: ¥ % i bo fonds i Ea er fof b thing purposes. Deora Wala Bellefonte, Pa., November 25, 1904. P. GRAY MEEK, - - - Ss — TERMS oF SUBSCRIPTION.—Until further notice this paper will be furnished to subscribers at the following rates : Eprtor Paid strictly in advance.......ccouunennns $1.00 Paid before expiration of year.......... 1.50 Paid after expiration of year............ 2.00 ——The WATCHMAN goes to press, this week, several hours earlier than usual in order that its employees and managers may have an opportunity to enjoy their turkey and cranberry sauce, and time to thank the good Lord that they get a square meal oc- casionally and that their work isto dis- seminate the truth. Shortest Session Likely. The coming session of the Legislature is to be the shortest on record, according to the Hon. WARD R. BLiss, of Delaware county, chairman of the committee on ap- propriations of the last House of Represen- tatives and certain to be a conspicuous member of the next House. Mr. BLISS doesn’t take the public into his confidence sufficiently, however, to give a reason for this purpose of the machine. Still no great perspicaciby is required to accurately guess the cause of the proposed short session. If is in order that reform legislation may be the more certainly prevented. There are abundant reasons to believe that the demand for legislation in the in- terest of honest elections will be pressed with =zuch vigorand pertinacity on the com- ing Legislature as to make it difficult to resist the force. A personal registration law will be asked and the iniquitous pro- vision of the present law which enables the vote briber to take his creature into the booth and mark his ballot will be attacked with equal vebemence. New apportion. ment bills will be demanded also,and laws for the equalization of taxes will be pre- sented and pressed with much earnestness. Of course the machine will resist all such legislation to the full measure of its power and there is no method of fighting reform so effective as a short session. Billscan be held in committee a good while if there is any danger that Senators and Representa- tives are likely to be forced by public opin- ion into supporting them in the open ses- siou. Then the ordinary processes of legis- lation can be made to move slowly so that with an early adjournment fixed in the beginning it won’t be hard to stifle the spirit of reform, however assertive it may be inside or out of the body. Proposed New Judges. We learn from the Philadelphia Press that a number of bills are to be introduced during the coming session of the Legislature creating new Judicial districts and adding to the number of judges in the State. One of these will provide for an additional court and three new judges in Philadel- phia and a new court and the same nam- ber of additional judges in Allegheny coun- ty will be the purpose of another. The scheme to give Cambria county an addition- al judge will also be re-introduced and pressed and quite a number of others will be considered. Now as a matter of fact there is just about as much need for new courts and additional judges in this State as there is for two tails on adog. In Philadelphia for example, the judges of ‘the four courts which were in existence previgus to the creation of the Fifth cours during the ses- sion of the Legislatore in 1901, were unan- imously of the opinion that the new court was absolutely unnecessary and conse- quently an extravagance. Since then, however, the courts of that city have de- generated into political spoils and the chances are that the next Legislature will be importuned to give them more help. The creation of courts and the multiplica- tion of judges have become political meas- ures, however, and the chances are that every Republican in both branches of the Legislature will vote for every one that is introduced unless the people express their condemnation in advance with such empha- sis as will command attention. That he- ing true the people of this country owe it t0 themselves to speak out in protest against every new court and judge hill that is introduced. The expenses of such laxuries are paid out of the State treasury and every citizen of the Commonwealth is concerned in the matter. Let us Have the Best Possible. i It is the thing for Centre county Demo crats to do now to consider who, among themselves in the different election districts will make the more active and influential worker, as a county committeemen for next year. The members of the new committee will he to be named the first of January, and as next year’s county ticket is to be an exceptioually large one we will have a most important campaign on then. To elect that ticket work should be he- gun now the work of organization. We have just experienced what a good organization can do. Next fall we will have fully as much work to doas was done at the late election, although not under such adverse conditions, and it is only taking ‘‘time by the forelock’’ by being fully prepared for the work when it comes. —Ducks can’ be easily reared without ovided they have a trough of wa- They are, how- ever, more expensive when kept in that