New Britain herald., 1919-03-05

cutors in the administration Qx the .ttird doeroe. The official record of tbe .inyestigation' should be read bv every citizen of the United States. It will pro, test Vindication pos siblc of the soundness of the National security leagues idea in taking up tho cudgnl for the people in the en- deaNor to improve the standard of their representations in congress
 "House Misicd"
 The officers of the league have suspected since the opening hearing that the committees report would be the soVerest possible arraignmcnt of the league and it's supporters. We will probably prepare a detailed an SWer as soon as VIC receive a copy of the report.
 'Thc Investigation was ConcelFCd in error, if not in malice. The rep resentatiVe' who introduced the reS0- luton in the house which resulted Tn the Investigation voted against inc declaration of war and against ld- bling the notorious MCLenOrc feSo- hutton. The house was n1lSted I'''o taking his false and fantastlCal faN mgs seriously. As a matter or lac"' the "nvcstigut ion should have occu- pied one-halr day, instead or nearIH two months of the valuable tune ol inc members of the committee, in which, under the prctenSc Of taking testimony. they indulgcd in long and heated, humorous and pathetic ar&u- n,ents with officers and employees Of tho lcaguc in New York, Chicago and Washin gtOn. It was charged that the league had spen- $t,200.0 in it's activities last fall to educate the peo- pie to the assurance of tho election of a new congress of tho highest loy- atty and ability. It took exactly 120 seconds to file Q complete statement of the expenditures of the leagues committee on congress- which to- tailed $3.995.6S. This $1.200, 900 myth, the league has since learned. was based on a published estimate of the possible cost of an elaborate patriotic educational campaign in the heat of the war which was not carried out for the simple reason that the money was not raised. The entire expendi- ture of the league since it's organiZa- ton Tn December, 1914, In all it's great work for Preparedness, it's many Win theIWar activities and its great
 
 ing over four years. have totalled only $521, ,67S.10. After these facts were presented to the committee at the opening sessions, the reputable news papers of the country either ignored the Investigation or extended their sympathy to the league for the un- necessary annoyance to which 1t was being subjected.
 Not in Politics.
 "The committee displayed a very evident desire to convict the league of q violation of the corrupt prac- tices act in not having filed a state mcnt of the expenditures of it's com mittee on congress- To tell the truth, it never occurred to any officer of the league that it's absolute partisan and non-political, in any unselflsh in depreciation of tho word, activities last fall came in the remotest degree within tho provisions of that act. There was not the slightest objection to the filing of this statement and this would have been dono if any of us had realized that it was required by any law or would interest tho na- tion's busy lawmakers. They have it now, and 1t has not pleased them from the day it was submitted. Tn fact, the manner of it's reception was al { ost one of pique. Immediately the ! committee instituted a series of insin- nations which persisted to the close of the hearings to the effect that the ! leagues so-called political activities were financed by the Carnegie cor i poration and John D. Rockefeller. i Tho league is proud of the fact that ] 1 members of the committee were ! pleased to refer to repeatedly as the . Carnegie Steel corporation, but is, 1 in reality, the holding company for the financing of all of MT. Carnegie's l philanthropies-Mr. Rockefeller, and many other men of large means--the ! same men who have bought heaviest | of Liberty Bonds and endowed the ! Red Cross, the !. M. C. A. and other patriotic war endeavors--so valued l the great educational work of the Ma tional Security league that they gave ! libcrally in its support. But not one ! penny of this money was spent by the t leagues 'committce on congress- It's ! work was financed entirely by con- tribuions for that specific purpose, mostly in small sums,
 l No Munitions Money.
 The committed also cXerted itself l to the utmost to prove that the league was organized and developed ] in the interest of munitions manufac- ! turers. The founders of the league l foresaw this cry tho day the league
 was formed, and, believing in pre- paredness, established a positive rule | against the acceptance oe contrihu-