The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-12-15
COP Party Journal
Points Out Mistake
In Local Policies
Local Republican Leadership Sharply Criticized in Re-
cent Article-RaciaI Prejudice Needs to Be
Eliminated, Claims Writer

cent ArtlCle--NaClal ]
Eliminated, G
Failure of the Republica
bury to give the mayoralty
M. Perriello Is criticized by Il
state COP. organ, In an al
The refusal to give the rlomin
to have been IAN inane snub
The article, titled Connect
tan View" claims that racial
In the party ranks II It Is to be vic
torious In the cities Of the state.
It Is charged that normally Replib-
lican wards In New Haven fell
down" In balloting for Alderman
william Celentano, the Republican
candidate for mayor.
Resentment Aroused
Mayor Perriello, the article states,
twas refused nomination in his own
right, although 1t was generally
agreed that he had done an excel
lent Job while occupying that office"
Italian voters resentment at the
slight led To the Democratic Victory,
Gays the writer.
It Is suggested that the "Repub-
lican districts do as good a Job :or
O'Brien, or Monsani, or Cohen, Us
they do for Smith or Jones'" since
plymouth Rock and family tree
haven't as much influence with the
average voters as they used TO
have"
The article from the Connecticut
State Journal follows;
Connecticut Republicans showed
favorable reactions to the city cleo
tions during the past month III
Hartford, New Haven, Meriden ard
Rockville. Connecticut Democrats
likewise were pleased with their
showings In Putnam. Willimantic.
waterbury and even In Bridgeport
OF course, the outstanding Demo-
cratic victory was In Waterbury
the outstanding Republican trl-
umph In Meriden. But out Of these
city election results come some de-
finite education, II political workers
and leaders desire to be educated.
Won And Lost
"1n Waterbury, an 1talian-Arner-
lean Republican incumbent Of the
mayors offlcc was refused nominal
ton In his own right. although It
was generally agreed he had done
an excellent Job while occupying
that Office. It can't be proved that
the Italian American voters OF Wa
terbuiy resented the action 100 per
cent, but II can be stated that they
are human beings with feelings. So
Waterbury's Republican nominee
bit the dust by good majority
while Celentano In New Haven. was
reducing the previous Democratic
ma ority there by more than TO-
900 votes
ITALIAN American votes are to.
day the balance Of power In New
Haven. They are increasing In i'm
portance IN Hartford. Waterbury,
Bridgeport. Stamford, Norwalk. Tor
rington, New Britain, New London,
Willimantic, Meriden, Middletown.
the Naugatuck Valley and scores OF
other places. In many OF these Sec
tons. political leaders are cogniz-
ant Of this situation, and are recog-
nizfng 1t. Frank Pallotti In Hartford
and Charlie Arrigoni In Durham
may be outstanding In their field at
the mo:ient, but Connecticut may
boast other really outstanding Ital-
ian Americans. Three years ago,
George DiCenzo Of New Haven ran
for secretary of state, and q more
polished speaker or more high class
personality has never been seen
travelling the state. He still Is In de-
mand. A more capable legislator
and q. more conscientious or popular
individual than Tony Rich OF Bris-
toll can't be found. Add Bill Cenen-
tho OF New Haven TO this list after
this November's result too.
"Inane Snub"
"Bridgeport's factional differences
made the Republican nominee there
q poor third In the election q month
ago. Waterburys inane snub OF Its
Italian American vote brought de-
feat In the one city which might
have legitimately expected q Repub-
lican victory. Hartford recognized
that we are becoming cosmopolitan,
made a good nomination and
good showing. Meriden learned
about good nominations two years
ago. kept q good man In Office by n
walloping increase over his previous
majority.
docs all this show anything 10
Connecticut Republicans? Can nor
NAL Republican" wards IN some OF
our cities continue 10 turn away
from candidates for local Office be-
cause OF prejudice? II so, what hap
pens whe nthe "other" wards and
districts retaliate In the future?
And, on huma mature basis,
won't they be inclined to do SOP Did
Waterbury demonstrate II? And did
the distribution Of the record Re-
publican vote In New Haven show
1t? We think so.
About As per cent Of Connecti-
cuts voting population Is Catholic.
In New Haven, almost 80 per cent
Of voters there are of Italian Amer
lean extraction. We tried to figure
some Of the other cities, but data
was not obtainable. The ratio would
be large ard impressive in many
places, however.
Farley Solved II
Perhaps in past years, the Re-
publican Party In Connecticut did
MT need to concern itself so much
about problems like this one. But
Mr.. F. D. Roosevelt and Mr.. James
A. Farley have made 1t a present
problem. Mr.. Farley stole the Re-