Bouin BY P. GRAY MEEK. INK SLINGS. —From this distance it looks very much as if Secretary BALLINGER is more in need of a whitewash brush than a lawyer. —If prices continue to increase a fried egg or a bowl of ox-tail soup ought to be a pretty liberal prize during the next fair season. —The goose that layed the golden egg wasn’t in it with the hen that's onto her job and sticks to it these days of eggsag- gerated prices. —Senator ELKINS may be off the reser- vation now. His friends can rest assur- ed, however, that he'll be back when the dinner bell rings. Conditions of both the purse and stomach of us ordinary citizens make both pertinent and timely the query: When shall we ail meat again? —Massachusetts schools, it is said, are to be provided hereafter with instructors in story telling. What an opening that will make for Republican politicians! —There may be worse men in the world than Speaker CANNON, as one of our con- temporariesobserves. That fact, however: indicates the wisdom of building jails. —It is extremely doubtful if the Wil- liamsport preacher who boasts that he has never been tired in his life could say the same for the congregations he has served. —Chicago is to vote on the license question in April. Its a safe guess that the people of that town will not need to satiate their thirst in the Chicago river after that date. ~Old-fashioned winters may have had their advantages, but after the experience of the last couple of months you'll have to excuse us for asking, like the Mis- sourian, “to be shown.” —New York papers report the birth of two children in that State last week, both with well developed teeth. What exem- plars of the teachings of our friend, Mr. FLETCHER, these youngsters could be made! —Singularly enough the President omitted parcels post from his legislative program. But, come to think of it, the express companies are on the list of campaign contributors. This will ex- plain the why of it. —It has been discovered that there are thirty-six million eggs in one cold storage house in New York. May the good Lord deliver us from the odor of that neigh- borhood, should President TAFT succeed in bustin’ that trust. —Another of the officers of the Steel trust is trying to divorce his wife. From the number of these cases that have al- ready nauseated the public, it must be a deal of a job for a man to be true to that predatory corporation and faithful to his domestic obligations at the same time. —The reported insurgency of Senator ELKINS, like the reported death of MARK TWAIN, some years ago, is probably “greatly exaggerated.” STEPHEN is not of the metal of which insurgents are made. While there are spoils inside the political lines, that’s where his party will find him. —Of the ninety-two Senators in Wash- ington, but a single one voted to endorse the “bloody shirt" blather of Senator HEYBURN the other day, and that was HEYBURN himself. In his effort to make asses of the other Senators he succeeded only in showing what a consummate one he was himself, —Natural gas about Pittsburg has be- come so scarce that great anxiety is man- ifested over the discovery of a new field within using distance. If they'll try their augers on our congressional friend, James Francis BURKE, there will be no doubt about securing a bountiful supply, and right at home, too. —WALTER WELLMAN now tells us that he purposes using the balloon he is sup- posed to have built, to discover the north pole, to prove that it is an entirely safe way to cross the Atlantic. Possibly it may so turn out, but the supply of wind will be dangerously short when he gets through talking about how its to be done. —Yes, its true that JosepH formed the first Trust when he cornered the corn crop down in Egypt, but then the other fellows who had to have it didn't help him run up the price by putting a tariff on it as soon as it crossed the line into their own country. Old Mr. JacoB and his Caananite followers weren't that brand of idiots. ~The committee of seventy have re- ported one hundred and eight Philadel- phia policemen for “pernicious activity and interference at the polls.” If punish- ment is hoped for the committee has made a great blunder. The charge should have been for refiising to do the dirty work of the gang. Punishment would have come sure, then. —The Philadelphia Democrats who countenance the deal to defeat the re- election of Magistrates LADNER and Eis. ENBROWN, because of their refusal to assist the contractor’s gang last fall, can take time by the forelock by having the gable end of their pantaloons half-soled be- fore attempting to participate in another Democratic gathering. There will be a sliding board there and it “won’t be greased either.” | | VOL. 55. Millionaire Moral Perverts. An investigation of rates of the express companies, recently’ inaugurated by the Interstate Commerce Commission, has de- veloped a curious condition of affairs. It seems that a Minnesota farmer named SUNDBERG, who was in urgent need of a casting for one of his agricultural ma- chines, ordered it to be sent by express. The charge for the service was $36.00, which he regarded as extortionate. But the crops were ripening in his fields and he concluded to pay the price and ap- peal for redress later. In pursuance of this plan he not only discovered that all express companies have uniform rates and that neither of them will give up any money which in any way comes into their possession. Thereupon he appealed to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The hearing in the case was begun at No, 67 Wall street, New York, the other day, and at this writing is still in prog- ress. Of course the ordinary farmer couldn't carry on an investigation under such circumstances, but Mr. SUNDBERG is a banker, also, and somewhat of a pol- itician, so that he could afford to go up against even that sort of a proposition. The surprising thing, however, was the absence of information from the officials of the express companies. Officers of the United States Express company, the Wells Fargo Express company and the American Express company were exam- ined, but neither of them knew a thing about the subject. They were asked as to the uniformity of rates, the expendi- tures of the companies and the system of charges, but not a single fact could be obtained. The truth of the matter is that these extremely wealthy corporation managers are simply moral perverts who perjure themselves to prevent the exposure of their iniquities. One of the witnesses was EpwaArp T. PLATT, son of former United States Senator THOMAS C. PLATT, and himself treasurer of the United States Express company. He swore that he knew nothing about the rates, the ex- penses of the company for lobbying or the personnel of the board of directors. CHAuRCEY H. CroSBY, vice president and general manager of the United States Ex- press company; JAMES F. FARGO, treasur- er of the American Express company, and Jon A. BRADLEY, vice president and : traffic manager of the American Express | company, swore that they were equally | ignorant. Of course they were lying for , without the knowledge they couldn't per- | form the duties of their offices. But what redress has a victim of their cu- pidity. Tariff Taxes and Poverty, | Sixty thousand persons were obliged to | appeal to the charity organizations of New York for the necessaries of life, within the last year, according to pub- lished statistics. This is an increase of fifty per cent. over the previous record and a greater number than during any previous similar period of time. These applicants were not profligates or crim- inals, paying the penalty of vices or im- providence. That sort don’t go to or- ganized charities for relief, for the reason that they know that there is method in such beneficences. The applicants re- ferred to were sober and industrious men and women, willing and able to work but unable to procure employment. Of course the same conditions which exist in New York obtain in other cen- tres of population, and about in the same ratio to population. In other words there are probably nearly a million men and women in this country of industrial pro- gress suffering from the want of food and other necessaries of life. All this is ascribed to the high cost of living. If meat and vegetables were only half as expensive the number of sufferers would be diminished, naturally. But there are reascns for the high cost of living and the reasons responsible for one are the [di- rect causes of the other. They are twin iniquities and can't be separated. The Republican party is responsible for both. Two years ago the president of the American Manufacturers’ association stat- ed to a congressional committee that the DINGLEY tariff robbed the industrial life of the country of a million dollars a day through excessive prices on products which it made possible. Since that time President TAFT has stated that the DINGLEY rates were excessive, burdensome and ought to be reduced. But instead of fulfilling the promises of TAFT Congress has greatly in- creased the tariff rates and added to the vast total of the robbery of the people. caused the increase of the prices of food and clothing and multiplied the number of people dependent upon charity. ~The | gets very little advan- tage out of the high prices of his product ! for the reason that the high prices of ! everything he has to buy more than bal- | ances the account on the wrong side. | STATE RIGHTS An Interesting Fight. One of the most interesting political fights of recent years is now impending in this State. Mr. GEORGE T. OLIVER, the present junior Senator in Congress, aspires to a re-election and former State Senator WiLLIAM FLINN, of Pittsburg, is very much opposed to such a deal of the political cards. Mr. FLINN, who has ‘grown very rich as a municipal contract- or, has aspirations to wear the senatori- al toga himself. He has had considerable experience in the Pennsylvania Legisla- ture and imagines that his qualifications for service in the upper branch of the national Legislature are quite as ade- quate as those of OLIVER. But it is inti- mated that he cares more for the defeat of OLIVER than his own success. Of course both OLIVER and FLINN are absurdities in that connection. Neither has any intelligent understanding of the science of government and both depend upon their financial resources to justify their preposterous ambitions. In the fight between the two OLIVER has the ad. vantage of the sympathy of the PENROSE machine but FLINN has the advantage of the local Republican machine and PEN- ROSE is afraid to openly attack it. If Senator PENROSE had the courage of his convictions there would be no doubt of the result. That is to say OLIVER might win a temporary victory over FLINN. But PENROSE realizes that if he casts the force of his influence against FLINN and in favor of OLIVER, in this instance, FLINN may overthrow the PENROSE ma- chine in a subsequent and more import- ant contest. In this curioys conflict for spoils and power we are very much inclined to en- courage the “under dog," if there were any way of determining which of the two represents that unfortunate entity. “Every fellow for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” would be an appro- priate motto for the spectators to adopt. But unhappily the State is certain to lose whichever wins for neither of them is fit for the office to which they both aspire. However in the fact that there is such an conflict in progress there is hope for the interests of the people. It encourages those who care more for civ- ic virtue than political prejudices to elect a Legislatnre which will elect a Demo- crat. The National Incorporation Scheme. President TAPT’s bills providing for the incorporation of corporations by the na- tional government were introduced, sim- ultaneously, in both Houses of Con- gress, the other day, and the nefarious work of bribing Senators and Representa- tives to support them, by the use of pa- tronage, is well under way. The palpa- ble purpose of these bills is to make the TAFT-ROOSEVELT political dynasty in Washington perpetual. Its effect, if car- ried to the logical conclusion, will be the complete subversion of Republican gov- ernment in this country, unless the bogus Republicanism of France and Mexico is accepted as the standard. We can imag- ine no more subtle scheme to promote imperialism. The first suggestion of the national in- corporation of corporations came from the president of an insurance company at the time that those institutions were threatened with investigation under state laws. Senator DRYDEN, of New Jersey, knew THEODORE ROOSEVELT as the mana- gers of the steel trust knew him and felt that juggling trust funds would be safer with him as the arbitrar than with most of the state executives. But the other corporate managers didn't understand. They imagined that the froth and fustian which emanated from the White House was in earnest. It was not until after the manipulation of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company stock was perpetrated that they come to agree with Mr. Dry- DEN. Primarily the national incorporation law is intended to concentrate power in the hands of the administration in Wash- ington but the effect will be to destroy every vestige of police power in the state governments. The SHERMAN anti-trust law has never impaired the property or curtailed the rights of a corporation con- ducted according to law. But recent de- cisions of the courts have admonished the predatory corporations that the laws must be obeyed and President TAFT of- fers the corporation law as an avenue of escape from this danger. The Standard Oil company needs the sinister protection of a corrupt national government and TAFT takes this medium of offering it to that conspiracy. —It is well enough to keep in mind that the tariff tax runs the price of food- stuffs to an unattainable altitude but that wouldn't be so bad if it didn't have the same effect on all other necessaries of life. With cheaper woolens and shoes we would have more money to spare for foodstuffs. BELLEFONTE, PA., FEBRUARY 11, 1910. | i Importance of Local Elections. We desire to again call the attention to the great importance of the local elec- district of the State the voters will have the privilege of expressing their individu- al preferences among their neighbors for Judges and Inspectors of elections, in many townships for Supervisors and Con- stables and in some for Justices of the Pelce, School Directors and other officials | are close to the people. Upon the v of the selections for these offices much depends. Not only the content- | ent but the prosperity of the people fre- quently hinges upon these apparently trifling affairs. In view of these facts every citizen should take an interest in these elections. Of course we are al! concerned in the administration of the state governmeng and that of the United States and when there is a Governor or President to elect we all "sit up and take notice.” But how many of us come in contact with the Governor of the State or the President of the United States? It is no exaggeration to say that less than one in a thousand of the people of the country has everseen a President, notwithstanding the fact that in recent years Presidents have "hippo- dromed” the country like a menagerie. But every citizen comes in contact with the local officers and the fitness ‘and in- tegrity of these local officials frequently determine the success or failure of local enterprises. ; In a previous article on this subject we stated that the Judge of Election in a voting district is more important to the people than the Justice of the Supreme Court. Experience has not changed our estimate on this subject. A Judge of Election if disposed to be partisan or un- fair has it in his power to disfranchise many voters and consequently the voters should see to it that such power be not lodged in the hands of men who might abuse it. The time to perform this duty ‘isat the local election and we therefore hope that every citizen, and especially every Democratic citizen, of Centre coun- | ty will go to the polls next Tuesday and The Cause of High Prices. Of course the WATCHMAN shares, with its esteemed contemporaries and the pub- lic in general, in concern about the high prices of food stuffs and watches with equal anxiety the progress of the several inquiries as to the cause. But we regret to say that thus far we can discover no signs of a purpose to ascertain the actual facts. In other words it seems that the aim is to conceal the truth and confuse the public mind on the subject. All ad- ministration energy, at least, is to be di- rected toward exculpating the tariff from blame in order that the public demand for tariff reduction may be ignored. Protective tariffs are primarily intend- ed to benefit domestic producers of com- have no other effect upon industrial life. If they fail of achieving this purpose they are of no use at all. In raising prices for the benefit of producers they necessarily add to the burdens of the consumers for it is an impossibility to raise prices with- out adding to the cost to the consumer. would be felt for the competition would still be more or less restricted. But the evil is vastly magnified when the com- petition is further curtailed by the opera- tion of trusts. One of the greatest of the trust man- agers, Mr. HAVEMYER, of the sugar trust, testified that “the tariff is the mother of trusts.” If there were no tariff restraints on competition consumers could appeal to the markets of Canada, Mexico and even Europe to keep prices down to a tically prohibitive tariff tax on all the necessaries of life the trusts are able to “corner” the domestic supply and laugh at the protests and suffering of the con- sumers. Therefore the tariff is the prin- cipal cause of the abnormally high prices and though the congressional investiga- tors may find otherwise the people should not be deceived. ——A farmers’ institutes, will be held in Boal hall, Boalsburg, on Friday and Successful farmers and scientific teachers will be in attendance and address the meetings on topics relating to Dairying, Fruit Growing, Sheep Husbandry, Fertil- izers, Market Gardening, Poultry, etc. One evening will be known as the ladies’ session and the other as the educational session. The public generally will be welcomed. ——The Canadian postal rates on sec- ond class matter are much less than those in this country but the Canadian postoffice department shows a considerable profit rather than a loss. The Canadian post- office department is not the reservoir of tions. Next Tuesday in every election | ter’ select fit men for these important offices. |. modities by raising prices. They can |i rational level. But there being a prac- |i Saturday, February 18th and 19th, 1910. ' monopol political activity however. manner in which it is to through the House. If t fense can : 1 : ; E : £ A i i g E ii: 0 ” if 2 g i i | 3 i i g 3 i ; | j : 2 2 i : : 2 : : Ea 8 : bi : 1 : be | | § 8% : fi J | 5 1 : : i § i E 2 it Government by Trusts. From the Pittsburg Post. ‘When President Taft dismissed i deepest character was arous- ed. It was felt that an honest man had been sacrificed in order that land-grab- bers and other ists might be shielded. The di of L. R. Glavis was another instance in point where the administration had i toward a conscientious pub- ic servant. The a genera) went out of his way to labe r. Glavis a “megalomaniac. From testimony Even in the absence of trusts this result | and g j : : < 5 £7 : horses from William Galbraith, of Ty- rone, for six hundred dollars. “g= i 31 af 3 gE ot i that it will increase its capital stock from $200,000 to $1,500,000. ~—Mifflinburg is without electric light owing to the fact that Penns creek is frozen to such an ex- tent a few miles distant from town that the flow is too small to generate power. ~Sixty cases of measles are nnder quarantine in Indiana. There are still a few cases developing but the doctors and health officials think that the spreading of the disease is about over. ~The Curwensville Mountaineer in a recent is- sue makes an appeal for a new court house in Clearfield county. The county has a population of nearly 100,000 and has $70,000 in the treasury. ~Flames are raging in the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron company’s Beaver Valley colliery, near Reading. So bad isthe fire that flames are shooting from the air holes in the mountains, ’ —H. H. Hartman, prothonotary of Juniata county, fell dead while walking from his home to his office Friday afternoon. He is survived bya widow, a son, J. L. Hartman, and daughter, Miss Ada M. Hartman. —Plans have been formulated for the organiza- tion and chartering of an insurance company ata recent meeting of citizens of DuBois and other places. It will be known as the Anchor Mutual Fire Insurance company of DuBois. ~The graduating class of the Philipsburg high school is wrought up over the decree of the school board that the graduates shall wear caps and gowns on the occasion when they get their diplo- mas, paying for the garments themselves. —With the key to his house and his marriage license held by his prospective brother-in-law as security for adebt of $22, Mike Kroback, of Ir- win, will have to postpone his wedding unless he can raise the amount of his liabilities before his next pay day, two weeks hence. . —Mrs. J. D. Weaver, of DuBois, recently met her mother, Mrs. Marie Brady, of Clearfield, from whem she had been separated for twenty- seven years and of whose whereabouts she was in ignorence. The mother and daughter became separated in Philipsburg and lost all track of each ~St. Paul's Episcopal congregation at Philips burg recently unanimously declared itself favor- able to the project to build a new church. The structure will be equipped in modern style and ‘will cost in the neighborhood of $33,000. Com- mittees will be appointed, plans agreed upon, etc., and in a short time the structure will begin to take tangible form. ; ~Frank E. McMillen, the slaver of his wife, Annie E, McMillen, was acquitted of the crime of murder on Saturday evening, at 6.50 o'clock in Blair county court on the plea of temporary in- sanity. The court room was filled with specta- tors at the time of the reception of the verdict and there was vigorous handclapping which outburst ~One hundred eighty-one rooms will be in the new J. C. Blair Memorial hospital at Huntingdon when the structure is completed. Gray brick will be the material used. The last Sunday - of April has been set aside as Church Day and the first Thursday of October as Donation Day by the trustees of the hospital. On these occasions col- lections will be made for the institution. —Walter H. Pulsifer, a Philadelphia bond sales- man, has been named by Warren W. Meginnis, a NEWSpaper man as cores This statement is said to have come from a good authority. A trustees’ meetiog is expected to be held within the next few days to receive the re- port of the expert accountants who have been at work on the books of the institution for the past two months. ~—Because the constitutional amendments re- cently adopted provide that municipal elections can be held only in odd numbered years, ithas been found that it will be necessary at the next session of the Legisiature to lengthen the terms of a large number of officers of various kinds all over the State. A schedule of these officers is now being prepared in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. —The Reformatory Notes in the Daily New Era of Huntingdon, recently contained an account of a young man, formerly an inmate of the Hunting- . | don reformatory, who had been nominated on both the Republican and Democratic ticket for the office of school director in one of the large cities of Pennsylvania and commented on the fact that there are opportunities in the world after a man has been in a reform school. ~The Trout Run Coal Mining company is in the process of organization at Portage. It will una slope of 700 feet in length to tap the Upper Free- port vein. It is in the vicinity of the operations of the Portage Coai Mining company. The capacity of the mine willbe 1,200 tons a day. This will necessitate the building of quite a number of houses for employees. The Portage Coal com- pany will erect fifty new houses next summer. —With the opening of the second week of the thirty days’ meat boycott in Pittsburg meats con- tinued to rise in price. When the market opened two to three cents a pound retail. Beef advanced from ten to fifteen cents a hundred pounds. —A skunk farm is the industry that four young Waynesboro men have in contemplation. The hide of a skunk sells for from $3.50 to $4.50 and when this is taken into consideration it is seen how well the farm will pay if it is successful. The sons and in it he stated that he had married the woman in 1881 and that she had deserted him in 1897 neither having secured adivorce. The wom- an was the state's star witness at the trial, being he Suiy Dervua Tate ose Wise Btu giot
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers