The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-16

Washington, Nov. 16-WomenL of
 America, under the auspices of the wonan's section of the Navy League
 of the United States came to the sup port of President Wilson's national
 defense program It was the first formal national defense conference of
 women of all sections of the country. They gathered more than a thousand
 strong.
 There were young women, middle aged women and white-haired won-
 en, All were of one accord. and the
 conference was pronounced a magnifi-
 cent success by prominent men and
 women who listened to the stirring appeals.
 A permanent organization of the W wo1nan's section was effected through
 the adoption of. the report of, the
 Committee on Nornin ions, presented
 by Mrs. Mary Logan Tucker, daugh- ter Of Gen. John A. Logan, which
 named one prominent woman in each
 state and in the District of Colum-
 bfa, Hawaii and the Panama, Canal
 Zone as a member of the Board of Governors.
 Mrs Helena Hill Weed presented the report of the Resolutions Com Tnittee. When Mrs. Weed read the resolutions commending the stand taken. by President Wilson and other
 Federal officials in favor of national preparedness Miss Elizabeth EIli- the delegation to signify approval by rising. Every woman-and the sprinkl1ng of prominent men pres .ent-rese and began to applaud wig .orousJ
 The resolutions follow:
 ''Be it. resolved, That the Womanss National Defense Conference of the 1f r than President Wilson. Speaker Clark, the Secretary of the Navy. the secre- tary of War and other officials for the patriotic stand they have taken for the national defense .An4. but it fur ther E7s .f1I flz
 Resolved, That we support the President in his announced purpose to demand from Congress, on behalf of the American people, the imm e1i- ate necessity legislation for national defense
 Still another resolution specifically calls upon the President, both Houses of Congress and all other public ser wants of the nation fsto do all that lies in their power to provide suffi- eient national defenses to protect this country. from invasion and the threats of war
 women was visibly moved when one speaker after another pointed out the absolute need of preparedness. Wo- F en fairly gasped when Col. Robert M. Thompson. president of the Navy League, declared that the largest amount spent On the navy by this country in any year was ssomething less than we spend for automobile tires The gasp was even more pro- when Col. Thompson irnTne- diately .afterward declared that Ion the army we spend much, less than we do for chewing gum 7
 If you will spend on your army and navy what you spend on motion pie lures the insurance against war will be com mpIete,'' he continued "No na- ton or combination of nations will care to attack us.''
 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, declared that to sthe parting of the. ways Heretofore as the years have come and gone he said, i've have put the issue away from us. and decided to- let our children solve it. Now we can ignore it no longer. That the navy is inadequate has been known for years, especially to naval officers, who are in the present position to judge But they were called laIarmists when ever they mentioned the subject. I've must have adequate prepared ness. Half a navy would be useless. If I learned today that our navy must be prepared for war in two weeks. I would be obliged to say 1t could not be done. It couTd not be made ready to do it's best work within two months. Plans for real war would call for 4o,- 900 more men for our first line and 50,000 for the second 1ine.''e
 Arnira1 .Caspar Goodrich, first vice president and acting president of the American Society, a new patriotic or ganization of men and women which was founded in New York last week, urged the women present to lend