rrp ® Jike the one that was wished on their INK SLINGS. —In nine days spring will be here, ! that is the calendar spring. —As a puzzle, “how old is Ann?” had nothing on What is Hoover's polities ? —The snow and ice are going but not much before the expiration of the ground-hog’s sway. —Some people are too lazy to even call “Come in!” when opportunity knocks at their door. — Don’t get your flivver out of win- ter quarters too soon. Gasoline is scheduled for another jump of two cents per gallon. — Honestly don’t you think Herbert Hoover will be just a wee bit disap- pointed if both Chicago and San Fran- cisco pass him up. — There are some who think that President Wilson has placed himself in a position where he will be com- pelled to run for a third term. We don’t. — The time approaches when the fly-swatter must be thought of. Swat the first one you see in the spring and there’ll be millions less to pester you next fall. —The first few spring-like days we've had have taken away piles of snow and ice without noticeably rais- ing the streams. It must all be going into the ground. —Youngstown is contemplating laying a bachelor tax of twenty cents a2 month on all unmarried residents. We know at least two of this class in Bellefonte who are so tight that if our council should pass such an ordi- nance they’d move out into Spring township. —If the robberies of distilleries in various parts of the country continue at the rate they have been going for the last month or so Congress won't need to bother about the passage of that bill to provide Uncle Sam with funds with which to employ guards for the stuff. . —Farmers in the vicinity of Hecla report that grain in that section looks yellow since it has been uncovered by the melting snows. In other sections of the county, however, we have the report that it is looking unusually green and has evidently gone through the winter well. — Talking about the pleasure of starting off. with a clean slate the new Board of County Commissioners would have been plumb out of spit and had the sleeves of their coats worn out with the rubbing already had they inherited one that looked lecessors. eight years ago. — That Weinberger Esq., of New York and Russia, who tried to ‘pre- vent the deportation of Emma Gold- man and Alexander Berkman and is now trying to shield deserter Grover Bergdoll from the punishment he merits, referred to the Declaration of Independence as the instrument “we often quote with a hidden smile.” So we do, such of us as are radicals like Weinberger, and haven’t brains enough to command a legitimate cli- entele. — Whatever else may be said of Mr. Palmer it must be admitted that he knows the political game and believes in getting there first and then squar- ing with any conscientious scruples he may have later. Notwithstanding all of his past assertions of refusal to compromise with “wet” advocates we notice that his selections for his cam- paign committee in Pennsylvania and for delegates at large to the National convention are divided, about fifty- fifty, between the wets and drys. — Chancellor Day has suppressed the “Orange Peel,” the humorous pa- per published by the Studes at Syra- cuse University. It appears that the offending edition was a theatrical number and chorus girls were pictur- ed in it without stockings. Some peo- ple are wondering how the eminent educator happened to concentrate on those pictures long enough to deter- mine whether the girls actually had stockings on or not, but it is no sur- prise to us. The essential thing in acquiring an education is a good un- derstanding and it is always worked from the ground up. It was routine, not the fact that the Chancellor is a naughty old boy, as some paragraph- ers would have us believe, that uncov- ered this shocking thing. —Speaking to a congregation of men at Boston, on Sunday night, Car- dinal O’Connell, of the Catholic church, scored the fathers who permit their daughters to run rampant in clothes that utterly disregard modes- ty and also warned men against the continued clamor for more pay. He attributed much of the latter to an underhand propaganda that is design- ed to compass the destruction of or- ganization and industry by perpetual strikes. What sound common sense this prelate was talking. And how deeply it should have impressed his hearers. It is little wonder that they call the girl of today “chicken” for most of them are nearly as naked as the animated egg when it is casting off its down and hasn’t yet received its full trousseau of pin feathers. And as for the men they seem obsessed with the idea that there should be no relation between the amount and quality of the work they do and the pay they receive. Cardinal O’Connell gave voice to unpopular thoughts but a lot of things that are calculated to make earnest, far seeing men unpop- ular in these days will have to be said Tt was ‘an incident wit if our country is to be saved from our countrymen. STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. VOL. 65. BELLEFONTE , PA., MARCH 12, 1920. NO. 11. Grave Charge Against Palmer. | In an address delivered before an | assembly of prominent Democrats of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, last Saturday, Judge Bonniwell made a statement to the effect that William | C. Sproul and A. Mitchell Palmer, in | 1918, entered into a deliberate con- spiracy to defeat the Democratic par- | ty. That Palmer had agreed with | Sproul that “there should be a de- | struction of the Democratic party, so | that there would be nothing to pre- ! vent the election of Mr. Sproul as | Governor of Pennsylvania.” That is: a grave charge to make against a man who has for many years enjoyed | the generous favor of the Democrat- | ic party and aspires to still higher | honors at the hands of voters of that | party faith. It will be recalled that in the cam- | paign of that year Mr. Palmer open- ly and publicly repudiated the Dem- ocratic candidate for Governor. He based his action on moral grounds, as- serting that the nominee had been | chosen by sinister methods which | were abhorrent to his sense of justice and was therefore undeserving of the | support of the party organization on which he was at the time the official | head. The result was the falling: away of a large element of the elec- | torate which had been favorable to the Democratic nominee, under agree- ment with the Republican machine to | support Mr. Sproul, in consideration | of Legislative action which agreement | was subsequently broken at the in-. stance of Mr. Sproul. The prohibition issue was dominant in the primary as well as the general | campaign of that year and in order to defeat J. Denny O’Neil for the | nomination Mr. Sproul had to pledge | himself to prohibition. This arrayed a vast force of his own party against him in the general campaign which threw his party managers into a pan- ic. At this stage of the game, accord- ing to current gossip, Palmer was en- listed to disrupt the Democratic party and neutralize the Republican deser- | tions. He attacked the Democratic candidate in dramatic fashion and carried a packed State committee in- | to a declaration of hostility to the ticket they were elected . port. ! | i i politics. : Before that event practically the’ entire element of the electorate fa- vorable to personal liberty was solid- ly behind the Democratic candidate | and his election was more than hope- | ful. But following the Palmer break ! hopefulness changed to despair and the personal liberty. contingent hast- ened to cover. Under promise that no legislation averse to the liquor in- terests would be enacted during the following session of the Legislature, that element turned to the support of | Sproul and gave him the usual major- | ity while the Democratic strength was | considerably reduced as the logical | consequence of Palmer’s perfidy. But it was a high priced victory for Sproul and a costly enterprise for his party. : But A. Mitchell Palmer suffered none of the penalties of treason. He has been practically the “power be- hind the throne” at Harrisburg ever since §proul’s induction into the office. ; No favor under the minority repre- | sentation method which obtains in this State has gone without his assent. In the selection of revisers of the consti- tution, the highest favor the Gover- | nor has had to bestow, Palmer was permitted to make selection of the Democrats and he was himself made | the principal choice. When he imag- ined he hadn’t time to perform the service Vance McCormick, his associ- ate in the conspiracy, was named and | is today basking in the sunshine of Sproul’s favor as the reward of his perfidy. After Judge Bonniwell’s speech the Democrats who heard his accusations determined to organize for a fight against the party wreckers responsi- ble for the disruption two years ago. Tt was an earnest body of men and they have entered upon the task thus self-imposed with a determination that can hardly fail to bring results. Sproul can’t save Palmer now as he saved Sproul then and the voters who were deceived then cannot be fooled again, The lines are drawn and the issues set. The perfidy of two years ago should be punished this year by the defeat of every recreant concern- ed in that miserable fiasco. —Mr. Frank E. Naginey has enter- ed the lists against the Hon. Ives Har- vey for Assemblyman. It is an un- dertaking that this particular under- taker ought to know all about under- taking and if he lays the Hon. Ives out cold it will only be because that is his regular business. ——Dr. Wood carried the Republi- can primaries in New Hampshire the other day but as there were only a few votes polled his victory hardly at- tains the importance of a straw to in- dicate the course of the wind. ——— | ——1If you want all the news you'll find it in the “Watchman.” COUNTY WORK DONE AND BEGUN. In presenting the following analysis of the statement of receipts and ex- | penditures for Centre county for the year 1919, which has just been published | by the board of County Auditors the “Watchman” is actuated by no partisan motives whatever. For years it has been alone in the field of Centre county journalism in insistence that, above everything else, business fitness should be the requisite of qualification for the one county office most directly affect- ing the tax payers. Eight years ago, more because of very apparent incompetence in the of- fice of the County Commissioners, the voters of Centre county gave notice to the Republican organization that they would no longer support the kind of unqualified men it was favoring as candidates by the overwhelming election of Wm. H. Noll Jr. and D. A. Grove, Democrats. When the latter gentlemen went into office in January 1912, there was a cash balance of only $2,788.10 in the treasury. The bonds and notes outstand- ing against the county at that time were $160,867.00. There were, however, | uncollected taxes and other assets amounting to $21,360.65. Assuming that every cent of those assets were collectable, which, of course, was not the case, and could be applied to reduction of the bonds and notes outstanding the most favorable accounting possible still left the county $139,506.35 in debt when Messrs. Noll and Grove assumed control of its business affairs. After eight years in office they retired last January and the auditor’s statement just published shows that the total indebtedness of the county is only $45,503.73. And this amount would be only $42,000.00 if the auditing of their accounts had been as fair as was that of the last accounts of their pred- ecessors, as we will show later. In eight years the retired Democratic board reduced the county indebted- ness $94,002.62 or at a rate of nearly $12,000.00 for each year they served the county. This gigantic saving was not accomplished either through niggardly conduct of the county’s business or by increased taxation. Quite the contrary, for no board that we recall met more promptly and cheerfully every sugges- tion for special expenditures that had public approval and while doing this they were actually able to reduce the county millage from five to four mills on January 1st, 1915, and that rate prevailed throughout the rest of their term. During the last four years of their terms the Legislature piled onto them the additional burdens of maintaining the office of sealer of weights and meas- ures, county farm agent, the mother’s pension fund, the county law library, and the maintaining of about twenty miles of abandoned turnpike, now called county roads. In addition to this all they made, as you will recall, an appro- priation of $1000.00 to the welcome home celebration for the soldiers. That these special items added no small burden to the work of reducing debt and keeping taxes down at the same time let us refer to the Auditor's statement and see what they amounted to last year: Mother's pension fund $ 1169.50 Sealer of weights and measures. . 2122.07 Law JIDTAPTY. c.eesccerscscsaesicns . 1366.40 County roads ........covesvesscecacs ; 8958.15 State aid road in Bellefonte......coceeuvneriennesssscssrsacsssessssscncns 2037.38 New bridge in state highway at Lemont. farhe sien dive 5780.00 County farm agent.... 000,00 $25561.5 Thus we discover that these super-imposed expenses amounted in 1919, alone, to the considerable sum of $25,561.54 every item of which was paid out of county income and every other bill that was due and presented was paid be- fore the old board retired ; Now let us return for a moment to consider the question of unfairness raised above. If you will look at the statement recently published you will find among the liabilities, which of course are a reduction of the net balance, these items: To estimated eXOnerationS........eeeseeeiiisinrierrrssssteccosnssennans $ 1477.44 To estimated taX COMMISSIONS... .vvieriiererririenttsneresesnesnaranes 3844.73 The assets are credited with outstanding taxes of $18,974.99. If you will | deduct the exonerations from these taxes the result will be $17,497.55 in col- lectable uncollected taxes on which the legal commission is $874.87 which the statement estimates as being $3844.73 or nearly $3100.00 more than it should be. Give the old board credit with this sum, asit is entitled to, and the net county indebtedness will be only $42,403.73. To further justify such a claim you need but turn to the statement of the first year Messrs. Noll and Grove were in office. Then the Auditor’s estimat- ed exonorations on $38,837.23 taxes left uncollected by the preceding Repub- lican board of Commissioners as only $275.00 and commissions for collection of that vast sum as only $1930.61: In other words, they had to collect twice as much tax on exactly half the commissions and with only a seventh as much exonerations as the recent audit makes it appear that the new board will be expected to do. Summing it all up it will appear that eight years of Democratic control of the business of the county actually reduced our indebtedness $97,102.62 and at the same time carried special and unexpected expenses the like of which the county had never before experienced. This means current bills, court house bonds and all for the money is in the sinking fund and other assets to pay the bonds down to $42,403.73 but the bond holders won’t give them up _ without a premium being paid on them. In fact that was the grave mistake made by the Republican board that floated them. When Messrs. Noll and Grove tried to pay half of them off in 1915 they were informed that the bonds would not be surrendered unless a premium of $2500.00 was paid for them | and the Commissioners then forthwith reduced the millage rather than take money from taxpayers to pay debts that couldn’t be paid. They retired from office with a record that speaks for itself and no more positive proof of this statement is needed than the above comprehensive re- view of the facts that the auditors of their accounts have set forth. The management of the county’s business is in the hands of a new Board. They are looking hopefully, we trust, to a record as creditable as has been that of their predecessors. With that in view, no doubt, they have asked the “Watchman” to publish the following statement: Bellefonte, Pa., Feb. 28, 1920. Appreciating that the tax payers are entitled to the fullest information on the financial condition of Centre county, the newly elected board of County Commissioners has prepared and herewith present the following statement of the facts as we find them at the beginning of our administration. The apparent balance as shown by the last Auditors’ statement of the Treasurer's account of $13,508.95 is depleted by unpaid bills of 1919 amount- ing to $8,191.83, leaving an actual balance toward running expenses for 1920 of $5,317.12. Damage claims, (on three different state highway routes under contract in the county, contracted for by the old board of Commissioners) for which the county is liable are estimated at $10,000.00. Contracts amounting to $25,091.85 for road improvements in State Col- lege and Bellefonte boroughs were incurred by the previous board of Com- missioners, but must be paid by the present board of Commissioners. Old indebtedness which the new board of Commissioners must assume, together with estimated expenses for the year 1920 amount to $193,662.48. With every dollar of anticipated revenue from all sources collected at the old rate of millage, namely 4 mills, the total income in 1920 would be only $113,605.96, less estimated rebates, exonerations and commissions amounting x 328s, or $104,877.17, making a deficit at the end of the present year of 88,785.31. An increase in the millage to 6 mills at least is imperative, and even this will produce an income of only $142,956.58, less estimated rebates, exonera- tions and commissions amounting to $11,452.26 or $131,504.32, making a defi- cit at the end of the year amounting to $62,158.16. , To yield an income during the present year sufficient to wipe out old in- debtedness and meet current expenses would necessitate a levy of 10 1-7 mills. While the present board of Commissioners is not responsible for this con- (Concluded on page 4). ~ Playing Both Ends. From the Philadelphia Record. Two interesting items of news re- garding Doc Wood’s campaign for the | Republican Presidential nomination appeared yesterday, one announcing that that distinguished soldier of for- tune, ex-Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock, was going to take an act- ive hand in boosting the General, while the other stated that Mr. Woo had assumed personal charge of his boom and was going to make opposi- tion to the Old Guard machine the ba- sis of his appeal to the people for sup- port. The candidate loves to make enemies, it was said, and his program calls for a fight against the standpat- ters at every point. In this way it is hoped to duplicate the popularity at- tained by Colonel Roosevelt when he gave battle to the Republican organ- ization in 1912 and 1916. To many persons there would seem to be a contradiction between a cam- paign in which such an eminently practical person as Mr. Hitchcock took a leading part, and a vigorous crusade against machine politics. The former Postmaster General has been rather noted for his success in corral- ing Southern delegates to Republican conventions—gentlemen who are not famous for their idealism or opposi- ition to machine tactics. He will, { therefore, operate principally in the south. At the same time Doc will , preach his gospel of independence and | hatred _or gang tactics to northern Republicans, some of whom are sensi- | tive on this point. His strong card, | we are told, is his ability to arouse an- tagonisms, for “General Wood has none of the ordinary man’s aversion to making enemies. He has made en- emies all his life, owes his success to his capacity for making enemies or to | his fearlessness of the personal con- i sequences of enmity.” The Old Guard ! is not likely to dissappoint him in this respect. For a naive, childlike old soldier who knows nothing of politics the , General seems to be going some. Pos- sibly he has underrated the power of the Old Guard. Still, if he is wallop- ed in the north, the handy Mr. Hitch- cock may pick up considerable | strength in the south, and so there : will be an even break. The coming | Rational convention at Chicago may thus present some interesting motuts id of resemblance to the gatherings of 11912 and 1916. hp Ga Ab AR y th the Baltimore Sun. Mr. Wilson’s appeal to the West Virginia Legislature in support of suffrage shows that he loves the suf- : frage ladies well, if not wisely. If any man had a right to hate them, it i was he. But never did a man heap more coals of fire on the heads of per- ' secutors than has the President. i The Spanish novelist, Ibanez, said | the other day that American women i really liked the caveman type of mas- | culine, that they yearned for “rough i stuff.” It would be nearer the truth ‘to say it is the American man who | admires the cave woman, who wants i his feminines to bully and ride over {him. In no other country does the : male of the human species take so much apparent pleasure in being in subjection to the woman. { The President has yielded to no | man, but to the female suffragists he iis a most gallant and docile knight. , How many appeals he has issued in | their behalf since his surrender we do not recall, but if he ever erred he has more than atoned to the suffrage i cause for his temporary indifference. He does not hesitate, indeed, to violate one of his Fourteen Points for their sakes by intrefering with West Vir- ginia’s right of self-determination. The suffragists do not believe in the right of self-determination, but the President has insisted on that princi- ple in Europe. The extent of his de- votion is shown by his willingness to sacrifice one of his most cherished ! points. | But he proceeds on the same theo- iry as the average American man. | There is nothing too good for the la- i dies. They have a right to everything ‘he has, even if they give him only a i kick and cuff in return. Cave men, Senor Ibanez? Cave | women, you mean. The shoe is on the ' wrong foot. | — { | Attorney General Palmer’s Candidacy. From the Springfield Republican. | The Presidential candidacy of At- 'torney General Palmer has at least ‘one distinction before it is 24 hours old. If Mr. Palmer were to gain the | nomination, of which there is small | chance, he would obviously drive out {of the party more liberal-minded | Democrats than any other Presiden- | tial possibility yet mentioned. Mr. | Palmer has come to be widely consid- | ered as having mismanaged and mis- | directed the activities of his depart- | ment, with regard to radical social ag- |itators, in the way best calculated to | increase their number. It has not | helped his standing with the better | elements of his party that he has seemed to vacillate in his course as | soon as he has felt the sting of ecriti- | cism. Among liberal Democrats and independents he is looked upon as ‘having been the poorest and most mis- | chievous of all the advisers close to the Administration and as having | done it the most harm. He has es- | tranged these elements without whose | support his candidacy seems doomed | eventually to be considered as a fat- | uous failure, whether or not it re- ceives aid and comfort from any oth- er representative of the present Ad- | ministration. morning at the conuty court in Hollidays- SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. | —The American House, at Westfield, for- | merly a licensed hotel, is now a garage. | Still intoxication! Auto, instead of “red- | eyel” : —Typewriting has been added to the | list of ‘‘dangerous” occupations. A claim for compensation has just been filed at Altoona by a young woman who is sten- ographer for a coal mining company. She says she sprained one of her wrists while operating a typewriter. —Andrew Butcavage, of Gilberton, was convicted at Pottsville last week of vol- untary manslaughter in killing Joseph Kilcullen, a wounded overseas soldier. Judge Berger at once ordered that But- cavage be held for trial on first degree murder, for which crime he was not in- dicted. —The Clinton Gas and Oil company, of Lock Haven, struck a big gusher of gas last week when the drill was down to a depth of 900 feet, on their new well at Haystack Run, two miles north of Ham- mersley Fork, Clinton county. The well will be drilled deeper, as there are also in- dications of oil. —JIor the loss of both legs and his right arm in a railway accident at Union station on March 4th, 1919, Harry Walkins, of Coaldale, Pa., a 33 year old blacksmith, has been awarded a verdict by a jury in the Superior court of Maryland, of $3500 dam- | ages against the Pennsylvania and the ! Northern Central Railway Companies. —Double-header enignes cutting their way through snow drifts on Sunday on the Ontario and Western railroad in Wayne county, buckled the front engine toppling into Orson lake, north of Scran- ton. Patrick Dixon, engineer, and Merrill Jacobs, fireman, both of Carbondale, were caught in the crush. Dixon was fatally injured. Jacobs was not dangerously in- jured. —Harry Martin told George Hall, of Uniontown, a funny story and the latter laughed sa heartily that he dislocated his jaw and could not close his mouth. It was some time before Martin understood Hall's predicament and when he did he gave his friend a sharp uppercut which drove the jaw back into position. Martin still has a sore jaw and the men have agreed not to tell the story again. —Henry A. Brown, of Wyandanch, Ches- ter county, born April 9th, 1835, says that at 50 he never thought of old age; at 60 he was elected a justice of the peace—an of. fice he held for fourteen years; at 69 he sold his farm, built a new home and set out fruit trees; at 77 he was superivsor of the town, and at 85 he is a notary public and a school trustee. He further avers he enjoys three meals a day and sleeps sound- ly at night. —William P. Wilson, who retired from the office of prothonotary of Lycoming eounty on January 1st, has declined an appointment under the Secretary of In- ternal Affairs. Wilson was offered a posi tion as supervisor over the sealers of weights .and measures in a number of counties in that section of the State, but as the work would necessitate his absence from. Williamsport, and thus would take hi away from his business, he declined t. —=8ix months in the Blair county jail was the sentence meted out Tuesday 1 : 8; nit 0 p 1) i last October was convicted of the charge of involuntary manslaughter in connec- tion with the death of Edward H. Steck- roth, of Altoona. Greevy was admitted to bail pending an appeal of his case to a higher court. —After having been called before the church council and asked to resign and leave the town on account of conduct “un- becoming a minister of the Gospel,” Rev. H. C. Rose, pastor of the Lutheran church at Lewisburg, for several years, has left | for parts unknown, according to a press i dispatch in Tuesday’s papers. That the charges against him were of a serious na. ture, as indicated by the summary action taken, is admitted, but the members of the church council have failed to divulge their nature. —Miss Hilda Davis, telegraph operator for the Pennsylvania Railroad at Mason- town, Pa., is perplexed since she made a recent stock transaction. About ten months ago she purchased some gas stock for $33. A railroader whom she did not know happened to be in her office last Sat- urday afternoon and she displayed the stock certificate and declared it was worthless. Immediately came the man’s offer of $900 for the stock and the deal was closed. Now Miss Davis doesn’t know whether she made or lost money. —Judge Robert B. McCormick, of Lock Haven, who won the nickname of “Treat ‘Em Rough McCormick” by his quick jus- tice in the case of a gang of Philadelphia thugs, which aided materially in breaking up an epidemic of crime in that city about one year ago, made quick work of the case of Thomas Provens, who was arrested while attempting to break into the Lock Haven postoffice, and who confessed to other burglaries in that place. He sen- tenced him to the penitentiary for five years on one count and suspended sen- tence on four others. Provens is a for- mer Williamsporter. —While the Rev. Robert MacGowan, pas. tor of the Bellefield Presbyterian church, near Pittsburgh, and formerly pastor of a church in Lencaster, was preaching his morning sermon on Sunday his study ad- joining the church was entered by a thief who took a gold watch and chain and small gold charm which the minister had left on a table there. The articles stolen were held priceless by Doctor MacGowan. The watch and charm were gifts from Mrs. MacGowan, who had received them from friends while traveling in New Zealand. The chain was given to the clergyman by his father. The gold cloth charm bore the inscription, “Each for the other, and both for God.” : —Mr. Addison Pfautz, of Lititz, who has been a horseshoer for the past forty-eight years, will discontinue that work. Twelve years ago he was injured by a horse, re- sulting in four operations, and he feels the old ailment coming back, so that by the advice of his doctor he is quitting horse- shoeing for the present, but will continue in all the other departments of his work. Mr. Pfautz is 63 years old, and when a boy of ten assisted his father in a blacksmith shop at Pine Hill. His first work was making hand-made nails. He is very busy at the present time with a general line of smith-work and making and painting bod- jes of auto trucks. He has a well-equip- ped place, the machinery and even the bel- lows for forge fire being operated electric- ally. oona, who