This Day in History: 1934-05-04

At their annual elections, the Mahwah Post of the American Legion chose Police Chief Charles E. Smith commander to succeed Edward P. Hugues. Frank J. Peppe was named the new service officer. He replaced James V. Conlan who had served in the post for a number of years. Many in the Post commended Conlan’s work in behalf of needy veterans during the darkest days of the depression. Present for the meeting was County Commander Charles V. Bacon, a former Commander of the Mahwah post. He addressed the meeting on a number of topics of current interest. He particularly defended the Legion against charges that they had used their political influence to push through the independent offices bill containing large sums for veterans benefits. He said that most of the money was to go to civil servants and to veterans of the Spanish-American War.