New Britain herald., 1919-11-05

l last year the directors of the state | Chamber of Comm cree have been ac- l lively engaged in reorganiZing that ! body. George B. Chandler has been 1 appointed secretary Efforts to enlist l the manufacturing interests, and the i banking and insurance interests of ] the state, have been very successful.
 | The Connecticut Chamber of Com
 | merce will be of far greater influence
 l in the future than it has been in the
 | past The annual meeting of the l state chamber will be held in New Haven on November 19 and 20.
 T am going to omit mention of all the other activities and leave them to the secretary, except the American ization which I wish to bring up for your especial consideration. Last No vember I made a report of the be- ginning of this work. It was car
 ried through the year financed by the city and under the Characterization committee of the Chamber of Com | merce and the board of education. The n ght school courses were enlarged to fit the needs, and active work carried on to bring our American customs, traditions, and ideals before the peoples of foreign birth. The citizen | ship examinations were made more | formal and impressive, and a recep-
 ! ton was held for each group of new | citizens when they received their | final papers. I wish every one here l would take the time to attend one
 l CT more of these receptions and show l their interest in tho new citizens. The | receptions are held in the Elihu Bur
 l 1itt school and will repay you for l the evening spent there. l But as important as citizenship
 l and education of foreigners are, l something far bigger must be done ii | we are to preserve our American in ! stitutions. Our forefathers were l educated with an intimate knowledge of political affairs. The town meet , ing probably had more to do with the ! trend of American conditions than i any other one thing. The men act to discuss and confer for the best ! things for the community and in that l way no one sat back and let a few | men run the town who might, for l one motive or another, be interested 1 in taking control. Everyone was ac- l tive, to the great benefit of town and | state. They were ready all together | | to attack the subject and solve the 1
 [ problem, and not supinely accept the l ! decision of a few and eNpend their 1 energies in grumbling about the mis- 1 | takes of others. l "Somcthing must be found to re- 1 l place the educational value of the old ]
 1 town meeting. With the foreigners, | | the national group often furnishes l
 this substitute. In Fitchburg the 1 l Films have developed a community or |
 l feeling and interest that has been 1 l most valuable. A bank, a real estate 1 company, a cooperative store etc., I were the tangible results, and beyond l these an interest in the welfare of , l the community and a self-respect and i | confidence are manifest.
 Tn New York some of these for 1 cisn nations groups arc doing d great 1 1 deal for their own people. The Jews and Italians in the ladies garments l l trade-S0, 900 of them--have attacked l l this problem and have started their i own evening schools and hire their 1 1 own teachers. Fifty thousand arc in ] attendance at these classes.
 "Thc finances for the Amcricaniza- 1 ] tion work were suddenly cut off last l l spring on account of the reduced tax 1 1 !utc. Several members of the, Cham | ] bcr Of Commerce felt that this must ! not Inc allowed to stop this important ! work. They immediately set out to 1 1 "alSe the necessary funds, with the | result that we were able to offer to :; l inc board of education the money { l necessary to continue this work, with the request that they carry it on as l II was in the winter of 1918 and 1919. 1 The board of education accepted the 1 proposition and are now keeping up 1 ! the work and receiving the funds of i J fered them by the Chamber of Com | iaercc. These funds are collected out 1 side of the regular income of the l Chamber of Commerce. l Fhc group idea was used by the 1 United States treasury in selling Lib | erty Bonds, and this method proved l 90 successful that though the foreign born number only II per cent they
 l furnished 50 per cent of the sub 1 1 ScrlherS This group plan is going to 1 n the best method of reaching tho
 foreign groups but what of the na- 1 tive group? Cannot the Chamber of 1 Commerce be made to fill an mpor- I tant place in the community by fur . ! msh1ng an open forum for the discus | sion of all topics of interest to the ! town, and of bringing us all into a , "etter knowledge Of the city's needs l and problems. It may well teach us ! all much about our city and our { neighbors. It can spread the gospel ] cf democracy which must be spread | in some such way. Germany tried to