New Britain herald., 1927-04-30

| Lack of interest in service on pub l lie commissions may be traceable to such an incident as that which oc- cured this week when the common
 council rejected recommendation
 of the police board for the purchase of q certain type of automobile to be used in the police department. The commissioners had given hours
 Of study to the proposition and the recommendation represented their composite judgment arrived at after great deliberation. But in Q twink i ling their work was undone by mem , bers of the council who preferred | other makes of automobiles. Whether i they actually believed that another 1 type was better or were prompted ! by some other motives has not been
 disclosed. However, that is beside
 the point. The fact stands out that the judgment of the commission was ignored and its work went for [ naught.
 1 The path Of mayor would be i strewn with roses if he could per
 suade responsible citizens to serve on i his commissions. When a man is elected mayor he is deluged with ap- plicatons for appointment Unfor- 1 tunately many of the applicants are not suited by business experience or temperament to serve. The type de- sired must be sought and the argu- ment is usually offered that they do not want to get mixed up in public office because of the criticism 10 which they are subjected as we'll as the fact that their decisions are sub ject to veto by others who may not be as we'll qualified to pass judg- ment. The instance this week en- phasizes that objection. The police commission knew what 1t wanted and what is needed but the common council, some of whose members are frequently suspected of not being any too bright. snapped their fingers at the recommendation and upset all plans made by the commission. In explanation Of, rather than in defense of civic clubs. their presi- dtlllsS OI oIIlIflS iloiulllS poSltlollo corresponding to that of club president, should band together in a campaign to let the public know
 more of why they exist, what
 prompted their creation. what they
 aim to do, why. and how.
 Service clubs are frequently heard
 of, yet little understood. New Brit ain has five-Rotary. Lions, Kiwan-
 is, Exchange and Probus, in the
 order of their organization. They
 meet weekly at the Burritt hotel.
 have lunch, hear q speaker, and
 sometimes have a program that, ad-
 mittedly, smacks of horseplay. It is this feature that gives rise to much
 of the criticism and sheer of a small
 group of persons. Yet these same persons upon serious reflection will
 admit their lodge meetings to be
 usually drab and uninteresting and
 might. If they are not too greatly
 obsessed with the notion of the importance of their rituals (often-
 times following it more closely in
 word than in deed) might admit
 their meetings would profit by the injection of some similar horseplay. They can recall readily of how their neighbor at a monday meeting was awarded a brown derby, was elect ed the homeliest man or was sen- tenccd by a mock court to carry out some sentence, not always savoring of dignity: but mention of civic clubs does not readily conjure up thoughts of crippel children made happy by the funds raised by the civic organizations. of the families
 made glad at holiday time when
 the horn of plenty is directed to-
 ward them through the agency of some civic group. of the countless
 other deeds accomplished by the
 Rotary, Lions, kiwanis, Exchange
 or Probus.
 Civic clubs are cosmopolitan and all-em bracing. Usually they draw
 their membership from every line
 of business and from all professions
 to obtain the great benefits that come from a chrystallization Of the best things in all lines of endeavor. They are considered to be clubs of
 one hour week eXistance, yet their officers and frequently their members devote much Of their time
 to unsung works of charity and up-
 lift.
 Civic clubs are a godsend to any community. They should not hide
 their light under bushel. but should proclaim themselves and
 their objectives to the public ear so
 that an interested community may
 join with them and share in the sat-
 isfaction that comes with the per
 formance of a deed well done.
 Early signs point to the possible ity of the next presidential cam-
 paign being conducted on contro- versy regarding fitness for office of
 candidates on the ground of their religious belief. To date, everything else seems to be obscured in spite
 of the fact that there are momen- tous issues facing the public which
 will have more effect on the future
 of the United States than will the religion of any individual
 Relief for farmers should he one consideration discussed by candi-
 dates. Raisers of crops in the mid
 west and west are admittedly in a