BY P. GRAY MEEK.
sn
INK SLINGS.
—How happy the country could be if
Congress would only adjourn and go
home.
~The local baseball fan is beginning to
get restless because a league with Belle-
fonte in it has not yet been formed.
—There must certainly be something
doing in Temperance propaganda when
the Emperor of the Germans should in-
veigh against beer swilling.
—The offices of State Treasurer and
Auditor General are back in the hands of
the gang. Now for the beginning of
another carnival of loot at Harrisburg.
—The grand opera trust has octoped
the country. Thank the Lord, we still
have Uncle Tom's Cabin and LINCOLN
CARTER'’S blood curdling dramas free from
its encircling tentacles.
—The New York minister who said
“Pittsburg is the city where they make
iron and——steel for a living" has given
to the public about the wittiest gem we
have read in a long time.
—Anyway the Democrats have plenty
of splendid gubernatorial timber. Any
one of the men mentioned for that office
would prove an honor to the party and a
boon to the Commonwealth.
—As a base ball rooter President TAFT
seems to be very much of a success. We
publish this as a matter of news for those
who might imagine that our President
has no accomplishments whatever.
—While we are not at all pessimistic
in the matter there are those who fear
that a continuation of the iron market
in its present condition may result in a
temporary suspension at the local fur-
naces.
—The consumption of beer in England
has decreased from thirty-two to twenty-
six gallons per head during the past five
years. Is this due to the spirit of temper-
ance, the pocket book or the quality of
the beer?
—Wonder what TEDDY will think about |
the Danes objecting to common people |
sleeping in royal beds. “Common peo-
ple, forsooth!” Why he is the most un-
common thing the world has produced in
a century.
~The borough auditors have complet-
ed their work and they are reputed as
having had more trouble in agreeing up-
on what their own compensation should
be than in checking up the accounts of
the various officials.
—Residents of Lemon Ave. Leandro,
Cal., have appealed to the city trustees
to have the name of their thoroughfare
changed. We have often heard that there
is nothing in a name but the residents of
Lemon Ave. are convinced that there is.
—Mayor GAYNOR, of New York, told
editor HEARST, of the American, a few
things at a banquet of the press clubs of
that city, one night last week. A fight
was almost precipitated, but not before
some very unpleasant truths were made
public.
—The observance of Mothers’ day,
next Sunday, is a beautiful manifestation
of the tenderest and most sacred senti-
ment one can cherish. Wear a flower on
Sunday to show to the world that you re-
vere the surpassing love and constant de-
votion of your mother.
—The Pittsburg clergyman who endors-
ed prize fighting from his pulpit said:
“It is in the nature of men to fight. They
might as well learn how to do it well.”
This is true in a sense, but to our mind
too many people know too much about
fighting now for the happiness of the
communities in which they reside.
—That Cincinnati gentleman who per-
sists in refusing a salary of twenty-five
thousand dollars a year from the gas
company, of which he is president, until
it can pay dividends on its common stock
is certainly an unique character in mod-
ern financiering. What an idiot Gas Ap-
DICKS would have thought this conscien-
tious gentleman to be.
—President TAFT's allusion to a possi-
ble Democratic House as an “affliction
that the good Lord might send us" would
have been unkind if everyone did not
know that even a Democratic House
could not be as hopeless as the present
one. Inany event it would stand for
something and even the President would
be able to know where it would be at.
—The President visited his old home in
Cincinnati, heartsore and discouraged.
He said the “White House is not the ideal
place of residence" and that he had found
out that many of his friends to his face |
were foes in the legislative halls. Poor
TAFT, if he had only stood where he
promised the people he would stand his
conscience would not be worrying him so
much today.
—The conviction of “the boy dreamer”
probably marks the closing of the last
chapter in the great Pennsylvania capitol
scandal. The ends of justice have been
satisfied and the long trail of misfortune
left by those implicated will be a living
reminder for future servants of the pub-
lic that they must do their duty or suffer
the consequences. Public office contem-
plates no passive responsibility. The
man who accepts it must be active in the
pursuit of its obligations. His accounta-
bility is not measured by his integrity be-
fore accepting office, but by the manner
in which he has performed the duties he
has sworn to perform.
VOL. 55.
Some Hopeful Election Figures. :
We are reminded by a circular issued | Secretary of Agriculture WILSON is
by some of the friends of Ww. H. BER- | making a picturesque ass of himself in
RY, which makes a comparison of the | his absurd efforts to shift the responsibil-
vote of the ex-State Treasurer in 1905 and | ity for the high prices of food stuffs from
that of C. LARUE MUNSON last fall, that | the tariff tax to something else. In a
Mr. BERRY also carried fifteen of the speech delivered in New York, the other
twenty-two Congressional districts of this ' day, he ascribed the evil to “reckless
State, outside of Pittsburg and Philadel- | methods of farming which have resulted
phia. That is an additional reason for | in the impoverishment of the soil.” Ac-
hope of the result of the coming election. | cording to the statistics issued from the
Congressional districts that have been Department of Agriculture, by the au-
carried twice in four years by the Demo- | thority of Secretary WILSON, the farm
crats are not hopelessly against the can- products of last year aggregated in value
didates of that party. Good candidates the enormous total of more than eight
in each of those districts and such effort | billion dollars, nearly a billion in excess
in support of them as will procure a full | of the best previous record. If these fig-
Democratic vote will give Pennsylvania | ures are correct the impoverishment of
fifteen Democrats in the next Congress.
would be. The next Congress will be
Democratic beyond question and with a
delegation of that party faith of fifteen
upon the floor no State could exercise
greater influence in the legislation of the
session. We had less than fifteen mem-
bers on the floor when the late Speaker
RANDALL was elected to the chair and
though we are not likely to present a
name for that office in the next House a
delegation of fifteen would guarantee us
some committtee chairmanships and a
large influence in the work of shaping
the legislation of the body. We hope,
therefore, that every Democrat in the
Congressman in his district and the way
and time to begin is by the selection of
good candidates at the primaries.
The inordinate and distressingly high
prices of the necessaries of life will con-
tinue until the tariff is revised so as to
curb the power of the trusts and restrain
the control of monopolies. This will be
achieved as soon as the Democrats have
a majority in Congress and it is import-
ant that the Democrats of Pennsylvania
should have a full share in this beneficent
result. If we elect fifteen Democrats
next fall we will certainly enjoy that dis-
tinction and the vote for Mr. BERRY in
1905 and that for Mr. MUNSON last year
is ample evidence that we can achieve
the result. Get a full registration and
bring evéry vote to the polls and we will
not only get fifteen Democratic Congres-
men in the State but will elect our full
State ticket.
The Men We Honor.
The magnificent bronze doors of the
capitol building at Harrisburg are deco-
rated with the faces of a number of dis-
tinguished Pennsylvanians. Among the
faces on that door are the late Senator
QuAy, who escaped the penitentiary by
pleading the statute of limitations; SAM-
UEL W. PENNYPACKER, who was shielded
from prosecution for graft for some mys-
terious but unexplained reason; Auditor
General W. P. SNYDER, who is now in the
penitentiary; W. L. MATTHUES, who es-
caped the penalty by dying; architect
Josep H. HusToN and others. In fact it
is a question whether the door represents
a “rogue’s gallery,” or a “galaxy of dis-
tinguished citizens.”
However this question is settled one
thing is certain. That is that the faces
on the bronze doors of the capitol repre-
sent a political immorality that is dis-
graceful to the people of Pennsylvania.
Of the figures in the group one escaped
state's prison by pleading the statute of
limitations, one is already doing time in
the penitentiary, one is under conviction
and will be sentenced as soon as the tech-
nical objections can be brushed aside and
at least three, State Treasurer MATTHUES,
confractor PAYNE and contractor SAN-
| the soil is humbuggery.
What a splendid achievement that |
The truth of the matter is that the
high prices are ascribable almost entirely
to the tariff taxation. In the first place
the excessive taxes on every article and
implement used in producing the crops
add materially to the cost of production
and then the manipulation of prices by
the trusts which control the distribution
of the crops does the rest. Cereals pro-
duced in this country are sold in all the
centres of population in Europe at less
prices than they can be procured for at
home and whatever losses are incurred
in supplying the foreign markets are
made up by overcharging in the home
i markets. These things are responsible
State will ekert every effort to elect a|
for the high prices and no one under-
stands it better than Secretary WILSON.
When the tariff laws are made in the
interest of the people instead of the
trusts the prices of food stuffs will come
down to a just level. It is not likely that
prices will be as low as they have been
in the near future and it is not altogeth-
er desirable that they should be. But
when farmers are able agricultur-
al machinery and plements of
farming without paying a vast bonus to
manufacturers, the cost of production
will be materially reduced and the price
of the commodities will get down to the
! level created by the operation of the law
! of supply and demand.
i If Secretary WILSON doesn’t understand
| these facts he is not properly equipped
, for the job he is holding down.
| Taft Again Puts His Foot in It.
i
{| President TAFT has thrown over the
i shoulders of his Secretary of State the
mantle of his unqualified approval. It
was believed that he had done with such
| things. His eulogy of Senator ALDRICH,
| some months ago, was so uniformly re-
sented by public sentiment, that every
tone jumped to the conclusion that he
| would never repeat the blunder. But in
his Pittsburg speech, the other night, he
; even went further than in the ALDRICH
case. He not only endorsed Secretary
| Knox's absurd diplomatic farce comedy
i in Nicaragua, but specifically approved of
: his “dollar” diplomacy in the far east. He
was particularly generous in praise of
. that diplomacy which brought orders for
. battleships to our shores.
| The feature of Secretary KNoX's diplo-
| macy was expressed in his treatment of
| the Nicaraguan trouble. In that matter
| the Secretary of State not only practical-
| recognized the belligerency of an ad-
! venturer but sent half a dozen warships
and thousands of American marines to
support him in his rebellion against his
{ government. The result was an instant
revulsion of public sentiment throughout
| the little Republic and in less than six
| months the almost clandestine withdraw-
i al of the ships and marines which had
| been dispatched with such a flourish of
trumpets. It was the most humiliating
i
DERSON, escaped by dying. With a MON" | circumstance which has occurred to any
ument of QUAY, the arch-conspirator, in | country within a century.
the corridor and other convicts on the The truth is that TAFT is making our
Sen, 3% Jon 2% if Sevan delight ‘government the laughing stock’, of the
minal civilized world. Constantly on the road
Still these men are neither worse nor i
better than those who thus honor them. | Hea 2) drummer “tie cha
A stream can be no purer than its foun- | Jka Hadise at ove id SPoRNY Le
tain and a party which selects criminals, oh Te his a ni a om.
though £35 fhe Hime not oad Sieg us | some flattery of those about him he goes
moral level with those it honors. Even | 0 Sxtimragan torgise oF invginey cher-
{now the Republican leader in Philadel- | ;op oq measures are being buffetted about
phia most revered is “DAVE” LANE, who | i) Congress and the C ional na
a short time ago in a public speech asked | chine, upon which he depends, is in dis-
the office holders of the city to stuff the pair. If he Id remain at hisEpost of
ballot boxes and warned them that i | duty long enougls to frame a policy there
they failed to produce votes in the ratio | might be some chance of fulfilling his
of four to one they would be dismissed party pledges impossi
from the public service. LANE is not | im to do that. but it is 1m le "07
in the penitentiary and in being out he |
is the patron saint of Republicanism of
Pennsylvania.
——Next Monday evening will be the
evening for the regular meeting of the
Bellefonte Motor club and there should
~The Centra! Railroad of Pennsyl-
vania has given the freight crews an in-
crease of twenty per cent. in wages. Pas-
senger crews do not benefit by the in-
crease but as most of the engineers and
firemen take turns in running the freight
and passenger trains they will be equally
benefitted. The increase is naturally
be a good turnout of members. This is
the time of year when the club should be
most active in co-operating in every way
possible with the supervisors and road
g
masters throughout the county for
improvement of the roads, and the on
way to do so successfully is by a concert
&
ed effort on the part of all automobile
owners, every one of whom should be a
member of the Bellefonte Motor club.
much appreciated by the employees.
~—Subscribe for the WATCHMAN.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
BELLEFONTE, PA.. MAY 6, 1910.
| Secretary Wilion's Absurd Ideas. |
The State Treasury Decision.
Nobody was in the least surprised at
the decision of the Supreme court affirm-
ing the right of the Governor to ap-
point a State Treasurer, the gentleman
elected to the office having died before
qualifying. Capable lawyers differed in
opinion on the subject and former Attor-
ney General HENSEL cited numerous prec- |
edents to support his contention that
the death of Mr. STOBER created no va-
cancy in the office such as could be filled
by the Governor under the sanction of |:
the constitution. But that made no ma-
y
terial difference to the Judges of the Su- | though
preme court, most of whom have been o
catapulted into their seats. It was a
“groundhog case,” and had to be decided
that way.
The Republican machine needs money
and the right man in the office of State
Treasurer can be very serviceable in sup-
plying that want. On Tuesday when the
transfer of the office was made there
were $9,000,000 of surplus in the general
fund and considerably upward of $2,000,
000 in the sinking fund. Under the law
it is necessary to collect two per cent. on
such balances for the use of the State but
it is an easy matter to place the entire
amount in solvent depositories at four
per cent. The two per cent. which is
“velvet,” therefore, would bring $220,000
a year to the campaign fund, or a matter
of $110,000 between the dates of the
transfer and the opening of the polls next
November.
Mr.SHEATZ has been of very little useto
the machine since he entered upon the
duties of the office of State Treasurer.
He saved it from defeat at the time of
his election but Republican gratitude is
not sufficiently comprehensive to cover
past favors and when SHEATZ refused to
serve the machine in office previous obli-
gations were forgotten. His successor
under appointment by the Governor, rat-
ified by an off-hand decision of the Su-
preme court, will be more mindful of his
partisan obligations. The golden stream
will soon begin to flow into the corrup-
tion fund and the work of bribing voters
will
noise than formerly.
Prosident TAFT'S trouble as being an ef- he
fort to please everybody. And as is al-
ways the case under such conditions he
has succeeded in pleasing nobody.
Ballinger a Bold Witness.
MR. BALLINGER, the accused Secretary
of the Interior, was a witness before the
Congressional committee charged with the
investigation of accusations against him
during the closing days of last week and
was quite free in his charges of perjury
against those who testified on the other
side of the question. In that way he dis-
posed of CLAVIS, GARFIELD, PINCHOT, HOYT,
and everybody else who testified against
him. They are liars, he said, unequivo-
cally. This one lied and that one lied and
in fact they all lied. He is the only truth-
ful man who has testified in the case
though his statements are unsupported,
while the evidence of the others clearly
corroborate each other. :
MR. BALLINGER must imagine the people
are fools to make such an exhibition of
himself. He knows, of course, that the
committee has been packed in his interest
and that its report will be a whitewash.
President TAFT has already practically
compelled this result by serving notice
that official patronage goes with a verdict
of acquittal and official punishment with
a vote against the accused Secretary. But
the people of the country have not been
bribed, cajoled or coerced. They have
read the evidence and will make the real
verdict regardless of what the Congres:
sional committee does. The citizens are
the court of last resort in this case.
The fact is that MR. BALLINGER was
forced into the cabinet by the GUGGEN-
HEIMS, MORGAN and other land pirates
who contributed to the Republican cam-
paign fund in the expectation of reim-
bursing themselves by stealing valuable
portions of the public domain. They se-
lected BALLINGER as the instrument
through whom to operate and they donot
propose to be balked in their plans. If
TAFT turns BALLINGER down they will ex-
pose TAFT and he knows it. Therefore
they know that he will be faithful to them
however treacherous he may be to the peo-
ple. They have the power of punishment
and the people are only able to complain.
It is a safe guess that BALLINGER is im-
mune.
——Next Sunday, March 8th, will be
observed as “Mothers” Day” all over the
country. The idea was originated by
Miss Annie James, of Philadelphia, and it
at once proved such a popular sentiment
that it has been very generally observed
since .in many churches in the United
States and by the wearing of a white car- |
nation by the general public.
Subscribe for the WATCHMAN.
forward with renewed energy if
NO. } 8.
A New Light for AY
From the Lancaster Intelligencer.
The Insurgent Republicans in the fed-
etal Senate sgem so lave liad a
|
Apparently senatorial
insurgents were able to see a new t
under these were om
ed to see that their harmony
so idle. He had not only coal claims,
but land claims, timber and stone claims,
and water-power claims, and about them
all he wrote or telegraphed busily to his
friend and former subordinate, urging
haste in favor of his clients. Where two
Jetsons claimed the same piece of land,
linger urged Dennett to decide for his
client. He acted, to a ter or less ex-
tent, for at least four of the most power-
ful groups of Alaska claimants: the Cun-
ningham group, of thirty-three claims,
whose rty was recently estimated
as worth between fifty and one hundred
millions; the Green or Waite group of
sixty-six claims; the Watson group of six-
-four and the Hartline group of ten.
e incorporated the McKenzie Anthra-
cite Coal company and the Carbon Moun-
tain Anthracite Coal SOmpaRy. He 1ep-
resented eastern i were in-
Dennett would like to be much more busy
politically than his onerous duties permit:
Jt has been a girage expericnce to JUS Wk 18
be in a Presidential as this is the 1
field work connected with the campaign will be
properly understood.
Oh, yes, Fred, it was fully understood.
You were needed in Washington, for, as
ward their services.
oldwheeze: "Here's to the rich, God
bless ‘em, and as for the poor, damn ‘em,
it would it the Republican party in
and not
Sos, amd EY J Tt, 22
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—Potatoes command 20 cents a bushel in Indi-
ana county and 35 in Clearfield.
~One hundred and eighteen cases of measles
are reported as existing in Butler.
~The West Decatur, Clearfield county post
office, has no postmaster. It pays $335 a year.
—A large pearl was found in an oyster ina
Bethlehem restaurant a few days ago. Itisa®
large as a hazelnut and pear-shaped. A jeweler
estimated its value at $400.
—Half the business section of Rossiter, 2 min-
ing town of 3,000 inhabitants, was destroyed by
fire last Friday morning. The loss is estimated
at $75,000. The fire started in the mercantile es-
tablishment of Nathan Abrams and consumed 12
business houses and two dwellings.
—Nearly all of the employees of the Lehigh Val-
ley Coal and Navigation company, 5000 in num-
ber, have signified their willingness to donate a
day's wages, an average of $8,000, toward the
Panther Creek Valley hospital fund. It is expect-
ed the company will contribute a like amount.
—Dr. W. Albert Nason, of Roaring Spring, one
of the best known surgeons and physicians in
this section of the State, has been invited to as-
sume the position of chief of the medical staff in
the new Mercy hospital, shortly to be opened at
. | Eighth avenue and Twenty-sixth street, Altoona.
~The Women's Aid society of the Lewistown
hospital, realizing that chickens would do away
with a lot of the waste food around the institu-
tion as well as being useful as food and for their
eggs, have erected a hennery near the place and
have advertised for free contributions of chick-
ens.
~The creosoting plant of the Pennsylvania
to live up to the specifications for the work and
‘material used.
—James L. Miller, of Lewisburg, has patented a
new invention for bonding the rails of trolley
traction roads. It is claimed by Mr. Miller that
the cost of construction and installation of the
bonded fish plates according to this system
would be but a few cents per joint as compared
from | With the cost of other bonds and installation
which ranges from $1,50 to $5.80 per joint.
—Huntingdon will try to land a paper mill for a
big publishing house that has been endeavoring
to get information relative to establishing the
plant at that place. The company publishes three
widely-read magazines and wants a factory site
for a paper mill to supply one of these periodicals.
A building 400x600 feet and four stories high is
needed. The board of trade has started to vork
that | for the new industry.
—On petition of the McClain and McMullen
heirs, the sheriff of Clearfield county recently
sold a 110-acre plot of coal ground, known as the
McMillen property, east of Osceola, to Dr. F. K.
White, of Philipsburg, and several other well
known men. The purchasers, whose bid was §8,.
000 will form a company and develop the place at
once. Good deposits of coal are in the ground. A
considerable part of the surface will be sold off in
building lots.
—Nominating petitions are being received at
the state capitol at the rate of nearly 100 a day
and itis that by midnight Saturday,
May 7, the time for filing such papers ex-
| pi=ee that about 1.500 will be on file. All candi-
dates for congressional, senatorial and represen-
tative nominations are required to file papers at
the cepitol. Petitions to be candidate for state
delegate are to be filed in home counties, the time
limit being May 14.
~—A Patton physician may be responsible for
much of the scarlet fever that has prevailed
for the past several months in that town. Itis
alleged, on authority of Howard C. Yerger, secre-
tary of the board of heaith, that a certain doctor
diagnosed a case of a child as scarlet fever April
4 but did not mail the notification card until
April 18, during which time other children of the
family were allowed to attend school and to min-
gle with their friends.
—A book containing the names of all automo-
bilists in the State together with the number of
licenses, has been issued by the State Highway
Department. The book is being distributed to
officials in all the cities of the State. Heretofore
it has been a hard task to identify a car by the
license number, owing to the time required to
secure the information from Harrisburg. The
book places this information within reach of all
and may aid identification of reckless drivers.
—Residents of Hammersley Fork, Clinton coun-
ty, were excited a few days ago when oil was
found oozing out of an old well that had been
drilled thirty-five or forty years ago. The well is
on the farm of W. H. Summerson and O. F. Bots-
ford made the discovery. Whether the finding
ping on the match she noticed it was
went on with her household duties, giving
matter little thought. Soon her clothes flamed
up and she ran out intothe yard, where she rush-
ed about screaming, a human torch. Neighbors
went to her aid and put out the flames, but her
build a plant a little later on.
—Rafting on the West branch of the Susque-
hanna river still continues on a small scale,
spite the fact that a number of years ago it
Eis
became higher and the logs traveled much
than at the beginning of the journey.
cables were required, as well as :
the part of themen to snub the rafts when they
reached Lock Haven. i
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