New Britain herald., 1926-06-10
Charge Made In "Pop- py" That Clique Con- trols Recreation Quar- ters Furnished By City.
Threat Made to Organize Political Club to Show These Gentlemen What
 Public Thinks of Them"
Special 10 The Herald1


 Bristol, June 10, -- Claiming dis. elimination in the matter Of the pse ! Of the club rooms in the city han. the Poppy" the official organ of tho Connecticut department, Veter- ! ans of Foreign Wars. '. &, in it's June issue out this morning, bitter iy arraignscity officials for permit4 ting a small clique" Of men to forbid Veterans Of Foreign Wars admission to the club rooms for which the city government of 1919 appropriated S6,o00 to equip and furnish Tor the use of Its veterans.
 Restricted to six Men
 The article appearing in the Poppy" which is edited in this city, is in part as follows:
 For several years past less than six men have used the club rooms as private club house for them selves. They keep it so securely locked that a high official of their organization. American Legion Ma tional Chaplain Patrick, who visited Bristol two weeks ago and a Legion committee Of reception spent all one afternoon trying to locate someone with a key 10 get in.
 The Harold F. Emmett Post re- gently pctitioned the city govern ment to have the discrimination re- moved and were treated with con- tempt that has stirred up the in- dignation of the entire membership who have now taken up the chal- lenge.
 The exclusive clique that control the rooms are politicians who secure their special favors by making cer- l tain people believe that they con- troi the veterans vote and can de- liver it. The veterans are going To take steps that will most emphati- cally demonstrate that they are en- tirely discreditod among the vet erans who have long resented their narrow minded intolerance.
 Legion Men Gagged?
 Fair minded members Of Seiche. prey Post, American Legion, are not allowed to bring the matter up in their meeting. Every attempt is met by the steamroller process. While members of the Legion are not excluded by rules like the Vet erans of Foreign Wars, the frigid air of snobbsh aristocracy by tue men in charge. who served in the war in camps in this country and have read that real veterans of the war have slept and lived in mud and horrors have had cooties on them. so the real veterans in the legion are also froze out by that cold inhospi- table air and lack of keys for fear they might contaminate the $6.O0p worth of equipment that the tax payers money bought.
 Threat to Expose Ring
 For years the veterans have tried every way without undue pub- licity to secure fair treatment but now they have determined to make a good hard fight and with public ity campaign expose the ring that has cheated the veterans out of the club rooms the city provided.
 Many business men when told of the situation have assured the vet erans of their loyal support.
 "The members Of the post are go- ing to organize political club so that they can give executive direction in politics to show these gentlemen what the public thinks of them"
 Seicheprey Post of the American Legion and Harold r. Emmett Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, have been at ioggerheads over the club situa- ton and other matters for a long time and just what the ultimate re- suit of the whole matter will be is prohlematical.