New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1917-10-05

the situation in Connecticut. which
! must be relieved by the bill.
Mr.. Lonergan's remarks. are as fol-
, lows:
Mr. Speaker when I cite the off,
cial statistics in the office Of the
provost marshal general of the
army as showing that of the 159,955
registered on June in Connecticut
under the selective consumption law
5S,631 were aliens, I think the reason
for my remarks on so important a
subject as the CONSUMPTION of aliens is
Immediately clear 1t must also be
borne in mind that these 1851, while
classified as aliens, do not include
aliens who have taken out their first
citizenship papers and who, If they in
sist, are exempted from military duty
with our troops under existing treaties
between the United States and the re-
spective mother country of the diff
ferent men. With 36.6 per cent of
the total men Of registered age ex-
empt legally and probable addition
of several per cent. exempt by insist
ing on treaty rights, we have at once
a condition wherein nearly half the
total registered men of the state are
beyond the law. The corollary is that
American citizens are doing twice
their share. Where one American
citizen should be marching into camp
side by side with one foreign-born
resident, who perhaps has long en-
joyed the hospitality Of this land, two
Americans are actually going into
camp, leaving the alien behind to
smile, to enjoy the high wages neces-
Sarily following on manufacturing
prosperity, to hold the positions from
which the citizenry has been called.
The unfairness of this is too mani
fest to need proof.
Census Figures.
connecticut is an industrial state.
Which brings me directly to another
feature Of the draft not to be passed
over in silence. I note that the esti-
mated population Of the state, on
which the quota of 1887 men was
established, is placed at 1.719,623. If
there are 1,719,623 people in Connec-
ticut today, 100000 of them are locat-
ed where no one but the man who es-
timated that population can find them. !
The governor Of the state can not as
certain their whereabouts. The |
mayors of the different cities do not {,
know where they are. The state coun- !
Gil Of defense never heard of them. |
They were not around few months |
before, when an official state census
of men able to bear arms was taken.
my home town, and the cap
ital of the state is credited with $50,
697 inhabitants, while the whole city
knows that if we had more than 1907
600 we would declare a legal holiday
and celebrate. New Britain, the Sec
ond largest city in the district which
l have the honor to represent, is
credited with 76,942, but as much as
the proud residents would like to
have 1T so, modestly they must admit
they are several thousand below that
figure. So it is in all industrial CEN
Lers.
ITO be more exact. the population
Of Connecticut, according to the Off
cial Federal census of 1910. was L.
Ia 56. The Connecticut military
census, taken a few months before the
Federal registration, showed there
we're 5O6, 552 cards returned of men
over 16 years of age. OF this num-
Der, according to the report of the
State council of defense, 153,O67 were
between the ages of FL and 80 years,
ess 1 per cent for Duplicates or ISL
)67 men of the age required under
he later Federal law to register. But
he Federal registration returned 1907
$50 men of military age. Taking the
State figures, the council estimates
sos, $751; less 1 per cent for duplicates,
Or 5O1.487 men in the State able to
Dear arms. Adding per cent to cor