Beworaic iatdan.
re INK SLINGS.
; —Vote for Stover and Condo for
Auditors.
" —Any way, no one can say that a
change in all the county offices could
do the county any harm. :
—Forest Ocker surely would make
a splendid Register. No cleaner, more
competent man could be found for
that office.
——Weather prophets are predict-
ing a cold winter, but weather proph-
esies like dreams frequently go by
contraries.
—Democrats, go out and vote next
Tuesday. Thousands of Republicans
are going to help us bring about a
change. Do your part and they’ll do
theirs.
—There must be a lot of glory or a
lot of pickins in being a councilman
in Milesburg. They have thirteen
candidates in the race for that office
down there.
—Next Tuesday will determine
whether Centre county is to be gov-
erned by the people or continue to be
misgoverned by a little clique that
calls itself the Republican party.
—Rather than betray his country
Dick Taylor said: “Shoot” when the
Germans stood him up against the
wall and tried to wrest military se-
crets from him. What are you going
to say to Dick next Tuesday? :
—The tide is running strong for
Lyman Smith for Treasurer. From
all parts of the county we hear re-
ports that Republicans who are not
pleased with Pinchot are not going to
support Heverly because he is a Pin-
chot candidate.
—Remember this. If the Centre
county court house is to be cleaned
out it will be possible only if every
Democrat gets to the polls. There
are a lot of Republicans eager to do
their share, but they can’t do it alone.
Every Democratic vote will be needed.
—If Lyman Smith isn’t the next
Treasurer of Centre county it won’t
be the fault of the Republicans.
Hordes of them are for him and they
are expecting the Democrats of
Pennsvalley to get out to the polls to
the last man and woman to cinch his
victory.
Lyman L. Smith made a record
for honesty and fair dealing when he
sold hay and grain to Bellefonte deal-
ers. He also made friends at that time
who will support him now, irrespect-
ive of politics. Isn’t that a good rea-
son why he should be elected County
Treasurer?
—We have told you all we know
about the candidates we have been
urging you to vote for. If we had
told you all.-we know and what the
organs of the Republican party really
know about some of the candidates
they are beseeching you to vote for
there would be nothing to the contest
next Tuesday.
—For several errors—not sins—of
omission and commission last week
we have been called to account by sev-
eral friends who enjoy ridin’ a fel-
low when he pulls a boner. There's
a lot of satisfaction in having people
come in and put it all over you when
you slip up. You know, “nobody both-
ers to ride a dead one.”
—Having failed in his efforts to
draw President Coolidge into a con-
troversy over the enforcement. act
Governor Pinchot has turned his pea-
shooter on Andy Mellon and Andy
may not say much now, but when he
and Reed and Pepper get busy on the
Pennsylvania delegation to the next
National convention Gif. will get the
answer he doesn’t want.
—Since the Republican thinks the
Jocal fight in Centre county has so
much to do with the next Presiden-
tial election we would like to ask it
where it stands. Is it for Coolidge or
is it for Pinchot? It must be for Pin-
chot, since it is supporting Heverly
for County Treasurer. He defeated
Gehret and Burket for the nomination
because they divided the organization
forces so that Heverly’s Pinchot back-
ing slipped him through. If Heverly
is elected Pinchot will be strengthen-
ed just that much in his fight to get
Pennsylvania away from Coolidge and
the Republican will have played its
part in the game.
—Don’t be worried about Centre
county electing the President of the
United States next year nor who will
be chosen President Judge of the
county two years from now. The Re-
publican would have you believe those
offices are involved in this campaign.
They are bridges we’ll cross when we
come to them. Centre county will
have about as much to do with elect-
ing the next President of the United
States as we will have with the set-
tlement of the troubles in the Bal-
kans. As to the next Judge, unless
present signs fail utterly, that will
not be an old party fight. It will be
a clean cut “wet” and “dry” fight.
Mark the prediction. The Republi-
cans will nominate Quigley, or Keller
or, possibly, Fleming, though the lat-
ter is not a candidate now. The Dem-
ocrats might nominate Spangler, or
Zerby or Johnston, the latter being
the only one of the three who is even
a receptive candidate. No matter
what the line-up, however, nor the
relative fitness of the men, nor their
party affiliations it is going to be a
fight for either an out and out “wet”
or “dry” judge in Centre county. The
drys will support no candidate with a
“pussy-footin’” or “trust me” plank
in his platform and the wets are going
to say “them’s my sentiments too.”
Next Tuesday’s results will have no
bearing whatever on the contest of
1925.
VOL. 68.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
BELLEFONTE, PA.,, NOVEMBER 2.
Republicans Reverse Themselves.
The changed attitude of the admin-
istration in relation to foreign affairs
is ascribed to recent activity of the
German-American vote. It will be re-
called that during the period of Presi-
dent Harding’s occupancy of the
White House “isolation” was the
loudly and frequently proclaimed pol-
icy. During the campaign three years
ago not only the candidate but most
of the party leaders declared that
this country should and would refrain
from any part in the adjustment of
conditions abroad. Just ‘before his
death Mr, Harding proposed to join
the world court, but the suggestion
was net only opposed but resented by
Senator Lodge and most of his asso-
ciates in the management of the
party.
But there has come over these lead-
ers within a brief time a great change
in their attitude on this question.
Even after the ratification of the
League of Nations had been defeated,
and there was no likelihood of a re-
versal of judgment on the subject, the
bitter-enders reiterated their opposi-
tion. The invitation to participate in
the deliberations of the reparations
commission was rejected with much
greater firmness than politeness. But
a change has come over them. The
time for a Presidential election is
coming on and the necessity for
strengthening political lines is ap-
pearing. For this reason a recent in-
vitation to participate in the work of
the reparations commission has been
eagerly accepted.
Now it appears that the reason for
this startlingly sudden change of at-
titude is traceable to the German-
American voters. The prejudice of
that element in the electorate three
years ago had considerable to do with
the election of Harding. They now
threaten that unless the administra-
tion turns about, and by interposition
on the reparations commission saves
the Fatherland, they will themselves
turn around and vote against the par-
ty which deceived them, at the com-
ing election. That sort of talk ap-
peals directly to the heart of the mer-
cenary politicians who dominate the
Republican” party, and we see them
now rustling to do what they prev-
iously declared they would never do.
——The radical Senators in Con-
gress threaten to vote against the
confirmation of ex-Senator Kellogg,
of Minnesota, for Ambassador to
Great Britain. What they say about
Kellogg may be true, but in any event
he will be an improvement on George
Harvey.
Pinchot Accuses Mr. Mellon.
Governor Pinchot’s open letter to
Secretary of the Treasury Andy Mel-
lon, is timely and to the point. He di-
rectly charges Mr. Mellon with re-
sponsibility for “the breakdown of
federal prohibition enforcement in
Pennsylvania,” and practically proves
the accusation. He states that the
people are being affronted by open de-
fiance of the law, and that the evil is
ascribable to Mr. Mellon. “You, as
Secretary of the Treasury,” he writes,
“have the power to cut this flood off
at the source by revoking these per-
mits and by refusing to issue others,
except upon conditions sufficient, with
honest enforcement, to make viola-
tions substantially impossible.”
There is no disputing the facts thus
stated. Everybody knows that any-
body who has “political pull” with the
Republican machine can get permits
to withdraw whiskey or other intox-
icating beverages from bonded ware-
houses anywhere in the country, and
that the bootleggers who handle the
“real stuff” get their supplies in that
way. The issue of permits during the
period in which former State Senator
William C. McConnell was prohibition
director developed a scandal which is
still pending in the Federal District
court. His successor in office did lit-
tle better, for favorites of the Repub-
lican leaders were able to get permits
whenever they wanted them and the
bootleggers always wanted.
But we are not so certain of the sin-
cerity of the Governor in laying com-
plaint against Secretary Mellon. In
other words, we are not entirely per-
suaded that the Governor’s purpose in
arraigning the Secretary is to pro-
mote the causé of prohibition or ad-
vance the work of enforcement. The
Secretary has indicated a disposition
to oppose the aspirations of the Gov-
ernor and the Governor would like
very well to discredit the Secretary
in the minds of a majority of the Re-
publican voters. According to tradi-
tion the cry of “mad dog” has a po-
tent influence on the public mind in
its estimate of the value of the dog.
The pious Giff. is not above “ways
that are dark and tricks that are
vain.”
——Senator Frelinghuysen, of New
Jersey, who was defeated for re-elec-
tion last year, wants the nomination
again this year, and we hope his par-
ty will gratify him. He is the easiest
man in the State to beat.
Now for the Verdict.
Next Tuesday the tax payers of Centre county, men and women
alike, must decide what they are going to do about the management
of their county’s business.
The register at the polls will be final as to whether they are con-
.tent to let things drift on as they have been or whether they want a
change in the offices at the court house.
Certainly there can be no doubt in the mind of the man or woman
who pays the taxes that a change is desirable.
Since 1919 county expenditures have jumped out of all propor-
tion to the increased expenditures necessitated by state legislation
during the period.
When the present Board of Commissioners took charge nearly
four years years ago the county debt was down to $45,503.73 and there
wasn’t a note of the county outstanding.
Today the debt is very little, if any, less than it was four years
ago and there are at least $63,600.00 of unpaid notes outstanding. In
all probability this amount is much greater, but we have no way of
ascertaining what it is today so have to go back to the Auditor’s state-
ment and show only what it was January 1st, 1923.
The tax rate has been advanced two mills during the past three
years and valuations increased $1,775,750 so that the present Board
has had $58,330.75 more cash to work on each year than their pred-
ecessors had, yet with all this extra money they have been unable to
make things go without piling up notes upon notes on which the tax
payer must pay the interest.
It seems incredible but it is easily explained when the Auditor's
statements are referred to and an analysis of where the money is going
is made.
Glance over this comparative statement and you will see at once
the difference betwen lavish and prudent management of your busi-
ness.
Dem. Board Rep. Board Republican
1917-19 1920-22 INCREASE
Amounts paid to Assessors...$17,204.38 $24,222.64 $7,018.26
Amounts paid to Clerks..... 6,259.73 11,029.02 5,769.29
Amounts paid to Janitors.... 4,412.66 5,915.69 1,503.23
Paid Comr’s delivering ballots 310.27 560.55 250.28
Amt. paid County Solicitors.. 1,200.00 1,800.00 600.00
Millage rate .............. 4 Mills 6 Mills 2 Mills
Outstanding notes .......... . 00,000.00 63,600.00 63,600.00
Assessed Valuation ..... $14,597,990 $16,373,740 $1,775,750
Income on valuation ......... 58,391.99 98,242.40 39,850.41
Total receipts all sources..... 225,613.63 410,594.65 184,981.02
Com. costs: Justices, wit- 1919 1920
nesses, '6tC.,.. . J. eaves 2081 a . $5,354.98 $2,673.16
“ Court House supplies ov. 772) Sn 4 221.97 1,908.15
Miscellaneous accounts ..... 1,824.39 2,775.32 950.93
Sundries ........i. ave. 1,259.25
Widows’ Pension fund ...... 1,316.25
Why should this be so? you will ask!
It is so because the entire
court house is in control of a machine that is using your money to keep
its members in office.
There are wheels within wheels and every cog
must be greasd with your money to keep the machine working to keep
itself in control.
Extravagance is winked at because no officer has
had the courage to stand up for the tax payer. All contribute their
part to the orgie of wastefulress or decline to object to it for fear of
what will happen to their future ambitions to secure the machine
favor.
Assessors have been paid grossly disproportionate sums for work
almost identical. The Commissioners gave up $1677.00 of your money
for assessing Bellefonte and $762.00, less than half as much for as-
sessing Philipsburg; there being a difference of only 96 perons in the
populations of the twc towns.
charges of manipulation.
And in this department there are
We don’t know how well grounded, but
some assesors claim that they were notfied not to make return of their
1922 assessments until January 2nd, 1923, too late to get the return
into the last statement, whereas always before the return date was not
later than December 31st.
We have presented nothing but facts during this campaign. We
have appealed to your business sense rather than partisanship for the
reason that there are no party principles involved in the choice of men
for county office. Politicians might try to make you believe that there
are, but they only do so to coerce you into voting to keep their men in
office and so keep furnishing the grease for their machine.
We need a change.
All will admit that conditions couldn’t be
much worse. We urge you to make them better by cleaning out the
entire court house next Tuesday.
Let your verdict be an overwhelming one for Taylor, for Smith,
for Ocker, for Hoy, for Dale, for Herr, for Swabb, for Spearly, for
Stover, for Condo, for Jones, for Shattuck.
Lyman L. Smith for County Treasurer
In presenting Lyman L. Smith, of
Centre Hall, to the voters of Centre
county for the office of County Treas-
urer the “Watchman” unhesitatingly
endorses him as a man worthy of the
confidence of every man and woman,
irrespective of party allegiance. As
one Republican statéd in this office,
his word is absolutely trustworthy.
Mr. Smith was born in Centre Hall
and that has been his home all his
life. His father died when he was
four years old and as a boy he worked
on a farm during the summer and
went to school in the winter. As he
grew older he learned the carpenter
trade and attended the Centre Hall
High school. With advancing years
he became more ambitious and em-
barked in the coal and grain busi-
ness, also buying and selling hay and
straw on commission. Later he became
a salesman for the International Har-
vester company and seven years ago
engaged in the automobile business.
From a barefooted boy working on a
farm with a hoe he has developed in-
to one of the most substantial busi-
ness men of Centre Hall, all through
his own exertion and perseverance.
Mr. Smith has been a tax-payer for
thirty-two years and this is the first
time he has come before the people
of the county for an office. Consider-
ing his eminent fitness for the place
the voters of the county will be con-
serving their own interests by elect-
ing him.
Thousands of marked ballots
are being sent out from Republican
headquarters this week to voters all
over the county with the urgent re-
quest to vote the straight ticket.
That is the customary eleventh hour
proceeding, but it will hardly bear
fruit this year. Every intelligent
man and woman in the county can
understand what they read and facts
and figures cannot be smothered in an
appeal to party loyalty. - The people
want a change and this is the year to
make it.
——General Wood’s administration
of the government of the Philippines
has made many a heart glad that he
wasn’t elected President of the Unit-
ed States.
Andy Mellon is celebrated for
taciturnity, but Pinchot having smok-
ed him out is likely to find that he
has a sharp tongue as well as a long
purse.
———————
———Dr. Steinmetz died poor, ac-
cording to the appraisement of his es-
tate, but many ‘a millionaire would ex-
change inheritances : with his heirs.
——————— A ———n. . )
——Even advice which .is offered
too freely is of little value.
wl
1923.
the assistance of those three
NO. 43.
France’s Friends.
From the Philadelphia Record.
It was a peculiarly foolish thing
for General Dumont, French officer, to
conclude his remarks in St. Louis with
the exclamation, “May the Lord pro-
tect us from our friends!” The next
day Mr. Lloyd George said he never
heard a Frenchman offer that prayer
between 1914 and 1918. And from
that scathing retort he launched into
one of the greatest bursts of his im-
passioned oratory in reply to the
speech of the Frenchman.
General Dumont had reference spe-
cifically to Mr. Lloyd George, who
was to speak in St. Louis the follow-
ing day, but he also included Great
Britain, which has never concealed its
disapproval of the French occupation
of the Ruhr. Frenchmen say that
nothing but such action as the inva-
sion of the Ruhr would have forced
Germany to pay. Well, Germany has
not paid yet. The occupation of the
Ruhr has not afforded the desired re-
sult, but it has for months endanger-
ed the prosperity and even the peace.
of Europe.
If England had not been the friend
of France in 1914 the campaign of
1870 would have been repeated. And
of all Englishmen there is not one,
military or civil, who did so much to
arouse England to its utmost exer-
tion as Lloyd George. If Italy had
not assured France at the beginning
of the war that it need not guard the
Italian frontier, and in 1915 attack-
ed Austria-Hungary, it is doubtful if
France could have been saved. And
if the United States had not entered
the war when Nivelle was defeated,
the French army was mutinous and
the “defeatists” had pretty thorough-
ly undermined French national senti-
ment, England would have been driv-
en to the Channel, France would have
been overrun, apd the annexations de-
manded by the German Six Associa-
tions late in the war would have been
effected.
England, Italy and the United
States, the saviors of France in the
war, are the friends protection from
whom General Dumont prays. Eng-
land has never concealed its disappro-
val of the Ruhr action; Secretary
Hughes has urged an investigation of
Germany’s ability to pay, which
France flouts, and Italy has given no
support to the invasion of the Ruhr.
France was thankful enough to get
as.
during the war, but in endang
the peace which they did so much t
win France is perfectly willing to act
alone. General Dumont voiced the
feeling of his country when he begged
the Lord to deliver France from its
friends—after Germany had been dis-
abled.
In the collection of the reparation
it was vitally important that the Al-
lies should act together; that one of
them should not take action apart
from the others. Under the terms of
the peace treaty the right to use force
to collect belongs to no one nation,
but to the Allies collectively. And
the first step toward the collection of
the indemnity should be the ascertain-
ment of what Germany can pay with-
in a reasonable time. France acts
alone, and refuses to entertain the
idea of an examination into Germa-
ny’s ability to pay. The next time
France is in dire distress it is not like-
ly that its friends will embarrass it.
Federal Control of Wheat.
From the Chicago Tribune.
Projects for government purchase
of wheat seem to us a product of hys-
teria. They mean that the wheat
grower shall be secured against loss
by the rest of the nation. If wheat
is bought by the government at a
higher price than it can be sold, the
tax payers of the country will have
to make up the difference. One of the
results of that would be interesting
even to farmers. We mean that the
diversified farmer, the dairy farmer,
the stock farmer, would be taxed to
pay the farmer who elects to raise
wheat only. That is a form of gov-
ernment aid that will not appeal even
to farmers. 2
And where after alli would it lead
us? The price of hogs, another farm
product, has fallen some $3 in the last
year. How about a government pur-
chase of hogs to sustain a given
price? Commodities fluctuate, some-
times, as in 1921, disastrously. How
far are we to rely upon government
aid to protect the producer, and who
must really pay in the end? This is
a method of liftihg ourselves by our
bootstraps.
One consequence of tinkering with
government aid is that it is likely to
fix a bad situation instead of remov-
ing it. If the government undertakes
to sustain the price of wheat at a lev-
el which assures a profit to the grow-
er, he will not attempt to adjust him-
self to the economic situation but he
will go on raising wheat. That would
happen in any similar case, and as
other interests won special support
we should presently have an econom-
ic chaos supported by artificial means
until the whole structure came down
in inevitable ruin.
——A New York broker convicted
of dishonesty has been sentenced to
five years in prison or five years in
Germany, and strangely enough he
has indicated a preference for Ger-
many.
tm ——— A pin,
——Some scientific investigator
has discovered that the dashund didn’t
originate in Germany, which removes
one cause of complaint against the
Fatherland. :
‘est in the show.
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—As a result of building activities this
year, housing facilities have been provid-
ed for 300 additional families in Altoona.
—In recognition of 25 years of service
on Mrs. Mary A. McMurtries’ farm in Su-
garloaf valley, Harvey Duncan received a
bequest of $2000 under her will.
—Thomas Tanner, watchman and signal-
man. at Wiggan’s Station, a Shenandoah
suburb, was found dead at his post when
he failed to signal a passenger train.
—Coming in contact with a high-tension
wire, John Thomas, an electrician employ-
ed by the York Haven Water and Power
company, was burned severely and is in a
critical condition at the York hospital.
—A record crop of apples, estimated at
more than 20,000 bushels, is being picked
at the Altar Run orchards at Bald Eagle.
A large force of workmen is engaged in
taking the fruit from the trees and plac-
ing it in storage. The peach orchards
also yielded a large crop this year.
—Seven prisoners awaiting trial escaped
from the Erie county jail early Sunday
morning by sawing two bars from a cell
window on the fifth floor and sliding to
the ground by means of knotted blankets.
Three other prisoners, one being held up-
on a murder charge, remained in the jail
and reported the escape.
—Every day for forty years Mrs. Mary
Cummings, of Hollidaysburg, visited St.
Mary's Catholic church to worship alone
early in the morning. Members of the
congregation entering the church for ear-
ly mass on Sunday morning found her
body lying in the aisle. She had been
stricken with heart failure.
—Miss Claudia B. Aurand, postmistress
of Beaver Springs, last week tendered her
resignation effective November 1st, after
serving nearly two years. At the time of
her appointment, it is claimed, she was
the youngest of her sex to be put in
charge of a postoffice in Pennsylvania, and
probably in the United States.
—The congregation of the Church of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Allentown, on
Sunday evening surprised its rector,
Monsignor Peter Masson, by presenting
him with a purse of $1,000 to pay the ex-
penses of a trip to his old home in Bel-
gium. It will be the first vacation Mon-
signor Masson has had in fifteen years.
—A family of foxes, three in number,
have become quite friendly with Mike On-
ynskow, a farmer living near Meadville,
While the cubs play with Mike's dog in
the rear of the farm house, the mother:
visits the hen-house., And now Mike
knows why the foxes are so friendly.
More than 100 chickens have disappeared.
—Discovery of a case of leprosy in Phil-
adelphia is interesting State Health offi-
cials because it is the first to come to
light in years. One of the leper cases
which attracted much attention was that
in Dauphin county some fifteen years ago.
The city of Philadelphia will take charge
of the case and the State make observa-
tions.
—“Did you have your arm around me?”
asked Mrs. Lucy Barrett, of her escort, in
a moving picture show at Sunbury on Fri-
day night. When he declared he did not,
she replied: “Well, some one did.” When
she left the theatre she found that her
purse, containing $45, carried in her bo-
som, had been taken by a person who took
advantage of the darkness and her inter-
EE +
—From the wife of a $200 a month car
inspector to a fortune of more than $100,-
000 was the advance Thanksgiving gift re-
ceived by Mrs. John D. Heim, of Sunbury,
on Saturday. The will of her uncle, James
A. Muthersbaugh, who died in Lewistown,
bequeaths to her $7.,000, the home she
lives in and part of the residue. Heim de-
clares that it makes no difference in his
young life, and has indicated that he will
not quit his job.
—Weekly radio information is to be giv-
en Pennsylvania sportsmen under arrange-
ments which have just been concluded,
Seth Gordon, secretary of the game com-
mission, announced last Friday. The
broadcasting is to be done each Monday
evening at 7:30 o'clock on the state police
radio. The service will include interpre-
tations of the game laws and game condi-
tions in each section of the State, besides
other news of interest to hunters.
—When he went to sleep with a lighted
cigarette in his mouth, Henry Mann, of
Ambridge, Pa., caused a sensation. The
cigarette slipped from his mouth down in-
to a leg of his trousers. A neighbor tried
to turn in a fire alarm, but the alarm box
wouldn't work. Finally patrolman Whit-
more arrived with a chemical extinguish-
er and found Mann doing a Highland
fling. Whitmore extinguished the trous-
ers. After that Mann needed a barrel.
—~Clemens Harberger, aged 54 years, a
sawmill operator and lumber manufactur-
er, of St. Marys, met with almost instant
death when he was buried under an ava-
lanche of timber that toppled over upon
him. Preparatory to closing his mill, Mr.
Harberger, with a crew of men, was in-
specting the stock. He stood beside a pile
of hardwood fourteen feet high and six
feet wide when it toppled over upon him.
Several other members of the party had
narrow escapes. Harberger was rescued
from under the timber within five minutes,
but his neck was broken and he died with-
in a half hour.
—Two masked bandits last Friday after-
noon held up -F. E. Pratt, superintendent
of the Dexcar coal mines near Ashville,
Cambria county, and robbed him of the
mine payroll of $6,200. They then forced
Pratt and his wife to leave their motor
car and escaped in it, but abandoned it a
mile away and took to the woods. State
polide are searching for them. The rob-
bery occurred on a lonely road leading
from Ashville to the mines, which are
owned by Dexecar and Carpenter, of New
York. Pratt did not see the men until
they jumped on the running board and
forced him to stop, threatening him with
a pistol. The money, which had been ob-
tained in Altoona, was in pay envelopes
ready for distribution to the miners.
—Rev. W. H. Roosevell, of Millerstown,
Juniata county, has instituted a suit in
the Huntingdon county Court of Common
Pleas against the Mount Hope Baptist
church of Mount Union, through his at-
torney, H. H. Waite, for a balance which
he claims is: due him while serving that
pastorate. Rev. Roosevell served the con-
gregation for two and one-half years and
was to receive $75 per month, which he
states was paid regularly until January
17th, 1921, when the salary ceased. He
severed his relations with the church July
15th, 1922, and claims $1,350, less $700
which was paid since he left, leaving a
balance due him of $650 with interest.
The Mount Hope Baptist church is a col-
ored church, with a good sized congrega-
tion.