A cloth diaper importer has offered this town a year's worth of free diapers to show his appreciation for the town fathers' refusing to let welfare recipients buy the disposable kind. Philip D. Anderson, president of Empire Trading Co. Ltd. of Syracuse, N.Y., said he will supply as many cotton diapers as the town needs at no charge. He said his offer was prompted by a news story about the town's Feb. 16 decision to remove disposable diapers from the list of allowable local welfare expenses. Anderson said his company supplies diaper services and mail-order houses with Chinese-made diapers designed to retain their shape after laundering. The town's policy change has drawn support from environmentalists and fiscal conservatives who agree with the choice of traditional cloth diapers as an appropriate technology that saves taxpayers' money. Critics have accused Lisbon officials of making a rash decision to balance the budget on innocent babies' bottoms. In a letter to the Times Record in nearby Brunswick, Peggy Cotton of West Bath said the restriction was ``for a baby who's helpless'' and she suggested that town officials ``get their savings someplace else.'' Connie A. France, Lisbon's welfare director, recommended the policy because throwaway diapers cost $10 a box, while cloth diapers, even with laundering costs considered, are less of a drain on the town's welfare budget. France said it would be up to the selectmen whether to accept Anderson's offer. But, she added, ``I'm sure they will.'' France said she had no idea how big a diaper demand there was over a year's time but, pending the selectmen's decision, she would order a gross of diapers from Anderson. The welfare director said that while the diaper rules may have caused a stir outside Lisbon, there have been no complaints from her clients. Town Manager John Bubier said Lisbon officials have received letters and phone calls from across the country in response to the diaper policy, with ``about 98 percent of them'' backing up the selectmen. He said 200 to 300 individuals in this town of 12,000 usually receive public assistance benefits during the course of a year. The local welfare budget totals about $35,000.
