- ci Bema itm INK SLINGS. * ——Chicken influenza hasn’t brok- &n out in Bellefonte, as yet. We no- tice them all running the streets as usual. Remember that if you are at your wits end, at the last moment, over what to send that friend who has an interest in Centre county, the “Watchman” might be the very thing they’d appreciate most. . ——Talking of the possible passage of the child labor amendment we are of the opinion that it'll never get through. There are some good points in the proposal, but they will weigh lightly in the mind of a public that is convinced that government has al- ready gone too far in its regulation of the lives of the individual. We fear that we are going to be disappointed. We had hoped that ere the New Year every reader of the “Watchman” would have the label on his paper reading into 25 at least. We can’t say that everybody’s doing it and because of that we are planning for nothing more luxurious than sau- sage for the Chirstmas dinner. . —The Philipsburg Ledger last week published a long dissertation, by Ed- ward Nelson Dingley, on “What con- stitutes a Republican.” To make Mr. Dingley’s long story short his idea of a Republican is one who would vote for the devil if he were running on the Republican ticket. This suggests a query as to how many Republicans or how many Democrats know just why they are members of one party or the other. We venture the asser- tion that not one per cent. of the vot- ers of this country can give a funda- mental reason for his political belief. — This is the last time we’ll have a word with you until January 2nd. Christmas will come in the meanwhile. And when you wake that morning, if there be nothing in your stocking, no elfin voice calling “Merry Christmas” in your chamber, nothing to indicate that it is a day apart from all the oth- er three hundred and sixty-four in a drab year of discouragement, remem- ber that every one who has had to do with making the “Watchman” will wake with the hope in their hearts and the prayer on their lips that the day will be one of great joy to you and that the New Year will bring the fulfillment of all the dreams you may have had. ' —Samuel Gompers, for forty-three years president of the American Fed- eration of Labor, is dead. Though little understood and often condemned he must have been a yery siaong char- se he could never have remain- at sgpirit-of fitful Ameri- can labor for four decades and more: His dying words were: “God bless our American institutions. May they grow better day by day.” Organized labor might well adopt the dying plea of the man who conceived it and use it as its motto. If it were to sincerely help to make American institutions “grow better day by day” there would be an end of discord between capital and labor. —The Presbyterian, the Protest- ant Episcopal and the Baptist church- es are torn with the theological con- troversy between the fundamentalists and modernists. Bishop Berry, of the Methodist church, is alarmed for fear that his church is sliding into modern- ism without having a fight. Accord- ingly he has sounded the alarm, called the defenders of orthodoxy to arms and is preparing to show these pre- liminary entertainers what a real fight is. When the Methodists get at it they don’t waste time on academic discussions of what constitutes here- sy and then hail the heretics into con- ference for a solemn trial. The side with the best wallop just knocks the other down and drags it out. —American, English and French statesmen are trying to make a moun- tain out of a mole hill. They are us- ing columns in the press of their re- spective countries over a simple lit- tle business arrangement that France is trying to make with us in the pay- ment of the war debt. Because Eng- land butted in a bit our jingoes start- ed an awful howl. They want to know why John Bull is nosing into some- thing that is none of his business. They lose sight entirely of the fact that England isn’t “nebbin’” in to any set- tlement we may make with France. She is only reminding France that she owes England more than she does us and when she starts to paying off her debts there must be no preferred cred- itors. —There isn’t much pay, but there’s an awful lot of satisfaction in news- paper work. Two years ago the me- ter relentlessly recorded every kilo- wat of current we used in lighting our nightly way while inditing pleas to the people to vote for John A. Mec- Sparran for Governor. We knew Pin- chot. We could have said a lot of mean things about him. But if we had said one-half as many as those who disregarded our pleas have pour- ed into our ears since last Thursday Gif. would have been so busy prepar- ing libel suits that he wouldn’t have had time to think of skinning hos- pitals to bolster up his claim of sav- ing forty thousand a day. Why, one gentleman, who didn’t know that we knew he had said in a political speech, two years ago: “Don’t believe a word of politics you see in the “Watch- man,” whispered in our ear, on Sat- urday, “I wouldn't vote for Pinchot for hor constable of Bellefonte.” pages and, 0 STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. i Why is the Publisher—Printer the | Goat? If there is anything else than news- paper publicity that the United States government gets free we invite some one to call the matter to our atten- tion. From the President down to the window cleaner in a rural postoffice a | salary or wage commensurate with | the service rendered is provided. Be- sides this there is the honor confer- red, the “pickings” possible and the opportunity of personal exploitation. | Never, since the foundation of the | government, has there been a dearth | of those desirous to fill any vacant governmental job and the probabili- ties are that there never will be. In some instances a government job grat- ifies vanity, in others it means a sine- cure and in others assures a pay en- velope about..the regularity of which there can be no doubt. Few turn down an opportunity to get on Uncle Sam’s payroll. Some sacrifice better present return for their service, but they do it only with the thought of personal exploitation. And how is this to be secured? There is but one medium through which it can be accomplished: The, newspapers of the country. Congressman Fox works a bill through that gets a public building for a “Main street” town and when he returns home he is met at the station by a sycophantic mass of constitu- ents ready to go on his note at the bank or erect a monument in the - public square declaring him the greatest statesman of all time. The local newspapers play the demonstration up and Mr. Fox is made. Senator Fox sits tight, looks wise, assures the organization that put him in his seat that he’ll see that its ap- pointees for place are confirmed and jumps in with a speech at the moment that the constituent’s mind is so be- fogged that it can’t differentiate be- | tween “wind jamming” and construc- | tive statesmanship. With columns to fill and no bigger news breaking Sen- ator Fox gets scare heads on front great states bo harm 2 Secretary Fox has to do with la- bor, agriculture,. postal regulations, . finance, diplomacy, what-not. He has his eye on the White. House, so he starts the multigraphs in his Depart- ment working to broadcast the won- derful suggestions he has to offer on everything from making the laborer | and the farmer happy to assuring the peepul that he has turned T. N. T. in- to doves of peace and persuaded every | other government that it is to their best interest to take everything we have to sell and not ask us to buy any- thing from them. It’s a big idea. The newspapers take it up and Secretary Fox is among those considered as available Presidential timber for the next campaign. President Fox is an accidental occu- pant of the White House. He knows it’s a big job and there is a danger of the public discovering that it is too big. He calls the Washington corres- pondents into stated conferences dur- ing which he plays the “still water runs deep” part, perfunctorily ans- wers a few questions and the army of newspaper men go out to write col- umns on the constructive plans this strong, silent man has in mind for the country. He is the President, and as the position must be exalted, profits by the respect every newspaper holds for it. President Fox becomes a great man in the public eye and a second term is his reward. As it is in government so is it in arts, science and business. Exploita- tion by newspapers makes most of the leaders, gets them the best positions and often keeps them in them after their mediocrity has been discovered. There isn’t an order from any De- partment, whether it be promulgated specifically for those in the service or take the form of a plea to the people to subscribe for bonds or help facili- tate the mails by better directions on letters, that isn’t paid for every step of the way from the brain of its orig- inator to the door of the newspaper office which is expected to publish it. There the cost to the government ends and becomes the burden of the pub- lisher. What does he get in return for giv- ing space, the only thing he has to sell? Only a few weeks ago the govern- ment contracted for twelve billion stamped envelopes. It will print these up and retail them at a trifle more than the cost of the stamps. It isn’t retailing soap, or shoes, or drugs or structural steel. It is underselling only the printers of the country. The manufacturer of any other com- modity than printing can wrap a few ounces of his product in a package and mail it anywhere at the parcel post rate. The printer must pay half a cent an ounce on most of his manu- | factures. He isn't given the advan- (Crnclnded at bottom of next column), Lay ' doodle when it said that. Another Hat in the Ring. In our discussion of the possible entries in the coming judicial race, in these columns last week, we thought we had covered the entire field of those who have their ear to the ground. Of course we did not then consider the new status of Judge Dale. He was then district attorney of the county ! with no thought of becoming a candi- date for Judge, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Governor Pinchot has' put him in a position where the entire prospect is changed. He has relin- quished a position that has three years to run and faces the fact that on December 31, next, he must go back to gather up the practice that has been scattered during his year on the bench and make a new start in his profession. At present Judge Dale has no thought of what he will do. He is so overwhelmed with the sudden- ness of it all that the reactions have not set in. As the court moves on, if he should make no serious blunders and conclude that he could successful- ly defend a desire to succeed himself, we feel that he will be in the race. Some might say he would have noth- ing to lose and everything to gain. | We don’t view it that way, however. Judge Dale would be in a much morg ' dignified position were he to make no attempt for election than to do so and take the chance of defeat. A repulse by the electorate would be disastrous to the honor that the Governor has conferred on him. As we have said above the exigen- cies of the situation might make an involuntary candidate of him. If that should eventuate he would have to contest the nomination in the Repub- lican primaries with Mr. Keller, cer- tainly, and possibly Mr. Furst. Judge Dale’s following is largely among what are known as ultra-drys, but as Mr. Keller is known to be dry as the Sahara might he not seriously cut into Judge Dale’s support. Should Judge Dale decide to enter the Democratic primaries he would have to contest it with the very man or the position for years, Mr. John- ston. The possibilities of such a split up of the dry forces in the Demo- cratic primaries would give Mr. Spangler, Mr. Gettig, Mr. Runkle or Mr. W. Harrison Walker a run-a-way victory. We add Mr. Walker’s name to the list of possible candidates au- thoritatively. He has not announced, but we know that he is seriously con- sidering the matter and it will be no surprise if he should toss his hat into the ring before long. In the light of these later develop- ments we see an even more involved contest in the offing than we thought could be possible last week. But, as we said then, it will be a fair field with a plum quite worth an earnest, dignified effort to get. —The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times becomes facetious when it expresses the thought that the fourteen Demo- cratic Members who will sit in the next session of the Legislature, ought to label themselves in order to be con- spicuous among their one hundred and , ninety-four Republican colleagues. The Times was only dishing out flap- It knows better than its gullible readers that there will be one Democrat sitting on “the Hill” who will have more to do | with shaping the legislation that | Pennsylvania will enact in 1925 than i all of the hundred and ninety-four Re- | publicans it boasts of put together. —Congress paid solemn tribute to the memory of Woodrow Wilson on! Monday. As a ceremonial it was im- pressive, no doubt. But if the Con- gress had paid heed to President Wil- : son’s advice its tribute to his memory would not have appeared so tainted | with hypocrisy. [ —The plot thickens. There are two others whom we had not thought of who are thinking they would look ! good with the judicial ermine draped | about their shoulders. | tage of parcel post rates until his par- | cel reaches at least four pounds and unless he is smart enough to load it with a stone very few of his shipments of printed matter weigh enough to get them through the mails as cheap as soap, shoes and everything else goes. Isn’t it strange that the very men who are where they are because the newspapers have thrown a glamour of greatness about them don’t see the | injustice of the situation that puts a government in competition with one | class of its people and not with any | other? Isn’t it strange that a mer- chant in Centre Hall can mail us two pounds of blank paper for five cents | and if we convert it into a herald “mostly printed matter” we will have to pay sixteen to mail it back to him? VOL. 69. BELLEFONTE, PA.. DECEMBER 19. 1924. Do You Know Why Yeu Are What You Are? In a paragraph sandwiched some- where in this issue we expressed the belief that not one per cent. of the voters of the United States can give a fundamental reason for his political affiliation. Since writing it we have pondered over the thought until convinced that : the subject was too vital to be dis- missed lightly with a few lines. #Do you know why you are a Demo- crat? Do you know why you are a Repub- lican? Heredity plays the largest part in determining the political affiliations of the voter. The young man or young woman casting the first ballot is guided more by what would please father or mother most than anything else. The first ballot is the declara- tion of faith and nearly always con- trols the vote through life. Environment is the second agency in potentially fixing the new voter’s party allignment. If a boy or girl find themselves surrounded with friends who are largely of opposite political faith than that of the home they were brought up in or if the community in which they live is dominated by the opposite party they often ignore the parental wish and go with the crowd. A third element in the making of a Democrat or Republican is ambition. The man or woman who aspires to of- fice, either elective or appointive, trims his sails so as to catch the wind | that’s most likely to blow them into the port they hope to reach. The courts, through the issuance of naturalization papers, make Demo- crats or Republicans out of the alien, according as they are able to convince him that he wouldn’t have secured his papers if it had not been for the be- neficence of this party or that. In addition to these, the principal ones, there are numerous channels through which voters drift to a defi- nite party haven. In none of them do we find a fundamental reason for their pine so. That is, in all these devi- om the drys have been grooming .ofs courses to Democracy or Republi=ly or canism: there is not a single finger borad explaining what either is. As a matter of fact we have two great political parties in the country today, fighting bitterly every fall, os- tensibly for the supremacy of their principles, and yet not knowing what their principles are or even sure that they have any. Do they have any? Is there any real, fundamental difference between a Democrat and a Republican today ? Do they not fight more for the zest of winning or the hope of office than a deep seated conviction that the prin- ciples they think they espouse are in danger of violation. Since the birth of the Republican party there have been only two tra- dition] differences between it and the Democratic party. They were the tar- iff and States’ rights. While Repub- lican spellbinders have tried frantic- ally to keep the tariff alive as a bogy to frighten voters into their camp it has long since been placed where it belongs, among the local economic is- sues that are not political. States’ rights, through the modern trend to- ward centralization, has come to have almost as many strong defenders in the Republican camp as it does in the one in which the issue was born. Is there then anything in the poli- tics of the country upon which the people really divide other than expe- iency? There are great issues that might kindle historic differences, but because there are so few who actual- ly know why they are what they are, politically, there is no demand, no concert of effort to revive parties of principle. ——And now the federal prison at Atlanta is feeding the governmental scandal mill at Washington. That is another of the places in which Harry Daugherty found a fat berth for a friend. : He Likes Classical Reading. “Yes,” said a very interesting call- er at this office, a few days ago, “I'm goin’ to subscribe for this paper next year. I'm goin’ to send it to my son because he likes classical reading.” We've been wondering ever since whether the gentleman intended it for a compliment or a crack at our aim to keep scandal and gossip out of the | “Watchman” and good English and truth in it. ——Let us hope that those who gather about the community Christ- mas tree next Sunday night will try to understand that it is designed to be a service, not an orgie, ——Sunday will be the shortest day in the year and will usher in the be- ginning of winter, according to the calendar, at 9:46 o’clock p. m. N 0. 50. : Sound Advice from Mr. Young. From the Pittsburgh Post. When General Dawes as head of the ‘commission of economic experts that devised the German reparations plan that has won approval in every test! was asked for information on many of the important phases of the scheme, he was wont to say: “See Young.” When Owen D. Young, one of the out-: standing members of the commission from the outset and the first agent general of reparations - payments, speaks on the subject he delegates chief credit for the transformation that is taking place in Europe to Dawes. It isfine to see such brother- ly feeling existing between the gentle- men as an example of co-operation to all. Mr. Young, a Democrat, would put the idea into practice by establish- ing a non-partisan foreign policy for the United States; one based upon the proposition that whether we desire it or not we will have to co-operate with other nations. “We may debate po- litical participation in the affairs of the world as we will,” Mr. Young de- clared, in an address to a group of New York business men, “but we must participate in its business, and busi- ness, like science, knows no: political boundaries and in its dictionary there is no such word as isolation.” i That being beyond dispute; i seer to be only common sg the time has about arrived for the members of the different political par- ties to leave their shooting irons on the outside when they assémble for the discussion of matters & with a foreign policy. Witl Dawes, the other member of . mon and Pythias team, about to be come the presiding officer of the Sen- ate, and, in his characteristic manner denouncing as “pee wees” those who would obtrude politics where the de- mand is simply for horse-sense co-op- eration, some progress may be made toward getting the discussion of for- eign affairs upon a broader basis. . Mr. Young, in his way, also ig a plain speaker. What some would by. resent as the quintessence of patriot- ism in the discussion OF ‘matiars of foreign policy, he consi the horse play of domestic character that is purely partisan must be divorced from fore olicy. There must be an attitude foward foreign affairs that will, “10 il é, consid- er the League of Nations'free of any small partisan prejudice, ready to join in making use of it under any reason- able circumstances. Development of the nonpartisan spirit in the discus- sion of foreign affairs would make it possible for a citizen to show his in- dividual judgment on the subject with- out running a risk of incurring the charge of being a traitor to his party. Such a spirit would speedily put the United States into membership in the Permanent court of International Jus- tice and hasten arms reduction, pro- mote trade and humanitarian activ- ities. Advocated by a man of world re- nown for his business judgment, the proposition cannot be dismissed as a mere dream. Application of it should be possible right now. Democrats of the Senate have shown their readiness to support the recommendations of two Republican Presidents of mem- bership for the United States in the World court. Lately the Republican administration has been showing a broader attitude toward the League of Nations. Encourage this spirit and it should not be long until the foreign policy is freed of the horse play of do- mestiz politics. Since it has been demonstrated re- peatedly that we cannot stay out of world affairs—the spirit of humanity and business alike knowing no bound- ary lines—we should lose no time in adjusting ourselves to them in the most practical manner. Giving and Misgiving. From the Philadelphia North American. Of the 538,867,928 Christmas gifts now in process of thought, selection, or packaging it is safe to say at least the 23 will be misfits, and reasonable to assume a still larger percentage of undesirables. For this matter of Yuletide bestowals has reached a point where a good many of us go at it blindly, without due consideration of the consequences of giving. One starts in at the wrong end by listing “useful” things they need for persons whose very lack of needfuls stirs in them a longing for just one little lapse into luxury. We fancy this is one rea- son why certain types used to get drunk on Christmas day—they could not stand the pressure of strictly util- itarian remembrances. A woman who scrubs floors cannot be expected to rejoice and give thanks for a new pair of knee pads, nor is it fair to expect a man who hauls ashes to glow with joy at sight of a shovel. For the one we would suggest some airy trifle for personal adornment— smile if you choose, but there’s horse- sense in this—and for the other per- haps a necktie for too choice to be worn save on festive occasions which are as rare as hen’s teeth. Christmas is a fine time to distrib- ute food for dreams, even though they be of a kind unapt to come true, and to gratify desires which are as dim and distant as a star of the second magnitude on a misty night. 2 A ——— A —————— —When you see it in the “Watch- man’ you know it’s true. ‘| over to tie his shoe lace. . | darted out and bit him. SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. WPT REE oh Hi —— BAY ,—Fourteen hours after overpowering 8 guard in the Lebanon county jail and es- caping, William J. Bishop, convicted slay- _ér of Enos Robb, of Palmyra, was captur- ed on Sunday evening by state police at - | the home of his wife at Hershey. —A legal fight over a fortune of more than $35,000 said to have been amassed by the late Ellen Clark, of Philadelphia, dur- ing a lifetime over wash tubs, and in which Cardinal Daugherty is named as a ‘| defendant, is pending in the orphan’s court of that city before Judge Thompson. —LeRoy Berger, of Pocono Lake, was shot and killed on Monday at the close of the deer hunting season by the accidental discharge of his own gun when he stooped H was twenty years old. It was the third fatality of the ‘| Monroe-Pike district during the hunting season. i —1It cost Altoona $60,000 to eliminate the mine drainage from the municipal water supply at the Horseshoe Curve and now the councilmen plan to bring suit against the mine owners to recover that amount. Recently the Pennsylvania Supreme court decided a coal company has no right to drain its waters into a creek used by the publie. —The closing of a deal on Monday trans- ferred the ownership of a valuable piece of coal land to Dr. John P. Haag, of Wil- liamsport. He purchased seventy acres in Kathaus township, Clearfield county, un- derlaid with three veins of coal, varying in size from three to six feet. The land is covered with timber. The property ad- joins that of the Snow Shoe Coal compa- ny, of which Mr. Haag is president. —Mrs. J. B. Kendig, 69 years old, of Lan- caster, was burned to death in front of the furnace in the cellar of her home on Thursday afternoon. She was found by her husband. The woman was cleaning house and is believed to have gone to the cellar to attend to the furnace fire. She was not absent long. Her body was found lying in front of the furnace door all sear- ed and all the clothes burned from her body. i —Pellagra, a disease rarely encountered in this climate, caused the death of George Setree, 64 years old, one of the leading cit- izens of Rossiter, after a six weeks’ illness. It is not known where Mr. Setree contract- ed the disease. It is common in warmer climates, but it is not regarded as serious, according to physicians, but the attack sustained by Mr. Setree was of such a na- ture that best efforts to treat it were of no avail. 2 : - —Suit against Mr. and Mrs. Constantine H. Contos, of Reading, Pa., was filed in Philadelphia, last Thursday, for $10,000 dowery or $3,000 in wages by Mrs. /Ellen Backas Christopoulos, their niece, of Ath- ens, Greece, who claims she was brought to this country by ‘the couple who prom- ised to “treat her as a daughter,” but in- stead used her as a domestic servant and failed to find her a husband as they had agreed to do. —Joseph Winterer, 35 years of age, of i Mechanicsville, a suburb of Pottsville, is dead from the effect of a spider's bite. One day last week Winterer brushed aside a spider web and spied a small spider, which It was a black spider and Winteréer felt no alarm over the ‘tiny wound, but blood poisoning developed and he died. Physicians said the case is very rare, and as a rule the average house spider need not be feared. —Jonathan Hooley, an Amish farmer, re- siding near Cold Water in the Kishaco- quillas valley, played safe on Saturday afternoon when he found a spike buck en- tangled and helpless in a barbed wire fence. Mr. Hooley said the horns looked a little short and leaving the buck impris- oned he walked across the field to the house where he procured a ruler and meas- uring the spikes found them just a quar- ter of an inch short above the hair and re- leased it. —A minor injury suffered two months ago in alighting from his automobile caused the death on Friday of Dr. Charles A. Haines, burgess of Sayre and one of the best known surgeons in that section of the State. A nerve snapped in his right leg as he was leaving his machine, which stop- ped the blood circulation in the lower part of the limb, and despite efforts of special- ists the blood poison spread through his system. Dr. Haines was attached to the Packer hospital staff at Sayre, and also was physician for the Lehigh Valley rail- road in that place. —Finding 700 turkeys and chickens that had died over night in one wholesale poul- try house in Wilkes-Barre, and hundreds in other markets, Dr. Emery Lutes, meat inspector, of that city, has placed an em- barge on shipments of live fowl. All healthy poultry on hand was ordered kill- ed at once and all sick and dead chickens and crates and coops were burned. The action was taken on the advice of Dr. BE. T. Munce, of the State Health Department, who pronounced the disease the European plague, for which no cure is known. All local railroads and express companies were notified not to accept or handle any ship- ments of live poultry destined for Wilkes- Barre. —One family will receive compensation from the same employer for twenty-four years by a unique compensation agreement which the Workmen's Compensation Bu- reau disclosed on Saturday. Ordinary compensation payments in fatal cases do not cover more than sixteen years, but in the case just decided a woman was twice married and both husbands died from in- juries. The first husband was Paul Le- gant, of Ernest, and the second Joe Bacco. Both men were killed while working for the Jeffersan & Clearfield Coal and Iron company. Total compensation payable to the widow and her four children is $8407, not including the $100 allowed in each case for funeral expenses. : —More than $500 worth of Federal prop- erty was stolen from the armory of Troop D, 103rd Cavalry, at Lewisburg, by thieves who forced an entrance to the building. The loot included twelve 48 caliber auto- matic pistols, six prismatic field glasses, and thirty leather belts of the type more commonly used by regular army soldiers. The automatic pistols comprise the most valuable part of the loss. Since the theft was first discovered a thorough investiga- tion has been made. It was found that entrance had been forced by removing a panel in a rear door, enabling the intrud- ers to lift a heavy wooden bar from the stays. Inside the arm chests were pried open and the pistols removed. Other prop- erty compartments were forced open and ransacked,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers