Srna INK SLINGS. —The weather man is doing his best to conserve our little coal piles. —Judge Witmer has begun to salt Eighteenth amendment breakers with a vengeance. —O0ld Mother Nature put the blink on the moonshine in Centre county on Sunday night. —Pennsylvania now has two poli- ticians and no Senator in the upper branch of Congress. Nobody will ever imagine Sen- ator Knox’s successor is a “great constitutional lawyer.” —The silence of Col. George Har- vey makes a noise like he had really been told by Washington to keep his mouth shut. —Premier Lloyd George, of Eng- land, is coming over to the disarma- ment conference in Washington if he can get rid of the Seinn Feiners long enough to make the trip. —The peace treaties with Germa- many, Austria and Hungary were rat- ified by the Senate and the kind of war we have been in with the Central Powers since November 11th, 1918, is officially called off. —Football is a very rough game, but reports are on our desk to the ef- fect that Greensburg, Pennsylvania, High school players and their follow- ers have some rough stuff, not resort- ed to by regular sportsmen, that they bring into action when a visiting team appears dangerous. —Ambassador Herrick’s sojourn in Paris is likely to be freighted with uneasiness. He received an infernal ‘machine in the mail and only the prompt action of a servant averted an explosion. The attempt to blow our Ambassador up, before he has had a chance is hardly a fair deal. —The haste with which that Con- gressional investigation of the Ku Klux Klan was dropped leads us to believe that imperial wizard Simmons ought to be in Congress himself. At least he succeeded in getting final and decisive action and that is something the present Congress hadn't been guilty of before. —1It is to the everlasting credit of the men of the Pennsylvania system that they are considering refusal to obey the general strike order. They know they are well paid. They know they are fairly treated and they know that no class of workmen any where have had such provisions made for possible disabilities and certain old age. — There is something more than mere desire to “dry up” Pennsylvania behind the coming of federal com- missioner Roy Haynes into the terri- tory of state commissioner McConnell. We are of the opinion that something big is going to happen in Republican leadership centres in this State be- - sade against the booze runners is only a bit of stage dressing. —Certainly there was some reason for the appointment of Senator Crow, of Uniontown, to fill the unexpired term of the late Senator Knox in the United States Senate. Opinion is unanimous to the effect that the rea- son was not because of Senator Crow’s transcendent fitness for such an exalted position. It was political, pure and simple and it means the pay- ment of a political debt or the hand- money in a new contract for the con- trol of Pennsylvania. Nothing else. — The big strike of railroad opera- tives, called for November 1st, will be calamitous if a walk-out actually oc- curs. The public would suffer great inconvenience and the loss sustained by a complete tie-up of transporta- tion would be incalculable. Notwith- standing such disastrous possibilities there should be no temporizing in the matter; no comprimises that merely push a complete settlement of the difficulty a little further into the fu- ture. It is a public matter. The peo- ple are the ones who have to pay the bills in passenger fares and freight rates and since they know that in many instances the freight on a ton of coal is more than the coal cost at the mouth of the mine and since they also know that four years ago it was less than a third as much as it is now they are with the railroads if they can be shown that excessive wages are making the present prohibitive rates necessary. —My, how we would have liked to have been in Philadelphia, Tuesday, to ask our state chairman, Hon. Bruce Sterling, a few questions. He found occasion, while talking to the assem- bled women Democrats of the State, to call upon the men to let by-gones be by-gones and pull together for the redemption of Pennsylvania from ma- | chine control. Truly did he say that a great opportunity awaits a militant Democracy in the Commonwealth and just as true was his statement that thousands of Republicans would sup- port the right kind of Democrats next year. Aye, there’s the rub. The right kind of Democrats! If Mr. Sterling were to tell us that the candidates of our party will be picked next year by the Democrats of the State and not by the hand-picked committee over which he presides, then we would have hope. Hope that our nominees will be men to whose banners all Democrats can rally and in whom Re- publicans, who earnestly seek the re- demption of Pennsylvania, may see their ideals fulfilled. “VOL. 66. BELLEFONTE STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. > PA. O CTOBER 21, 1921. NO. 41 Interesting Political History. The autobiography of the late Wil- liam F. McCombs, chairman of the Democratic National committee in the campaign of 1921, recently pub- lished serially in a New York news- paper, reveals the fault of spiteful- ness here and there, but is highly in- teresting nevertheless. It exposes the ambitions as well as the hypocrisies of some of the prominent figures in the Baltimore convention which nom- inated Woodrow Wilson and the weak- nesses of the candidate, though gen- erously praising his merits. A refer- ence in Part V, paragraph 1, to the activities of A. Mitchell Palmer is particularly appealing to Pennsylva- nia Democrats who have watched the development of that gentleman’s am- bitions in recent years. It will be remembered that local friends of Mr. Palmer during that campaign and since frequently refer- red to his fidelity to Wilson as shown in his refusal to accept the nomina- tion tendered to him during a crisis in the proceedings which threatened a deadlock. Mr. McCombs had chos- en Palmer as “parliamentary expert” of the convention, not because of his ability in that line, but in order to “hold him to the faith.” But during the work of the convention he found him in conference with Burleson, of Texas; Murphy, of New York, and Sullivan, of Illinois, not urging sup- port of Wilson but scheming to get himself nominated. What happened cen best be expressed in the language of Mr. McCombs. He says: “I went to Palmer Sunday night and told him the details of the conference and that if he did another thing I had fifty good, husky Irishmen to throw him out of Baltimore.” To those who know Mr. Palmer it was not necessary to add “there was no more display.” With Mr. Bryan, who was also scheming to “break through the middle,” Mr. McCombs was less candid but no less resentful. The common scold of Nebraska being more dangerous had to be handled more gingerly. But when Mr. Bryan directly asked him to betray Wilson and turn in for Bryan, Mr. McCombs answered: “Mr. Wilson entrusted me with the management of his campaign in Baltimore. I told him before Ileft Sea Girt that I would rise or fall with his fortunes. We have not fallen.” Mr. Bryan flew into a rage, according to the narrative. But the strange | thing about it all is that all these fore the fall of 1922 and that the cru- traitors were taken into favor. eee lle ee Probably became Congress of the Ku Klux Klan were exhibited in the committee room. Republican Leaders Responsible. Within the shadow of an industrial calamity the fact that the people are to blame forces itself upon the thoughtful mind. If the people of this country had set themselves to an in- telligent effort at readjustment im- ties in France and Flanders we would not now be threatened with a condi- tion which may cause infinite suffer- ing all over the world. When the armistice was signed every condition was favorable to an easy return to a peace basis. But the Republican pol- iticians made up their partisan minds to rob President Wilson of the glory him and in their drive to carry the elections of 1918 laid the foundation of present troubles. Every right minded man and wom- an in the country cordially approved of a peace just to all concerned. Ger- many had inflicted grave harm upon the world by creating the war and proper penalties should have been imposed upon her. Others of the belligerents had suffered vast losses and were entitled to just reparations. But above all civilization was enti- tled to a substantial guarantee that there would be no recurrence of such a war and to that end the League of Nations was an essential. All rec- ognized that fact and favored it. But in order to rob President Wilson of ers bought the congressional election of 1918 and sowed the whirlwind of disaster which is now threatening the industrial life of the country. Three years ago machinery might ‘have been easily set in motion by !' which wages and prices could have | been brought down to a peace level without even a ripple on the surface | of the industrial sea. But that was | prevented by Republican leaders for | partisan reasons and the menace | which now appalls the country is the i result. The strike may be averted | and the suffering which would be in- | evitable as well as unbearable avoid- ed. But a temporary armistice in the battle of elements that is impending | { | affords no guarantee of future secu- | | rity from the horrors and the waste of war, and such a guarantee is what | is needed. The Republican leaders are responsible for the present alarm- i: a ing condition. frightened when the ghostly uniforms mediately after the close of hostili- that would necessarily have come to | his just reward the Republican lead- | Death of Senator Knox. The sudden death of Senator Phil- ander Chase Knox, at his residence in Washington, caused not only a dis- tinct shock but is a loss to the people of the State. It is not that he was a great statesman, for though he had given considerable time to public af- fairs he never achieved great results. In the office of Attorney General he was efficient and successful until the prosecution of the coal trust was about ready for trial when under the advice of President Roosevelt he quit the office to become a Senator in Con- gress. As a Senator he accomplish- ed little and as Secretary of State discovered and applied what became known as “Dollar Diplomacy.” On his return to the Senate he fought Wilson. But Senator Knox was a great law- yer and in his public and private life was clean and creditable. His most conspicuous speech in the Senate was against the ratification of the Ver- sailles treaty and his strongest ob- jection to that instrument was be- cause he appraised it as too severe on Germany. He was the originator of the idea of making a separate peace with Germany and the author of the resolution which after amendment in the House of - Representatives was, adopted and has since become the ba- | sis of that convention. But that serv- ice contributed nothing to his reputa- : tion as an international lawyer. He assumed that a resolution by Con- gress was sufficient to legally end the war status. It is universally admit- ted now that he was wrong. But the loss to the State is in the fact that his successor is likely to be of a different type. Knox was no pol- itician and even though he fell short of the stature of statesmanship he was above the standard of the aver- age Pennsylvania politician. While he sat in the Senate a Pennsylvanian might justly feel that we had some- thing more than an intrigueing par- tisan spoilsman in the body. But we are not certain of that distinction in the future. The new Senator is more likely to represent the underworld of politics than the aspirations of the civic leaders of the State, and for that reason the death of Senator Knox is a direct loss to Pennsylvania. — Everybody will be glad that General Pershing will be in London when the American tribute to the British “unknown soldier” is deliver- ed. If Ambassador Harvey had offi- | ciated on that occasion every Amer- "ican soldier would have been insulted. The Worst Seems to Have Come. The suspicion expressed last week "that Governor Sproul has “got under” - Senator Penrose in Washington ap- pears to be fully confirmed by events which have developed since. Senator McConnell has not been actually re- moved from his office as prohibition enforcement officer, but he has been compelled to accept a deputy with power to perform all the duties of the office, including the selection of sub- ordinates. Of course the office can hold no attractions for the Senator with such restrictions in force. As has been said in these columns the of- fice could have had little attraction for him in the beginning. He has never revealed even a suspicion of sympathy for prohibition. It is probably true that the affairs "of the office were administered in a ‘slovenly way by Senator McConnell. He has never been a “snooper,” and ' we can imagine nothing more repul- ' sive to a man of his type than acting ! the part of a professional sleuth | hunting criminals. But the political | erful in political manipulation than | booze, and McConnell probably imag- | ined that as enforcing prohibition of- | inant figure in the party affairs of the ' State. This expectation would come ito him with additional force in view | of the fact that he has a friend who ‘aspires to be Governor. But all such rosy expectations must | vanish before the light that comes ‘from Washington “clipping of his wings,” so to speak, | by the transfer of all his authority to | a deputy whose partialities in politics | | may have taken a directly opposite ' slant. ! tor in full charge of the operations in | enforcing prohibition it might be easy !to establish a local force of Witmer , boomers in every county in the Com- ! monwealth. But if the deputy enter- tains views antagonistic to Witmer | and friendly to some other candidate, and has power to make appointments ! or remove appointees, what pleasure could McConnell have in occupying an | office wihout teeth or even good gums. ——A justice of the Supreme court of chine a hard jolt, and such a thing is possible. | ficer he might hope to become a dom- . concerning the For example, with the Sena-' the type of the late Judge Mestre- | zat would give the Republican ma- nts Grave Charge Openly Made. In accepting the Democratic nomi- nation for Justice of the Supreme court Judge Eugene C. Bonniwell made some startling statements in view of his assertion that “he has documentary proof to back up all his charges.” He accuses the Republican machine of increasing the salary of justices of the Supreme court, “in vi- olation of the constitution; of oust- ing the legally elected Speaker of the House of Representatives “by the armed power of the constabulary;” of having passed by an illegal body “various Acts of Assembly, all to the end that the burdens of taxation might be magnified, the offices multi- plied and the people denied a just and economical government.” “They have imposed a tax on coal,” Judge’ Bonniwell continued, ‘a need- less burden upon every citizen, in the face of a decision of the Supreme court that this tax is unconstitution- al; they have saddled upon the Com- mionw Sith of Pennsylvania expendi- tures in the staggering sum of $116,- 000,000 in the face of almost univei- sal distress; the funds of the State have been so maladministered that millions of indebtedness presently due cannot be paid for lack of current funds. The firemen of the State of Pennsylvania,” he added, “entitled by ' the records of the Auditor General’s office to a sum approximating $1,500,- 000, for the relief of their sick and disabled, seek in vain the payment of this huge sum, a portion of which dates back to 1919.” | The Republican machine is anxious ' to have its unlawful acts ratified by the courts and the surest way to | achieve that result is by filling the Supreme bench with judges in sym- pathy with its purposes. If the pro- ceedings of the Legislature subse- quent to the forcible eviction of the Speaker of the House from the chair are adjudged illegal, most of the tax bills would be null and void and such favorite and expensive measures as the Public Welfare Department would be illegal. The Attorney General, who framed most of this vicious leg- islation,#is the candidate of the ma- chiné for a seat on this bench and his election will make certain the ratifi- ‘ cation desired. Are the people ready for such a thing? ——— Five members of the state con- stabulary were decorated with a med- . al by Governor Sproul at the annual field day events in Harrisburg last . week, for bravery in the performance of duty. Included in the number was Corporal Cohee, of Troop A, Greens- burg, who received three separate wounds while attempting to arrest a man whom he believed to be a fugi- tive from justice at Connelsville, Pa. Corporal Cohee was at one time locat- "ed in Bellefonte and his friends here "are glad to know that his act of hero-- “ism was properly recognized. Apro- | pos of the field day events it might be {Stated that the Greensburg troop scored twenty-four points out of “a possible twenty-five, which is evidence of its high standing. When the troop ‘returned to Greensburg Saturday night the citizens of that place met | them at the depot with a band and gave them a rousing reception. | ane ee een. The partial eclipse of the moon was plainly visible to residents of | Bellefonte and Centre county who took the trouble to look at it on Sun- day evening. While it was only a partial eclipse the moon was almost , entirely in the shadow when it came i up over the mountains shortly before six o’clock in the evening and it was after eight o’clock when the last ves- gcr y . tige of the shadow disappeared. ! potentialities of the office might eas- | 'ily attract his favor. He loves poli- | ‘ tics and ‘there is no agent more pow- | — Governor Sproul confidently ex- pects the Supreme court to reverse itself on the question of the validity of the coal tax because he appointed | three members of the court, and as ' Tim Campbell said, “what is the con- stitution among friends,” anyway. — Secretary of the Treasury Mel- lon is willing to yield a little. He will consent to have a commission to deal "with the foreign loan question if he is authorized to appoint the commis- sioners. elle. ——Harding is a fine compromiser, but thus far he has not been able to come to a satisfactory agreement with the “agrarian bloc” in the Sen- ate. mee eee : ——A good many citizens of Penn- | sylvania who knew the old and know the new Senator will have doubts as to the fit of the toga. R——— — Happily prohibition enforcer, Senator McConnell, will be allowed the privilege of drawing his own sal- ary. ———The urgent need of a man who would obey orders may justify the ap- ' pointment of Senator Crow. | For a State University. From the Philadelphia Public Ledger. In his address of installation as president of Pennsylvania State Col- lege last Friday, Dr. John M. Thom- as outlined a plan whose working out would be to make a great State uni- versity with accommodations for 10,- 000 students out of the institution. the plan were adopted, all State aid that is now given to higher education- al institutions would go to the State university, and the others now receiv- ing such aid, like the University of Pennsylvania, would be deprived of it and be forced to rely on funds and en- dowments derived wholly from pri- | vate individuals. The new State uni- versity would be constituted as the capstone of the public educational system of Pennsylvania, which would then provide for the education of a child from the lowest primary grade through all the steps leading to grad- uation with a university degree. % At the installation exercises Gov- ernor Sproul _indorsed the plan for a State university. Dr. Thomas E. Fin- egan, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has indorsed it. Public sen- timent throughout the State will also indorse it, it is to be expected, as soon as the plan is understood among our people generally. As an aid to understanding, the words of Dr. Thomas on the subject may be studied. He said: Instead of asking whether Pennsylvania can afford a State university we should ask rather, “Can the great Commenwealth of Pennsylvania afford not to have one?” Can we afford to say to the youth of this State, if vou had been born in Ohio or Wisconsin you might have attended 2a magnificent university provided by the State. If you were a citizen of Utah or Arizona, your own State university doors would swing open to you. But you had the misfortune to be born in Pennsylva- nia, and Pennsylvania was too r to follow the example of twenty-three other States and develop its land-grant college into a real State university. I cannot be- lieve that it is the will of the people of this great Commonwealth that such answer should be returned to its ambi- tious youth. That is the broad way of looking at the question, unobscured by academic policy or problems of administration. The broad view-point will convince the public that the principle underly- ing the innovation is correct. Adjust- ments of academic policy and prob- lems of administration, which are, after all, the detail, can be made later. One of these adjustments will eoncern the policy which the State issto adop*- toward the other institutions of high- *| Perry M. Lytle, er education which have been receiv- ing State grants and have come to re- ly on them in their scheme of financ- ing. Principal of these institutions, if not the only ones, are the Universi- ty of Pennsylvania and the Universi- ty of Pittsburgh. The University of Pennsylvania al- ready has discounted the effect of ceasing to receive appropriations from the General Assembly. After much discussion, the alumni and the University authorities have agreed on the policy of divorcing the institution from even partial dependence on pub- lic money. An endowment campaign is under way. The appointment of ak * SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE — Resolutions expressing disapproval of the holding of funerals on Sunday, except in rare and special cases, were adopted by the Altoona Ministerial Association on Sunday. » —Arrested for begging on the streets of Philadelphia on Sunday, Sarah Lipschutz, 70 vears old, no address, was found to have $129.98 in cash, a diamond bracelet, diamond Ilavalliere and bank-book show- ing deposits of $3,048 in her possession. —Robbers broke into the residence of of Huntingdon, former member of the Legislature and former collector of the port of Philadelphia, last week during the absence of the family and stole watches, rings and banknotes val- ued at $850 and $150 in gold. i — Ten additional cases of diphtheria were reported to the Lock Haven board of health during the past week, but thus far but one death has occurred. These cases, as well as some of the fourteen cases pre- viously reported, are of a mild type, and the patients are already on the road to recovery. —Thomas M. Shively, aged 65 years, as- sociate judge of the Union county courts, died at his home near Mifilinburg on Fri- day, from a skull fracture when he fell from a silo on October 4th. He never re- gained consciousness. He leaves an unex- pired term of two years to be filled by ap- pointment by the Governor. —Overcome by natural gas fumes last Friday while taking a bath, Theodore Kavasheff, 24 years old, of Farrell, Mercer county, toppled out of the tub to the floor. The water ran over the top of the tub and flooded the room. Kavasheff, who had dropped face downward, was drowned, ac- cording to the verdict of coromer George Morgan. —_0il has been struck in Bedford county, contrary to reports by geologists that there is no oil east of the Alleghenies in that region. Juniata township farmers or- ganized a company drilling on Hillegas farm, Schelburg. Oil showed at 1100 feet, and the well is filled within twelve feet of the top. Tests by Pittsburgh specialists show 140, specific gravity. ; —Finding a big elk feeding on his win- ter wheat, Norman G. Wilt, a farmer near Duncansville, shot and killed the animal. Game protector Frank Myers took the car- cass to Altoona, had it dressed and divid- ed the meat between Altoona and Mercy hospitals. The head and hide were sent to the Game Commissioner at Harrisburg. The buck dressed 450 pounds and its ant- lers had six points. —Diamond rings worth $5000, tied in a linen handkerchief, were kicked about the streets and trampled by residents of Tar- entum two days before Joseph DeNaze, of Tarentum, picked up the bundle in Centre street, The diamonds were lost by Mrs. Joseph Klein, of Tarentum, last Monday morning, when she was shopping. The jewelry was turned over to the owner by DeNaze: Mrs. Klein had offered $300 re- ‘ward. —Commissioner of Forestry Gifford Pin- chot has been informed by E. A. Sherman, acting forester of the United States, that the government is about ready to begin acquisition of lands in Pennsylvania for the natiomal forest reserve. This reserve will be leeated at the headwaters of the SAlegheny and the state forestry. and wa- «fer supply commissions have given assent to the proposed purchases. The federal authorities will give preference to pur- chases im this State for a time. 1 — The new steel bridge erected by the State across the Susquehanna river . at Lock. Haven was formally opened for ve- hicular trafic at 3 o'clock last Thursday afternoon. Five minutes before the time set for the opening the bell in the court house tower pealed forth the glad tidings that the old West Branch was again span- ned by a modern steel bridge and that vehicles could cross by that means, for the first time since the destruction of the old wooden structure by an incendiary fire in January, 1919. __Norman E. Hause was instantly killed Os neral Wood as administrative head and H. L. McClintick was seriously injur of the University is the sign and seal | ed when their automobile crashed into the of the new policy. It is believed gen- erally his first task on taking up his new duties will be to reconstitute the finances of the institution so that aid from the Legislature will be unnec- essary. This will take time, of course; and nothing is more likely than that a “tapering down” of appropriations by the General Assembly over a per- iod of years mutually will be agreed upon between the University authori- ties and the appropriating agencies of the Legislature. A similar policy , probably will be agreed upon with re- "on the one hand spect to the University of Pittsburgh. In the meantime, the process. of building up State College into a mod- ern State university comparing fa- vorably with the many models that are available in other States will be begun. When all these steps are com- pleted, we shall have what we ought to have—a great State university pro- viding free tuition for ambitious sons and daughters of Pennsylvania and wholly under the control of the State and, on the other, ‘ great universities supplying the needs | peoples that can be best supplied by private institutions and wholly free from any control by the State. The two types of institutions live side by side in many other States, and there is no reason why they cannot cultivate their essentially separate fields just as successfully here in Pennsylvania. e—————————— er ——————— An Event of Events. From the Boston Globe. . One month hence comes an event the importance of which, to every one of us, is nothing short of terrific. These words are no exaggeration. For the governments of the so-called civilized nations are going to assemble in Washington to determine whether they can get along without more fighting. If they cannot, the devel- opment of war engines, and especially of chemical bombs, is such that anoth- er war would probably do to our present-day society what the barbar- jans did to the Roman Empire. Such is the situation quite simply stated, and, be it added, not overstated. United States and Australia. Irom the San Francisco Chronicle. There is a general agreement that the next great commercial and indus- trial development will be among the bordering on the Pacific Ocean. * * We have much in common with Australia, and it is well for us and for the Australians also that our relations are so cordial. | side of a Pennsylvania passenger train on a public crossing a few miles east of Mont- gomery early Friday morning. Both men were on their way from their homes in Dewart to Montgomery, where they were employed in the construction of a bridge. The automobile slid over the roadway six- ty feet, crashing head on into the train when the brakes of the machine failed to work. The injured man was placed on the train and taken to the hospital. __The first automobile license tags, for 1922, manufactured at the Pennsylvania Industrial Reformatory at Huntingdon, have just been turned over to the State Highway Department by John R. Wald, president of prison labor bureau of the state welfare department. The tags have a background of cream white, with dark brown numerals. The first shipment of the tags to Harrisburg numbered 600,000. One hundred boys at the reformatory are engaged in manufacturing the tags. They will manufacture the entire number re- quired, 1,700,000, all of which will be com- pleted for the Highway Department by March 1, 1922. ‘ Mrs. Mary Collins, of Shenandoah, will probably be one of the first women high constables in the State. The petition for her appointment has been presented to Judge Bechtel by Luther Edwards, solic- itor for Shenandoah borough council. As there is no opposition, court indicated the appointment will be made. Mrs. Collins will succeed her husband, who was elect- ed to the office and died recently. The high constable of a borough is seldom called upon to make arrests, except at election polls, and Mrs. Collins’ friends be- lieve she would be equal to the emergency if necessary. The office is antiquated, the chief duty being the posting of election proclamations, and it is believed only a question of a little time until the Legis- lature abolishes it. —S8heriff Anthony Gorman and his chief deputy, F. S. Gilliland, of Clearfield coun- ty, motored to an out-of-the-way home near Philipsburg one afternoon last week for the purpose of serving a landlord's warrant to dispossess one Charles Miteh- ell, who is alleged to have failed to pay his rent. Upon approaching the house they found it apparently abandoned, but, forcing their way in, found a twenty-five gallon still busily pouring out a fair grade of whiskey. The officers sat down and waited for several hours, watching the still pursue its unlawful production, when the owner finally drifted in. A lot of fin- ished product had been dumped upon the ground, and instead of ejectment proceed- ings Mitchell was arrested on a charge of violating the Woner law and is now lan- guighing in the county jail.