5 BY P. GRAY MEEK. INK SLINGS. —It wasn't the first day of spring at all, it was a peach. —Most anything would be preferable to being a Pittsburg councilman these days. —If it isn’t house-cleaning it is moving and life surely is “just one d—— thing after another.” —You don’t hear any of Uncle JOE'S friends quoting the old proverb: “You can't keep a GooD man down.” —The Insurgents have at last captured Congress. They have routed the Regu- lars completely and even spiked their CANNON. —If this thing of confessing and resign- ing keeps on the North Pole willbe a live- ly place compared to the Pittsburg coun- cil chambers. —Mr. CANNON since his recent knock- out may not have the same power he had formerly but he ought to know a thun- derin’ sight more. —Now is the time when the lazy man’s industrious wife has to follow him dig ging for fishing worms in the garden to get enough dug to put out her early on- ion bed. —A Republican exchange is certain that CANNON is already himself again, which fact may explain the long faces so many Republicans are wearing the last two or three days. —A pessimistic kicker says: “Two- thirds of mankind are rascals, or willing to be such, and the rest are too lazy to be much of anything.” A classification that will explain why Pennsylvania is so overwhelmingly Republican. —President TAFT told a party of news- paper men in New York, on Tuesday night, that the Presidency is no snap. Of course it isn’t, but unfortunately for the good of the country the President has been too late finding it out. —President TAPT assured his New York audience on Monday night that “the new tariff law is working all right." Judging from the way it worked in that Congressional election in Massachusetts on Tuesday, we rather think it is. —]t might have been well for the county commissioners to have spared the trees in the court house yard they had cut down and hauled away on Monday last. Since the people are getting their eyes open to the kind of management that of- Br re have charge of the job Will need some- thing to hide behind long before their terms of office have expired. —Of course you might think it only a little thing but it is not to the laboring man who can't make ends meet during these times when everything is going sky high but wages. We refer to the cost of running our general government. In 1890 it cost each personin this country $6.00 to run the government. Last year the cost was $12.40; an increase of over a hun- dred per cent. The poor worker with the large family is the man who feels this particularly; since you know his wage is not a penny more now than it was in 1890. —It's a fact. This the 21st Congress- ional district has a Congressman. Only last Saturday an envelope addressed to the WATCHMAN bearing the frank of CHARLES F. BARCLAY was received, which when opened was found to contain al- most a teaspoonful of poppy seeds. It is the first evidence this paper has had in four years that we had a Congressman, and it gives us great pleasure to assure the votess of the district that they have some one in Washington who sees that the salary provided for a representative is regularly drawn. 2 —The investigation of State Economic Zoologist SURFACE on the charges pre- ferred against him by A. F. SATTER- THWAIT, of Middletown, was opened in Harrisburg, on Tuesday, and the gentie- man who once declared he could eat cab- bage worms set up the defense that his farm and orchard at Mechanicsburg are for experimental purposes and he, there- for, had a right to buy implements forit at the State’s expense. It is aflimsy de- fense, at best, for in all probability the State would never have known of its new experimental farm and orchard had it not been for this expose, besides The Pennsylvania State Experimental farm is at State College and not at Mechanics- burg. —For the first time in its history the “Old Colony District,” of Massachusetts, has elected a Democratic Congressman. It was a special election on Wednesday and the issue was purely on the tariff; as to whether the public believed that the Republicans hav failed to keep the pledg- es made by President TAFT before his election that the tariff would be revised downward. The defeat of the Republi- can nominee was so overwhelming as to be most convincing proof of the public temper. In fact, in some of the precincts the voters fairly fell over one another in their efforts to get to record their ver- dict and ali of the available vote was polled long before closing time. It is the most significant political incident that has happened in years and a positive fin- board #0 a Democratic Congress un- Tr areatnt one reverses itself imme- diately and legislates for the masses in- stead of the few. VOL. 55. Cannonism is Rooseveltism. against the resolution to declare the chair from under the chair. They wanted to the Republican party. Nothing could be more absurd. Itis in imitation of the policies of those in this State who de- nounced QUAY and supported everything that QUAY stood for. Party leaders are, morally, precisely what the party makes them. Speaker CANNON is the parliamentary expression of ROOSEVELT. There is no perceptible difference between CANNON- ism and RooseveLTism. Only a short time ago, and while CANNON was build- ing up his congressional machine, THEO- DORE ROOSEVELT, then President, wrote to Representative WATSON, of Indiana, fulsomely eulogizing CANNON. "I feel that all good citizens who have the welfare of America at heart,” ROOSEVELT wrote, “should appreciate the immense amount that has been accomplished by the pres- ent Congress, organized as it is, and the urgent need of keeping this organization in power. With Mr. CANNON as Speak- er the House has accomplished a literal- ly phenomenal amount of good work.” That was written for the purpose of checking the rising tide of opposition to CANNON. The other day while a witness was tes- tifying, in Albany, of the bribery of a Legislator named ALDRIDGE, President TAPT was in confidential conference with ALDRIDGE in Rochester, New York. Pol- iticians, like water, find a common level, and the spectacle of the President of the United States fraternizing with a legisla- tive corruptionist is the logical, if not the inevitable, consequence of ROOSEVELTism, and evils are inseparable. They are morality and they will be discontinued when the causes of them are removed. The people must arouse their consciences and smite these traders in the temple of power. MORGAN owns the CUNNINGHAM claims to Alaska coal lands and that fact explains the anxiety of the administration to con- summate the fraud by which they were acquired. Tariff Taxes and Wages. Mr. THEODORE JUSTICE, the apostle of wool tariff, in a public statement recently published, makes the assertion that the American operative in the wool industry earns about double as much as the Eng- fish workingman engaged in the same industry, and declares that this difference is ascribable to the tariff tax on wool in this country. In another paragraph of the same article Mr. JUSTICE admits that the English operative in the woolen in- dustry is much better paid than the Ger- man employee in the same industry. As Germany levies a tax on wool equal to that of this country, the fallacy of Mr. JUSTICE'S reasoning stands exposed. If the tariff controlled wages, the German workingman would be better paid. As a matter of fact, however, the American operative in woolen factories is not more generously compensated for his work than his British cousin. He earns more money in a day than the operative on the other side of the ocean but he produces more goods and the labor cost of producing a given quantity of woolen goods in England is greater than it is in this country. This difference is attributable to various causes. In the first place our workingmen are more in- dustrious, skillful and intelligent, and sec- ondly our machinery is better. Besides the cost of living in this country is greater in proportion to the wages of labor, than in Great Britain. The tariff tax on various articles nec- essary in the life of men in this country costs the public more than two billion dollars annually. This vast sum is drawn out of the wages of labor. A former president of the American Manufactur- ers’ association declared before the com- mittee of ways and means of the House of Representatives in Washington that the excessive charges of the DINGLEY law cost the industrial life of the country a million dollars a day. That is more than it would cost to closeup all the American woolen mills and keep them closed for all time, but as a matter of fact if the tariff tax were removed the mills would be more prosperous than they are at present. ~———Mr. J. PIERPONT MORGAN'S friends refer to him as “The Emperor,” and when one considers his relationship to the pres- ent administration at Washington, it is not an entirely inappropriate title. Of course there will be an effort to dif- | ferentiate between CANNONism and Re- publicanism, now that the Speaker is expressed grave doubts as to its efficien- down and out. In fact this was outlined ' in the action of those insurgents in the House of Representatives who voted of meat. The movement has just been STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. When the so-called meat boycott was begun, two months ago, the WATCHMAN cy as a remedy for the evil it was invok- ed to cure. The evil was the high price abandoned as a worthless experiment. vacant, after having knocked the legs out The consumption of meat was no doubt considerably diminished and the local express reprobation of CANNONism, they | butchers as well as the producers of meat said, without impairing the interests of | animals were injured in their business prosperity. But the source of meat sup- ply was not affected in the least and the prices were not perceptibly decreased. As long as there is capital to buy and cold storage capacity to keep meat there will be no decrease in the price of meats. The boycott is a foolish remedy for any evil because it puts the burden on the wrong place. If a street car company, for example, offends a community, a boy- cott doesn’t repair the damage or afford recompense for the injury. A working- man who walks two miles to his work in the morning is wasting physical energy that might be sold for a much higher price. The street car company doesn’t miss the five cents but the tired working- man is able to give less energy to his work and both he and his employer are injured. Going without meat in order that the beef trust might be punished works out precisely the same way. In the end the meat is brought out of cold storage, marked up to a price which will cover interest on the capital during the boycott, and sold. The price of meat is the result of the the policies of the Republican party. The only effective remedy for the evil, there- fore, lies in the defeat of the Republican fect of the policies of the Republican par- ty are worse than the “foolish virgins,” referred to in the scriptures. They are to blame for the conditions against which they: complain. There is little ache in the morning because of excessive indulgence the night before. It's his own fault. —JAMES R. KEENE'S testimony before the Hocking pool inquirers almost per- suades us that he is “an injured innocent.” Unhappily, however, his long and devious record in frenzied financiering looms up to check that amiable impression and the inevitable result is that KEENE is set down as a liar. The Philadelphia Strike. Mayor REYBURN, of Philadelphia, says a great many foolish things. Always chat- tering like an inebriate nothing else could be expected. But occasionally he utters a truth and touches a wise conclusion. This is likewise a natural consequence. For example mayor REYBURN said, the other day, that the street car strike in that city was organized by the machine politicians in order that they might have the opportunity of subsequently settling it. Settling strikes gives a man wonderful prestige. Workingmen actually look upon a man who settles a strike as a bene- factor, and never inquires as to the cause or origin of the strike. It may be inferred from the statement of mayor REYBURN that Senator Mc- NicHOL, Senator VARE and one or two others of the machine bosses arranged for the strike, soon after the February election, and then went to Florida to await the development of their con- spiracy. When it had worked damage to the verge of the breaking point to the community,they came home and set about the settlement of the strike. Then they point to their achievement as a public benefaction for which they are entitled to popular gratitude. Mayor REYBURN may be wrong in’ this instance but his statement is plausible. The facts are in accord with his inferences. If there had been no strike there would have been no chance for settlement. If a party boss can’t pose as a benefactor occasionally, he loses potentiality. Besides the strike occurred at the time and under the circumstances as stated by mayor REYBURN and there was no settlement until the bosses got back. But if the facts are as mayor REYBURN states them, the bosses entered into a criminal conspiracy which cost the city of Philadelphia millions of dollars in treasure and several human lives. They ought to be put in jail instead of being treated as benefactors. ~The departure of GIFFORD PINCHOT to meet the Hon. T. ROOSEVELT in Naples leads to the belief that those South Afri- can guns will be loaded full of conserva- tion ammunition on. the way home and fired off at TAFT and BALLINGER as soon as the tourists set foot on American soil. SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. ~Some business men of Avis, Clinton county, are discussing establishing a state bank at that place, with $25.000 capital. —Reports to the state health department indi- cate that the epidemic of malignant scarlet fever at Lykens, Dauphin county, is under controi. ~—Death claimed three children of Mr. and Mrs. William Kelly, of Hazleton, in the past week. All suffered from croup followed by diphtheria. —~Howard and Harry Ritter, of Manheim, are the champion trappers of that section of Pennsyl- | vanin. Theirseason’s catch was 227 muskrats, 29 skunks and 26 opossums. —General orders were issued Friday from Na- tional Guard headquarters announcing a division encampment of the guard to be held between July The Defeat of Cannon. The defeat of Speaker CANNON, in the House of Representatives on Saturday, was only a partial victory for civic ad- vancement and Republican government. It may work the elimination of that sys- tem of bossism which for a score of years has robbed the “parliament of the peo- ple” of all semblance of a deliberative body. But it ought to have been carried to its logical conclusion, which would have been the removal of CANNON from the chair as well as his elimination from the committee on rules. In other words the snake has only been scotched when it ought to have been killed. It will like- ly recover both in strength and vicious- ness. The new committee will be under control of CANNON quite as much as the old. The fault was in the moral weakness of the Republican insurgents. They were afraid of inflicting dangerous harm on the Republican party. If they had con- tinued with their Democratic allies until CANNON had been driven out of the equa- tion altogether, the evil of which they complain would have been completely cured. But that would have reversed the control of the body and changed the trend of legislation. They were afraid to go to that point. It would have separat- ed them from the source of patronage and a Republican thus cut off from spoils is as helpless as an unborn child. Itis a condition which they refuse to create or contemplate. But the defeat of CANNON is a victory have long endured. The defeat of CAN- NON was a consummation devoutly to be a third rate clerk inthe German Postoffice Department. Philadelphia and Pittsburg. The exposures of fraud, bribery and corruption in Pittsburg are simply amaz- ing. Forty councilmen and ex-councilmen have been indicted and there are others. On Monday the court was keptbusy hear- ing confessions of the culprits. The story of one of the leaders in the criminal operations has been corroborated by a dozen others and as fast as the confes- sions are made resignations are demand- ed. It looks now as if within a week, every seat in the municipal Legislature will be vacant. The history of American politics fails to reveal a similar condition. The official life of the city is rotten. This is the natural fruit of the political system which obtains in Pittsburg and Philadelphia. The citizenship of those municipalities is debased and debauched. The business element, yearning for special : privilege, has committed the government to political adventurers who have made a market of franchises and merchandise of government. The vast Republican ma jorities are thus created by fraud. The people have no voice in the affairs of the city. The system makes millionaires of the privileged and paupers of the rest. It is a case of bartering honor and con- science for the flesh-pots of the tariff. Philadelphia is no better but the pirates of that city are more cautious. They have not been found out. The Mc- NicHOLS and the VARES don't leave the families of their emissaries to starve while “doing time,” ard consequently there are no confessions. But there will be an ex- plosion there sooner or later. Rogues fall out in the end and when the revela- tions come they will be startling. ‘The conditions in Pittsburg are as bad as it is possible to be but in Philadelphia they will be as much worse as the popula- tion is greater. Meantime the citizens of those towns control the elections of the State because the people are supine. ——There will be vast changes in both branches of the next Congress and the Democrats of the country will have them- selves to blame if the difference is not overwhelmingly in thei favor: ~——RoOSEVELT will be home in ample time, for he is heading in this direction now, but if the various investigators are industrious, he will be found out before the next presidential election. 5g g oe | | ! if : B= | g CF i : i ] 2 & 3 a | 3% ag 8 : : : § 0 i i i if: : 1 § i i i ft | 5 i concerned themselves seriously : £5 ii : : 1 | I i | f | E IE ; 2 3 ic . i tt] Tg g i i § § | ; | | { : £: ie I if 1:11 ihe i i i 4 : I iH : g | 13 : Th g i f HEE 14th and July 23rd, the place to be announced in ~—Robert Mullen, employed at Hayes Run brick works, living at Orviston, had his leg broken in two places and sustained a number of bruises and cuts when about 700 bricks fell on him. He was taken to the Lock Haven hospital. 3 | Taylor and other officials of the company. ~The Coleman house, the leading hotel in Lewistown, which closed its doors to the public for a few days after license was refused it, has decided to entertain travelers. It is thought sev- eral other hotels in that town will do the same, ~C. E. Turnbach, of Philipsburg, has contract- ed with the Cambria Steel company, of Johns- town, to prsopect a 12,000 acre tract of coal land in Cambria county by means of diamond drills. Two drills already are on the way for that pur. pose. —Perry county had to pay $1,063.25 for the i maintenance of inmates in the penitentiary and asylum for the first three months of the year. The cost of holding the recent appeals was $372,- 26 and the expenses of the late spring election, so far as the county was concerned, $1,044.92. —~George T. Swank, for more than fifty years editor of the Johnstown Tribune, and a radical abolition editor before the Civil war, died on Sun- day aged 73 years. He was a personal friend of Horace Greeley and was a brother of Joseph M. Swank, secretary of the American Iron and Steel association. + —Vast amounts of coal are being stored by the New York Central railroad in the yards at Clear- field and Avis. If the present order is not in- creased before April 1st, the company will have about 100,000 tons of soft coal in both places. The Notice is given that H. W. Todd, John T. Todd and C. D. Todd will make application to Govern. or Stuart for a charter for the Lane Coal com- pany on April 11. The new concern will mine, ship, buy and sell coal and its products, and will ask for the right to obtain by lease, purchase or nak Power company, slated for April 6. The present plant will be dismantled and the site sold. The ikely 10 new owners will abolish the present system of making gas from crude oil and instead will use disbursements | the Water system. at this time to | —Quick justice overtook a juror in court at fiscal year (which | Indiana, Pa., when James G. Brink, formerly of Pittsburg, who had confessed to accepting a bribe, was sentenced to serve from one to five f | of Livermore, the plaintiff, to hold out fora ver- The | dict of a large amount in damages against the in | railroad. At —Scarlet fever of a most malignant type recent- the | vy broke out in the borough of Lykens in the upper end of Dauphin county and sixteen deaths general fund was $272.- | i he town and vicinity within ten days. Atotal of forty cases in about twenty families fund has to time one day, and upon learning the seriousness of the machine outbreak, Health Commissioner Samuel G. Dixon at once sent medical inspectors and nurses to the a va town to take the most rigorous steps to stamp out it pro- the scourge. te —Cross Fork, on the boundry line of Clinton - | and Potter counties, which expected to be wiped to | off the map because the last log owned by the Lackawanna Lumber company, the industrial figures | mainstay of the town, had been sawed, has re- of Pennsylvania has purchased the hard-wood left standing on the vast tracts from which hem- lock was cut in that section by the Goodyear Lumber company and the old Lackawanna mill is to be used to cut the wood. —Abe Reed, John Earl, Harry McCrum and Cariton Gates, arrested on suspicion of having started the fire in Huntingdon on Friday morning which did $150,000 damage, confessed on Saturday night to being guilty of the crime. They are resi- dents of the town, and most of them come from i coura- | good parentage. They had been drinking, and may be deemed so | while intoxicated first set fire to the Taylor store. The sight of the burning flames maddened their con- who | rum-soaked brains, and they then started the fire Speicerstip in another part of the town which did the principal rules | damage. —Schuylkill county is making preparations to them Yer to avoid a repetition of the troubles of last year fouse resulting from the drought. The two reservoirs te trouble that would en. | ® Tumbling Run, with a capacity of 267.000.000 gallons, formerly used to replenish the old Schuy!- There may kill canal, have been turned over to the Crys- tal Run Water company, of Minersville, and will - supply many Reading collieries by means of pipe lines. Forty million gallons of water are con- tained in the new Wolf creek dam of the Potts: ville Water company, which is now full to over- flowing. More than 1,000,000,000 gallons of water has boldly seized are now available for Pottstown and vicinity. at-| —The Whitmer-Steel Co's big saw mill, near perienced ; and | Tuesday ard managed that day to saw 40,000 feet personal | of lumber. F. W. E. Snyder, the very efficient informs us that the mill will con- to 60,000 feet of lumber per day. About 50 men are employed at the mill and on the log trains at had | superintendent, has tinue in operation right along, sawing from 50,000 the is in up | the present, but this number will be increased quitter, certain- | right along. The mill is of modern equipment, with | built substantially and its presence in that vicinity he iS | will be keenly felt in the increased measure of prosperity the community will enjoy. i i i |
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers