Bewowifitdm | INK SLINGS. —Put a couple of “chickens” into a Ford coupe and they'll cackle like they’re layin’ an egg every minute. —Some people are so busy knock- ing the other fellow that they can’t hear opportunity when it knocks at their own door. —We haven’t any bananas today, but we've got more up to the minute news that you are interested in than any weekly paper you can lay your lamps on carries. —If Governor Pinchot settles the coal strike he will attach to himself a lot of glory, but if he doesn’t—well, you know what happens to the fellow who is caught four-flushin’. —The recent proposal by some of the French journalists that we forget what Europe owes us might settle the problem abroad, but the American memory is of the kind that can’t easi- ly forget. —Fall is only three weeks off and the back that has bent to the lawn mower and the garden weeds since spring will have very little respite before it bends to carrying out ashes and shoveling snow. —Last week we prayed for more power to the councilmen who oppose passing superfluous ordinances. This week we invoke the same strength for the burgess in enforcing those that have already been passed. —1It matters little to the voters of Centre county who gets on the Repub- lican ticket through the primaries next month. Sentiment is strong for a clean out in the court house and it’s going to be made in November. —Tuesday’s sudden rain squall did two things. It gave mother earth a much needed bath and made the fel- lows who stand on the High street bridge from morning ’till night move with an alacrity we didn’t believe was in them. —The Gaekwar of Baroda, the richest of India’s Princes, is dead. The announcement that he was the only person in the world to own a gold cannon leads us to wonder how he escaped the fool killer long enough to die a natural death. —The opening of the Altoona motor speed bowl Monday will be a thrilling event, of course, but let us hope that all the thrill will be gotten from the racing and none of it from the fatal accidents that so often accompany such performances of the speed de- mons. —The “exciter” might have broken at the plant of the Keystone Power corporation, Saturday night, but cer- tainly not any of those in the homes and business places it serves with light were out of order. For a few hours they worked better than they’ve done in years. —The Prince of Wales is coming over to recuperate on his ranch which is located some where up about Cal- gary, Province of Alberta, Canada. The English are so continually throw- ing prospective Queens at the head of the dandy young Prince that it isn’t any wonder they make him sick. —There’s a lot of difference in the | fuss that a grandfather’s clock and an Ingersoll watch make in swinging the circle of a day. And so it is with people. The blustering, nervous, im- patient fellow who acts like no one else in the world but himself does or has any wark to do rarely gets much further than the complacent, even! tempered one who strikes slower but makes every stroke count. —The race for primary preferment is growing fast and furious and we're just waiting to see what aspirants, who are not averse to “a little off the hip” on occasion, come through as the standard bearer for our Prohibition friends. In recent years some very wet candidates have carried the dry banner, thus laying the Prohibition party open to suspicion as to its sin- cerity, so far as local officers are con- cerned. —Probably the most exciting pri- mary fight in Pennsylvania is going on now in Pittsburgh where Senator Max Leslie is fighting the Magee-Oli- ver-Flinn combination for a place in the sun. Were it not for the fact that we have a friendly interest in some of the fat that is in the fire we'd say: Among them be it. But the Hon. John Francies is an aspirant for the nomination for clerk of the courts of Allegheny county on the ticket that Leslie isn’t for and we’d be mighty pleased if all of our Leslie friends in the Smoky city could find a way to desert their leader to the extent of voting for Mr. Francies. Most of them are old Centre countians and could very properly support one who has in recent years meant so much to Centre county as Mr. Francies has done. —We hear occasional conjecture as to who will represent this District in the next National convention of the Democracy. While there are several persons who would like to go we are most interested in knowing for whom they would like to go. It is generally reported that the old oligarchy in our State is split and that Vance McCor- mick and A. Mitchell Palmer will be in with strange political bed-fellows. They are reported to be rivals for the Pennsylvania delegation and already busy trying to grab it off. The dele- gates will be chosen at the primaries next April, two from each of the thir- ty-six Congressional Districts and four-at-large. We of the Twenty- first will select two and, as we have said before, we are not so much inter- ested in who. they are to be as we are in who they are or will be legging for. =m CHC STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. VOL. 68. False Claims of Economies. Through a controversy between At- torney General Woodruff and Auditor General Samuel S. Lewis an interest- ing fact has been revealed. The dis- pute was over a plan of the adminis- tration to pay salaries of certain offi- cials employed in the Department of BELLEFONTE, PA. AUGUST 31. 1923. Treasurer Snyder Futile but Funny. State Treasurer Snyder is funnier than the late Artemus Ward’s famous kangaroo. Mr. Ward cherished, or endured, his kangaroo for the reason, as he stated, that it was “a amusin’ little cuss.” But Charlie Snyder has it “shaved off the map” as a source of ‘ Shipping Board’s Perplexing Problem. | | - The problem of disposing of the : shipping board’s merchant fleet is | still unsolved and is increasingly per- | plexing. The subsidy plan, that is | the plan to pay a group of wealthy ' party pets a hundred million dollars ‘a year and expenses to take the ships Agriculture out of what is known as | merriment. In his palpably futile as a gift, has been abandoned. But the dog fund, being money acquired : fight against the Governor he is cut- ‘no feasible scheme has been offered to by licensing dogs. Under the provis- ting up such pranks that the whole take its place. ions of the dog law “all moneys in the ' dog fund from time to time are here- by specifically appropriated to the De- partment of Agriculture for the pur- post of carrying into effect the pro- visions of this act.” The code elim- inated the bureau of animal industry and the Auditor General refused to approve warrants for salaries in that bureau, no longer existing, out of the dog fund. In the course of the controversy Auditor General Lewis pointed out that all salaries for the Department of Agriculture should be drawn from the general appropriation to that de- partment, whereupon it was discover- ed that the general appropriation made by the last Legislature is insuffi- cient to meet other necessary expens- es and pay salaries. After the ad- journment of the session the Governor boasted that a saving of $400,000 had been affected by the decrease in the appropriation for the Departinent of Agriculture of that considerable sum. Auditor General Lewis asserts that if the payment of salaries for the De- partment of Agriculture is made from the dog fund there will be no saving at all and the boast of the Governor is a glaring false pretense. In view of the other exposures of Governor Pinchot’s claims of econo- mies this is not surprising. In fact the assertions of Auditor General Lewis are supported by the compari- son of the apropriation by the last Legislature with those of the previous session. . It is true that the correc- tive and charitable institutions of the State have been pared to the bone and that some of the educational institu- tions have been crippled by the de- crease of appropriations for mainte- nance. But the aggregate of the ap- propriations is. nearly three million dollars greater than that for the last two years of the Sproul administra- tion, and the taxes have been increas- ed to the extent of nearly twenty mil- lions. It looks as if all of Pinchot’s pretenses are false. Ar ———— tn —Probably Coolidge imagined that Pinchot would serve as a “cat’s paw to pull chestnuts out of the fire.” But Gif. may eat the chestnuts. Sob Stuff About Harding. Some years ago there was a con- spicuous and capable newspaper cor- respondent in Washington named Walter Wellman. Possessed of a lively imagination he conceived a no- tion that he could cross the Atlantic ocean in a craft made of silk and fill- ed with gas. In pursuance of that idea he invested a fortune in the en- terprise, went up in a balloon and dis- appeared either above the bottom of the clouds or beneath the surface of the sea. In any event he had not been heard from for years until the other day when he came to earth with a posthumous Harding filled with sob stuff that would make angels weep. The obvious purpose of the publi- cation of the letter now was to create the impression that the lamented President had abandoned the policy of isolation which his party adopted im- mediately following the close of the world war, and to which he adhered until about the end of the last session of Congress. - Probably he had chang- ed his mind on that subject and pos- sibly his proposition to join the inter- national court of justice expressed his changed opinion. But his speech in St. Louis, delivered some time after the date of his letter, urging the press of the country to inaugurate a movement for perpetual peace, reveal- ed a willingness to yield. to the isola- tionists by accepting reservations which made his proposition both ab- surd and impossible. It is a cleary established fact that President Harding was a peace loving man. It might even be said that he reluctantly participated in the oppo- sition to the ratification of the cove- nant of the League of Nations. But he was so completely bound by the thongs of party prejudice. that. he couldn’t assert his better self when | the malignant Lodge organized. his “fight against Wilson.” That was the ! time and the occasion for Warren. G. Harding to declare himself in’ the in- terest of peace and to “make” the world safe for humanity.” ——— A A ———————— ——State Senator Snyder declares; that he won’t pay those warrants, notwithstanding the court action. That means another court action. ——1If every Democrat takes a hand in the pending campaign Democracy will come ' into its own in Centre ! county this year. letter from President State is convulsed with laughter. It is not that his purposes lack merit, for the methods of resistance clearly show that the administration is afraid trative code is in conflict with the constitution in a dozen ways. But Treasurer Snyder doesn’t know how to force it to a test. Defeated by the decision of the Dauphin county court his plan of holding up the salaries of certain em- ployees has been abandoned, and now he threatens to contest the authority of the secretary of property and sup- plies, an office created by the code, to function as provided in the code. Un- der the old system, awarding con- tracts for supplies was a prerogative . of the Board of Public Grounds and Buildings, composed of the Governor, the Auditor General and the State Treasurer, all elective officers. The code shifts this service to the secre- tary of property and supplies. In con- formity with this provision the secre- tary was about to award contracts for furniture and supplies for the new office building last week when Snyder interposed a protest and declaration that he will not pay warrants for such service. Of course the secretary of property and supplies paid no attention to the protest. Relying upon the allegiance of the courts, revealed in the decision on the question of salaries withheld, secretary Berkey Boyd proceeded with preparations to award the contracts and Auditor General Lewis promptly declared that he does not propose to become involved in the controversy. This means that Snyder will stand alone and be bowled over again as he ‘was in the other case. Possibly he has no other course to pursue. To the lay mind the processes-of law are ‘confusing. But it would seem that an appeal from the Dauphin county court in the first case might have averted the necessity for the second. ——Lloyd George declares that he will not lecture during his contem- plated visit in this country. Lord Birkenhead’s faux pas may ‘be exer- cising a beneficent influence on the British mind. Coolidge “Passes the Buck.” As might have been expected the |The drawing for position on the var- | hope that President Coolidge would solve the fuel problem has been dis- appointed. He has “passed the buck,” and Governor Pinchot has assumed the burden. It is an Herculian task, but the Governor feels equal to it. Probably it may vindicate the adage, “fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” and possibly it may work a re- sult of vast importance to the country. In any event the Governor is highly pleased with the assignment. He says “the President has been good enough to call me into conference on the coal situation and has asked me to do what I can to help in finding a so- lution.” What pians he has in mind have not been disclosed. We sincerely hope the Governor will succeed in his great enterprise. A strike that would stop the production { of anthracite coal at this time would be a calamity of inestimable propor- tions. The talk of fuel substitutes may serve to allay apprehensions for a while but is likely to prove futile in the end. So that any man who devis- es and puts in force a plan to prevent .a strike will be a public benefactor | looming large on the horizon at a time when such distinction means much. If | Governor Pinchot adjusts the differ- ' ences between the miners and opera- | tors in the anthracite coal field he will be the leading candidate of his party for the nomination for President next year. | - In the nature of things something would depend upon the means em- ployed in achieving the result. The employment of force, for example, would leave an ugly frame of mind. | Mr. John Hays Hammond, chairman of the Coal Commission, states that ‘there can be no doubt of the sincerity of the operators in their effort to con- tinue production. By inference that i lays the blame of a strike on’ the min- ers. As a matter of fact there are | reasons for doubting the sincerity of ‘the operators. They have yielded lit- tle from their original position dur- ing the long drawn out negotiations. | The. miners may have shown a repre- hénsible stubbornness but it is hardly fair to say they are altogether to blame, 199 ——=We are somewhat anxious to learn how Mr. Bok is getting on with his peace project. It seems to have fallen ‘into “innocuous desuetude” so far as the newspapers are concerned. One suggestion is that the ships be apportioned to pri- | vate operators to be run on profit- - sharing systems. But only the prof- its are to be shared under this plan, ! to join issue with him. The adminis- the losses are to be born entirely by , ‘the government. That would be bet- ter than the subsidy, but hardly satis- | factory to the people. | Mr. Carter, president of the Pacif- ic Mail Steamship company, who was an active supporter of the subsidy | scheme, is an equally vigorous oppo- i nent of government operation of the : ships. “All business men agree,” he | states, “that the government cannot conduct a commercial enterprise as efficiently as private citizens skilled in | the business.” Probably that is true in the main, though the successful operation of the postoffice service sug- gests a doubt. But the private citi- zens skilled in the business are as a rule exceedingly selfish and the bene- fits of their skill and efficiency goes to themselves rather than the govern- ment when the government is the partner. But what’s the use of having a part- ner in this government enterprise. Skill and efficiency are valuable assets in any business undertaking. In this particular undertaking, however, they are not essential. Everybody knows that the first trip of the Leviathan was made under the most profligate and inefficient management, yet the net profits of the trip were upward of $300,000. The same unit in the ship- i ping board’s fleet sailed from South- | ampton on Tuesday last with 8000 | passengers on board, which is a guar- antee of another immensely profita- . ble voyage. In view of these figures why not sail the ships as a business venture ? glibly talked about when a mine strike is impending, but does any one know what they are, where they are to be found or whether they will substitute. Candidates Draw for Position on Ballot. On Tuesday the official drawing by the various candidates for position on ithe primary ballot was held at the | commissioner’s office. Most of the i candidates for county office appeared lin person and drew their own number. ious borough and township tickets outside of Bellefonte was made by Harry Keller Esq., and Herbert. Au- man, both of whom were delegated by the county commissioners to do the work. On the county ticket the names will appear as follows: Sheriff—Democrats, E. R. Taylor, Elmer Breon. Republicans, Jacob S. Knisely, William H. Brown. Treasurer—Democrats, William A. Carson, Lyman L. Smith. Republi-, cans, James Orvis Heverly, Ira G. Burket, Edward J. Gehret. Recorder—Democrats, Sinie H. Hoy, D. Wagner Geiss. Republicans, Re- becca C. Tuten, Lloyd A. Stover. Register—Only one Democratic candidate. Republicans, Thomas Morgan, G. W. Rees, Frank Sasser- man, George W. Eaton, Harry A. Rossman. County Commissioner—Democratic, James W. Swabb, John S. Spearly, Burdine Butler, John W. Yearick. Re- publicans, Harry P. Austin, John T. Harnish, George H. Yarnell, John A. Way. For District Attorney John G. Love drew first place on both ballots. Position don’t figure in County Auditor as there are only two candi- dates on each ticket and both are to be voted for. ——Will Hays declines the chair- manship of the Republican National committee, which is further proof that he has brains enough to com- mand a big salary. ——We have no inside information on the subject but it is just possible’ that Pinchot tackled the coal settle-’ ment job in order to side-step the code controversy. -———Lord Birkenhead may have been trying to get into the lime light, and his reference to President Wilson landed him there with a fool’s cap on his head. ——The motorists do get a good deal of the good, and a fair share of the pleasure, of good roads but they pay a considerable part of the ex- pense, ————— A ————— ——As it looked yesterday Gover- nor Pinchot may avert the coal strike but if he does the public will pay for it. +» wmSubstitutes. for coal. are always. Singapore and Washington. i From the Philadelphia Record. . It is a curious coincidence—if noth- ing more—that as the ratifications of the treaties to secure peace in the Orient are being exchanged at Wash- ington Great Britain is planning to create a huge naval base at Singa- pore. The Singapore project is not entirely new, but there was no public announcement of it till after the Washington conference, which was supposed to remove all but the most remote possibilities of war in the Far The Anglo-Japanese treaty lapsed with the ratification of the four-Pow- er treaty, but as it disappears from | view Japan shows some natural curi- i osity to know what Singapore means. And Japan is not alone. A few weeks ago the Dutch government made a pressing demand upon the legislative body for a considerable sum to strengthen the Dutch naval establish- ment. Unofficially it was said that this had reference to the Dutch fleet in the East Indias. Not long before this had been deferred, and no ex- planation was offerred of the press- ing demands of the government. Was this also due to Singapore? Our own government is believed to be mildly intefested in Singapore, though no one 15 predicting tro in the Orient between us and Great Brit- ain. But in order to secure the adhe- sion of Japan to the agreements at the Washington conference it became necessary for us to promise not to add to the fortifications of the Philippines and some other islands. If we cannot increase our defenses, we can hardly be entirely indifferent to the creation of a naval Gibraltar at Singapore. The Anglo-Japanese treaty was un- derstood to be precautionary in re- gard both to Germany and Russia. We did not like the looks of an An- glo-Japanese combination in a region where we had territorial and commnier- cial interests of considerable magni- tude, and when the treaty was renew- ed a reservation was incorporated in it that if either nation became involv- ed in war with the United States the other nation should not be obliged to go to its assistance. That was only partially reassuring, and in view of the other agreements reached at Washington England and Japan con- sented to the abrogation of their treaty. This was in accord—so far as it went—with Mr. Wilson’s efforts to avert war by substituting agn ts among many nations for alliances be- tween two or three, which generally : provoke counter alliances, as the Dreibund and the Triple Entente. But Japan is eyeing Singapore with suspicion, and the Netherlands does , not feel quite easy about its East In- ;dies. We are quite confident that British policies in the Far East will not menace any interest of ours. It is deplorable that President Harding was not spared to see his great achievement of the Washington con- ference completed by the exchange of ‘ratifications. E——————— A t—————— | “Unpleasant to Germany.” From the New York Times. | Former Chancellor Cuno said in the reichstag recently that the British note on the subject of reparations was , “unpleasant to Germany.” | About this there is a certain Teu- tonic innocence. Apparently the Ger- mans thought that Great Britain was under a kind of obligation to make everything easy and delightful for them. So they were naturally disap- pointed and hurt when they found the British government telling them that they must shoulder the heaviest possible financial burdens in order to make good the inexcusable damage which they had wrought in the war, and also advising them to give up their policy of passive resistance in the Ruhr. The German feeling seems to be that the French themselves could not have been more impolite and un- feeling. Germany had been creating a sort of imaginary good friend in England, and now is dismayed to find that it was only a candid friend to convey to her the bitter and unpala- table truth. The fact is that there is no possi- bility of Germany’s finding a “pleas- ant” way out of her difficulties and dangers. Even at home she has got to do many things that go against the grain.: She will have to make many and" disagreeable sacrifices to rescue herself from the currency slough into which her rulers have heedlessly plunged her. Taxes will have to be made higher and, what is more, rig- idly collected. Germans may go on tearfully denying that they were guil- ty of causing the war, but they must submit themselves to punishment just ds if they were. Facing Great Brit- ain and the other allies, the German government will have to take many steps that will be painful to the finer sensibilities. The sooner that this truth, unwelcome but inescapable, is recognized by Germany, the sooner will she be able to escape from her present apprehensions and miseries. Many things in this imperfect world are “unpleasant,” but none the less necessary. One Use for Chuck Holes. From the Altoona Tribune. Perhaps the chuck holes might be retained as places for demonstrators to prove the easy riding qualities of the cars they have to sell. _ ——President Coolidge will also de- liver his messages to Congress in per- son. It's a. wonder Senator Lodge will permit such a tribute to Wilson. SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —Because he compelled his wife to sleep beneath a tree, refusing to allow her to enter the house, Adam Kosopsky, 21 years old, a farmer, of Montgomery county, was sent to prison for thirty days by Magis- trate Rhoades, of Fort Washington. —Jacob Devigilli, aged 70 years, hanged himself on a tree in St. Joseph’s cemetery, on the outskirts of Hazleton early last Friday. According to the police, Devigilli did not succeed on the first attempt, when the rope evidently broke, necessitating the stringing of the rope round a stronger limb. —Bitten by a mosquito August 9th, Har- ry Wiley, 16 years of age, of Dillsburg, Dauphin county, died last Thursday morn- ing at the Harrisburg hospital. It was not the bite that caused his death, but the fact that he scratched it with his finger nails, according to physicians at the hos- pital. —John Witches, a coal miner, of Free- land, Pa., had a remarkable escape from death in the Eckley colliery of the Lehigh Valley Coal company. Working in a steep chamber, he missed his footing and tum- bled to the bottom, a distance of 70 feet. When workers reached him they expected to find him dead, but were much surprised to learn that he was suffering only from slight bruises, and he went back to the job after a short rest. —Driving his automobile through the railing of an overhead bridge near Stav- erstown, Jefferson county, when he at- tempted to get out of the way of a speed- ing machine he met on the bridge, Harry Lentz, of Jersey Shore, plunged almost 100 feet down to the railroad tracks and es- caped, almost miraculously, without inju- ries. His automobile was smashed so bad- ly that a railroad wrecking crew was called out to clear it up. Lentz escaped with a few scratches and one or two slight bruises. —Distribution of young trout planned for late this month by the State. Depart- ment of Fisheries will be halted by the low condition of streams in many parts of the State, resulting from the drought, Commissioner of Fisheries Nathan R. Bul- ler has announced. The commissioner ex- plained that surveys of streams in many counties have shown them much affected by the drought and he declared it will be necessary to delay distribution of the trout until the drought is over when the State will have a plentiful supply. —Mayor Joseph Cauffiel, of Johnstown, who is a candidate for re-election, was held for court on Saturday, in $1000 bond, charged with perjury preferred by George C. Knox. The charge alleges that the Mayor, while testifying in common pleas court in 1918, gave false testimony in con- nection with the transfer of certain shares of the stock of the Cooper-Tungsten com- pany, an Arizona corporation. Cauffiel at that time was trustee for Knox and other stockholders. The amount involved in the transaction, Knox alleged, was $30,000. —Three members of one household in Bloomsburg, all charged with passing worthless checks, were lodged in the Co- lumbia county jail necently. While in jail, one of the trio brought charges of forgery against another. Numerous alleged worth- less checks made their appearance there within a week, and Mrs. Ethel Hess, Wil- bur Deaner and Oscar Dewald, all occu- pants of the same house, were arrested. After their arrest, Mrs. Hess had a war<. rant issued for Deaner on the charge of forging her name to one of the checks. —When night clerk Asaph Beaver, at the Coleman house, Lewistown, decided he wanted to file a long distance call on Sun- day morning, he was astounded when he found both booths, both telephones and both cash retainers inthe booths absent without leave. Mystery surrounds the dis- appearance. Beaver claims he knows noth- ing about it and says he didn’t know they had gone until he endeavored to make his call. Not content with merely cutting the wires and eloping with the telephones, the thieves pocketed the toll deposits and car ried off the wooden stalls in which the ‘phones were housed. —Messengers of life and death almost touched each other in passing through the home of Mrs. Helen Wilkins, of Altoona. Her husband, George W. Wilkins, 37 years of age, was killed in an automobile acci- dent near Cresson, on Friday. Early on Saturday she gave birth to a girl baby. The untimely death of her husband was a terrible shock to her. Physicians are fighting to prevent the death messenger . from paying a return visit. Meanwhile’ Mrs. Mary J. Wilkins, the mother of the dead man, is in a critical condition from the shock, and is not expected to live. She has been an invalid some time, the result of a fractured hip. —With the offering for sale of a church building, which will soon be torn down and moved away, the last structure will be removed from the site of Norwich, Mc- Kean county, a few years ago a town of, 1200 people, with stores, schools, theatre, | churches and many comfortable; dwelling houses. But lumbering operations! being finished in the town a few years ago, it has gradually vanished from the map. The big saw mill was torn down and moved elsewhere, and this was the fate of all the other buildings, St. Mary’s Catholic church being the last to go. It must be disposed of by fall, as the entire town site is now part of a State game preserve. —When Frank Materia, aged 55 years, of Lewistown, withheld consent to marry his 13 year old daughter from Antonio Apostolico, aged 30, the suitor fired three shots into his back. Materia died early Tuesday morning after living more than a day with a bullet embedded in his heart. Apostolico asked Mr. Materia, who is a Burnham merchant, for the hand of his daughter Sunday night, but because of the difference in ages and for other rea- sons he was refused. Enraged, the lover of Tennie Materia, aged 13, fired from be- hind as Materia was standing in the front of his store. An autopsy disclosed that one of the bullets lodged in the heart. He lived until Tuesday morning. —Scott Frazer, of Huntingdon, aged 49 years, was instantly killed about 3:30 o'clock Saturday afternoon when he fell from a Penn Central Light, Heat and Pow- er company pole. He had just come into contact with a high voltage wire and his neck was broken in the fall. Fellow work- men used all the first aid measures at their command, but life was extinct. Frazer was working with a corps of men perfect- ing connections for electric current at the Huntingdon fair grounds. Another work- man had cautioned him as to the danger from the 6,600 volt wire, but he replied that he was not afraid to work so close to it. Just then he threw out his hand, touched it and fell. There was only a slight burn on his wrist when he was picked up. oan EA