicidal. A reduction of twenty-five per cent in the income of an institu- ton which has had r stationary ,,ur,o nf inppD1p niybt