New Britain herald., 1917-10-11
Also Approves Appropriation of $3,500 for Use by War Bureau-Skepics Numer- 0us on Both Subjects.

Despite a volley of criticism, the
 administration succeeded in having | passed by the common council at a
 special meeting last night, an appro- 1 priation of $3,500 with which to f ] nance the War Bureau and the trans 1 fer of about $7,00O from the munich pal farm appropriation to a fund to 1 purchase potatoes. It was potato night with the council and the greater 1 part of the session was devoted to a 1 discussion of the elusive price of po- l tatoes. While they will not be dis 1 tributing potatoes with a half a l pound of tea this winter, the council ! as shown by the vote, believes that it 1 can hold a club over the heads of l speculators and smash hard when the gamblers attempt to run the price up. In addition to discussing potatoes ] from the municipal standpoint, the council listened to an informal talk on the same subject by Robert Scoville of Saulisbury, federal food adminis- trator for the state of Connecticut, who came to this city as the guest of Councilman George M. Landers, chair man of the committee on food conser- vation of the State Council of De- fense. MT. Scoville congratulated New Britain on it's foresight in establish ing municipal farm but said that it could not hope to control the price. Destiny, with the assistance of the New York market, will take care of that.
 Quorum Not Present.
 How interested are some council men in matters of great importance was shown by the lack of a quorum. Notices were sent to all mem mbers of the body late in the afternoon, an- nouncing the special meeting. The hour of 8 arrived, but not the coun- cil members. It was after 8:45 when Mayor Quigley decided to take the bull by the horns and call the meet
 ing to order, ruling that as there are now only 28 members in the council, two having resigned, those present, numbering IS, constituted quorum.
 First to hold the center of atten- tion was ex-Alderman Ernest w. Christ, chairman of the War Bureau. After resolution had been presented for appropriating $3,5OO for the War Bureau, MT. Christ eXtolled it's merits and he was so convincing that not a voice was raised in opposition when the vote was taken, although the spirit of Missouri was shown by several of the members.
 MT. Christ explained the purposes of the War Bureau, which have been published at length in the public press on several occasions. Among his statements was one that interested, if not startled, his auditors-that New Britain had been asked to provide, for emergency purposes, high power automo piles for use by the Secret 1,~ t~,%t l that the city might need a fleet of these cars for the, purpose of rush. ing as many as 500 men to any cer- tain spot, in case of disorder Among the aims of the War Bureau, he said, was to have a survey of hospitals and private homes where wounded might be accommodated, if need be. A brand new proposition was brought to light when MT. Christ said the bureau intended to take a survey of dormant labor so that people could assist merchants by giving part of their time to business establishments to offset the lure of high wages 1n industries, which may cause deple- tion in the ranks of store employees. As an instance of the need of a cen- tral body such as the War Bureau intends to be, he spoke of a recent request from the federal government for 500 naturahzed citizens, leaders among their nationalities, which could not be provided because centralized bureau was not in existence.
 The general public should contri- bute to the $3,5OO through taxation, MT. Christ said, because it is essential ly public matter He didn't antici- pate appearing before the council again to ask for further appropria- tions because he believed the funds of the future will come from private sources. He expressed the opinion that certain clerks in city hall would be glad to assist.
 Likes Plan. But.
 Alderman Curtis of the third ward said he was in sympathy with the resolution and the purposes of the War Bureau but. He didn't believe the city could be called upon to con- tribute toward the support of soldiers dependents as the state and federal governments should take care of that. It was the spirit of the selective draft act not to take into service those hav-
 ing dependents, he said. By support ing dependents and also paying taxes to the federal government, New Brit
 ain would be under a system of double
 taxation, he claimed.
 MT. Christ assured his ward repre-
 sentative that, if possible, money
 would be secured from the state for
 soldiers dependents.
 Mayor Quigley waved Alderman
 Jester into the chair and, taking the
 floor, said his office had been over- whelmed, since the draft occurred,
 with requests for soldiers addresses and for financial relief. He said many foreign born families had sent men to the colors and were unable to write to their relatives, not having had the advantages of education. He told the council 101 things a day come up that a War Bureau could