INK SLINGS. —Is man mortal when he makes an ass of himself? And that separate peace with Germany has gone Philanderin’ back to committee. — The Athletics are playing ball like they actually meant to stage a come-back for Connie. —Pin yourself to no man’s coat- tail, for the tailor never made one sO strong that it wouldn't pull off. —The only farmer who hasn’t been on his corn ground this week is the one who already had his crop in. —A grief stricken family never re- ally knows how many have sympa- thized until it comes to eating the fun- eral dinner. __Evidently President Harding be- lieves hindsight from the spring of 1921 to be better dope than was fore- sight from the fall of 1920. __At last we have all found out what getting back to “normalcy” means. It is taking Doctor Wilson's nostrums in homeopathic instead of allopathic doses. —_The crowd at the circus Monday was so large that it almost pushed the big top off the lot and yet we have heard people say that times are hard in this vicinity and that money is scarce. — We haven’t much faith in that conscience tax plan of raising money for new fire apparatus for Bellefonte. Too many people have their wires from the conscience to the pocket shorted. - —_Common-sense heels are coming into vogue for milady’s shoes. Oh joy! Climb up ‘‘common sense” until you are installed in your proper place again at the other pole of the female anatomy. _ Maxim Gorky has sent out a call to the world for food for the savants of Russia who are starving. If, in- deed, Russia’s intelligencia need suc- cor it must be because places into which fool Bolsheviki rush and wise men fear to tread are the food stores. _ Notwithstanding the fulminations of some of the gentlemen on the con- gressional investigation committee we are of the opinion that bettering bus- iness would have more to do with low- ering railroad rates than low railroad rates would have to do with bettering ‘business. — Fake dry agents successfully raided a private wine cellar down near Philadelphia, on Tuesday, and got away with seven barrels and one hun- dred and ten cases of whiskey. Read- ing the story of how easy it was al- most we are. persua become a fake dry agent. ¥ —In the “Watchman” rR issue of March 25th there appeared in this col- | umn the following paragraph: “If President Harding leans a little more to the League of Nations he’ll lose his balance and fall into it.” We repeat the paragraph now merely because the President lent and fell. Of thirty measures in which the various groups of working men of the State were personally interested not one got through the last Legislature. We refer to this matter not admitting the merit of any of the bills in ques- ‘tion, but merely to show how conven- iently the Republican organization can forget promises after the polls have closed. — From the White House things look very different to President Hard- ing than they did from the Senate chamber or the Marion “front porch.” It is to his credit that he has finally turned his back on the policy of par- tisan advantage and taken a step to- ward really constructive statesman- ship. It is a bitter dose for the Sen- ate and Harding will have a hard time making it swallow it. —_While there is little to prove that Monday’s fatality at ‘the show grounds was due to careless driving on the part of the man at the wheel in the car that killed thirteen year old Helen Shuey, it certainly admonishes us all to exercise every care and pre- caution when driving, especially in crowds. The accident might easily have been averted, but it wasn’t and for that reason it warns all who would be free from the terrible consciousness of having caused the death of another to drive in crowds with their car in complete control. — Having read the report of fire mar- shall John J. Bower to.the effect that a plug on jail hill was broken when the firemen ran to it in a recent emer- gency our friend Harry Rumberger, of Scranton, suggests what might be called the Dunmore idea for consid- eration by the Bellefonte council. The firemen of Dunmore, Pa., having met with about the same’ conditions that those of Bellefonte report one of the Solomons of the council of that burg presented a resolution to the effect that “hereafter the plugs be tested three days before each fire.” Really, we are not sure that we couldn’t match the Dunmore nut here in Bellefonte, but discussions of that possibility aside, there was a time when such a fool proposal would have been very much to the point right here. Years ago, when the local firemen first pro- cured a hose carriage they couldn’t wait for natural exigencies to produce an opportunity to run out with it; so they actually set a few fires them- selves and no one would have been the wiser had not the signals been mixed on one occasion and the gallant boys had the handsome new carriage at the scene of the conflagration before the advance agents had coaxed the shop to conflag. pe EE ¥ He ; Track SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. - _-§aid by the police to have been posi-- tively identified by David Lebovitz as the man who held him up, robbed him of $800 and shot him three times John Speshock ° has been committed to the Fayette county jail on charges made before Alderman John Darby. E a —When Julius Tevenstelf | a Chester merchant, turned from a sh from which he had taken some canned goods ordered by two negroes, he looked into the barrel of a revolver. Instead of holding his STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. hands up, Levenstein bounced a can of sal- mon off the head of the man with the re- - volver and hit the other fellow with a can 921. of sauerkraut. The bandits fled. —Bids for the construction of about VOL. 66. BELLEFON Profligacy for Evil Purposes. 1t is estimated that the revenue leg- islation enacted during the recent ses- sion of the Legislature will increase the income of the State by upward of thirty million dollars. This is equiv- alent to the levy of nearly four dol- lars on every man, woman and child in the State and the purpose of this burden upon thrift and industry is to create a vast and invincible political machine to perpetuate in power the politicians now in control of the Re- publican party. The salaries of a great many public officials, already generously compensated for the serv- ice they render, have been increased and an unlimited number of new of- fices created, that this sinister pur- pose may be secured. Commerce and industry are in bad condition. Wages are being forced down in every line of endeavor. Vast numbers of willing workers are idle because of the industrial depression incident to the shifting from war to peace levels. All these things admon- ish us against waste and profligacy. They clearly point to the necessity for public and personal economy. But the Republican machine in Pennsylva- nia pursues the opposite course. For sordid and selfish reasons it indulges in an orgie of extravagance in order that its tenure of power and opportu- nity to plunder may be prolonged in- definitely. It ruthlessly impoverishes the people in order that its prosperity may be guaranteed and its ambitions fulfilled. There was some reason for improv- ing the educational facilities of the State but no excuse for increasing the appropriations for that useful service to an extent that invites waste. There may have been faults in the manage- ment of the charities of the State but they did not justify the creation of an expensive machine with a vast army of officials given unlimited power: to harrass the people and sap the treas- ury without restriction. In other words the profligacy was not for the public good but in the selfish interests of a political conspiracy. But the tax payers must pay the piper. Each per- ‘son must give up four dollars a year that selfish politicians may wax fat. Aas _The color scheme is" making progress throughout the world. On Monday while London was lionizing the yellow prince of Japan Philadel- phia was royally entertaining the black President of Liberia. Senator Moses Reveals Facts. The public is more or less under obligation to Senator Moses, of New Hampshire, for revealing the secrets of tariff legislation. The New Eng- land protectionist is not in favor of the pending emergency tariff bill for the reason, probably, that it affords no pickings to what Senator Knox calls the “Dolly Varden calico mills.” But it provides picking for some special interest, or else the Republican ma- chine leaders would not be so anxious to secure its passage at this time. The as soon as possible which will give paign slush fund a grab into the treasury, and Senator Moses thinks farmers and others ought to wait for that. In any event he told the truth about tariff legislation on Monday when he declared that the lobby supporting the emergency bill “is the largest, most highly organized, best paid and most arrogant this capitol has ever seen.” Of course that was an exaggeration, for all tariff lobbies are alike, and the quarter of a million dollars or so that has been spent to put. this emergency et,” so to speak. But it brings the re- sults, and if ten times the amount were required it would be provided. The funds are invested with expecta- tions of generous profits when the measure goes into operation and the ultimate consumer is reached, just as campaign funds are investments. Senator Moses seems to lie under a misconception of the effects of the bill on the business of calico making, how- ever. He imagines that it will in- crease the cost of raw materials used in those factories, whereas it has been shown that the calico mills are stock- ed up with raw materials for a per- iod considerably beyond the life of the proposed bill. The cotton growers are being fooled just as the wool growers and the wheat producers are being de- ceived. The emergency tariff bill is intended solely for the benefit of the speculators who have bought up the cotton, wool and wheat at low prices and will unload them on the consum- ers at the enhanced values provided for in the preposterous bill. ——————————r A ——— Mr. Edison’s statement doesn’t prove that college graduates are in- efficient or ignorant. All it really proves that questionnaires are ab- surd. —————— ee ————— ——Congress seams to imagine that foreign commerce can be expanded by keeping foreign goods ‘out and our own products in." | - po has ‘investigation will probably show th: ‘those carried over are the inefficient plan is to enact a permanent measure ! most of the contributors to the cam-' bill over is only “a drop in the buck- Practical Economy in Office. Auditor General Lewis has already dropped twenty-four from the list of employees in the department in which he assumed control last week and an- nounces that there will be others to follow. This is practical economy. The salaries of those stricken from the pay roll ranged from $12,000.00 a year down to $1800.00 and the saving will amount to something like $75, 000.00 a year. A proportionate de- crease in the expenses of the other departments would greatly increase the saving but it is not likely to occur unless public sentiment is aroused sufficiently to compel it. During the term of Auditor General Snyder all the employees allowed by law were kept on the pay roll and several not thus provided for. Mr. Snyder ex- plained that supernumeraries were necessary to get work done. Mr. Snyder justifies the profligacy in his office by claiming that collec- tions made during his term exceeded those of his predecessors by large amounts. Probably that is true, for during his term war prices prevailed and war prosperity existed every- where. Carrying companies, banks and industrial corporations which contrib- ute largely to the revenues were con- ducting business at high tide and everybody having plenty paid prompt-- ly and generously. But the collections might have been made at much less expense, as is shown by the reduction in force and the saving in salaries by Mr. Lewis. The laws enacted by the last Legislature will vastly increase the collections but Mr. Lewis promises to administer the office with the de- pleted force. It is worthy of note that with Mr. Snyder’s induction into the office of State Treasurer the ap- propriations for that office have been nearly if not altogether doubled. Is it possible that he in- tends to make the Treasury Depart- ment the asylum for political lame ducks in the future as he made the Auditor General’s Department during the last four years? The indications point that way. He has already taken a number of his former associates in the other office over with him, and an men employed for partisan reasons whose duties were performed by exira employees appointed without authori- ty of law. —————— —————— Senator Johnson, of California, is trying to figure out what he got out of the Republican victory last fall. Probably Herbert Hoover, who is a mathematician, might help him to solve the problem. : President Wilson Vindicated. In deciding to send a representative into the supreme council of the League of Nations, President Harding is not only within his rights but has the approval of an overwhelming ma- jority of the people of the country. Most Americans would have preferred to go into the council chamber by the front door, which was open with a cor- dial welcome sign on the mat. But entrance by the back door is prefera- ble to remaining on the outside. Itis the American habit, moreover, to pay ‘a full share of the expenses of any entertainment in which the people par- , ticipate. But Mr. Harding prefers another way, a more economical if less “honorable method of getting in. And the choice is his. The determination to participate in ‘the proceedings of the supreme coun- (cil is gratifying to Democrats, more- | over, because it clearly implies an ac- knowledgment of the wisdom of Pres- ident Wilson, who was largely instru- ' mental in devising and framing the plans of the League of which the su- preme council is an important part. President Wilson urged participation in the council from the beginning and actually designated a representative “to sit for the United States. But the | Republicans threw up their hands in horror, declared it was an “entangling “alliance,” and at the first opportunity revoked the action of President Wil- son. The present action is, therefore, a vindication of the Wilson policy. TE, PA., MAY 13, 1 Germany Accepts the Conditions. As was to have been expected Ger- many has finally accepted the terms fixed by the Allies as to indemnities and reparations of the great world war. It was a. painful process, no doubt, for Germany expected to re- ceive rather than pay indemnities. But it is a just result. Germany not only made the war but caused as much destruction and distress as was possi- ble. In view of these facts a heavier burden might have been imposed. After the Franco-Prussian war the levy of damages was much greater in proportion. France was compelled to pay for all property destroyed and all the expenses Germany incurred in prosecuting the war. A similar pen- alty in this instance might have been demanded and enforced. Those charged with the administra- tion of the German government pro- tested strenuously against the condi- tions imposed and pleaded eloquently for a remission or reduction of the de- mands. But the Allies held firmly to the opinion that the claims were not excessive and adhered as consistently. They were fully justified in this atti- tude. The destruction of life and property had been both great and wanton. It was a colossal crime against civilization and deserved se- vere punishment. As a matter of fact, however, the punishment impos- ed was not severe. The vast sum which will be exacted will not nearly cover the losses in property incurred. It provides no indemnity for the sac- rifice of human life. 1 There is no reason, therefore, for sympathy for those who have to pay. It does not express, as the LaFollette resolution declares, “a crime born of blind revenge and insatiable greed.” On the contrary the demand is the product of merciful consideration and an obvious purpose to help the Ger- man people to a restoration of the in- dustrial and commercial life of their Fatherland. If the Allies had pursued the policies which the German autoc- racy would have adopted, if they had been successful, Germany would have been wiped off the map of the world as completely as Austria has been Siginavd. And as a matter of fact “he world would not have been much the worse for the operation.- — Still we are curious: to learn what is the matter with Senator Pen- rose. He is letting Sproul and Crow push him off the stage. ; Eastern Prisoners Brought to Rock- view. A car load of twenty-five pris- oners from the eastern penitentiary were brought to the Rockview institu- tion on Tuesday, the first consignment from the eastern section of the State. The bill providing for the transfer was passed by the last Legislature and be- came effective at.once. Owing to’ the crowded condition of the eastern pen- itentiary the prisoners will be trans- ferred as fast as they can be absorbed by the Rockview institution, but only . WO The Situation at Harrisburg. From the Pittsburgh Post. The liberal Republicans of Penn- sylvania will never be abl e to make eighty miles of state highway will be open- ed by the State Highway Department this week, including some projects on which bids were asked last year, but considered too high. This will be the third large let- ting this year, and it is hoped at the de- their force count until they join in such numbers with the Democrats as to crush the machine Republican sys- tem that allowed the public school work of the Keystone State to fall to twenty-first place and left the people with little protection against such things as stock swindlers and rent gougers. It lingers that Mr. Hard- ing’s newspaper in 1912 found it ut- terly impossible to take Pennsylva- nia Progressives seriously. It scout- ed the idea that they could be actu- ated by anything like principles. It could see them animated only by thoughts of “pap and plunder.” This is one of the commentaries on the fact that no matter what show of progressiveness they make in the pri- maries, no matter. how bitterly they denounce the machine leaders, most of them are found later behind the “boss” nominess with as much docil- ity as other members of the flocks. Their so-called fight for principles against the machine ended in surren- der to the boss of the dominant fac- ion. ; The only way to break machine domination of Pennsylvania is to join with the “unterrified Democrats,” who know not what it is to surrender in a fight for principle. Now is the time for the Democrats and ether progressives of the State to get to organizing for a combined ef- fort in the campaign for the govern- the trustworthy ones will be brought : here for the time being. . Notwithstanding the fact that the prisoners brought to Centre county on Tuesday were all trusties seven guards . were in charge of them on the trip up from Philadelphia and in addition the men were handcuffed together, which But. for that matter about every- . thing the Republicans have done since ‘the inauguration of President Hard- ing is an expressed or implied vindi- cation of the policies of President Wil- ‘son and a stultification of the cam- was quite a contrast to the way the prisoners have been brought here from the western penitentiary at Pitts- burgh. In not a single instance have prisoners been handcuffed in bringing ny a car load. The new inmates, however, were quickly given an , illustration of the honor system in vogue at the Rock- view institution. As soon as they were turned over to the officials the handcuffs were removed und accom- panied by two guards they were taken to the baseball field to see the very exciting finish of a ball game between two of the prison nines. Another squad of twenty-six in- mates will be brought up from Phila- delphia today. —Germany has accepted the Allied demands and Dr. Wirth heads the new Berlin government that has announc- ed its intention of shutin’ up and put- in’ up. Let us hope that the world | will be spelling his name Worth before paign statements of the “front porch” . | and other political stations. Of course the “bitter-end- ers” will gnash their teeth and Borah, Johnson and Lodge will throw fits as soon as they get the opportunity to be heard. But nobody minds them now. The better reason of the party is as- serting itself in the course which Harding, with the help of Hughes and Hoover, has chosen to adopt. It is the better course for the country and the wiser for the President. rp — —— President Harding continues to son, but any other Republican Presi- dent with a reasoning mind would do the same thing. “stump speech” many years. —The Germans evidently know they have the resources with which to pay. | i follow the lines laid by President Wil- | Their hasty decision to accept the Al- lied terms when danger of losing" the Ruhr impended looks very much as if it, alone, was worth the price. ————————— ——Thus far we have failed to hear of any other department heads at Harrisburg following the example of Auditor General Lewis. ——Germany hated to do it but it was a safe bet that she would sign. The contortions were simply false pretenses of suffering. : orship next year. Have not the pro- gressives who have sought orm within the Republican party been fool- ed often enough to realize that the only hope for improvement in the po- litical affairs of the State lies in build- ing up the Democratic party ? Do not make the mistake again of waiting until just a few weeks before he election to get such a campaign sta. ot Start organizing for it how and with the recognition that those first in the field, if they show the ability, will : becomi have the advantage. im known throughout the ‘State. ca is for big-minded, cour: ership for forces campaign not for any trifin object, but with no other purpese than to make a clean sweep from public control of those responsible for the reactionaryism in Pennsylvania. Never was OPE ty for real statesmanship. LO eee ree. Acquittal of Ambler. From the Philadelphia Public Ledger, A jury of his peers, after weighing the evidence and the arguments, and the court which tried him both have decided that ex-Insurance Commis- sioner Charles A. Ambler is not guilty of the embezzlement and conversion of funds intrusted to him in his official capacity. His case, nevertheless, car- ries with it a lesson that should be pondered deeply by the people. It is one that should call for legislative ac- tion, to the end that it should never again ‘be possible for an Attorney General of the Commonwealth to ad- vise an Insurance Commissioner, nor ‘that wil “enter “the partment that the decline in prices will be reflected in advantageous bids for the State. —Jacob Hoover, 70 years old, of Upper Mifflin township, Cumberland county, was found dead on Saturday along a creek where he had gone fishing. His fishing rod was found lying near the body when discovered by a brother after relatives and friends had searched for two days for the old man. Following a coroner’s inquest it was decided that death was due to a stroke. — Mrs. Bridget Rupple, of Wilkinsburg, who was convicted in February of being a common scold and at that time ordered to pay the costs and move from the commu- nity within three months, on Saturday told the court, “I'll hang before I pay those costs!” Mrs. Rupple had been brought in- to criminal court at Pittsburgh on a war- rant when she failed to carry out the terms of her parole. Mrs. Anna Guelich Heisey celebrated the 105th anniversary of her birth at her home in Lawrence township, Clearfield county last week. She received a number of persons at her home, but on account of the recent death of her daughter there was no attempt at “an elaborate celebration. Mrs. Heisey is in good health and takes en- tire care of herself. While the weather conditions last fall were such that she was prevented from voting, she hopes to be able to visit the polls at the coming pri- maries. \ — Curtis Sipple, alias Curtis Lucas, who was arrested in Kentucky Saturday, after being tracked through six States, has con- fessed to the murder of Gabrial Perrachia and James Critchlow, at Cly, York county, on the morning of May 13, 1919. Sipple was arrested by Trooper Leo Gratcofsky, of the state police force, who posed as a fisherman and placed the fugitive under arrest at a little mountain town in Halan county, Kentucky. The fugitive is being taken to York by members of the state police force. — With faces and hands blackened, five men, armed with revolvers, burst into a boarding house in the mining town of Al- lison, near Brownsville, early Saturday morning and shot up the place, killing one man and seriously wounding another. Then they fled into the darkness, leaving no clue to their identity. The motive for the attack is a complete mystery, for ap- parently no attempt at robbery was made. | A peculiarly brutal feature of the tragedy lies in the fact that both vietims of the thugs had their hands raised when they ‘| were shot down. —Five alleged bootleggers are in the Union county jail at Lewisburg, arrested at two o'clock Sunday morning by mem- bers of the state constabulary while un- loading six gallons of whiskey in front . of the home of a well-known Lewisburg resident. The men in jail, held for a hear- ing, gave their names as William Galla- gher, John McNellis, Daniel Moore, Chas. Gallagher and Ray Berbeck, all giving their residence as Freeland. The booze was carried in copper-lined suitcases, which, together with a big touring ear, have been confiscated. —_ Grant Hoover, of Williamsport, presi- dent of the Lycoming Forest, Fish and. any other public official intrusted with the custody of trust funds, that it was nobody’s business what use he made of the moneys, provided he made a proper accounting at the conclusion of his trust. : It was not denied that Mr. Ambler, while Insurance Commissioner : while the public custodian of the funds of a corporation under his jurisdiction used those funds in as Commissioner, his own personal Had those business had Ambler at the expiration of business ventu term of office been unable to replace ' the funds so converted to his own use, i it is obvious that his position before | the criminal law would have been very different. ot ! jori f instances them in from Pittsburgh and ordinari- ai et majority of in g ly but three or four guards accompa- | same way, nt embezzler begins in be able to make restitution. It is cause he fails in this expectation that he becomes guilty of gmbezzlement, an honorable business men that it is an intolerable and indefensible situation It will strike most high-minded where a public official, placed as is Insurance Commissioner, for exam can, under the counsel cer of the Commonwealth, use for own personal profit the funds of funct corporations over which he assumed control in his official ca ci- ty. Neither the Attorney General nor any other public officer ought to be and it is only ' by the strictest’ technicality of law and of language that such conduct can be given such a privilege; condoned. LL ei es Paying for “Pin-Pricks.” ¥rom the New York World. When Lord Northcliffe goods delegates from tates and standings the told the between in the main. leys; we have our each of aims and motives. Hearsts. They them. nation must pay in the end for windows broken by its press remains unfortunately sound. — Paris saluted Napoleon's birth an hour too soon and as things look in that section now Napoleon was born about ene hundred years too soon. ventures failed or always hoping that he will of the law offi- the United Canada that misunder- Great Britain and United States are due to “pin- ricks” in the press he told the truth England has its Bottom- other in promoting a suspicion Frankness and co-operation would do much to heal the hurts but could never quite cure Bismarck’s saying that every Game Protective Association, has been making an investigation of chestnut tree blight in this section of the State. He owns a large forestry tract in Bald Eagle valley on which there are a number of chestunt trees. He had intended cutting some of these this spring, but has decided to delay operations on the discovery that the trees are in more healthy condition now than in some seasons past. Hoover believes that the chestnut trees are gradu- ally being equipped by nature to overcome the blight. — Inasmuch as trout fishermen have not heeded the warning of Lock Haven officials not to wade in McElhattan or Harvey's runs, and even tore down caution notices posted on trees by J. M. Shearer, superin- tendent of parks and public property, and ’ as the State and local officials are deter- mined to protect the streams and safe- guard the water supply, both runs ‘have been closed to fishermen. Beginning Sat- urday two members of Troop K, first, Pennsylvania cavalry, began patroling the dams of McElhattan run and its tributa- ries and Harvey's run and its tributaries, some of the best trout streams in Clinton county. : } Suit was brought in the Lawrence county court last Wednesday by Walter’ Allen, an aged Hickory township farmer, against a number of New Castle men for $25,000 damages, as a result of an applica- tion of tar and grease which was applied to his body in April, 1918. Allen, it is al- leged, refused to buy Liberty bonds and when a vigilance committee of local citi- zens learned of the fact, they went to his home in automobiles, beat him and then stripped his clothes from his body, apply- ing hot tar and grease. He was later tak- en to New Castle and paraded through the | streets. Allen claims his farm was heavily encumbered and that he was unable to buy bonds. He had two sons in the service. and res. ‘his the be- the ple, his de- has dry — Recently Mr. and Mrs. Aarcom Mora- ri, of New Castle, arranged to make a vis- it to the old country. They withdrew their savings from the foreign department of a local bank, totaling about $700, and took the roll home. They were not to start for a few days and put the money in an old ice chest for safe keeping, until wanted. Then they started to dispose of their household goods. Forgetting that the ice chest was the hiding place of their roll of $700 they sold it to Arthur Johnston, a ne- gro. He paid $5 for the chest and carted it off. Later, they remembered that the roll had been in the chest. But it took several days’ search to find Arthur, and they have not as yet recovered the money. They had the negro arrested on a charge of larceny before an alderman, and have postponed their intended trip. aid the