an INK SLINGS. —For a man who said he was com- ing over here only to see and hear and not to talk Mr. Lloyd George has said a lot already. —A vote for Claude Herr for Pro- thonotary will be a vote for as clean, capable and courteous a man as has ever held a county office. ——They are issuing marks in five and ten billion denominations in Ger- many now. These notes are probably intended for use in making change for American dollars. —With Centre county annually get- ting deeper in debt don’t you think it is about time that control of the Com- missioner’s office is changed. Let us get a new board in there and see a real statement of the condition of the county. : —Of course everybody knows that Bill Brown has had enough, but that isn’t the real reason that Centre coun- ty should defeat him for sheriff. Dick Taylor should be elected as a public expression of gratitude to all of the boys who were in the service. —DMa Bergdoll is back from Germa- ny with announcement that Grover is coming back to take his medicine. It ought to be a stiff dose, but however it may turn out the chances are ten to one that the draft dodger regards it as a lesser evil than living in Ger- many. -—Col. George Harvey is coming home from the court of St. James. Of course we will probably never know why, so we throw the cloak of charity over the incident by surmising that he voluntarily resigned after demon- strating to the world that a little peg always rattles round in a big hole. —In talking over the defeat of Dick Taylor, four years ago, with a distinguished Republican leader of Centre county, we suggested the thought that there ought to have been something more than mere partisan politics in Dick’s candidacy. We in- sisted that his appeal was to a higher sense of public duty. Our friend ad- mitted that it should have been and offered as apology for the part he had played the explanation that Dick was on the wrong ticket. “Wait,” said he, “four years from now we’ll show the soldiers how their services should be appreciated.” The gentleman had a hand, a very full one, in framing the ticket that his party has'in the field now in Centre county. = This is the time he set, four years ago, when he and his lieutenants would give the soldiers the recognition they deserve ahd what has happened? Aside from one of the minor places there is not a soldier ‘on the boss’ ticket. ’ —We note that Roland S. Morris is again seeking the political limelight in Philadelphia. Roland is disgusted, alarmed and alienated because ‘his party . organization in his home city has been trafficking with the Repub- licans. We sympathize with the gen- tlemen in trouble just as we sympa- thize with and pity all the ladies who are so occupied saving other people’s children that they don’t see their own going to the devil. Roland, a few years ago, was a prominent member of the little coterie that set out to re- form and reorganize the Democratic party in Pennsylvania. They all got jobs as compensation for their ef- forts and the young sister from Phil- adelphia went off to the cherry blos- soms and tea houses of Japan as Am- bassador-—or dress, whichever way you care to put it. His political chil- dren at home, deserted, fell into bad company and now Roland is trying to come back with another reformation and going even so far as to disown his offspring.” The progenitors of reor- ganization having nothing to point to with pride in past performance are evidently now beginning to pass the buck and get ready to grab what fa- vors the coming Democratic Presi- dent may have to grant. —Isn’t it’ awful how the Bellefonte Republican sobs over the political fu- ture of Arthur Dale. It said recently “had he been strong enough to resist temptation, had he proved himself loyal and true to his party, his polit- ical future might have been richly blessed with honors.” Weep, Niobe, weep! Let tears as big as horse- chestnuts course down your cheeks for what poor Arthur Dale has denied himself as a consequence of winning a place on the Democratic ticket that John Love fought to the finish to get for himself.. When the Republican gets all of the sob stuff out of its sys- tem, and wipes the tears away from its eyes so that it will have clear vis- ion we would suggest that it look back over events in its party in Cen- tre county and point to any act of gratitude or appreciation that a Dale might point to and think that there is anything more than “bull” in the rich blessings and honors that it says might have been Arthur's. Every time Clement Dale Esq., Arthurs father, or A. A. Dale Esq., his uncle, or John 8. Dale, his cousin, or any other Dale essayed to be a candidate for anything they were double-crossed and kicked around like the proverbial houn’ dawg. One of the oldest fami- lies in the county, one of the most representative and reputable; the only failing we have ever noted the Dales to have had has been their unyielding Republicanism. Every time one of them has asked for an office he has been shoved aside for some one, pos- sibly less deserving and less capable, always because the Dales were such good Republicans that they'd “go along anyway.” Cheer up, Charley! It’s Revelations not Lamentations the voters want. projects. STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. VOL. 68. Pinchot Denies Interest in Lame | Ducks. Governor Pinchot resents, and ac- cording to inside information, with considerable asperity, the widely pub- lished statements that he and his ad- ministration were repudiated in the results of the recent primary elec- tions. It is true that the Vare ma- chine scored an overwhelming victory in ‘Philadelphia and the Max Leslie road roller ran roughshod over the op- position in Pittsburgh and Allegheny county. It is equally certain that State Treasurer Snyder jumped on the neck of the Governor’s friends in Schuylkill county and that Charlie Johnson wiped up the mud roads of Montgomery county with the follow- ers of the “holier than thou” chief magistrate of Pennsylvania and as- pirant for President. Mr. Pinchot frankly admits the “triumphant march” of Vare, Leslie, Snyder and Johnson, and the complete rout of their opponents. But he pro- tests that he was not concerned in the contests. While in Harrisburg last week he called W. Harry Baker, chair- man of the Republican State commit- tee, and declared to him with much positiveness and some vehemence that he took no part in the primary con- tests in those counties and had little interest in them. “It is true,” he added, “that his name was used to ad- vance the interests of certain candi- dates, and that he wrote a letter of praise to the anti-Johnson leader in Montgomery county,” but otherwise he had no part in the fights or inter- est in the results. Obviously the Governor is trying to “hunt with the hounds and, run with the hare” in the impending con- test for delegates to the next Repub- lican National convention. If his friends, those who used his name to advance their interests and the anti- Johnson leader in Montgomery coun- ty, had won, he would have hailed the result as a personal triumph and com- plete endorsement of his administra- tion. But in view of the opposite is- sue of the contests he “turns tail” on his friends by secretly betraying them’ to their enemdeg in the hope of thus securing favor in his own ambitious It was a scurvy trick and more than likely to fail in its pur- pose. ‘The State chairman is not a novice, "=" = ——In a speech at Erie Governor Pinchot said “we are making public welfare mean the welfare of the pub- lic and not the advantage of a polit- ical machine.” Thus the Governor de- lights in punching his predecessor in the short ribs. Pinchot Completes the Job. In 1907 the General Assembly of Pennsylvania created the Railroad Commission composed of “three com- petent members,” and defined its du- ties and responsibilities. In 1915 this commission was abolished and the Public Service Commission created by the same authority. The number of the commissioners was increased tc seven and the salary increased to $10,000.00 each. In the reorganiza- tion the members of the old commis- sion were continued in office and four additional members appointed. Mar- tin Brumbaugh was Governor at the time and he named two Democrats, John S. Rilling, of Erie, and Michael J. Ryan, of Philadelphia, as minority representatives on the board. When Mr. Ryan’s term expired, he having been a short termer, Governor Sproul named a Republican to succeed him. That left one Democrat, Mr. Rilling, to represent the upward of half a million Democratic voters of the State, in a body which ought to be absolutely non-partisan. The framers of the present constitution contemplated absolute freedom from partisanship in all judicial bodies, and’ the Public Service Commission is at least semi-judicial. But Governor Sproul did his best to make the com- mission partisan. Like Pinchot he was indulging in absurd ambition to be President and wanted all patron- age distributed among Republicans. It may safely be said that he weak- ened the board by his act. Some time ago the term of Mr. Ril- ling expired, which gave Governor Pinchot the opportunity to completely turn the commission into a partisan body. Mr. Rilling has long been rec- ognized as the representative of the people on the commission. His capa- bility as a lawyer and his devotion to the principles: of justice ' influenced him to decisions which at times disap- pointed the corporate interests involv- ed and the party machine always obe- dient and mostly servile to corpora- tions. So Governor Pinchot has nam- ed a Republican to succeed Mr. Rilling and made the commission a purely and not too intelligent partisan polit- ical instrument. Possibly this may help Pinchot. It will not help the people. ———Mr. Jack Dempsey is not likely to worry much about the price of coal. ' He can go south as far as he likes. Let the Statements Tell the Story. The Commissioner’s office is the business office of the tax-payers of Centre county. The Commissioners are the managers for the peo- ple who pay the taxes to keep the county government going. If the management is good the people have reason to be satisfied. If it is careless and wasteful they owe it to themselves to oust the old and se- lect new managers. Without waste of words let us show you here some figures that are mute evidence of the necessity for a change, if we ever hope to have lower taxes and get out of debt. When a Democratic board of Commissioners, Messrs. Noll and Grove, went into office, January 1st, 1912, the county was in debt, in addition to the bond issue of $100,000 for court house improvements, the stupendous amount of $139,505.84. When they went out on Janu- ary 1st, 1920, and turned the office over to the present board the total debt of the county, outside of the bond issue above referred to, was only $45,503.73. In other words a people’s board, that was not under the domina- tion of a political - machine; a board that played no favorites and worked for the best interests of all paid off $94,002.11 of the county debt in eight years. They did it on a 6 mill levy for three years and "only 4 mills for the last five years they were in office. When the present Republican board, Messrs. Austin and Yarnell, took charge, January 1st, 1920, the county debt, outside of the bonds, was $45,503.73. Their last statement published in April of this year shows that the county was in debt they have been able to reduce the then $41,283.65. In three years indebtedness only $4,220.08 or an average of only $1,406.69 per year whereas their predecessors paid off debts at the rate of $7,833.50 every year they were in office. And the present board has operated on a higher valuation and a higher millage for it has levied 6 mills against 4 the former beard levied dur- ing the last five years of its tenure. Some might say the present board has done more in the way of indirect returns to the tax-payers. Let us see about that. The last year there was Democratic control in the Commissioner’s office $9,166.59 were paid for new bridges and bridge repairs. $8,958.- 15 were paid for various public road accounts. While during 1922, the last year we have any record of their expenditures the present ad- ministration spent only $7,114.41 for bridges and $5,003.46 for roads. Where has the money gone? you ask. That is a fair question and we’ll answer it in part by publishing here a few items taken from the County statements of 1920 and 1923. They speak stronger than any words we might use.” They ought ha convince you that a change is needed. ‘ lw BRR NR Si Re ded + hinge A pat Cd MARRS For 1919 For 1922 Assessors were paid.............. $ 7008.13 $10624,21 . Road Viewers were paid........ we. 882.20 1242.90 Upkeep of Court House........... 2513.82 4421.87 Clerks to Commissioners......... . 2355.23 3573.76 Janitors '.......... i... ei ess . 1668.10 1757.47 Commissioners delivering Ballots.. 100.00 201.51 $14527.48 $21821.81 In six comparatively small accounts it cost the county $7294.33 more in 1922 than it did in 1919 when we were in the peak of post war-time inflation. Need we say anything more to you as a tax-payer, than that all of these figures can be verified at sioners. the office of the County Commis- Coolidge Solid for Corporations. The trend of President Coolidge’s mind is revealed in the selection of a successor to George Harvey, as Am- bassador at the Court of St. James. The first tender of the honor was to Elihu Root, of New York, who is easi- ly leading corporation lawyer of the country. Mr. Root, who is upward of eighty years old and has already served as Senator in Congress, Secre- tary of War and Secretary of State, had nothing to gain by acceptance. The office is said to be an expensive luxury but Mr. Root had no need to hesitate on that account. He has abundance to indulge in any extrava- gance which appeals to his fancy or his ambition. After service as Secre- tary of State, . however, Ambassa- dorial honors are stale. a After Mr. Root had politely declin- ed the tender of appointment it is said that the President next turned to Mr. James M. Beck, who has been: bask- ing in the sunshine of favor ever since he left the Democratic party and join- ed the Republican machine. Mr. Beck is now holding down a job in Wash- ington. In fact he has been holding down some sort of a lucrative job in Washington or elsewhere ever since he joined the party. He had the same habit while he was a Democrat. He left the party in 1896, while still in commission as a Democrat because it looked at that time as if the future of the Democratic party was hopeless. After 1912 a life line would likely have brought him back. Mr. Beck’s mind runs along: the same lines as Root’s. He is neither as eminent nor as able as Root but he is a servile corporation tool, and as Amabssador in London he could be a great help to the corporate magnates in this country. Of course this is the principal if not the only reason that his name has been taken under con- sideration for the office. John Pier- pont Morgan would hardly need an agent in London if Mr. Beck were there as Ambassador and corporate interests would be served as efficient- ly by him as Ambassador as they could if he were a paid attorney oc- cupying offices in that capacity. It is clear that President Coolidge intends to take care of the corporations. Who Can Answer This? At the close of 1920 the county owed notes amount- Ing foi... 0000. $ 7161.68 At the close of 1921 the county owed notes amount- 49400.00 At the close of 1922 the county owed notes amount- 63600.00 At the close of 1923 the county will owe notes amounting to...... &p —Just as we expected, the Re- publican bosses of Centre county are launching their fight to keep their grip on the county offices by another attempt to herd the voters under the Presidential coat-tail. Every Repub- lican is to vote straight this fall so that the Democrats can’t carry Cen- tre for President in 1924. What poor, miserable, piffle it is, but it got them several times in the past and they expect it’ to work again. What does it matter if the Democrats do carry Centre for President in 19247? Pennsylvania will go Republican as usual and a victory in Centre county would be as void of results as if no election had been held at all. It’s 1923 the local bosses are working for. They don’t have a thought or a care for 1924. They want to continue some of their pets in office for life and if they can do it by buncoing their party voters they’re going to do it. A ————— A —————————— ——1If you are one of the soldiers who feel under obligation to Bill Brown because you think he recorded your discharge paper for nothing—as many have been led to believe—go up to the Commissioner’s office and you will find that the county paid him for every paper he recorded and you are a taxpayer and paid him your share without knowing it, but Bill did. ——Now that a Philadelphia court has ordered the opening of suspected ballot boxes Harrisburg is the only |G safe haven for fraudulent voters. ————— fr na————— ——Germany is almost persuaded that the world war resulted in defeat. BELLEFONTE, PA., OCTOBER 12. 1923. NO. 40. The Farmer Might Think it Over. From the New York Evening Pest. To the outcries of the . distressed wheat farmer there are two conceiv- able rejoinders. The harsher answer would be to tell the farmer that his present troubles are largely of his own making and that relief must: come largely through his own efforts. Mag- nus Johnson, in an interview printed on this page recently, said of the flush times of three years ago: “It was a period of speculation, and we specu- lated with everybody else.” The far- mer’s plaint against violent and un- just deflation by the federal reserve is the plaint raised by manufactur- ers and merchants two years ago. But in the case of business men the protest did not go beyond the regis- tration of a temporary grouch.: Bus- iness men took their losses and buck- led down to the task of rebuilding, with results apparent in the commer- cial field today. The harsh reply to the farmers would be to go ahead and do likewise. - That, however, would be too harsh an answer. The wheat farmer is in distress, and we must do something more than throw his past sins in his face. But what the farmer should be very definitely told is that he cannot expect relief from the outside until be Bas himself decided what is best or him in the present . emergency. Yesterday, for instance, Gray Sil- ver, representative of the Farm Bu- reau Federation, suggested that the War Finance Corporation should buy or guarantee fo securities to en- able foreign countries, notably Ger- many, to Ie hase our icultural products. But only a few ago in this town Magnus Johnson sniffed at the statement from foreign trade and was willing to let our whole export business go by the board if only we had the right “domestic policies. Where, then, does the western far- mer stand on this question of condi- tions in Europe as affecting his own welfare? For many painful months and from many sources he has been reminded how intimately ‘his own well-being depends on the restoration of order and health in Eurepe. But the farmer has given himself over to the isolation preachers and the en- tanglement shouters. Efforts to re- store to him the foreign market which he needs so badly have been denoune- {ed by him as the : Wall street. He tions, of in for tariff nostrums that have AA raised the prices he has to pay, with- out affecting the prices he receives for his products. The very least one can ask of a man in distress is that he shall have an intelligent understanding of his case. And the simple fact is that the farmer has not been intelligent. Co- operative marketing will help ' him. Freight rates adjustment may help him. But one definite form of relief will come when the farmer rids him- self of that stupid fear of “entangle- ment” with which the politicians have inoculated him and recognizes that everything the United States can do to help Europe promises substantial relief for himself, ———————————— pe e————————— Choosing Diplomatists. From the Philadelphia Record. ‘Senator Pepper some months ago wrote a characteristically candid let- ter to “The Record” in which he told the story of the transfer of Cyrus E. Woods, of Srmhos from the em- bassy at Madrid to Tokyo, to make way for the appointment of Alex P. Moore, the Bull Moose newspaper publisher of Pittsburgh, who had Hi ram Johnson’s backing for the Span- ish Ambassadorship. Although. the two appointments were distinetly Pennsylvania patronage, neither Sen- ator Pepper nor Senator Reed had the slightest knowledge of what was about to happen. This was probably due to a slip-up at the White House or by the State Department, for there was no evidence whatever that the President intended to ignore the Pennsylvania Senators. With the accession of Mr.. Coolidge to the Presidency the resignations of all our chief diplomatic representa- tives automatically were placed in his hands, and with the falling of the au- tumn leaves some of the deserving Republicans who have been designat- ed as Ambassadors and Ministers in foreign parts will soon lose their offi- cial identities. With a number of de- sirable places available, Pennsylvania may be favored again; but if Wash- ington etiquette be set aside again and Senators Pepper and Reed left in the lurch, look out! There will be something doing when confirmation day comes along. No Democrats Wanted. From the Philadelphia Record. The failure of Governor Pincliot to continue John Rilling, of Erie, as one of the Pennsylvania Public Service Commissioners, and the appointment in his place of a Bull Moose Republi- can and an original Pinchot man, hardly squares with the claims of the Governor that he is reforming things at Harrisburg. Mr. Rilling, the only Democrat on the Commission, had the qualifications necessary when first named a mem- ber of the Public Service Commission. His record in the service is an open book, and this, with his years of ex- perience, entitled him to reappoint- ment. But he is a Democrat, and Pinchot is trying to qualify for the . 0. P. nomination for President. ——1Italy hasn't grown in public estimation much since the “strenu- ous” government began functioning. SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —While attempting to kick a small can of: burning gasoline from ‘a frame out- building, ~ the clothing of Mrs. Annie Snavely, aged 44 years, of near Middle- town, caught fire. She was burned so se- riously that she died early on Sunday in a Harrisburg hospital. 2 —One week as a policeman was enough for Harvey Kitch, of Lancaster. He didn’t like the night work. “Just think of it! With all the fun up town Saturday night I was tied up in the Seventh ward,” he said. So he resigned and quit on Monday to work in a wire mill. —Dorothy, 16 month’s old daughter of Adolph A. Dudeck, of Nanticoke, was drowned in the kitchen of her home on Saturday, when she fell into a tub of wa- ter. The mother had been out of the kitchen, ‘and upon returning she found the little one beneath the water. —Franklin and Marshall College alumni on Sunday uniquely honored Dr. George Fullmer Mull, who has occupied the chair of Latin for forty years, when Judge William H. Keller, of the State Superior court, Dr. Charles P. Stahr, and Prof. J. Nevin Schaeffer presented him with a gold watch and a purse of money. : —Harry, 15 year old son of John Krum- bine, of Northumberland county, is be- lieved to be recovering, after having been in a serious: condition, as a result of be- ing kicked in the abdomen while playing football. Several weeks ago he was run down by an automobile and was uncon- scious for 48 hours. Four years ago he fell under a street car and lest in arm. —Christmas trees from the lew Eng- land States cannot be shipped into Penn- sylvania under a quarantine notice issued last week by the State Department of Ag- riculture, which became effective Monday. The quarantine was announced to prevent the spread of the gypsy moth and follows similar action taken by New York and New Jersey, it was said at the department. —Men accepted for jury service in the Lebanon county courts in the future are not to chew tobacco, the use of which was discouraged last week by Judge Heary, president judge of the court, in an ad- dress from the bench. The court said the practice of chewing tobacco by male mem- bers of the jury was detestable to the women who are chosen to sit with them, and should be discontinued at once. —The Sunbury Health board has decid- ed that cockroaches are not subject to State laws and, therefore, cannot be chas- ed out of a house by a representative of that organization. According to health of- ficer Koble appeals were made to him to force landlords to do battle with roaches or to kill them. After looking up the law the board decided that it would be tres- passing to enter a man’s property for this purpose, —Superintendents of : State-owned insti- tutions have been notified that no new em- ployees are to be engaged where known to be antagonistic toward the present admin- istration, Dr. Ellen C. Potter, secretary of . the Department of Welfare, which has su- pervisory power over the institutions, said on Monday. In a letter sent institution heads, Dr. Potter said that any new em- pleyees unfriendly toward the administra- tion are to. be dismissed immediately. _ i——Alterations under way at the Lock “EHaven hosiptal ‘will cost. $50000, which amount has been provided by friends of the institution. The kitchen and dining room will be removed from the first to the third floor to provide room for a receiv- ing ward, an X-ray department, steriliz- ing room and operating room. Twenty- five more beds will be installed, making the total 100. There will be 16 beds for children, an increase of 12; and a nursery. —Bears, swooping down out of the Pot- ter county forests, stole several hundred pounds of honey from eighteen hives in theapiary of Almeron Lyman, forester, hunter, trapper and bee-keeper, of that lo- cality. The honey: was all ready to be harvested and Mr. Lyman had planned to lift the bee fruit the day after the night the bear paid their visit. Anticipating trou- ble, Mr. Lyman had scattered heavy steel traps among his bee colonies, but the foxy bruins had avoided all of them, although one trap was sprung without catching its intended victim. —Dr. Hugh Hamilton, a leading physi- cian of Central Pennsylvania, historian and author, died at his home in Harris- burg on Sunday morning after a brief jll- ness. In addition to being president of various district medical associations, he was at one time vice president of the State Medical society and a frequent contribu- tor to medical journals. He was a former president of the State Federation of His- torical societies, and like his father, A. Boyd Hamilton, the late publisher, wrote on varied historical subjects. Dr. Hamil- ton was 76 years old. : —William Bradford the new manager of the Williamsport office of the Bell Tel- ephone company has assumed charge. Prior to going to Chambersburg Mr. Bradford was connected with the Harris- burg office. During the world war he served in the 406th Telephore Battalion which was recruited entirely from Bell . Telephone employees. William 8S. Malla- lieu, who has been in charge of the office in Williamsport since leaving Bellefonte several years ago, has been placed in charge of the directory advertising work in the entire Williamsport district office under district manager K. C. Raupp. —George Beamesderfer of Schaeffers- town, Lebanon county, has filed a petition in court to have his son, Raymond Beam- esderfer, declared legally dead so that he can take out letters of administration on the estate of his widow, the boy's mother, who died on September 26th, 1922. The petitioner says young Beamesderfer was last heard from on May 18th, 1907 when, in a letter to his parents from Benson, Arizona, he expressed the desire to go to California. Since then no word has been - heard from him although frequent in- quiries have been made in Benson and Los Angeles. The court has fixed Monday, November 26th, as the time for hearing the petition. —John H. Conway, formér chief of po- lice of Malvern, pleaded guilty to second- degmee murder for the fatal shooting of William Mitchell, 13 vears old, a colored school boy, on April 19th. The court re- fused to listen to a plea made by Conway and sentenced him immediately to a term of from eight to sixteen years at hard la- bor in the eastern penitentiary. It was al- leged Conway was intoxicated and shot the boy deliberately while the latter was going to a railroad station to meet his mother, and afterward endeavored to shoot his brother Harvey, who accompanied him. He was also charged with attempting the life of Coropral Lewis, of the state police, who arrested him.