Broaifitip. ANS LSM, INK SLINGS. —Just five years ago the old Cen- tral R. R. of Pa., was singing its swan song. —Today is the shortest one of 1923. And as the days lengthen the cold is supposed to strengthen. —Don’t be an eleventh hour shop- per. Do it now and get something more than the left-overs. —The outlook is good for a green Christmas. Let us hope that it will not mean a fat grave yard. —Don’t give anything that you can’t afford to give. It is the spirit, not the intrinsic value of the gift that counts. —1It is only natural to suppose that Harry Wilson doesn’t think Walter Camp knows half as much about what goes to make an all American foot- baller as Joe Bedenk does. —Don’t accuse your mail man of falling down on his job if you don’t receive a copy of the “Watchman” next week. We're going to take the week off and give you a rest as well as ourselves. ——1In defense of the man who kill- ed an officer in the Ku Klux Klan in Atlanta, Georgia, the claim of insan- ity has been set up. He must have been crazy. The proper punishment of Ku Klux officials is a swift kick. ——Mr. Coolidge having carried South Dakota at the primary elec- tion, Senator Johnson declares he will file in the independent column. As has been frequently remarked, “straws show how the wind is blow- ing.” —We note that turkeys have drop- ped somewhat in price, but not enough to come within our grasp. We have become so accustomed to turkeyless Christmases that a matter of a few cents decline in the price per pound interests us not at all. —May the spirit of peace on earth and good will to men so fill your hearts and minds as to make this the happiest Christmas you have ever known. Forget that there is selfish- ness. Remember, only, that there is sorrow and want in the world and do your part, however small, to alleviate them both. —The Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, has told Soviet Russia that the only way to recognition by the United States is for it to restore American prosperity and abandon its propaganda to overthrow our govern- ment. As long as the Secretary will stick to those sane and very vital con- ditions we'll use our influence to keep him right where he is, no matter who becomes the next President. —Of course we have no desire to be drawn into the controversy that is likely to become rather sensational between the modernists and funda- mentalist factions of the Protestant Episcopal church, but we waive conse- quences far enough to state that when eminent men of the cloth encourage the lay mind to marvel at these things they are shattering faith and boring from within at the foundation of christian citizenship. These Ingersols of the pulpit are more dangerous than the Lenines of Russia and the sooner they are all unfrocked the better it will be for the world. —This is the time of year when the fool killer ought to be working over- time on the joy killers who try to make the little folks believe that there isn’t a Santa Claus. Take the fairies, Santa, and the various imaginary be- ings out of the child life and there is nothing left but the drab realities of the years that come all too soon to all of us. Ever has the moment that we found out been harbored in our mind as one of the most distressing we have experienced and always there has welled up in us gratitude for the two who encouraged us to dream of the “miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.” cE hr) —The fellow who told us to “cheer up, the worst is yet to come,” said a mouthful. After devoting nearly half a column last week to falling down in hero worship before Samuel McWil- liams Hess because we thought it was he who sent us the fine roast of veni- son and the rasher of bear meat we find that it wasn’t Sam at all. We're not going to recall any of the grand things we said about Sam, except that stuff about being a mighty hunter. He didn’t get a deer. It was his un- cle John Hess, who comes down from Altoona every season to join the Mo- docs and put his mark on a buck for them to hang up. He shot a dandy last year and repeated this, so its John, not Sam, that we've got up on the pedestal we spent so much time in building last week. —To the lady who wrote to know what a real cook put her pie dough in the refrigerator for we might say | something nasty, but we're not going | to. She isn’t a cook herself or she'd know that pie dough is always much more flaky if left standing in a very | Georgia, for example, from about ; cool place at least twenty-four hours before using. Even we know that much, if we don’t know the difference between pie dough and cold mashed potatoes. Experts in every line make bulls occasionally. It was not so long ago that the mind of man runneth not to the contrary that Dr. Waters, then the last word in dairy products at The . Pennsylvania State College, and later dean of the school of Agriculture at the University of Missouri, at Colum- bia, gave the blue ribbon to a print of oleomargarine, that our old friend A. J. Palm, of Erie, stuck in among the exhibits of dairy butter at the Penn- sylvania dairy show. GC go CHLICT ao STATE RIGHTS AN D FEDERAL UNION. VOL. 68. BELLEFONTE Gifford’s Funny Stunts. Gifford Pinchot amusing Governor. stitution of the State “the supreme executive power” is invested in the Governor and he is required “to take care that the laws are faithfully exe- cuted.” Yet it may be doubted if he has ever read that instrument. At any rate it is certain that he has nev- er understood any of its provisions. Two months before he was inaugurat- is certainly an ed he began functioning, and in near- ly everything he did he violated one or more of the provisions of the con- stitution. In the administrative code half a dozen fundamentals were tram- pled under foot. But that was his pet measure, and as Tim Campbell said to President Cleveland, “what’s the constitution between friends.” Recent developments show, more- over, that he has as little respect for the Acts of Assembly as for the or- ganic law. One of the provisions of the administrative code vests in the Superintendent of Public Instruction the authority to appoint or remove the State Librarian. The other day the Governor, in one of his abera- tions, discharged the State Librarian and appointed his successor. After- ward it was discovered that he had no autherity to take such action. The result is that there are now two State Librarians, one of each sex. Proba- bly he wants to introduce the “co-ed” system in the bureau. he has gotten things seriously mixed up and if Dr. Becht declines to help him out he is in a muddle. The trouble with Pinchot is that ambition has driven him mad. Ever since his wife inherited an immense fortune he has been obsessed with a lust for office. His first attempt in the field of politics was for the Sen- ate, when he ran against Penrose and was badly beaten. He had previous- ly held a subordinate position in the federal Department of Forestry and was content with that. But he only enjoyed his own inheritance of two or three millions then. When five or ten millions came to his wife, however, he began to see visions of power and bought the nomination for Governor by an unheard-of expenditure of mon- ey. Now he imagines he may be President and has gone “daffy” over it. ——The value of the country’s principal farm crops are officially es- timated at $8,322,695,000 for this year. Maybe things have been “breaking bad” for the farmers late- ly but it must be admitted they have some assets. Scandalous Methods Restored. The southern representation in Re- publican National conventions has been a subject of scandal for many years. As long ago as 1896 the late General Alger, of Michigan, opened a booth at the Chicago convention to buy the votes of the colored brothers from the southern States. But Mark Hanna was too strong an antagonist and the enterprise failed. At each re- curring convention, however, the at- tempt was made and usually the long- est purse brought home the bacon. In the convention of 1912 it was univer- sally admitted that the nomination of Taft was brought about in that way and Roosevelt’s revolt was largely based on that ground. A movement was then inaugurated to correct the evil. In the convention of 1920 the traffic in negro votes became so bold and fla- grant that the better element of the party determined to stop it. Candor requires the statement that the friends of the late President Harding were not the offenders. The support- ers of General Wood had brought to the convention an immense corruption fund and Governor Lowden, of Illi- nois, an aspirant for the nomination, with the vast fortune of the Pullman family behind him, was the principal competitor. At any rate the condi- tion became so bad that it was deter- mined to end it and with that object in mind a rule to cut down the repre- sentation of the southern States was adopted. Naturally the southern negro poli- ticians objected to thus curtailing their sources of graft. The price of votes in a Republican national con- vention is variously estimated, but never below a thousand dollars, so that reducing the representation of twenty-eight to say five or six seem- ed like “taking bread out of the mouths” of a number of “worthy Re- publicans.” The other southern con- stituencies were similarly penalized and the sufferers reasoned out that the machine supporting Coolidge for For ! the nomination was responsible. that reason even the office holders in the South were not responsive to de- mands for support and the old order is restored. keeping company with that of Mr. Underwood. Thus far Mr. Bryan has been able to keep his on his head. Mr. McAdoo’s hat is in the ring Senator Bruce a Judas. Senator Bruce, of Maryland, has a Under the con-! greatly exaggerated idea of the dan- bloc in the | ger of the progressive i United States Senate. On a vote for | shaisman of the committee on Com- i merce, the other day, he bolted his | party nominee in order to avert the | “calamity” of a victory for the pro- | gressives. What he really prevented | was a most humiliating and disas- | trous defeat of the Republican ma- chine. The defeat of the Republican nominee for an office in the face of a Republican majority of at least sev- en, could have had no other effect than the complete demoralization of the organization, and in preventing it by perfidy Senator Bruce simply wrote himself down as a Judas. Probably Senator Smith, of South Carolina, the Democratic nominee for the chairmanship of the committee on Commerce, didn’t want the office, and it may be equally certain that his party associates were indifferent on the subject. But it is absolutely cer- tain that the Republican machine didn’t want him to get it, and that the | railroads which have a legislative pro- gram to put through were very much ‘opposed to his election. In betraying “his party obligation, therefore, Sen. ator Bruce averted the defeat of the { Republican machine and the success ' of the railroad program, and that achievement of a man professing to the people was more perfidious than heroic. . Senator Bruce is said to be a cor- . poration lawyer and probably imag- ines that he was sent to the Senate to represent the corporations instead of the people. Other Senators and Rep- resentatives in Congress and other legislative bodies have made the same mistake. But they don’t get far with it. Their public life rarely survives a single term. Unfortunately Sena- tor Bruce is in the beginning of a six year term, but even at that his first important betrayal will cut down his opportunities to do harm in the fu- ture. But he has no right to set up a claim of superior virtue. He served the Republican machine and the rail- road corporations at the expense of political honor and integrity -and that is all. ——The former Kaiser, having won a libel suit against a newspaper, it may now be said that the impossible has been achieved. If anybody can say anything that libels the ex-Kai- ser he must have written in an un- known language. Both Sides are Wrong. Any attempt to make prohibition enforcement an issue in the campaign for delegates to the coming Demo- cratic National convention for Penn- sylvania, will fail as it ought to. It is intimated in various ways that such a project is contemplated. Those op- posed to enforcement are said to be organizing to promote the selection of “wet” delegates. On the other hand it is charged that the activities of those who favor enforcement, with gation, are responsible. these statements expresses the facts we are not able to determine. What is entirely plain is that both are wrong. | The Eighteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States is a permanent fixture. Under the pro- visions of that amendment to the con- stitution Congress is empowered to enact such legislation as the Volstead law. We have never sympathized with or approved of the methods by which the Eighteenth amendment was adopted. We have never believed that it was wise to authorize Congress to enact such legislation as the Volstead law. But the Eighteenth amendment is there and will stay there until the end of time if the government contin- ues so long and the Volstead act will remain until it is repealed in an or- derly way. Any candidate for President nomi- nated by “wet” delegates on a “wet” platform by either party would be overwhelmingly defeated. A candi- | date nominated by “dry” delegates on a “dry” platform might be defeated. But it is not the part of wisdom to take chances on such an issue at this time or at any time in the near fu- ture. proper issue because it is not a polit- ical problem. Lessons in morality should be taught in the homes and in the churches and not in political con- claves or conventions. To those who are embarking on a campaign on either side of the question we recom- mend caution. The new head of the Work- men’s compensation board serves no- tice that the law will be enforced. It may be possible that that is what it was created for. The Jay Gould estate is about to be settled up finally, but the scan- dals of the Gould family will proba- bly go on forever. the purpose of securing a “dry” dele- ' Which of . In the first place it is not a | | Political Gossip Plenty but Invaluable There is a good deal of gossip in the newspapers and in the political centres concerning the future move- ments of the Republican leaders in ! Pennsylvania but little of it is of val- ue. In Pittsburgh there is a major ‘row on between the Leslie and Magee ' factions, and the reports indicate that ' committee took the action it did. It ‘Senator Max Leslie has “come back” |is absolutely essential to Republican | and is likely to control the selection | of delegates to the Republican nation- Lal convention. But the Magees have | frequently shown vast recuperative i power, and as Mr. Leslie is bitterly ! opposed to Governor Pinchot the May- jor of the “Smoky city” will probably ‘ take the Pinchot side of the issue. A may prevent such an issue, however. In Philadelphia the new Mayor has ! disappointed the expectations of those who supported him by going outside the city limits for the most important member of the cabinet. Brigadier General Smedley Darlington Butler, of West Chester, has been borrowed from the Marine Corps, in which he has acquired considerable distinction, to become Director of Public Safety. ' Congressman Vare had hoped to place , his servile henchman, Harry Mackey, | into that place, thus creating an in- ! vulnerable trench for his machine. | But Mayor Kendrick has won the ap- i plause of the better element of the | citizens by naming the marine. He In any event be a Democrat and representative of Hhas not announced his other appoint- i ments but if they are of the type of Butler the people will profit. Everybody is persuaded that Mr. Pinchot is a candidate for the Repub- lican nomination for President and some apparently well-informed per- sons believe that he has entered into an alliance with Senator Johnson, of California. Such a combination might make a formidable force in this State and give the Old Guard under its new management considerable trouble. But it will not effect the result of the con- vention. The office-holders will nom- inate Coolidge in spite of the elo- quence of Johnson and the money of Pinchot. The decision of the Nation- al committee, the other day, to give the South its full representation set- tled the matter for this year at least. “This is not official but it is true. ——Bills have been introduced in i Congress by Congressman W. L Swoope providing for appropriations ‘for $136,000 for a public building at DuBois; $125,000 each for public i buildings at Clearfield, Philipsburg and Bellefonte, and an increase from | $75,000 to $85,000 for the public | building at State College. Verily the Honorable William believes in getting jan early start at the pork barrel and | his efforts will undoubtedly lead some of his constituents to believe that he is going to cut a wide swath in Con- | gress, but they don’t want to overlook ‘the fact that there is always a lapse ' of many years between the passing of such appropriation bills and the erec- i tion of the public buildings. | ——Sixty-seven men in Pennsylva- ! nia found in their stocking, last Fri- day morning, a Christmas remem- brance from Auditor General Samuel !D. Lewis in the shape of their ap- ‘ pointment as mercantile appraiser in man respectiv counties. The lucky man in Centre county is Mr. W. H. | Stuart, of Boalsburg. Mr. Stuart is ‘a well known farmer of Harris town- | ship and we know of no one more de- serving of the appointment, or better : equipped to do the work than he is. r———— fp ————— ——Mail cars on all the main line ‘railroads have been overwhelmed with the holiday trade, which is the greatest in the history of the country. To assist in relieving the congestion a mail car was placed on the Penn- sylvania-Lehigh express on Monday, running direct from New York through to Altoona. It will bein serv- ice, however, only until Christmas. rn ——— A ———. ——When he retires as district at- torney on the first Monday in Janu- ary James C. Furst will go out with practically a clean sheet. Virtually all the Commonwealth cases in his hands were cleaned up at last week’s session of court, with the exception of a very few in which arrests have not yet been made. ——Several carloads of hard coal ‘reached Bellefonte during the week and lake shipments having been com- pleted there is promise of a more gen- | eral supply throughout Pennsylvania. Bellefonte people, however, are as much interested in an improvement in the quality of the coal and a reduc- tion in price as they are in an increase in quantity. ——Hearing in the contest of the seat of Senator Mayfield, of Texas, is about to begin but nobody seems to know exactly what it is about. —————— eee—e———— ——An Towa boy stole an airplane for a joy ride and broke his leg. It ought to have been his neck. local candidate for Auditor General | ; PA.,, DECEMBER 21. 1923. | | | NO. 50. No Reforms Just Now. From the Philadelphia Record. “Hi” Johnson may spout statistics to his heart’s content and thunder in- terminably about the injustice done to Republican States by giving to the South its old basis of representation in G. O. P. National conventions, but everybody knows why the National success that the negro, who has shown many signs of increasing independ- ence, shall not be alienated further and that everything shall be done to keep him within the fold. The result in Delaware in 1922, where the Re- publicans lost a Senator and a Con- gressman, was due to the defection of the colorad vote, and Kentucky and Maryland emphasized this lesson last month, when great Democratic major- ities were rolled up. Without negro support the Republicans would have little chance of carrying such States as West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri. Practical political considerations, therefore, demanded that nothing should be done to affront the colored voter by cutting down the representa- tion of Southern States in Republican National conventions and making it appear that he is not wanted. As a matter of fact he is wanted very bad- ly, particularly in Presidential years. If he were to turn against the G. O. P. it would have no chance whatever in 1924. Appreciating this fact, the politicians of the Republican Nation-. al committee preferred to run the risk of the scandals of delegate-buy- ing, a common practice for the past 40 years, to standing up valiantly for the reforms ordered by the convention of 1920. It is not surprising that our own Senator Pepper, hailing from the Sev- enth ward, was in the front ranks bat- tling for his neighbors. He realizes that possibly even Pennsylvania might turn against the G. O. P. if the ne- gro, offended by discrimination against him, should take to voting like an independent, rational human being. So reform goes by the board, and the Republican party is itself again, with all the possibilities of its nominations being dictated by dele- gates who cannot deliver the goods. And private secretary Slemp will see that in the South the many virtues of President Coolidge will not be hidden under a bushel, but will shine forth refulgently up to the very fur of the nominations to be made al’ Cleveland next June. Russia’s $3,000,000 Propaganda Fund. From the Kansas City Star. The information that the Russian soviet has sent $3,000,000 to this country to finance the campaign for American recognition of that govern- ment furnishes a typical example of mischievous internationalism. This is a practice we may expect to see wide-. ly developed if internationalism su- persedes nationalism in the world. The domestic policy of the United <* meee | SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. States would be a matter of concern to any government that chose to make | an international issue of it. It is scarcely necessary to point out that any kind of foreign influence in . American political affairs would be a | very great evil. Americans could not tolerate it. President Cleveland re- quested the recall of a British minis- ter who had been indiscreet enough to write a letter bearing on an American political issue. President Washington sent a French agent out of the coun- try when he became too active in pro- moting the interests of his own gov- ernment. But it is exactly this kind of inter- ference that the new theory of inter- nationalism contemplates. It proposes to plant its seed in every domestic soil and to choke out by this process every native and patriotic growth. Soviet- ism is not alone in the propagation of this doctrine. It has industrious sup- porters among the so-called intellec- tuals who tell us that nationalism, pa- triotism, allegiance to country are outworn and childish fetishes that a grown-up world ought to discard. This doctrine, it ought to be noted, is European and is being propagated in America because America has the best and richest and most abundant fruits of nationalism the world can! show. Internationalism wants those : fruits. It wants to break down the walls that guard them—those ram- parts of nationalism that are the greatest obstacle to the spread of the : new forces loosed in Europe that they have encountered. America should make unmistakable its warning that those walls will be defended, that its domestic affairs are its own concern | and that no foreign influence, under whatever name, will be tolerated in’ ‘ the shaping of its policies or the con- duct of its government. After Federal Tax. From the Altoona Tribune. Organized motorists of Pennsylva- nia have determined to wage an act- ive, aggressive campaign to induce Congress to repeal the b per cent. fed- eral excise tax on automobiles and au- tomobile accessories. The fight will be waged in conjunction with a na- | . tion-wide effort by the American Au- | tomobile association. In Pennsylva- nia the fight will be carried by the: | Pennsylvania Motor Federation, which i comprises over sixty large motor clubs. The tax has been classed as discriminatory, unfair and unjust in that it enabled the Federal govern- { ment to collect from the motor vehi- ‘cle owners and drivers an amount double that which the government is said to have spent on highways, in- cluding forest road construction. | sistance fund. ere —Wage increases averaging 10 per cent. were voted by Williamsport council for all members of the police and fire depart- ments. —Miss Florence L. Merks, chief operator at the Lewistown telephone exchange, will retire January 1 after nearly 41 years of service. —Just as he was starting work at the Pennsylvania Railroad repair yard in Al- toona, Saturday morning, Harry McCur- dy, aged 51 years, dropped dead from heart disease. —The postoffice at Shickshinny, Pa., is declared by postal inspectors to have the most unusual record of any office in the entire country. The postmistress and all of the town’s mail carriers are women. —Mr. and Mrs. Arlington Ramaly, of Fireline, Carbon county. are the proud parents of an eight-pound baby boy who has six grandfathers, four great-grand- fathers, three grandmothers and one great-grandmother. —Placing a single-barrel shotgun against his breast and using his great toe to pull the trigger, Newton J. Drake, 3% years old, of North Tell township, Hunt- ingdon county, ended his life Friday om the ridge back of Blair's Mills. His body was not found until Saturday night. —The new gas well brought in on Kettle Creek last week near Cross Fork makes a total of ten producing gas wells the Clin- ton Natural Gas & Oil company now have on their field twelve miles in length and about a mile wide. The new well is expect- cd to produce half a million cubic feet of gas a day. —Mrs. John C. Frederick, 70 years old, who lived with her daughter, Mrs. Clar- ence Moyer, at Lewisburg, was found hanging in the cellar on Sunday morning and had been dead several hours. A light- ed lamp was on a stand with a note read- ing, “I am lonesome and want to be ia heaven with my husband.” —Relatives have identified the woman who died suddenly in a hospital at Oma- ha, Neb., last Thursday, with $5500 in $100 bills in a belt around her waist as Mrs. Mary Seaman, 54 years old widow of George H. Seaman, of Hamburg, Berks county. She was on her way to Califor- nia for the winter when taken ill. John I. Smith, of Schylkill Haven, is her brother. —While he was sitting in the Methodist church at Saxton, on Sunday evening list- ening to a sermon, somebody ransacked the automobile of Leonard Sweet, of East Saxton. The machine, a large touring car, was parked outside the church almost di- rectly under the arc light. The thieves stole several robes, some tools and a flash- light. The subject under discussion in the church at the time was “Law Enforce- ment.” —The University of Pennsylvania on Monday received offers of two gifts ag- gregating half a million dollars—$250,000 each from the Rockefeller Foundation and the General Education Board—on condi- tion that it raise a like amount. The of- fer was accepted, and as soon as the uni- versity raises its share there will be available $1,000,000 for the building and equipping of a laboratory ef anatomy and chemistry. —Mrs. Ella A. Parsons, of Williamsport, in her will provided that $12,000 be left to Allegheny College, at Meadville, to estab- lsh three scholarship foundations in the college in memory of Professor Ross Crow, of the class of 1840, who later was an in- structor in the school, and Seneco Free- man and John F. Parsons. The benefits of the foundation are to be accorded, at the discretion of the college authorities, to three students from Emporium. —A verdict declaring five members of the election board of the Sixteenth ward of Johnstown guilty of fraud in connection with the recent election was returned at 5 o'clock last Friday afternoon. A similar verdict was returned in the morning against the five members of the Twelfth ward board and two township officials have also been convicted. All have posted $3,000 each as security and arrest of judg- ment obtained pending the disposition of a motion for a new trial. —Last Wednesday night while prepar- ing her husband’s supper Mrs. Robert Ri- der, of Chester, Pa., tripped and fell down stairs at her apartment. She went on with the supper, and apparently, with the excep- tion of some bruises, was not injured. Re- turning home from his employment Thurs- day forenoon, Mr. Rider found his wife in an apparently sleeping condition, but when he failed to arouse her found she was dead. The fall of Wednesday night killed her, according to a physician called in. Ney —Announcement was made on Sur night that at the recent meeting ofl trustees of Bucknell University Dr. J Howard Harris, for thirty years presi=*" ie. dent of that institution—1889 to 1919—no- tified the board of his purpose to termin- ate at the end of the present school year his service as professor of philosophy, completing at that time thirty-five years in that department. After August 1 Doc- tor Harris will make his home in Scran- ton, where two of his sons are engaged in the practice of law. —Miss M. Constance Erdman, of Allen town, has announced her declination of Governor Pinchot's appointment as Le- high county member of the women’s as- Her rejection of the hon- or, it is said, was based on her refusal to take the prohibition pledge, as demanded by the Governor from all appointees. Miss Erdman, when asked, did not deny that ‘ was her reason for declining the appoint ment. She is a daughter of the late C. J. Erdman, one-time representative, and is active in Democratic politics. —John McMurray and Harry Kamm, both of Altoona, charged with false pre tense and impersonating state police, pleaded guilty in criminal court at Eb- .l ensburg last Thursday after their case had been on trial several hours. McMurray was given the costs and from eighteen months to three years in the county jail. Sentence was deferred in Kamm's case up- on petition from the district attorney of Blair county. Kamm posted $5000 bail for his appearance on the third Monday of January, when he will be sentenced. —In applying to the Public Service Commission for permission to discontinue train service on the Springfield branch, between Canister and Ormenia, and on the branch between New Portage Junction and Duncansville, the Pennsylvania Railroad alleges the receipts on the Springfield branch were only $10.36 a day for passen- ger and $6.99 for freight service, and on the Duncansville branch the check showed an average of one passenger a day. It is set forth that it cost the company $3690 a month to maintain the service, twice as much as received.