w = INK SLINGS. ~ —In just twenty-two days it will be here. Rl - he passing of the cootie traps revealing the fact that girls really * have ears. ~ —The organ still drones for the * reason that the skating rink didn’t “ rr w . tose last Saturday night, as we were : “The Irish can’t stop fighting among themselves long enough to give the world a comprehensive idea of - what they are really fighting for. _ —President-elect : Harding could earn his salary mighty easily if he were to let every one who seems dis- - posed to run his administration have a hand in it. “ —The “Watchman” holds an unique . position among the Democratic week- _ ly papers of Pennsylvania. It always seems to have the editorial opinions of their editors just about one week in advance. ~ —The Portage Sentinel has gone to 3 join the great throng of country news- _. papers that have been “croaked” with- in the past two years by abnormal - production costs and subnormal charges. —Every man who becomes the own- er of property adds another to the ar- my that is camping on the trail of the assessor and wanting to know why taxes are so high. It isn’t a bad army to have, at that. —If Rev. Johnson’s vigilance com- * mittee really starts to vigilatin’ __there’ll be a lot of deacons and elders and trustees and some W. C. T. U. sis- ters, as well, burying spirits that are not wholly dead. —To those of our hunting friends _ who are considering sending us a mess ' of venison we feel like saying that we + ~doesn’t matter have never made a practice of looking -a gift horse in the mouth so that it whether it is the -“haunch of an old or a spike buck. ° —A Mitchell Palmer is making a = bid for notoriety again. ] As a last ‘fling he is going to dissolve the meat trust. At least, he says he is. Ar- _ ‘them should worry. Be “ | “ato “mor, Morris, Swift and the rest of They've heard itch talk before. _ —Probably it’s because nobody likes . to talk rough to a sick man that May- or Moore, of Philadelphia; Governor jproul, Crow, Grundy and all the rest 2 Lief the warring Republicans in Penn- _sylvania are making calls on Spruce _ Street and coming out smiling and . $hen, probably it ain’t. . —President Wilson has acceded to world request that he offer his serv- 5 mediator in an effort to com- the differences between the war- Saetions in Armenia. Naturally epublican Senators are up on their hind feet already, slashin’ their tails and pawin’ the air. What a bunch of asses do get to the fore in this country. —Personally we are just old fash- ioned enough to be in entire sympa- thy with the aims of the Lord’s Day Alliance, but we are not fool enough to imagine that they can be achieved. To our mind fanaticism is being al- lowed to make the Alliance so radic- al that it will accomplish few of the many of the desired changes in Sab- bath observance. —Every day another great Ameri- can mind is making the discovery that we must eventually enter the League of Nations. And as the League is still what our Republican friends denounc- ed as “the Wilson League” we are bid- ing the time when they will swallow the dose and try to look pleasant while fooling the people into believing that they haven't eaten crow. —That colored gemmen over in New York who is trying to start a migration of colored brethren from the States to Africa evidently knows his fellows. He has a negro jazz band of sixty pieces, all ragged out in red coats and yellow pants, at every one of his meetings and has announced that the emblem of his new republic is to be a chicken. Jazz bands, gaudy uniforms and chicken are well nigh irresistible. —The Lewistown Democrat and Sentinel has succumbed to the strain that high priced news print and high priced labor put upon it. It was a good paper and we shall miss it but the people of Mifflin county evidently didn’t share our view else they would "have supported it more generously. The Gazette has taken over the list of the defunct journal and under a cap- tion “One by One We Die” tells of the demise. While the Gazette doesn’t look anemic or as if it has the maras- mus it talks rather mournfully of at- tempts to hold on until the storm blows over then consoles itself with the thought that “it is no disgrace to die.” —1In their stories of the Thanksgiv- ing foot ball game between State and Pitt the Pittsburgh papers, almost without exception, stated that Pitt ap- peared to be the stronger team ‘“to- day.” We agree with them entirely. Pitt was the stronger team last Thursday mainly through her advan- tage in weight. But to those who know what could reasonably have been expected from Way, Haines, Kil- linger and Snell on a dry field Pitt re- ally looks about two touch-downs weaker than State even with Davies going through all periods. State’s real offense this season has been in open and aerial attacks and the mud on Forbes field made “duds” of both of them. Memon STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. NO. 48. VOL. 65. Surprising Slight to Taft. Senator Harding, who is now en route home from Panama, will soon begin a series of conferences with men whom he calls statesmen with | tor Penrose is not the popular idol in | campaign fund. the view of framing up a foreign pol- icy. He has sent out several invita- ator Knox, of Pennsylvania; Senator Borah, of Idaho; Senator Reed, of Missouri, and Senator Shields, of Ten- nessee. League of Nations. were elected as Democrats and betray- ed their party in every instance when support of the war policy of the ad- ministration was concerned. Knox is the author of the separate peace with Germany proposition and Borah is the chief bitter-ender. We can fully understand the invita- tion of Shields and Reed. Each of these party recreants carried his State for Harding and thus earned special consideration at the hands of the beneficiary of their perfidy. The invitation to Knox is also easily un- derstood. Senator Harding owes something to Sylvester Vierick and the other hyphenated voters who fa- vored the success of Germany in the world war and there could be no finer way of showing his appreciation of their support than by paying a spe- cial compliment to Knox. Borah’s preferment is a natural consequence of his all-around cussedness. Senator Lodge and Hungry Hi Johnson need no special invitation of course. But we are inexpressibly pained be- cause of the failure to include our fat friend, William Howard Taft, among his counsellors. That gentleman real- ly made greater sacrifices to secure the election of Harding than either of the others. He has occupied the highest office in the world and though defeated for President in a greater rebuke than was ever administered to a candidate in the history of the coun- try, he still retained a considerable measure of popular esteem. But to secure the election of Harding, in or- der that he might be restored to the pay roll, he made himself the most contemptible of men. He may get the office he covets; if Wall Street con- sents, but.will: never recover public respect. ——1f the working men of the country are discouraged at the future prospects they can reflect that they are largely responsible. Most of the industrial centres cast big votes for Harding. Irish Hopes Impaired. One of the principal reasons fox Irish misfortunes was vevealed in Pottsville on Sunday evening. A con- vention of the friends of Irish free- dom was in session in that city at the time. Everything seemed hopeful. One of the speakers confidently de- clared that “independence for Ireland looms closer than is generally realiz- ed by Americans; an Irish parliament will be sitting, unmolested, perhaps before the expiration of the next twelve months,” Another equally en- thusiastic orator added: “The aspira- tions of Irish patriots and martyrs from the time of Robert Emmett to Sir Roger Casement and Mayor Mac- swinney will be realized by the pres- ent generation.” Nothing could be more encouraging or satisfactory than an atmosphere which inspired that sort of oratory. But before the echo of the exultant voices had ceased to sound in the hall a disagreement arose among the del- egates and one group deserted the meeting and organized an opposition convention in another hall. Thus the unity which is essential to strength was broken, and though there was no abatement of enthusiasm, it goes without saying that there must have been a diminution of hope. Each group elected officers and made prep- arations to function. But the force of their purpose was necessarily weak- ened by the division. Two bodies are not as efficient as one if there is no in- crease in numbers. From the beginning of the struggle for the independence of Ireland such differences have been encountered at irregular intervals to the great injury of the cause. No doubt both elements in the meeting at Pottsville were sin- cere and each believed that its cause of contention was just. But it result- ed in a division of force and paralysis of reasonable hope. Just as similar dissensions have destroyed the expec- tations of similar groups “from the time of Robert Emmett to Sir Roger Casement.” And we very much fear it will be that way always. The Irish are brave, sincere and manly but they are not fraternal. Each group thinks its way is the only way and the differ- ences bring disaster. ——The millionaires are decreasing in number in this country according to the income tax record. But the ag- gregate incomes show no diminution so it must be that the millionaires are eating each other up. BELLEFONTE, These are the “high binders” of the Senate in the fight against the . Reed and Shields | { Penrose the Supreme Boss. The highly esteemed Philadelphia Record, in a recent issue, goes to a good deal of pains to show that Sena- | Pennsylvania which his frequent elec- ' tions to important offices would indi- | tions and has included in his list Sen- cate. In the recent poll, according to our Philadelphia contemporary, his aggregate vote fell 150,000 below that of the presidential candidate of his party. But that is not convincing or even substantial proof of the proposi- tion. The 150,000 votes polled for Harding that were lost to Penrose were cast for the woman candidate for | Senator and probably for the two rea- sons that they were not needed to elect Penrose and were required to “save the face” of the ultra suffra- gettes. As a matter of fact the figures cited by our Philadelphia contemporary sustains rather than refutes the claim of the friends of Senator Penrose that he is a popular party leader. In 1914 he received only 519,801 votes and this year his total was 1,067,989. Of course the addition of the women vot- ers to the list of eligibles at the polls accounts for part of the enhanced Penrose vote but not for all of it. The female vote didn’t double the total vote but if the vote of the woman can- didate is added to the Penrose vote the Harding total is equaled so that Penrose got the full Republican male vote and a fair proportion of the Re- publican women’s votes. Besides his gain over six years ago was great. But the popularity of a party lead- er cannot be accurately measured by the number of votes he gets at an election. His success in shaping the plans and policies of his party is a safer and truer standard of measure- ment. Now recent incidents show conclusively that Penrose is not only the supreme boss but the recognized master of the Republican party. From a sick room more than a thousand ! miles away he controlled the last Na- | tional convention and since the elec- tion leaders from the Atlantic to the Pacific are making pilgrimages to worsnip at his shrine. In fact we learn from the Philadelphia Record that the Governor of Pennsylvania in and receive orders.” — Probably if those shipping hoard officials had been paid fair sal- aries instead of a dollar a year, some of the scandals now being aired might have been avoided. Lodge Gives a Real Reason. In his speech at the Union League, Philadelphia, on Saturday evening, Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts, re- vealed the real reason why the special interests financed the Republican campaign for President so liberally. “Incidentally,” he said, “in this elec- tion we saved the country from hav- ing in all probability four vacancies on the Supreme court filled by Mr. Cox, and that was worth doing.” court, with the three named by Pres- ident Wilson in 1914 and 1916, would have made a clear majority of pro- gressives on the bench and for many years held the court as a tribunal of the people against the purposes of the reactionaries. Ever since the Civil war the Su- preme court of the United States has been a citadel of the money power. Whatever interpretation of the laws the capitalistic class required could be depended upon. Three of the Jus- tices were named during the period in which the late Mark Hanna exercised practically absolute control of the ex- ecutive department of the government and two were named by Mr. Taft, The chief justice, Mr. White, was appoint- ed by President Cleveland and serv- ed, in so far as it was possible, as a buffer against reaction. But he is among those likely to be retired dur- ing the coming administration and his successor will be of the type Re- publican Presidents prefer. When Senator Penrose said during the campaign that the defeat of the Democratic party would be worth $100,000,000 to the special interests he probably had in mind this impend- ing change in the personnel of the Su- preme court. With Justices McRey- nolds, Brandies and Clark in commis- sion, Governor Cox as President would have given the country a court of last resort which would have held to the line of justice as between the people and the special interests in the event that the appointment of four judges had fallen to his lot. The spe- cial interests do not want such a fu- ture and Lodge and Penrose accurate- ly appraise the result of the election of Harding in this connection. -—=So long as the world thinks so well of Woodrow Wilson he needn’t worry about the opinion of Henry Cabot Lodge. ——That young fellow who refused a million inheritance may have had plenty of money himself. will “shoulder an olive branch, walk These four Justices of the Supreme | PA.. DECEMBER 3, 1920. Making Up Deficits. The Republican managers have wisely chosen the right time for mak- ing up the considerable deficit in their They are striking | “while the iron is hot.” It is not al- ways easy to raise a fund of a million and a half of dollars. If the election had gone the other way it would prob- ably have been impossible. Not that it would have made a great difference in the end. The loans were made as contributions and were given before the election as investments. The lenders like the contributors, more- over, were sportsmen. They took a chance, knowing that if they won the profit would be great and if they lost it would simply be a bad investment. But by taking the matter in hand now all the money will be raised and the incidental gain, the principal in- centive to the action, will be “velvet.” Every aspirant for office from Maine to California and from the Canadian line to the Gulf will be eager to get his name on the list of contributors in the expectation that it will count in the distribution of patronage. Repub- lican politics is pure commercialism. There is no sentiment associated with it near or remote. The contributors to the fund will be influenced by pre- cisely the same impulses that moved the lenders to take the chance in ad- vancing the money. They pay their money with full confidence of a liber- al return. Now the Democrats proceed in like circumstances along different lines. Take the Pennsylvania State cam- paign of 1914 for example. After the defeat it was discovered that there was a considerable debt hanging over the organization. Of course the can- didate in whose interest the debt was | created could have paid the amount out of his generous bank balance with- out feeling a dent in the roll. But he passed it on to the office holders and made an assessment on the postmas- ters, postal employees, revenue offi- cers and other beneficiaries of party success, and levied an assessment on their salaries to pay the debt. Prob- ably if Harding had been defeated some difficulties would have been met. of the laying off of some fifteen hun- dred men by the Pennsylvania rail- road company in Altoona. In speak- ing of the lay-off the Altoona Times- Tribune in a recent issue stated that while the discharge of the men was in the line of retrenchment which the company deems necessary at this , time, they were also taking advantage tof the fact to weed out workmen who were not giving value received for the , wages paid them. For some time past the company has carried on a check- up system on every workman in its employ and in this way they were able to discover just who was giving faith- | ful service and who was soldiering on | their job. When it came to a matter "of retrenchment there wasn’t any question as to the men to be discharg- ed. In this connection it might be stated that for several years past all ' classes of labor have taken advantage of the demand for its services to. do pretty much as it pleased, and too many men failed to give a just return for the wages they were paid. This was not only unfair to the men who employed them but also to the honest workman who geve faithful service. . From all indications the days of re- construction are here and while the faithful laborer need have little fear for himself the man who worked(?) merely for the big money he was get- ting may soon find himself in the po- sition of hunting a job. ett se ere A —Whether it was his personal or political support that Governor Sproul offered those who are combatting the movement to bring about a continen- tal Sunday in Pennsylvania doesn’t in- terest us greatly. What we are inter- ested in is the fact that the Governor is ready to turn one, possibly both, of his streams of influence toward the cause of a holy Sabbath. The only link that is left between some people and their Creator is the sacred atmos- phere of the day of rest and if it be given over to secular pastimes entire- ly our country will breed Bolshevism almost as prolifically as Russia. rn nares fp prensa. ar w— ——A lot of grocers are talking of prosecuting the Sugar trust. Not long ago the general public was hop- ing somebody would prosecute the grocers. —In Buffalo they have to have a physician’s prescription to get a ton of coal. In most other cities you need a dollar to get a bucket full. —-It may safely be said that the probable change in the federal offices in Pennsylvania will not materially injure the Democratic party. ——The fact remains that if Lloyd George had not been elevated to the Premiership the Irish question might have been settled long ago. The “Watchman Tast week told School Week Proclaimed. From the Pittsburgh Post. Life nowadays is just the observ- ance of one week after another, devot- ed to the consideration of some spe- cial subject; but that fact should not be permitted to dull interest in “School Week,” as the period from December 5 to 11 has been designated by Dr. Claxton, United States Com- missioner of Education. If there is one subject which, more than any oth- er, deserves the attention of the peo- ple, it is that of the schools. ey possess the greatest power for good of any element in our civilization; we express our realization of this by com- pelling every boy and girl to attend them. It is to the maintenance of the sehools that a large part of our taxes go; and so every adult, as well as every child, has reason to be concern- ed over the way in which they are con- ducted. The business of public edu- cation, if properly conducted, yields its stockholders, the citizens, rich re- turns in the form of progress in every field of human activity that is worthy of cultivation. Dr. Claxton asks the citizens to stu- dy the schools and their methods dur- ing “School Week” with a view to dis- covering their needs, and to make sug- gestions for their improvement. Gov- ernors and superintendents of educa- tion are called upon to furnish the people with such information as will form a basis for discussion. Cham- bers of commerce, women’s clubs, la- bor unions, farmers’ organizations, and civic and patriotic societies are re- quested to hold a meeting for the con- sideration of educational require- ments. Community gatherings are to be held in the school houses on Friday afternoon and evening of the week to let the tax-payers air their views. In fine, the plan is to have all the people of the United States take counsel as to ways and means of bettering the national school system. Good should come of this. Nearly every one has been to school and knows something about the subject. Every thinking person has ideas on it. The educational authorities have de- cided in recent years that modern con- ditions called for a change in educa- tional methods. Teachers for many generations have been guided by the traditions handed down from the Mid- dle Ages when Latin and Greek were the languages of scholars and the classics of antiquity were regarded as ‘ the subjects most worthy of study. : But of late there has beer Le hauling of the cn be +b ng in the High schools, it has extended to the primary institutions. There has been a questioning of the value of some of the time-honored courses without which a liberal education was regarded as incomplete. Other things have been substituted for them. There has also been a questioning as to the time-honored ways of teaching. The “whining schoolboy” used to go reluc- tantly to school. The modern teacher aims to make school days agreeable to the children. Educational methods are under- going a revolution. The advice of the people will be helpful in determining be course which the revolution shall ake. Dead or Alive? Irom the Springfield Republican. America must abandon the idea that the rest of the world is willing to scrap the present League and to. join with her to organize a new one. It never would be possible to get togeth- er again these forty-two nations for the formation of another League.— Lord Robert Cecil at Geneva. This supports Mr. Root’s cable mes- sage to Mr, Harding last August: “It is very unwise to call the League dead. ay It would not be true.” Yet Mr. Lodge in Boston Saturday night declared that “the League is dead, so far as the United States is concern- It is an awkward conflict of opinion. The difficulty might have been avoid- ed if Republican strategy in the Pres- idential campaign had not dictated that the League should invariably be called “Mr. Wilson’s League.” Mr. Harding and Mr. Lodge are now oblig- ed out of deference to a 6,000,000 plu- rality to say the League is dead be- cause the only League in existence, the one now in evidence in Geneva, is the same ¥Mr. Wilson’s League.” . . . . France indorses what Mr. Root said: “Abandoning the Versail- les treaty is impossible. To attempt it would bring chaos and ah entire loss of the results of the war, and gen- eral disaster involving the United States.” Consolations for Democrats. From the Charleston News and Courier. Some of the consolations with which the Democrats may comfort them- selves are already coming to light. Ever since the election there has pro- ceeded a rapidly increasing drop in prices, and, whatever the ultimate re- sult of this, the immediate result is to- work hardship on many. Thus in one New York city industry alone there are 35,000 persons now. idle, and the number of unemployed in Brooklyn is estimated at 60,000. If the Democrats had won the election their political op- ponents would have pointed to that as the reason for the economic difficul- ties which are now developing and which are going to be felt more and more as time passes. A great many people would have believed the charge and the Cox administration would have been heavily handicapped from the beginning. ———Subseribe for the “Watchman.” ‘Coal company. {The deal — T SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. +~Three hundred chickens were burned to death in a fire that destroyed the big ’ chicken coops of Corporal Leonard Rich- ardson, of Troop A, state police, loca near the barracks, Latrobe. * —The Juniata Valley Telephone Co., op- erating in Mifflin county, and the Limer- ick Telephone Co., of Montgomery county, have filed notices of advances in rates with the Public Service Commission. ~ —The state fiscal year closed Tuesday night with prospects of the revenue touch- ing more than $60,000,000 without includ- ing proceeds of the road bond issue. That is almost $8,000,000 above the record of last year, which was the high-water mark. —After the death of Marshall N. Warren, an eccentric character of Lancaster, at the General hospital in that city, money and securities to the amount of $12,000 were found under the pillow. When he entered the hospital he refused to give up his ef- fects. Distant relatives will get the mon- ey. . —An unknown alien was murdered on the streets of Aultman, a mining town, near Indiana, with five bullet wounds that bear evidence of the accuracy of the per- son who handled the revolver, with which the crime was committed. Indiana county authorities have not even established the identity of the vietim. —Mrs. John Sunday, aged 35 years, and her four month’s old baby were burned to death in her home near Shartlesville, Berks county, on Monday. When a small fire in the kitchen was extinguished the two bod- ies, burned to a crisp, were found on the floor. It is supposed her clothing ignited while she was building a fire in the stove. -—¥ollowing their policy of strict adher- ence to the law and no leniency to any of- fenders the state policemen stationed at Carlisle, recently haled two farmers liv- ing in that vicinity before Justice Boyer, on the charge of driving horse-drawn ve- hicles without lights. Each was found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine and costs amounting to $10.50 each. —The Wilmore Real Estate company, controlling a large number of farms im the vicinity of Somerset, had some bumper crops at the close of the harvest seasom. The cabbage crop is probably the largest ever known in that section, as over 400 tons of the finest kind . of cabbage was raised. Hundreds of bushels of apples and potatoes was also part of the crop. -—~Hunters on Mahantongo mountain, a mile and a half from Higgins, in Schuyl- kill county, found the safe stolen October 18th from the Reading station at Ashland. The door had been blown open, all cash and express money orders stolen, but rail- road tickets and a pay check for station agent Francis Meehan, Shamokin, were found under the safe. Four thieves stole the big safe from the station and carried it away in an automobile. * —-Michael Cronin, steel worker of Pitts- burgh, drew a nice pay on November 20— something like $178.80 for less than fen day's work. Because of frequent hold-ups in that vicinity, Cronin decided to “play safe” so he placed his $178.80 under a brick in a remote part of the mill yard. Sever~ al days later Cronin reported for work, but before entering ithe mill thought he would take a peep at his money. He look- ed, and looked in vain. His money had vanished. 3 —~Yeggmen who blew open the safe of the White Milling Co., at Bloomsburg, ear- 1y on Tuesday, obtained $1150 in cash and negotiable papers and $1000 in unendorsed checks, but overlooked more than $24,000 in bonds and other securities. Entrance to the mill was gained through a window, and a tool box just inside furnished them with all the tools necessary for the job. They even stole the tools after looting the safe. State police and private detectives are working on the case. -~Mrs. John Bolets, of New Brighton, was sewing a button on her husband’s trousers one day last week when a letter dropped out of a pocket. She read it. The epistle told of Bolet’s wife and a few chil- dren in Austria. Then chief of police Wal- ters raided the house on information sup- plied by the American Mrs. Dolets, and found a copper still of eight gallons ca- pacity, and two barrels of raisin mash. Bolets, Mike Oesterik and Louis Yohades were arrested for violating the Volstead act and held in $500 bail for federal court. Referee Thomas Seidel, of the state compensation beard, has announced an award of 6805 to Mrs. Kate Oshute, of Shenandoah, against the Lehigh Valley This is one of the largest awards ever made, due to the fact that the woman has a number of children. Mrs, Oshute's husband was overtaken by a rush of water in the mines and walked homein wet clothes, bringing on a fatal attack of pneumonia, The company claimed no award could be made under these circum- stances, but the referee decided otherwise. —Patrick H. Vaughn, “model landlord,” of Harrisburg, who refused to raise rents of his numerous properties during the war period, in his will, probated on Monday, set aside ten of his houses in which the families of worthy blind may be permitted to live rent free. The will also provides that out of his $200,000 estate there is to be provided a home for aged women, to be lo- cated in that city, and that a £10,000 fund is to be set aside, the income from which is to be distributed equally between the Sylvan Heights home for orphan girls, Harrisburg, and the Paradise Protectory for boys, in Adams county. —I. 1. McFarlane, of Timlin, Jelferson county, has closed a deal by which he and several associates in Brookville and Kit- tanning purchased 5000 acres of coal land in Pine and Boggs townships, Armstrong county. "The price is said to be $400,000. is the largest reported in that neighborhood since the days when the Al- legheny River Mining company startled coal circles by its gigantic deals. The property has a three-mile frontage on the Pittsburgh and Shawmut Railroad, near Tidal Junction, and includes 2700 acres of the Frank Williams tract of ground, the remaining 2390 acres coming from various OWNETrS. —Three well known men of the vicinity of Quarryville met with tragic deaths in three successive days. Franklin Barritt, superintendent of the Octoraro pumping station, at Pine Grove, was discovered be- neath the turbine wheels, evidently having fallen into the water while inspecting the machinery. The following day Christian Nissley was struck by a westbound freight train on the low grade and died a few hours later, and the next day John O. Scott, one of the most prominent farmers of that section, was terribly injured by a cornfodder shredder bursting and hurling fragments of iron in every direction. He died in a few hours, without regalaing consciousness.