juan, BY P. GRAY MEEK. Ink Slings. —Some outings are not a success as Ad- miral CERVERA will no doubt testify. —The thermometer is gradually work- ing its way up again to the crash and seer- sucker stations. > —When WANAMAKER gets through with him Senator QUAY may know how CERVERA feels. : —The Republican insurgents have been reinforced by the addition of Col. Mec- CLURE’s Philadelzhia Times. —Spain may find a little consolation in the fact that there are stiil 1198 uncaptured islands among the Philippines. —York county Democrats have saved their BACON by an early and earnest dec- laration in favor of the Altoona ticket. —TORAL, in asking for a twenty-mile start must have imagined our troops were sent to Santiago to join in a foot race. .—The number of guns our fleet has silenced about Santiago would indicate that Spain’s gun factories have worked over time these many years. —General JAck Frost affected several landings in this section on Sunday night. He failed to hold the positions and retired without inflicting any damage. —The anti-combine Republicans of Philadelphia are preparing for another dose of Crow. Special inducements will be ex- tended the Democracy to join in the feast. — Brother SWALLOW will not use smoke- less powder in his campaign against the forces of the boss. He is of that class of warriors who desire to be seen as well as heard. —Afflictions never come singly. After cuffering the hardships and humiliation of Republican rule for the past eight years, small yox has now broken out in Fayette county. —It may not take long to lick the Spanish. It’s licking the stamps that comes as a result of this Spanish war, that will require a Methusalistic existence to see the end of. —After all, the attacking forces don’t seem to have gotten the proper range on the Bellefonte post office. Commander FoORTNEY still holds his position and with- out thought of surrendering. —Ex-collector Cooper, the ‘‘red headed”’ and heretofore hopeful harmonizer of the Republican party, has hoisted the insur- gent flag and is preparing to march aghinst | the QUAY intrenchments. —Pennsylvanians generally dread the results of the annexation of Hawaii. Foolish people, to fear a little thing like leprosy, after surviving all the evils of QUAY bossism for so many years ! — Assistant Attorney General REEDER is said to be an aspirant for senatorial honors, and foolish enough to believe that with him as its candidate his party can Reed-er title clear to success in the district. —All the people who believe in adver- tising themselves are not necessarily rela- tives of the late P. T. BARNUM. We doubt if TEDDY ROOSEVELT had a speak- ing acquaintance with that distinguished showman. : —The censor seems to have dottent in his work most effectually on Chairman GAR- MAN'S interview factory since the Altoona convention. It has been as silent since as Republicans are about the thievery at Harrisburg. —Both LITTLE and IKELER have deter- mined to run as Democratic candidates for Judge of the Columbia-Montour district. Judging from indications, but little of either of them will be known when the re- turns come in. —1It is the boast of Ohio people that Mr. HANNA'S friends are ‘‘at the front.” And they are right. You’ll find them in the front every time the pay-master appears. Other days they are behind the breast works of the commissary department. —~Congressman ARNOLD’S great need now is the power to annex several thousand post offices. Nothing short of this number will supply the demand for places, and nothing but places will supply the votes the congressman will need in November. —Let thé people rejoice! Yea, even though war is upon us ; 'though the yel- low fever is attacking our army ; though the Hawaiian lepers have been annexed, “we have reason to smooth our hair, thank God, and take courage ! Congress has ad- journed. —The guns of Gen. WANAMAKER seem to have been completely silenced, although his friends. allege that his retirement is only temporary and done for the purpose of securing an additional amount of am- munition, when his bombardment of the QuAY defences will be renewed with a vigor that will astound the enemy. —It’s about time to be on the lookout for ‘‘heroes (?) of Santiago,” who will soon be storming your back doors and try- ing to break down the intrenchments about your pantries. The country will be swarm- ing with these dusty, dirty, patriots (?) long before a solitary soldier, who has heen to the front, has an opportunity to return. —The always reliable newspapers that have captured Santiago daily since the first of July are now looking for new fields for the display of their valor. San Juan may be expected to capitulate before break- fast each morning and Porto Rico will be- come ours twice a day until—well, until the troops attempt to make a landing on that little island. @ fr Demaerlic ES STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. "BELLEFONTE, PA., JULY 15, 1898. NO. 27. Politics and the War. The incompetency of a weak adminis- tration has produced its natural result in mismanagement that is prevented from being disastrous only by the valor of the troops. From the very start there has been incapable action and bungling direction. McKINLEY halted and shuffled when vig- orous movements at the beginning of hos- tilities would have given our arms an initial advantage which cannot now be re- covered without hard fighting and much blood shed. While he pursued the weak policy of ‘‘peaceful blockades,” and pres ferred a line of operations that would do the enemy as little harm as possible, the Spaniards strengthened their positions and prepared themselves for a resistance that will require the fullest exertion of our army and navy to overcome. But it was in the work of preparation that the managers of this war have made the most lamentable exhibit of their inca- pacity. That they have shamefully failed in this respect is painfully demonstrated hy camps full of unorganized, unequipped, half armed and ill fed volunteers, while the army that was sent to the front at Santiago with an insufficient force was compelled to suspend operations for the want of reinforcements. Although nearly 200,000 troops have heen enlisted, there is such deficiency in organization that the Philadelphia, Republican, Bulletin of as late a date as the 8th inst., is constrained to say : ‘In seventy days our incompetent war de- partment has been unable to organize and equip the volunteers who came manfully for- ward when they were called upon. It is doubtful if we have 75,000 men fit to take the field at this hour, including our 25,000 Tegulals, a Is it difficult to discover the cause of this shameful and deplorable deficiency, which is paralyzing the operations against the enemy, and will prolong the war and great- ly increase the cost of blood and treasure? The reason for such conditions is to be found in the weak character of those who are at the head of the administration, and in the personal and political influences which have placed the management of the war in incompetent hands. Where the organiza- tion of the army should have heen com- mitted to the best ability it has been given in charge of personal friends of the admin- istration and the’ favorites of leading Re- publican politicians. The extent to which politics is “effecting the war was shown in tne long detention of General MILES from the head of the army where he belongs. There is reason for be- lieving that he was detained in Wahington through political jealousy, it being feared that his success in the field might bring him forward as a formidable candidate for President against McKINLEY. It was for this reason that SHAFTER, an obscure of- ficer and a friend of ALGER’S, was put at the head of the Santiago expedition. What this piece of politics has cost the army and the country may be gathered from the following expression of the Republican Philadelphia Ledger : General Shafter is responsible for the awful losses of the battles around Santiago. He violated the first principles of sound “soldier- ing by attacking an entrenched position with inadequate force and insufficient artillery. If he had bided his time, brought up his guns, taken good positions, made good roads to connect them with one another and with the point of embarkation on the coast, Santiago would have fallen, with no appreciable loss on our side, but would General Shafter have satisfied his political friends? Earnestly as we all hope that the war will be short, sharp and decisive, it hasalrerdy lasted long enough toshow that political influence at Washington has worked great harm. It is indeed humiliating to this great country that a just war, against a com- paratively weak enemy, is being so managed by incompetent leaders and scheming poli- ticians as to impose upon our people incal- culable expense, and inflict upon our army great loss of life which better management would have avoided. Could not be Bossed. Ex-Congressman W. H. SowDEN, who is the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, is one of the best known leaders and one of the most popular and effective stumpers in eastern Pennsylvania. When in Congress, it will be remembered, that Mr. CLEVELAND attempted to bull-doze him into the support of his tariff measures, and even went so far as to veto a bill au- thorizing the erection of a post office build- ing in Allentown,—Mr. SOWDEN’S home city—as a punishment for his refusal to ac- cept the views of others, as against, what he believed to be, the wish of his constitu- ents. This fact, however, did not effect Mr. SOWDEN in the least, for the next time he came pefore the people of his sec- tion he received almost a unanimous vote ; men supporting him who did not approve of his views, but because of his manliness in standing up for what he believed was the interests and demands of his constitu- ents. On the stump he is one of the most effective talkers in the State, and it don’t matter whether the audience is English or German, civilian or soldier, he takes the crowd with him, and impresses all with the honesty of his motives, and the sturdy, manly, character of the speaker. Legislative Decadence. No recent public deliverance has at- tracted more attention than the address of ex-Attorney General W. U. HENSEL at the annual meeting of Pennsylvania Bar Asso- ciation’some days ago, on the subject of ‘‘the decadence of the quality of State Leg- islation.”’ The deterioration of the law making power in this State is observable at every meeting of the Legislature, and it makes itself manifest not only in the slip-shod construction of the acts, but in the indif- ference as to their constitutionality. The disposition to pass laws on unconstitution- al subjects is progressively on the increase, each Legislature being more reckless in that respect than its predecessor, until the product of the legislative work has become ‘so defective in this respect, as was the case with the late Legislature, that the courts have been compelled to put the stamp of unconstitutionality upon a considerable part of it. Mr. HENSEL contrasted this worthless production of our State lawmakers with the legislation of a former period, stating upon the authority of Justice WOODWARD, given in 1853, that ‘‘for nearly fifty years of our political existence under the con- stitution of 1790 no act of Assembly was set aside for unconstitutionality. The shameful and alarming decadence that has occurred in State legislation is largely due to the selection of indifferent legislative material, for which the people are responsible. When in addition to the inferior quality of the membership, the chief purpose for which legislators are chosen is to serve the interest of a party boss and to strengthen the hold of corrupt politiciars upon the State government, it should not be a matter of wonder that there should be such a defective and vicious product of the law making power. One of the issues of the pending State campaign is the reformation of the deca- dent character of our State Legislature, an issue that demands the attention of the people as much as the improvement of the other branches of State government. The Craze for Territorial Expansion. One of the most unfortunate incidents of the present period of our history is the sud- den and apparently unrestrainable devel- opment of an aggrandizing spirit that is grasping for territorial possessions beyond the limits of this continent. It is the be- ginning of an imperial expansion that is replete with perilous consequences to the republic. Recklessly claiming it to be a necessary war measure, the McKINLEY alministra- tion has succeeded in forcing through Con- gress an act which imposes upon this na- tion the ownership of islands thousands of miles from our shores, which can be of no material use to us, but will surely be the cause of great expense and unlimited trou- ble. The scheme of Hawaiian annexation had its origin in a design to promote the in- terest of a commercial monopoly, and was marked in its first stages by an act of bad faith to a friendly government. It was a fraudulent project from the very start, and has at last been consummated on the fraudulent claim that it was necessary as a war measure. Following close upon this first landgrab beyond the natural limits of our country, it is proposed to continue the march of im- perialism by the acquisition of territory both in the East and West Indies. We are to have a widely extended colonial do- main, with all the dangers and difficulties which such possessions imply. What thoughtful American does not agree with the views of the venerable ex- Senator EDMUNDS on this subject, who, in an address in Philadelphia on the 4th inst., said: ‘“Whether integral and equal politi- cal parts of our republic or not, the posses- sion of distant territory continually in- volves, as all nations have found, the maintenance of great standing armies and navies, with the enormous expenses and other evils attending their existence. ’’ Inventions ox the Enemy. The ringsters who have so long pillaged the State will find that they can gain noth- ing by resorting to the cry of ‘‘stop thief’ in their attempt to throw suspicion upon those who have called them to account be- fore the tribunal of the people. QUAY’s minions have even the effrontery to claim that the Democratic State convention was affected by the influence of the Republican boss. It is also charged that Democratic bossism was expressed at Altoona, such a canard being intended to attach to the pro- ceedings of the Democratic convention the odium of machine rule. Efforts are also made to excite the prejudice of the gold Democrats by representing that Colonel GUFFY bossed the convention in the free silver interest and managed to secure the gubernatorial nomination for GEORGE A. JENKS. These are but weak inventions of the enemies of State reform. They adopt the tactics of thieves who cry ‘‘stop thief’’ to divert attention from their own misdoings. Intelligent citizens can not be deceived by so flimsy a trick practiced by notoriously corrupt politicians. There is a pervading conviction in the public mind that the ob- ject of the Altoona convention was to secure a reform of the debased condition of the State government. It was for that reason that it declined to make an expres- sion on any other issues than such as related to State affairs. It required no hossism to devise such a program. The operation of no machine was necessary to inaugurate a campaign for the reform of governmental abuses. No wire-pulling and no boss work were needed for the formation of a platform whose keynote is the redemption of the State from machine misrule, nor for the domination of such a candidate as GEORGE A. JENKS whose private character and pub- lic reputation are a sufficient guarantee that he will carry out every reform either promised or implied in the platform. The State Campaign. The Democratic state convention did ex- actly what was needed to suit the require- ments of a campaign for state reform. In the two particulars most essential to suc- cess in overthrowing the QUAY machine, its action was eminently judicious in that it presented no other issues except such as related to state government, and placed at the head of the ticket a candidate who is in himself an embodiment of all the quali- ties essential to intelligent administration and honest rule. In their general qualifi- cations and personal characters, the other state nominees ‘are equally well suited to the object of state reform, which was the leading purpose of the action of the convention. Such excellent discretion and conscientious intention displayed in the essential particulars of issues, and candidates, should ensure the united sup- port of all who desire the redemption of the State from the blight of vicious poli- tics and the injury of bad government. As to the gentleman whom the conven- tion put in nomination for the office of Governor it is unnecessary to introduce GEORGE A. JENKS to the people of the State who have so long had knowledge of his kigh mental endowments and excellent persi2al character. He is one of the ablest of Pennsylvania’s publicists. His action and experience in high legislative positions have placed him among the foremost of her statesmen. In Congress he was recognized as one of its brightest members. While his public service has been distinguished equally for usefulness and brilliancy, his private reputation has been without a blemish. His Democracy is of the Jeffer- sonian cast, but entirely devoid of the nar- rowness of unreasonable partisanship. The convention could not have selected a candidate in whom were centered and combined more of the qualities needed for the correction of the corrupt methods and practices that have prevailed in our state government. With such a candidate on a platform pledged to reform by assurances, of better government, that are nieant to be enforced, the duty of all- good Gitizens to vote for him is of the nature of a moral obligation. A Matter of Common Interest. The declaration of the Democratic state convention presents an array of facts that relate exclusively to the government of the State. In its arraignment of corrupt and profligate spoilsmen it is more of a moral than a political deliverance. These facts, which carry with them such forceful con- demnation of the corruptionists who have converted the state government into an in- strument of private gain and partisan plunder, were not unknown to the people. But the convention brought them more conspicuously to the public view by sepa- rating them from other issues. It based the contest entirely on the reform of abuses in state government. In arraigning the machine spoilsmen the indictment presented in the Democratic platform but repeats the charges made by independent Republicans in their condem- nation of the vicious methods by which a profligate gang of machine politicians mis- rule and plunder the State. JOHN WANAMAKER’S arraignment of this corrupt domination included every charge made in the declaration of the Al- toona convention. The independent Re- publican and the Democratic indictments of QUAY and his associated corruptionists are equally severe and equally true. All honest citizens of the State whatever may be their political affiliation, can meet on common ground in condemning the abuses of machine rule in the State govern- ment, and demanding their correction. All are alike interested in reforming a con- dition of affairs which injures all except ‘the direct beneficiaries of governmental abuses, and therefore when a movement is inaugurated which is divested of partisan- ism by its general object, and from which every issue is eliminated except such as re- late to the attainment of better state gov- ernment, partisan considerations can inter- pose no bar to united action for an object in which all good citizens are concerned. For State Reform. From the Pittsburg Dispateh, (Rep.) The Democratic convention at Altoona showed that it fully comprehended the political situation in this State by nomi- nating George A. Jenks for Governor on the first ballot, and refusing with nearly a two-thirds vote to put into the platform a definite declaration either for the free- silver issue or for the candidacy of Bryan in 1900. In other words, the Democrats have met the situation by lining up square- ly for state reforms, and by nominating a candidate whose character and abilities are acknowledged to be above impeachment, even by his political opponents. The most important factor in a state campaign for clean government is the character of the man nominated for the governorship. For the leadership of such a fight the candi- date selected is much the best selection that could have been made. George A. Jenks has long stood for what was best and most to be prized in Democracy. He is able, clean and independent. He has too vigorous a personality to be controlled by any interests, too powerful a mind to be hoodwinked by any sophistry and too active a conscience to permit himself to be used for any dishonest purposes. The presence of such a man in the gubernator- ial chair will give Pennsylvania a better administration than it has known for many vears, and the knowledge of that fact by the people will be the force to give Jenks’ candidacy strength. Gordon would have been a good candidate, but the more per- fect harmony between Jenks and his party, and his really higher abilities make him both the most available and strongest can- didate. Next in importance to the candidate is the clear determination of the convention to fight the campaign solely on the reform of those ulcers that have made the politics of this State a public reproach. The re- fusal of the convention to indorse free silver or Bryan is not necessarily to be con- strued as meaning that the Pennsylvania Democracy, in the proportion shown by the vote, has resolved to throw that issue wholly overboard. No doubt many Dem- ocrats are willing to do that. But many others, whose votes secured the adoption of the platform, are still ready to stand by silver if their party demands, in elections where it is at issue. The vote means that national issues are not at stake in this election ; that a victory for the Democrats is neither directly nor indirectly to be con- strued as a victory for the silver issue, and that all men, gold Democrats and inde- pendents, are invited to join in a fight for clean state government. The campaign thus opened will be an interesting and important one. There are many elements of uncertainty in it. The effort of the Republican machine: will doubtless be to consolidate the Republican vote on the plea of strengthening party lines, and supporting the administration in the war. But this is the merest party sophistry. It is rank misrepresentation to say that the Democrats are not supporting the war. With Fitzhugh Lee forming his corps at Fernandina, and Joseph Wheeler leading the advance at Santiago, that par- tisan slander will be met with the con- tempt it merits. The last election showed that the party fetish had lost its power. With the exposure of the bad faith of the Republican control, and without an ef- fective rallying centre for the opposition, the Republican vote of 726,000 in 1896 shrunk to 372,000 in 1897. Such a show- ing gives an indication of the weakness of party lines when the issue is presented as in this campaign and with a leader in whom the whole State has reason to trust. The element of uncertainty isin the Swal- low vote. The independent vote which went to that erratic candidate last year was enough to make a very respectable majori- ty this fall. But if all the elements in favor of pure state government concentrate on Judge Jenks, as they should do, a tell- ing victory for reform will be among the decided possibilities. To make the campaign complete there should be a vigorous effort to secure the nomination of able, clean and self-owned men to the Legislature. As the election of a United States Senator is involved in this there should be a liberal disposition on the part of the Democrats to support independ- ent Republicans, owing allegiance to no party boss, for the Legislature. If this is done the prospects for a genuine reform victory will be brighter than ever before. it’s the Platform of the People. From the Philadelphia Record. Sc “wr as it is possible the Democratic State convention has made vital questions of State administration the paramount, controlling and sole issue of this campaign. The declaration is incisive, unmistakable and radical, and has the added merit of incontestible truth. Honest government, home rule and clean politics are presented as the para- mount issues. The single national issue pertinent is met by a pledge of hearty sup- port to the government on an active and aggressive conduct of the war with Spain. This covers the ground, for on this ques- tion our people are all of one mind. No need of words. But not for years, and, we judge, never before, has there been such a ringing dec- laration as the Altoona convention put forth on the wrongs, abuses and crimes that have grown up in this commonwealth under the malign influence and desperate and greedy avarice of machine politics and legislation. The specifications are terrible in their truth and the offenses against good government they enumerate, and are fitly supplemented by pledges of reform in legislation and political methods that will meet the hearty approval of every true son of the commonwealth. The Country Can Rest Easy. From the Louisville Courier Journal. The war department made public yester- day a dispatch from General Shafter stating that the son of the secretary of war, the son of a United States senator and the son of an adjutant general are all well. This ought to be good news enough for one day. I tims. Spawls from the Keystone. —DMauch Chunk is to have a paper box and corn-cob pipe factory. —The Pennsylvania dental association met this week at Ebensburg. —There are now 584 inmates in the State Industrial Reformatory. —For alleged breach of promise, Catharine Clark, of Lancaster, claims $10,000 from Ar- thur A. Groff. —It is estimated that about 200.000 quarts of huckleberries will be shipped this season from Hazleton. —David Hixon, aged 50 years, of Ruffs- dale, near Greensburg, was kicked by a horse Monday and killed. —The 4-year-old child of August Cohen, of Jeannette, was so badly burned as a result of playing with matches that it died. —Ex-Collector Thomas V. Cooper, of Me- dia, announces his determination to remain in the Congressional fight and hopes to win. —Thomas Flor, aged 29 years, and G. D. Vinconzo, aged 28, both married, were drowned in the Conemaugh river near New Florence. —Heavy plunder was secured by robbers in the residence of Frank C. Garwood, of Lancaster, whose family is summering at Ardmore. —Bessie Pierce, aged 8 years, fell from a third-story window at her home at Corry, Monday and had her spine injured and collarbone broken. Edward A Northam, of Meadville, dropped dead while visiting the grave of his wife Tuesday. Mr. Northam was aged 70 years and was a retired business man. —The corner-stone of the new home for the friendless building, at Williamsport, was laid Tuesday evening with Masonic cere- monies. Harry Parsons delivered the ad- dress. —Among the steerage passengers on the ill-fated steamer Burgogne were twenty- three from the vicinity of Scranton several of whom were returning with their families to Italy to live. —After six consecutive meetings, when over 125 ballots were cast on the position of principal,’ which pays $30, the Sandy Lake school board has dissolved and referred the matter to court. —Truman David, aged 25 years, of Clarks- burg, W. Va., while on a visit to Woodside, near Uniontown, was attacked with quinsy and choked to death before medical aid could be summoned. —John Swoope, of Alexandria, Hunting- don county, caught three wild cats within the past two weeks, making nine caught this year, and has killed over sixty-five raccoons since the first of the year. —Frank Bartlett, an inmate of the Lycom- ing county jail, while demented fastened his teeth in the sheriff’s hands and tore out a great piece of flesh. James Farrell another unruly prisoner was quieted with a drench- ing from a garden hose. —It is said that the farmers of Tioga county lost between $5,000 and $6,000 because their hay did not have the bright green color so admired by city dealers. It is claimed that had the hay been cut a few days earlier the desirable color would have been retained. —DMembers of the family of William Skel- ley, of Portage, Westmoreland county, are dangerously ill from poisoning. One child aged 5 years, is dead. They made lem- onade Saturday night, leaving the pealings in. The lemons were molded. —~Calvin W. Hackett, aged 40, of New Bloomfield, Perry county, was found dead in bed Monday in a hotel in Philadelphia. Hackett was employed at the United States mint there, but had not been at work since last Wednesday. He had been drinking heavily. —The body found near Aligrippa, on Juue 30th, with a bullet hole in the head, has been identified as that of Charles Gray, of Wells- ville, Ohio. His family thinks it is a case of suicide. * He leaves a widow and one son, who live in Pittsburg. Gray formerly lived in Beaver Falls. —George Bradfield Carr, the attorney for Charles O. Kaiser, Jr., the convicted mur- derer, will make a last effort to prevent the execution of the death sentence in Septem- ber. Mr. Carr will go to Harrishurg and see the Governor. He will argue that not only was Kaiser's testimony state evidence, but that it was almost absolutely indispensable in the conviction of Clemmer, who was the chief conspirator in the death of the unfortu- nate woman. —The people of Dunbar, received a shock when it was announced Wednesday that five genuine cases of smallpox were un- der treatment within the borough limits. A woman named Johnson, her two children, and two men named Crockett, are the vic- All are colored. One of the men, while he wasstill broken out with the disease transacted business with different people in the town. An epidemic is feared, and a strict quarantine of the house where the sick are living will be enforced. —At Montgomery, Friday morning, three incendiaries placed four crocks filled with oil under the corners of the opera house building. They applied the light and ran. The flames were discovered and the fire de- partment responded and extinguished the fire. In the buildingare the stores of Housal and Baker and B. F. Decker. The latter firms’ loss on store goods is about $1,000 and the damage to Housal and Baker is about $300. The opera house was also damaged. The incendiaries escaped. —Friday morning on the Rodgers farm, in Saville township, Perry county, 2 most frightful accident occurred, resulting in the death of Lloyd Brandt, son of John Brandt, who lives on the farm. The young man with his brother was out in the harvest field with a binder cutting grain. The team was not working to please them and in order to improve the working, they attempted to change bridles on two of the animals. No sooner had they taken the bridles off before the team ran away. Lloyd was caught un- der the machine and dragged with it through the wheat and an oats field towards the barn. When they were stopped the young man was found wedged underneath the machine. The injuries he received were so horrible that he died the same day, never having re- gained consciousness. He was aged about 28 years, and is survived by a wife and child.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers