— Demat. BY P. GRAY MEEK. INK SLINGS. —The days are noticeably lengthen- ing. —Centre county’s two Troops are on the way home and will probably reach here by next Wednesday. —Wheat touched a dollar eighty-five in Centre county this week. The two dollar mark might be reached yet. —The Lewis tragedy at Atlantic City was just another finger-board, pointing | to the end of “the Great White Way.” ! | — Look at the label on this paper and ! see if the figures on it correctly repre- | sent the time to which your subscription | is paid. ——If Brumbaugh would utter less cant and talk more sense there would be greater reasons to hope for reform leg- islation. —The new Berks county weather prophet is no kin of the late goose-bone | reader of the signs who brought fame to that locality even if his name is Drake. —Consumers of steam heat in Belle- fonte have no real reason to complain so | long as they are getting what they are | paying for. With them now the ques- tion is merely one of being able to pay for what they are getting. —Harry K. Thaw having evidently grown tired of the obscurity of philan- thropic work to which he has devoted himself since his liberation from Mattea- wan, has gotten into the limelight again on the charge of kidnapping boys. —Judge George Gray gave James M. Beck the bitterest rebuke he will prob- ably ever receive and did it without say- ing a word. Mr. Beck is a brilliant law- yer but for some years he has been more or less dazzled by his own brilliancy. —1t is rather a peculiar condition of affairs when half of Bellefonte’s largest industrial enterprises are banked for want of coal notwithstanding they are located less than twenty miles distant from the famous Snow Shoe coal fields. —It was small comfort for Mr. Hughes; that meeting of electors for Pennsylva- nia in Harrisburg on Monday. They voted for him all night, but he discovered that his term had expired when he woke up on the morning of the 8th of last November. —Cost experts have figured out that the prayer at the opening of the Legis- lature cost Pennsylvania $294.00. What if it did. If it sowed a single seed of righteousness in the souls of some of the political crooks it was offered for it was worth all.thatit.cost. ou —The young lady who remarked to a companion on Tuesday night: “I haven’t been near so disagreeable and hard to get along with since I have had a fel- low,” pointed the way to others of chol- eric temperament by which they might become more amiable. —Ida M. Tarbell has declined the invi- tation of the President to become a member of the tariff commission. Here is a strong plea for suffrage. The wom- en are not so much concerned about the’ offices, apparently, as their opponents would have the public believe. —Congress is about to vote Washing- ton, D. C,, dry but with an eye to per- sonal needs Congress has put a provis- ion in the bill permitting shipments of small amounts into the District for per- sonal use. Mr. Bryan has left Washing- ton, but grape-juice is to remain. —Cabbage was one hundred and five dollars a ton in Pittsburgh last week and potatoes two dollars and twenty cents a bushel. Just when we had begun to think that people must be asses for pay- ing such prices we realized that they are not, else they would be satisfied with hay. —MTr. Joseph Tumulty, the President’s private secretary, went through the Con- gressional investigation unscathed. The attempt to implicate him in the peace note leak was a partisan piece of busi- ness, but the opportunity given him to reveal to the country his sacred regard for the trust reposed in him was, after all, an extenuating circumstance in a very unpleasant episode. —Nittany Valley is beginning to feel the effects of the war between the Cen- tral Railroad of Pennsylvania and the motor bus carrier in competition with it for passenger traffic in the Valley. The loss of considerable passenger business compelled the railroad company to cut its service between Bellefonte and Lock Haven with the result that postal facili- ties at all the points are seriously inter- fered with. From some of the offices it now requires two days to get a letter to Bellefonte, although the remotest point is not twenty-five miles distant from here. —The Clinton county Fishing and Hunting Association has gone on record as favoring Sunday fishing and reducing the number of trout to be taken in a day from forty to twenty-five. The “Watch- man” favors the latter proposal, but it is a little too old fashioned in its ideas of Sabbath observance to approve of the former. While we are ready to admit that Sunday fishing might be even less harmful than Sunday automobiling, golf and ball playing and other innocent rec- reative diversions a line must be drawn somewhere if the Sabbath is to remain the Lord’s day. STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. A VOL. 62. Watterson on Jackson and Democracy. Paying just and eloquent tribute to the memory of Andrew Jackson, on the anni- | ‘ factions continues but there will be no versary of the Battle of New Orleans, Henry Watterson, in the Louisville Cour- ier-Journal, after reciting some of the glorious achievements of that Apostle of Democracy, observes: “It would seem, at a moment when so many false prophets masquerade as Democrats and go about preaching strange gospels in the name of Democracy, that thoughtful and sincere | followers of Jefferson and Jackson may ' with advantage, and more than ever, re- ) : the Penrose faction and the Brumbaugh gard the day: that observance should be more functional; that they should cele- brate it in a spirit at once of reverence and reflection, seeking both invigoration and light.” The Bill of Rights, the freedom of speech and of the press, the home rule principle, the doctrine that “the govern- ment has no right in equity or law to levy and collect a dollar of taxation except for its own support,” are heritages of those great apostles of Democracy. “The Fed- eral party,” Mr Watterson continues, “quickly went down opposing them. The Whig party followed suit. The passions of the War of Sections subsided, the Re- publican party which had been borne in- to power by a wave of military enthusiasm touched them gingerly and at its peril. It has been reserved for men rattling round in Democratic raiments to lay sac- religious hand upon the ark of the coven- ant; to preach religion in politics; to urge sumptuary laws in restraint of personal liberty; to urge Federal laws in restraint of home rule, local self-government and popular custom; even to advocate a cen- tralized bureauocracy resting upon puri- tanic paternalism and supported by an all-pervading spy system.” What would Mr. Watterson think if he were in Pennsylvania now and a witness to the absurd antics of small party bosses “rattling around” as political leaders and appointing censors and mentors for Sen- ators and Representatives in the Legisla- ture? What would he say if he saw such pretenders employing the courts to pun- ish men fog voting as their conscience dictated. It is certainly enough to “wak- en the spirits of the dead” and in contem- plation of the spectacle one may easily im- agine “Old Hickory bursting the cere- ments that bound him in his coffin and rising grandly, proudly, wrathfully above his grave to cry ‘by the Eternal’.” Surely “from the very skies we may hear his voice ring out.” ——When Brumbaugh talks in favor of civil service reform he insults public intelligence. No Governor has ever abused the appointing power as ruthless- | ly as he has. Penrose Has a “War Board.” That militarism is gaining in this country can no longer be denied. Even party factions have “war boards” and hold “councils of war.” Only the other day the newspapers contained the start- ling information that Penrose has ap- pointed “a war board” and that was fol- lowed a day or two later by a statement that the Penrose war board will hold a council of war either today or tomorrow in Atlantic City. The purpose of this meeting is problematical. Some author- ities declare that it is to determine whether Brumbaugh is to be impeached or not and others allege with equal posi- tiveness that it is for the purpose of forming the standing committees of the Legislature. In either event the proceedings will be interesting but we have little hope that the public will be given full details. It may be safely predicted, however, that the Governor and the Vares will be told where to get off after the meeting. There will be no impeachment but there will be suppression and the plans of operations will be agreed upon at the Atlantic City meeting. If all possible advantage is taken by the dominant fac- tion in making up the committees the rest will be easy. Practically all import- ant legislation is determined in com- mittee and the proceedings are secret so that there is perfect freedom and secur- ity in throwing the harpoon and Baldwin is an expert thrower. Of course a war board must meet fre- quently in order to keep its parts in con- dition and Atlantic City is an expensive place in winter time. But the members of the board are all wealthy or draw good salaries so that the matter of ex- pense is of little consequence. But keep- ing the machine in order is of great con- cern and the salt sea air is as lubricating as it is salubrious. It may be necessary to have a watch tower at Harrisburg during the session, or at least until the enemy has become completely docile and entirely obedient. But having gone into the enterprise Senator Penrose may be depended upon to meet every require- ment and take the full measure of profit. There Will be No Impeachment. i The exchange of hostile “hot shots” | between the Pennsylvania Republican actual battle. Senator Penrose is still | ed in the European war make public | freely and vehemently threatening im- peachment proceedings against Governor | Brumbaugh but there will be no im- peachment. It is all talk. Neither fac- tion can afford a full and complete ex- posure and neither side wants a search- ing investiy ation. General Assembly will try to force a Leg- islative inquiry but in the final analysis faction will “get together” and prevent such a result. The leaders of both fac- tions see the prisons yawning for them- selves or followers. At present Penrose is on top and the Vares are manufacturing flags of truce. One would think that in such circum- stances Penrose would press his advan- tage, The offences against him have been great and the provocations frequent. Brumbaugh, Brown and the Vares have cheated him at every opportunity. In the deal for Mayor of Philadelphia they “double-crossed” him after prostituting his closest friend. In the nomination of Brumbaugh for Governor they deceived him shamefully. Besides nll of them have traduced him scandalously. But he will not allow impeachment proceed- ings. It would involve ‘the exposure of his own political atrocities and the pun- ishment of many of his friends. There will be humiliations, of course. Brumbaugh will be restrained in the ex- ercise of his prerogatives, Attorney Gen- eral Brown will be kicked and cuffed in every direction and the Vares will be compelled to eat the offall of the South Philadelphia political table out of the hand of McNichol. They will have to forego their ambition to drive ash-carts through the corridors of the capitol and (feed pigs in the executive mansion. These penalties will be severe but they will not involve imprisonment and as the lesser of evils endurable. But there will be no impeachment. Penrose, Brumbaugh, Brown and the Vares would flee from impeachment as‘from a pesti- lence. ——Three weeks is a long recess but it should be remembered that Penrose is a ponderous man and it may take him a good while to make up Mr. Baldwin's mind on the subject of committee as- signments. : Republican Factions and Democrats. In boasting that the dominant faction of the Republican party will have the help of the Democratic minority in pass- ing all appropriation bills over the Gov- ernor’s veto, Senator Penrose is reckon- ing without his host. The Democratic minority in the General Assembly will not vote for some of the appropriations at all and appropriations vetoed by the Governor will have to have great- er merit than the endorsement of the Penrose machine managers to secure Democratic votes “the veto of the Gov- ernor notwithstanding.” The Democrats in the Legislature are affiliated with neither of the Republican factions and will vote for the interests of the people regardless of factions. The Democratic party is committed to reforms in the methods of making ap- propriations for charitable as well as other purposes. For more than a dozen years the Appropriations committees of the Senate and House of Representa- tives have been trading posts for graft. Millions of dollars have been appropriat- ed in the name of charity which have been used for no other purpose than to pay political debts and maintain the Re- publican machine in order as an instru- ment to loot the treasury. This sinister evil must be stopped and if one faction or the other of the Republican party will set itself to the work the Democratic minority will be willing helpers and earnest supporters of the effort. The fissure in the Republican party is watched with great interest by the Dem- ocratic Senators and Representatives in the General Assembly for the reason, mainly, that it promises an opportunity for breaking up the vicious systems of legislation which have been in vogue at Harrisburg for a score of years. The proposed impeachment proceedings would be likely to have their support for the reason that if the charges against the Governor are true he is unfit for the office and his occupancy of it would be disgraceful. But the Democratic minor- ity is not under the control of the Pen- rose faction and whenever the Governor is unjustly attacked they will support him. ——Representative Mann, of Chicago, isa rough neck but Gussie Gardner might select a sissy for Speaker and that would be intolerable. The Democrats in the ' BELLEFONTE, PA.. JAN UARY 12, 1917. False Charge Against the _Admimstra- tion. Following President Wilson's sugges- tion that the several belligerents engag- | statements of their reasons for continu- | ing the hostilities, there was a consider- | able slump in the values of industrial ' stocks. Thousands of people jumped to : the conclusion that peace would be de- ‘ clared within a short time and the man- ufacture of munitions in this coun- 'try would necessarily cease. As | was to be expected some evil-minded : and suspicious person started the rumor ' that information of the President's in- | tention had been given in advance to | favored brokers in New York and Boston | which enabled them to take big profits ! from the market. | This investigation has proceeded suf- | ficiently to show conclusively that no | official of the government or attache of | the administration was responsible for | the transmission of information to those | who profited by the operation in the | shares affected. It has also run far | enough to show that the incident was { made use of by political demagogues to manufacture party capital. As has been the custom for years the news- | paper correspondents in Washington | were given advance information of the purpose of the President in order that | they might supply their papers with the news simultaneously. But there is no moral turpitude in that and the demand for an investigation was a gratuitous and disreputable aspersion upon the Presi- dent. But it has failure for its purpose. No clean-minded man in this broad land believes now that any public official con- nected with the administration in confi- dential relationship is capable of betray- ing the public in such a way as the accusation would imply. The officers of the government have no interest in the speculative operations of Wall Street. Happily that pernicious practice went out with the retirement of Roosevelt whose brothers-in-law and personal fg'ends were so favored. It never will come into vogue again so long as the administration continues Democratic and unless the signs are misleading that will be many years in the future. ——Young Mr. Rockefeller is about to present the city of New York with a five or six million dollar park, which is both munificent and beneficent. But that amount of money judiciously invested in wholesome boiling beef would go much farther toward solving the problem of the high cost of living. ——Of course the candidates for the Republican nomination for Speaker of the House had no personal animosity against each other. As amatter of fact they had very little to do with the cam. paign. . It was a fight between bosses rather than a contest between -candi- dates. ——Possibly Russian tardiness is re- sponsible for the rape of Rumania but wherever the fault it is atrocious. Some force somewhere ought to be mustered to check the German conquest ‘of that un- happy country. ——Senator Stone, of Missouri, having examined the subject has an accurate measurement of Tom Lawson. Stone says the Boston plunger is “an unspeak- able scoundrel and disgusting ass.” ——Speaker Baldwin will not let his friends suffer in forming the House Com- mittees but there will be enough disap- pointments to cover the Vare faction in the Legislature. ——A thorough exposure of the polit- ical tricks of the past dozen years in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania would be interesting though it might smell bad. ——Tom Lawson couldn’t think of vio- lating the confidence of an imaginary person but he would take pleasure in rob- bing his best friend of his last dollar. ——Villa is on the run according to in- formation from Mexico and it is to be hoped he will be kept rnnning. But the only proper place for Villa is in jail. ——There is no use in lamenting the scarcity of food in Germany. The Kais- er’'s army is managing to get most of its supplies from the enemy. ——It may take some time to bring the belligerents into a frame of mind which will lead to peace, but it is worth the time and effort. ——Maybe the Supreme court decision will keep whiskey out of West Virginia but in that event it will be an exception to the rule. ; —Jim Beck is the “bull in a china shop” and everybody knows what the bull in the china shop did. The Voice of Neutral Nations. i i | From the Johnstown Democrat. i If the psychology of the situation runs | true to form, the belligerents will in the | comparatively near future begin cam- paigns designed to pin responsibility for | the pending conflict upon the other fellow. { There has been much general discussion i regarding responsibility, but it has been | spasmodic. The nearer the day of peace i comes the more anxious those involved { will be to escape blame. There is an- | other play that may be expected and that ! is an effort upon the powers involved to | cultivate the belief among the neutrals ! that the other fellow is responsible for | the fact the war does not end. There | are statesmen, both in this country and Europe, who contend that it will not be the armies or the navies of the powers in- volved that bring the war to a close, but rather that the war will be terminated in the end by the sheer force of world opin- ion voiced by the neutral nations. It is argued that South America and the neu- | tral nations in Europe are suffering grieviously as a result of the war. The United States alone among the neutrals has been able to capitalize the misfortunes of the world. In this country the time will come when service will be gorged with its war engendered loot and the great desire in this country will become peace for the world rather than war prof- its for America. Those who cry for peace will be joined in time by the neu- trals in Latin America and in Europe, and neutral opinion can be expected in time to crystallize into a sharp insistence that hostilities terminate. World opinion, once aroused, will prove a mighty weapon, and the nation responsible for the fact the war does not end will be more harrassed than by the armies of its enemy. All the belligerents realize the power the neutral nations can exert when once their pa- tience is exhausted, and for that reason the appeal to neutral opinion is bound to be made with an ever-increasing adroit- ness. Our Woeful Waste. From the Altoona Times. 7 Never before was a nation so prosper- ous as is the United States today. Never before were a people so well provided against want. But alas! never before were a people so wasteful. “Of all the lands I have visited, the United States is the only one where the inside of a slice of bread is eaten and the crust is thrown away.” This is a statement credited to a widely traveled Hindoo now here. Inall oriental countries and in most occidental ones bread is Ee chal | respect. . In America, perhaps in greater degree than in any other Christian country, the respect for bread has gone the way of many other ancient virtues. That loss of j respect is the result of the abundance which has come to America with the de- velopment of industries, the garnering of bountiful harvests, the increase of luxury. And the waste of bread noted with amaze- ment by the Hindoo traveler is accompan- ied by a similar waste of all manner of i foodstuffs. It is a familiar saying that a French housewife can serve an appetizing meal out of the material which the American housewife throws into the swill- pail. That may or may not be literally true. But it is true that enough food is wast- ed in the hotels of New York to feed 50,000 hungry men every night. It is true that the average American housewife permits a constant waste of good material which would shock her European sister of almost any nation. It is true that the science of domestic thrift has been allowed to lapse in America. And its disappearance is causing dis- tress to thousands of families who might live in comfort if they had been trained in habits of economy. Miss Tarbell and the Tariff. From the New York Evening Post. Rumors from Washington that the President may appoint Miss Ida Tarbell a member of the tariff commission are in- teresting in many ways. Such an ap- pointment would be a recognition of com- petence irrespective of sex. Miss Tarbell is no ignoramus in economics, and has devoted particular attention to our tariff and its workings. Her articles on that subject were not of a sort to give joy to hide-bound protectionists, but revealed genuine skill in marshaling statistics and exacting their true meaning. That she would bring a specially trained mind to the work of the tariff commision could not be denied. And think of the advantage of having a woman on the commission. Tar- iff taxes closely affect housekeeping; all housekeepers are women; sothere you are! Even the high protectionists ought to be glad to have Miss Tarbell on the tariff commission. They cannot have forgotten how the McKinley tariff brought disaster to the Republican party-largely, as the explanation was at the time, because the women did not understand the blessings which the new tariff conferred upon them. A woman commissioner might prevent another such calamity. Viewed With Alarm. From the Pittsburgh Post. Colonel Roosevelt threatens to support the Republicans in the Senate who are opposed to President Wilson's peace note to the belligerents. Which, in view of the outcome of the Colonel's “support” about two months ago, should be highly pleasing to the administration and cor- respondingly alarming to the Republican Senators. Opposed to Peace at Any Price, From the Pittsburgh Dispatch. The Republican factions in Pennsylva- nia are doing their best at present to not make a separate peace, momentary, tem- pi — I, 'SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. i —The post office at Cooksport, Indiana county, | one of the oldest in the State, is to be discon- ! tinued. Patrons will be served by the rural | route. —Huntingdon people are to be asked, by the borough council to authorize a bond issue to the extent of $100,000, to be used for needed im- provements. —The Clearfield county commissioners have decided to improve the county jail at Clearfield, conditions therein being such as to be a temp- tation for criminals to break out. —During the year 1916 the inmates of the Cambria county jail at Ebensburg raised crops which were used in the jail at a market value of $710.10. The only expenditure was $149 for fertilizer. —Tony Sadueaca, a leper, is an inmate of the isolated ward of the Williamsport hospital. It’s a pleasure to know the Williamsporters didn’t go wild and throw the poor fellow out to shift for himself. —Six diamond rings and one wedding ring, all valued at $1,450, were stolen last Friday after- noon from Mrs. Louise Weaver, at her residence on Erie avenue, Renovo. No trace of the thief has been discovered. —Rev. M. S. Romig, pastor of the Ickesbug, Perry county, Lutheran charge, is dead at the the age of 65 years. Heis survived by his wife and five children. He was a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America and a former state chaplain. —Rees Harris, aged 80 years, lacking a few days, died at his home in Johnstown last Sunday afternoon, after a prolonged illness. His imme- diate surviving relatives are his wife and two sons. President J. H. Harris, of Bucknell uni- versity, is a brother. —At the initial meeting of the Williamsport council for 1917 a lively session was held. Mayor Fischer resigned, the members of the poor board were superseded by new appointees and the present incumbent was defeated for health officer. But the mayor didn’t resign until the fore-going changes had been made. —An echo of the looting of the Meyerstown Trusttompany by Amos Hasler in 1913, will be heard when the Board of Pardons meets on Jan- ‘uary 17. Hasler, who was cashier, got away with several thousand dollars and was sent to the penitentiary in March, 1914, to four years’ imprisonment. He now wants a pardon. —Officials of the Berwind-White Coal Mining company, employing 6,500 men, have authorized the announcement that the corporation had granted all its employees a wage advance of something over 10 per cent. in the minimum. This action was taken December 16, 1916, and the advance has already figured in two large pays. —Deeds of transfer of the properties of the Morrison's Cove Creamery tothe Abbott’s Alder- ney Dairies, of Philadelphia, were recorded at the Blair county courthouse on Saturday. The creamery constitutes the principal milk supply of Altoona. The new proprietors propose to divert the supply from Altoona to Philadelphia and New Jersey seaside resorts. —David E. Seely, chief electrician of the Buf- falo, Rochester -and Pittsburgh for the past fif- teen years at DuBois, was killed instantly last Sunday evening when attempting to put in a breaker at the locomotive shops. He was turn- ing on a switch of a 480-volt alternating current and received the charge in his body. Mr. Seely was 50 years old and is survived by his wife and five children. —McKeesport has forsale one poor farm. It cost $14,000. The city spent about $6,000 on ma- chiney and buildings. It had intended to take “care sand: insane; but after the farm had been bought, figures were produced to show that the plan would be costly, and it was aban- doned. The farm is to be advertised for sale. It is in Elizabeth township and contains several hundred acres. —William C. Hembold, one of Curwensville’s best known citizens, was found unconscious in the bathroom connected with his room in the Hotel Dimeling, where he and his wife had been stopping. He was suffering from an attack of apoplexy, from which he died a few hours later. Deceased, who is survived by his wife and two children, would have completed his 54th year had he lived until February 6th. —Fred Evey, residing four and a half miles back of Fostoria, Blair county, was chloroformed at an early hour Tuesday morning by robbers, the house ransacked and $50, a valuable gold watch, two suits of clothes and a number of other less valuable articles stolen. The deed is one of the most daring that has been committed in that vicinity in some years. There is no clue to the perpetrators of the robbery. —The equipment and property of the Tionesta Valley Chemical company, at Warren, was re- cently purchased by T. H. Quinn & Co., of Olean, and Wheeler & Dusenberry, of Endeavor, Pa. The consideration is understood to have been $500.000. The sale included large tracts of timberlands, a big industrial plant and valuable stock and equipment. The Tionesta company retains an interest in the new company. —On Monday attorneys representing the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company and the Sonman Shaft Coal Company met in the Prothonotary’s office, at Clearfield, where the railroad com- pany gave its check for $188,339.71 in settlement of the judgment obtained against it by the Son- man company in the discrimination case which has been carried through many courts. This is one of the largest verdict payments ever received in Clearfieldc ounty. —Five residents of Williamsburg on Thurs- day brought suit before Justice of the Peace Isaac M. Irwin against the National Rubber com- pany, to force restitution of money they sub- scribed to a fund for the erection of a rubber plant at Williamsburg, but which was never built. A number of suits were entered in the Blair county courts some time ago, but the suits were settled by paying the investors the amounts of their claims. A hearing will be held in the matter in a few days. —Nathan Hayward, for twelve years engineer of the Bell Telephone Co. of Pennsylvania and Associated companies, on January 4th was elect- ed President of the American Dredging Co., with headquarters in Philadelphia. Going to Philadelphia in 1898 from the faculty of the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Hay- ward has since that time been prominently identified with the telephone industry through- out the State, and will still be retained as a con- sulting engineer by the Bell Co. His successor has not as yet been appointed. —Three men who are alleged to have partici- pated in the holdup of an express messenger and escaped with $10,000, the payroll of the Flacous Glass company at Tarentum, on Mon- day, have been arrested, and two others, also said to have been implicated, will be taken into custody within a short time, according to an- nouncement made by District Attorney Jackson, of Allegheny county. One of the men under arrest, he said, was Daniel E. King, driver of the automobile belonging to the glass company in which the money was being carried. King, at first blamed the robbery on auto bandits but after being questioned for several hours, con- fessed and implicated four other men, two of whom, John Hummel, proprietor of a moving picture theater, and Karl Schwartz, a butcher, both of Breckenridge, near there, were arrested porary, or the happy-ever-after kind, Monday night.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers