Demooraic Wald BY P. GRAY MEEK. INK SLINGS. — Peace might be nearer than any of us surmise. — Anyway there seems to be enough life left in the Tammany organization in New York to stir up a first class fight. —Only six more days of August and then the first fall month will be here. Have you thought about that Christmas shopping yet? —A few more such drives as the Allies have made within the past two weeks will recover all cf the great iron and coal fields of France that have been in German possession for the past two years. —The bare legged girls at the sea- shore ought to be arresied for giving aid and comfort to the vnemy. They are straining the eyes ¢f many men who might otherwise qualify as first class gunners in the navy. —The government should draft every striker into the federal service at once. They should be made to see that patriotism demands some sacri- fice on the part of the worker who is not called upon to make the supreme sacrifice that going into the trenches calls for. —At last Germany is regarding America’s entrance into the war seri- ously and coincidental with this ac- knowledgement comes the news stories to the effect that she is expect- ing peace within six months. All the signs seem to indicate that the Ger- man autocracy is getting ready to quit. —In the seven hundred mile motor run just completed by the writer over the best highways in Pennsylvania and New Jersey the most durable looking, the cleanest and easiest rid- ing section of road traversed was a stretch of about three miles of brick that had been laic on a concrete base, with a concrete curb. — Centre countians will likely look upon the statement with incredulity but it is none the less the fact that right in the heart of the finest truck garden section of New Jersey choice roasting ears were this week selling at forty cents the dozen, and potatoes, though there are acres of them on all sides of the roads, are retailing high- er than equally as nice ones can be bought for from our local farmers. . —The great disparity between the estimate of the cost and the bid that was received for bricking south Water street was probably due to the fact that the estimate was made before the cost of material and labor had mount- ed to the present high prices. It may be possible that the contractor who did bid on the work didn’t want the job and bid high in order that he wouldn't get it. Let us hope that such was the case for if it is possible at all to conmplete the improvement at a reasonable cost it should be done. — The examination of conscripts in Centre county has resulted in the ac- ceptance of sixty-nine men oat of the first call. Forty-seven more are need- ed to bring the number up to the full quota of one hundred and sixteen men required from Centre county. While ithe number of exemptions for other reasons than physical disability seems high it is no higher than the average observed in other counties. The Pres- ident has made it very plain that he does not want married men to go at present; and as most of our exemp- tions have been claimed upon the ground of a “wife” or “wife and chil- dren” they are only what might nat- urally and properly have been ex- pected. —The peace plan of the Holy See might be regarded as a means to an end, but nothing more. It propeses a status quo ante bellum which could not possibly be acceptable to the Unit- ed States, for if it were the ground upon which we entered the war would be cut from under us. We are fighs- ing not for indemnities nor for terri- torial acquisition, but for a world de- mocracy and to end the conflict with no assurance that Prussian autecracy will be unable to rehabilitate itself for another campaign of carnage would be the veriest waste of the sacrifices already made. If general disarma- ment could be secured and the wealth of the German military class, as well as her colonies, confiscated with which to restore Belgium, Serbia, Rumania and the devastated part of France then we think the United States would feel that something had been achiev- ed. —The President’s order cutting the price of soft coal at the mouth of Pennsylvania mines to $2 and $2.25 per ton would be great news to the public were it certain to guarantee coal at that figure. We believe that while it might be the means of cutting down the price it will, at the same time, make the product harder to se- cure, for the reason that many small mines will have to cease operation. Mines producing from one: hundred to four hundred tons of coal per diem and paying as high as $1.50 per ton for mining have overhead charges so large that they cannot produce coal at $2.00 per ton without a considera- ble loss, consequently they will have to close unless the order is modified as affecting them. It is out of the question to assume that the miners working in such operations will ac- cept a lower scale for their work and it would only be through a drastic reduction of the mining rate that the small mines of Pennsylvania would be able to continue in operation. VOL. 62._ Tale of Two Cities. Public Service Commissioner W. A. Magee having resigned, temporarily, in order to run for Mayor of Pitts- burgh, guarantees a boodle campaign for Chief Magistrate of the second city of the State. We say temporari- ly for the reason that his seat on the Public Service Commission will be kept open until after the election so that he may be recalled to the office in the event of his defeat for Mayor. That is a way Governor Brumbaugh has of making his political patronage an asset in his business as a wulitical manipulator. He appointed Mayor Smith, of Philadelphia, a Public Serv- ice Commissioner in order to give him standing to justify his subsequent as- piration for Mayor of Phila :elphia. It is a new method of commercializing politics. The Penrose candidate for Maycr of Pittsburgh will be E. V. Babcock, a wealthy lumber broker, who has scrv- ed as a stalking horse for the Senator at various times. Mr. Babcock is very liberal and quite popular and the Brumbaugh adherents despaired of beating him with the candidate who had been chosen to represent them in the contention, Dr. J. P. Kerr. Com- missioner Magee had served a term as Mayor and given popular satisfac- tion, so that it was thought that he might “pluck victory from the nestle danger,” and as his ten thousand dol- lar job could be kept open it was no great sacrifice for him to resign while his election to the office of Mayor of Pittsburgh would be a vast advantage to the Brumbaugh faction. But it all means corrupt politics. The factional differences in Phila- delphia are more easily adjusted and it may be said that an agreement has been reached among the leaders. Neither McNichol nor Vare would know a political principle from an automobile truck and Penrose is ab- solutely indifferent to anything ex- cept spoils. So it was easy to come to an understanding upon a basis which would divide the spoils comparatively equal among them. Of course Vare will demand the lion’s share of the plunder. He wants both feet in the trough all the tirae and as the others are satisfied with an occasional mouthful the matter has been readily adjusted. But the people of both cities will suffer alike from the war in one and the peace in the other, for war or peace means plunder to pi- rates. It is suspected that the German fleet, safely secluded in the Keil canal contemplates a run out in the open sea, but the suspicion is without foun- dation. Big ships cost a lot of money and Germany is not likely to expose those she has to the danger of de- struction or capture. Twenty-Sixth District Judicial Contest The withdrawal of Christian A. Small from the contest for the nomi- nation for President Judge in the Twenty-sixth district, composed of Columbia and Montour counties, ought to guarantee the election of John C. Harmon Esq., at the Septem- ber primary. Mr. Small is a lawyer amply capable and eminently fit for the high office to which he aspired. But he recognized the fact that a dis- trict so substantially Democratic ought to have a man of that political faith on the bench and that a division of the Democratic voters this year might result, as it did eleven years ago, in the election of a Republican. Consequently he has gracefully with- drawn in favor of Mr. Harmon, as possessor of the stronger claims. John C. Harmon is among the most capable lawyers of Pennsylvania. Clean, keen and conservative, he pos- sesses a mind peculiarly judicial and essentially open. He has practiced his profession with great success in Columbia and adjacent counties for twenty years or more and his record is radient in achievement. He has served as District Attorney, as Repre- sentative in the Legislature and led a forlorn hope as the candidate of his party for State Treasurer. In 1906 he carried the district for the Democrat- ic nomination for Judge but another aspirant for the honor ran as an inde- pendent and compassed the election of the Republican nominee. It was a grievous disappointment to phe major- ity of the voters of the district. Since that legislation has convert- ed the office into-a non-partisan serv- ice. But the Republican machine of the State asserts itself in every judi- cial election and in the present con- test in the Twenty-sixth district is prejecting every “ism” and “ology” known to the political vocabulary in- to the contest in the hope of defeating Mr. Harmon. Our information, how- ever, leads to the confident belief that they will be disappointed and that John C. Harmon will receive the nec- essary fifty-one per cent. at the Sep- tember primary to make his election complete. We sincerely congratulate Mr. Harmon on this prospect and pre- dict for him a distinguished career on the bench. BELLEFONTE, P STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. Beginning of the End in View. Reports from the firing line in France and Flanders clearly forecast the final result of the fighting. The German successes in the East are of minor significance. They are the re- sult of German bribery and Russian perfidy. But even there the victories are diminishing in number and impor- tance. The indications are that with- in a brief period the traitors will be weeded out of the Russian forces and the vast power in moral and material strength of that great people will as- sert itself. Meantime the real battle ground is in France and Flanders. The war will be won there and the certain and constant movement for- ward of the French and English bat- tle lines indicate the victors. The work of expelling the German invaders from the soil of France and Flanders has been slow and expensive. Equipped as no army in the history of the world before, these legions got a foothold before their antagonists were aware of the danger and entrenched themselves almost invulnerably. But they have been yielding constantly during the last four months and are now almost or the verge of dispair They have fought courageously and | with a spirit worthy a! persistently, better "cause. But the beginning of the end is in sight. It may require a year or two to complete the work, for desperation makes stubborn resist- ence. until the end is achieved. Before long the soldiers of the United States will be on the firing line. For some inexplicable reason the German Kaiser and his military sycophants pretend to have supreme contempt for the soldiers of this country. They will change their opin- ions upor this question before many days. Soldiers of the United States have never been defeated. They have never learned to yield and they are not going to learn new lessons in warfare on foreign soil. They are there now not to yield but to win and may be depended upon to accomplish their purpose. Their mission is in be- half of the highest ideal to which men might dedicate themselves. They aim tc plant democracy in every sec- tion of the world and will accomplish that glorious result. After a sleepless might we are unable to work up sympathy for the Americans in Germany whom the Kai- ser is forcing into military service. Any American who has remained in Germany since the beginning of the war ought to be made pay some sort of penalty. re ——— Wipe Out the I. W. W. The information that the govern- ment proposes to round up the mem- bers of that traitorous and murderous organization which impudently styles itself the Industrial Workers of the World ought to give universal satis- faction. Composed of emissaries of Germany and vicious loafers in this country, this organization has been committing depredations of various kinds for several years. Now and then one or more of the leaders have been apprehended and punished, but as a rule they have been able to defy the law, flout authority of States and the nation and commit crime ggcord- ing to their depraved fancy. Recent- ly the military authorities in the West have taken charge of the matter. Half a century ago, or thereabouts there was a murderous organization in certain sections of this State which operated much on the lines which this infamous gang is following. Through- out the coal regions they terrorized officials and citizens and refusal to | obey their crim‘nal mandates was promptly followed by tlhe murder of their victims. Finally a courageous and capable district attorney in Schuylkill county declared war on the organization and convicted several of them, in that and adjacent counties, of murder. That put an end to the Mollie Maguire. menace. The organi- zation was secret, strong and vicious but when the law got after it in earn- est it promptly ran to cover and dis- solved. The Industrial Workers of the World ought to be treats everywhere precisely as the Mollie Maguires were treated in Schuylkill, Columbia and Carbon counties about 1875. In the first place they have no right to the name they have assumed and prosti- tuted. Industrial workers wherever they happen to be are law-abiding, peaceful and good citizens. Those who compose that organization are criminal loafers who have never earn- ed an honest day's wages in their lives. Besides that their criminal op- erations are destructive of the earn- ings of men who do work and that is of itself reason why their activities should be checked. Let the authori- ties who have undertaken the work of annihilation proceed. : —How many of our back-yard gar- dens paid? All of them. Even if they produced nothing more than a means of wholesome exercise. A. AUGUST 24, 19 But there will ke no yielding | | defeated his plans. Therefore, he must Peace Terms that Will Satisfy. A bone-head correspondent of an esteemed Philadelphia contemporary, featured as a writer of distinction, sees no reason why the proposal of the Pope should not be adopted. It would stop the slaughter, he says inferen- tially, and that ought to satisfy any- body. He professes to be unable to see why Germany should be required to make restitution to Belgium. “If Belgium must have restitution,” he continues, “then what of Serbia, what of Poland? The Pope is right; if you begin you cannot stop.” That is alike absurd and false. If you begin you can stop when justice is fulfilled. Bel- gium, France, Serbia and Poland are entitled to restitution and when those debts are paid the books can be bal- anced. But those debts must be paid if it is necessary to coin the blood of that imperial monster, the Kaiser, to achieve the result. We want no peace upon the conditions that invited the war. The world cannot afford such a settlement of the war. The German Emperor began the war with the view of acquiring the sea coasts of Bel- gium. He didn’t invade Belgium as he said in his message to President Wilson as a strategical step to reach France. He did it to conquer Belgium and subject her people to his control, and he failed of his purpose because the entire world understood his pur- pose and Belgium put up a fight which pay as Germany made France pay. The United States are in the war not for the purpose of exacting resti- tution but to wipe out autocracy. The Pope’s proposition would defeat that purpose quite as effectually as it would exculpate Germany from the payment of indemnities to the coun- tries she has devastated. Both these obligations must be fulfilled to the full - measure before the American people will consent to peace. The pre- posterous notion that any man is born invested with Divine right to rule, much less to rob and murder peo- ple, must be obliterated entirely and forever, before peace can be agreed to and that even if it be necessary to plantievery Hohenzollern in dishonor- ed graves. This is not official but ab- solutely true. ——Of course the obvious purpose of certain labor leaders to take advan- tage of governmental necessities to force unreasonable demands, is fun- damentally wrong but the insistence of Prohibition cranks and Wom- an Suffrage fanatics on riding their hobbies into the statute books at the expense of public safety is equally reprehensible. —Maryland’s new law requiring all male persons between the ages of eighteen and fifty tc work went into effect on Tuesday. We know one or two gentlemen in Bellefonte who must be mighty glad that Bellefonte is in Pennsylvania and not in Mary- land. er —Thus far in the war the Kaiser decorated his troops with forty-seven tons of iron crosses. Go to it Bill The more iron you use “1p in this way the less you will have from which to manufacture more destructive ‘agen- cies of war. ——Nick Romanoff is safely se- questered in Siberia and it remains for those managing the war to find a quiet retreat for Bill Hohenzollern He will be out of a job when the war ends and wil need a rest. —Penrose and the Vares have de- cided to divide Pennsylvania politic- ally on a fifty-fifty basis. The wel- fare of the Commonwealth may be re- garded as secure until the next gu- bernatorial fight at least. ——Wheatless and meatless days may be all right for those who feel 171. BY GOSH! Johnny get your gun, your sword and ] your razor. We are going to fight mit Bill, der German Kaiser. Load your gun mit beer Squirt him in der ear Dot will make him skee=> By Gosh! Johnny get your cap, your boots and your rattle. We are going to fight mit Germany a bat- tle. Stuff your boots mit kraut make him strong and stout Der smell will knock him out By Gosh! Johnny get your fife, your drum and your monkey. We are going to play for Bill der German Donkey. Play “Yankee Doodle Dardy,” Feed him pills of sugar candy, He will hunt his aunt Mirandy By Gosh! Johnny get your rake, your sickle. We are going to put der Germany in pickle Cut for him some lolly-pops Make a brew with malt end hops Dot vill beat Von Schneiders Schnops by Gosh! your scythe and “PRISCILLA.” How an Early Decision May be Forced From the Lancaster Intelligencer. The strongest new force now in sight and aimed at the ending of the war is the little noticed, but rapidly developing force of the American em- bargo upon supplies to the neutral neighbors of Germany. There are two neutral nations upon which this policy may be expected to take effect before many weeks—Hol- land and Denmark—and two others— Norway and Sweden—which may be almost as quick to respond to it. Al- though they have been subjected to many outrages and have suffered heavy losses by the small regard paid, in many instances, to their neutrality these States have not failed to profit greatly by their neutral trade. It is not at all doubtful that these neutrals have supplied Germany with importations from America; neither is there reason to doubt that the stop- ping, or even the limiting of their im- portations from America would hit them in their pocket-books and bank accounts. Lo vy It is an old maxim, that 2a nation hurt in its pocket-book becomes hel- ligerent, or, at least, truculent. Holland has often been grossly of- fended by Germany. She has given warning that such offenses must not be repeated. If the benefit of very profitable war trade with Germany should suddenly be removed, if Hol- land should even feel, herself, the pinch of want of American supplies, she might be forced, in desperation, to yield to popular indignation at the next German offense and suddenly join the war. That she would do so with- out a moment’s warning would be dic- tated as a strategic necessity far more pressing and justifiable than the Ger- man invasion of Belgium. The same is true of Demmark, and, in hardly less degree, of the two other Scandinavian States. Such a development would throw open new and wide war fronts and un- limited possibilities of allied naval of- fensive. The long expected great na- val battle involving the mightiest bat- tle fleets would come, literally “at the drop of the hat.” Sea power would assert its determining value, as our Admiral Mahan showed it has been as- serted in every chapter of history and blows sudden and swift, by land as well as sea, would be made possible by that opening of new lines of attack and fields of war. This is not a blind guess, but a distinctly evident pros- pect. eer Far From the Madd'ing Crowd. From the New York Evening Post. After all, the Czar wasn’t looking for a regular summer resort. He has had enough excitement. Plain coun- try food and reassuring country nois- es, the rooster’s crow and the cow’s mooing, ought to sound pretty sweet to him. rset eed The Upward Trend of Art. | bor problem would be | SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —Anthony Kline, aged 52, of Wilkes- Barre, who sold his homestead and then rebought it at an advance of $17,500, brooded so much over his loss that he snot himself in the head and died on the way to the hospital. —The Williamsport Steam Heating com- pany of Williamsport, has filed notice with the Public Service Commission that effec- tive September 20, it will discontinue the supply of steam for heating purposes to the public. The Lock Haven plant will also be allowed to remain idle next winter. —Announcement has been made that the Berwick plant of the American Car and Foundry company will build 1000 box cars for the government. These will probably be used in France. Announcement was made it the same time that the company’s Milton plant would build 300 tank cars for the government, also to be used in France. — William Blackburn, 35 years of age, of Freeport, Pa., was killed and H. McClean, 25 years old, of Breckenridge, was wound- ed last Thursday night when Policeman McWenny fired five shots at the occupants of an auto, who were trying to make thelr escape after having beaten up the officer who had attempted to arrest them. Bldck- burn was hit by a stray bullet as he watched the fight. McClean was in the au- tomobile. —-Clyde Doney and Halleck Webb, two young men of near Falls Creek, who es- caped from the Jefferson county jail at Brookville, Wednesday night, August 8th, in much the same manner that Ward Mot- tern secured his release one night last winter, are still at large. Although an ac- tive search has been made there is no clue to their whereabouts. The young men -are charged with breaking and entering and receiving stolen goods. —Crops in Fayette county are spoiling in the fields on account of the shortage of farm labor. Farmers in the northern part of the county claim that they were urged to plant larger crops to aid in the food production and were assured that the la- solved for them. High school boys who were sent out into the country to assist in the harvesting found that higher wages could be obtain- ed in the coal mines, so they deserted the farms. —The mysterious disappearance of $6,- 000 from the Harrisburg Pipe & Pipebend- ing company three weeks ago, was cleared up in an alleged confession mode by Chas. Shomeaker, an employee of the firm, and his arrest on Monday by police. Shoe- maker, according to the police, wrote a letter to the firm declaring that he had taken the money, and because of worry had thrown it into the Susquehanna river. Detectives have been searching the river since the theft became known but up until late Monday night it had not been recov- ered. — Evidently in anticipation of a coal famine during the coming winter and dif- ficulty in securing fuel from the mines, owing to abnormal traffic conditions, the Pennsylvania railroad is storing a large quantity of coal in the lower yards at Sunbury. A force of possibly one hun- dred men is at work unloading coal. Sev- eral thousand tons will likely be stored there. Similar action was taken by the Pennsy last year, and a large heap of coal was placed in the yards for use in case of emergency. During the spring of this year, however, the fuel was removed and used. James Wileman, 20 years old, died at the Blair Memorial hospital, Lewistown, on Sunday night from a bullet wound in the right temple, self inflicted. Wileman, whose home is at Oakland, Juniata county, was a rookie in Company M, Eighth regi- ment, N. G. U. S., who are quartered in the market house at Lewistown waiting or- ders to entrain for the south. He was at the home of Mrs. Elizabeth LaMay, of Yea- gertown, and was handling a 32-calibre re- volver. After a caution to carefulness, he was whirling it about when it accidentally discharged, the bullet lodging above his right eye. Attorney M. A. Kilker, of Girardville, on Monday filed suit at Sunbury for $10,- 000 against the Pennsylvania Lighting company for the death of William Cun- ningham, of Ashland, who was electrocut- ed near the Cameron colliery a year ago last month. The suit was brought at the instance of Cunningham's mother, Mrs. Bridget Farne. Cunningham was employ- ed as an electrician by the United Tele- phone company and was working on a pole along the state road below the Cameron colliery when a high tension wire fell across the telephone wires. He was in- stantly killed. —Stephen Gracian, Austrian shooter at the American Steel and Wire company’s quarry. at Wertz, Blair county, was acci- dentally blown up and instantly killed at 8:30 o'clock Monday morning as the result of a misunderstanding between he and his helper as to time. His face and head were frightfully mutilated. while the body and limbs were intact. He had been with the company a number of years and was con- sidered one of its best and most reliable men. His reputation for thrifty habits was confirmed, when it was disclosed up- on examining the body that he carried on his person at the time of the accident the sum of $2,060. He was born December 26, 1878, and was unmarried. — Jealous because his wife started to ‘that the price is fair when it reaches like doing penance to an idea but if needless waste of foodstuffs is avoid- ed there will be no actual necessity for either. — It may be said safely that Miss Rankin will be the last woman in Con- gress as well as the first. That dis- tinction has been fairly won by voting wrong upon all important questions. eer eet —1It behooves Bellefonte to hold on- to certain of her borough officials who have really taken their positions seri- ously and worked for the best inter- ests of the tax payers. knee. the bay turned ing of its power. ——Senator LaFollette is certainly earning all the German government pays him. But he is accomplishing nothing except delay of the inevita- ble. —If soft coal is to be $2.00 at the mouth of the mine let 1t be seen to the cellar door. —Look every situation squarely in the face. Meet it like a man and you will be doing all you can do. Sa—————————————————_—— ——For high class job work come to the “Watchman” office. the information himself. From the Springfield Union. Now that “Mary’s Ankle” is prov- ing such a success, we anticipate that some earnest playwright will try to elevate the drama by writing a play about Maude’s or Mabel’s or Edith’s p——————————S EE 1t is Still Quite Wild. From the Baltimore American. Even though the periscope seen in out to be a pole of a fishing net it is comfortable to know that native imagination has lost noth- — Rev. James P. Hughes, princi- pal emeritus of the Bellefonte Acad- emy, walked up to two gentlemen standing at the postoffice yesterday morning and asked the altitude of Bellefonte above sea level. one could tell exactly and he proudly announced that it was just 809 feet and State College was about 1000. He then requested that this information be published for the benefit of those who don’t know the altitade. It later developed that the reverend gentle- man had spent a half hour in the coun- ty surveyors office before he could get Neither ride home in an automobile owned by her brother, after spending Saturday at a Sunday school picnic at Rock Glen, near Hazleton, Clarence Bankes, twenty-eight years old, of Fern Glen, shot her through the breast late that night. After firing three more shots at the car, he ran into the woods and shot himself in the abdo- men. The woman will recover, but Bankes is in a critical condition. Both are at the State hospital, but neither knows the oth- er is there. According to the wife, Bankes was of an extremely jealous disposition and frequently placed a revolver against her breast and told her that some day he would kill her. The shooting broke up the picnic. —Henry H. Whitney, who was named by President Wilson on Monday, the 13th, as one of the brigadier generals in the new arm, is a son of Rev. W. P. Whitney, «