New Britain herald., 1918-12-17
Chamber of Commerce Dinner.

Previous to Mr.. Taft's appearance
at Fox's theater he was rendered a
dinner at the Elks' club under the
auspices of the Chamber of Com
merce. An excellent menu was
served to over $50 leading manu-
facturers, business men, bankers and
clergymen under the direction of
Mrs. Kronholm, the official Red Cross
caterer. Lynch's orchestra furnished
popular music and the guests joined
In the choruses. The dinner was
opened with grace being said by Rev.
DR.. George w. G. Hill, pastor OF the
South Congreg ational church.
President r.. w. Pelton of the Cham
Der of Commerce presided and in
troduced Mn. Taft, who was received
with prolonged applause.
The guest of honor began his in
formal talk by saying his education
had been sadly neglected-he had
been all around New Britain and had
frequently seen it from the windows
Of railroad trains but this was his
first visit to "our hive Of industry,
as he described it.
Mr.. Taft paid a high compliment to
the Chamber OF Commerce when he
said it was a force of great energy in
helping to prosecute the war. He re-
called that the United States Chamber
Of Comm cree was organized while he
was occupying the executive mansion
at Washington.
"Chambers of comm cree represent
the civic community spirit, they are
more expressive than the common
council and I say that with all defer
ence to that body" Mr.. Taft said. His
reference to the common council
brought forth a ripple of laughter.
Speaking Of Americanization. Mr..
Taft said nothing had SO awakened the
country as the selective draft law,
which took one or more boys from
every family. THE soldiers weld a
union between their parents Of foreign
birth and us that will never be
broken" he declared.
The volunteer army is not to be
compared with the influence on the
community that the draft army has
had. the speaker asserted 1t is
thoroughly democratic, making. as it
does the selection not according to
class but according to the usefulness
of men for government purposes, he
said.
"How much money would we have
in the treasury if we depended on
voluntary contributions ?" Mr.. Taft
asked. "It was the draft that gave us
two million men we sent across the
seas and it was the draft that gave us
two million more on this side Of the
ocean although I do not for a moment
want to minimize the Importance of
the valor of the National Guard. 1t
was the greatest regret Of their lives
to the boys who stayed on this side
that Germany was so yellow she drew
out of the war Il year before she had
the right to withdraw. The German
m orale was hit just as hard by the
two million who remained in this
country and who were ready to go over
and stay till it was over, over there
as it was by the two million who went.
Proud of Connecticut.
ct am a citizen of Connecticut and
I am proud of Connecticut. I former
ly lived in the former Connecticut
Western Reserve in Ohio and I
thought that was the greatest part of
Ohio-until the progressives got in.
CONNECTICUT has never received the
credit for what it has done because it
is a small state. But it has never
failed when the United States needed
organized eIIlClenCy. connecticut gave
the best trained and best equipped
soldiers to the Revolutionary war In
the establishment of the Constitution
al, Connecticut furnished the model.
Connecticut troops were first in this
war and the roll of dead shows no
state in the union is entitled to greater
credit. I cannot say how much the
country owes to this state for it's con-
tribution in material things that
helped to win the war. No one can
visit Bridgeport, for instance, without