Demon adn ed - INK SLINGS. —Spring will be here in thirty-six days, but your coal pile will have to * hold out longer than that. — There has been no recent splash- ing in the judicial puddle because there are no more candidates to jump in. — Let us hope that we are not to pay up for this warm February weather by getting the cold kind in April and May. —Why complain about the present Legislature’s do-nothing policy. Isnt it nearly a certainty that the less it does the better we'll all be off ? —_If Soviet Russia sticks long enough to its present penalty of the death sentence for grafters the old or- der of thihgs will eventually be re- stored in that benighted country. — Congress has only sixteen days left in which to do some of the things it set out to do, but it will be so busy preparing for adjournment that it won’t have time to do many of them. —_The Los Angeles woman who de- serted her husband after three weeks of married life because she had had enough of it ought to write a sequel to Eleanor Glynn's story of “Three Weeks.” Down at Atlantic City the girls are starting something designed to ‘become as ridiculous a fad as were flapping galoshes. They are wearing bows of variegated hues sticking out from their ankles. —By way of consolation to those farmers who didn’t let go of their wheat when it touched two-five we are urged to remark that it might jump back there——and even higher—and, then again, it might not get off the toboggan at all. —_We have been working on the ‘banks of Spring creek for forty years and nine out of every ten threats the stream has made to put us temporari- ly out of business have come on “Thursday, the day it doesn’t suit us .at all to entertain floods. — The Johns Hopkins’ school of Hy- giene announces the discovery of a new germicide that is fifty times as strong as carbolic acid, yet so harm- less to human beings that they can swallow it without ill effect. Happy .day! When a bed-bug runs down the throat of a snoring sleeper he can go right after it with the new dope and ‘be sure of getting it and not himself. — The Governor says there'll be nine million dollars more for the Legisla- ture to appropriate than Auditor Gen- .eral Lewis says the revenues of the .State will amount to. Naturally, the Auditor General’s estimate is the one based on the more intimate knowl- .edge, but then there bobs °% p- the the thought that it might be based also on who is going to have the big- gest finger in spending it. __At last “Nick” Longworth is to ‘have opportunity of making his own noise. No longer will he be heard only through the rustle of “Princess Alice’s” skirts or be pointed out as «the son-in-law of T. R.” The Penn- .sylvania delegation has thrown its strength to him, assuring his election as speaker of the next House of Rep- resentatives in Congress. Who can tell? Once out of the petticoat .eclipse “Nick” might show something. —If, as the present condition indi- cates, it should turn out that the hand- full of Democrats in the Legislature do really hold the balance of power between the contending Republican factions wouldn’t Centre county insti- “tutions that are looking for fair treat- ment in the way of appropriations be “sitting pretty” if W. H. Noll were representing us there. John Flynn, the master mind of the House, can make a host out of his thirteen Dem- .ocratic colleagues if the opportunity presents and they have sense enough ‘to let him steer them. —_While we are not ready to believe, with some, that once a criminal is al- ways a criminal, we have been im- pressed by a statement in the recent report of superintendent James W. ‘Herron, of the Industrial reformatory ‘at Huntingdon. A survey of the in- mates of that institution for the last biennium reveals the fact that nearly ‘thirty-six per cent. of them admitted serving time in other institutions be- Fore being sent there. This being so it {is presumable that the boys had been in similar corrective institutions prior to going to Huntingdon. With- out bringing into question the relative value of the various confinement schools for erring youth it is a debat- able matter as to whether the best | .condiictéd of them is ever able to re- form some characters. —One of the big insurance compa- ‘nies advises every one to “beware of the month of March, the danger month.” Following this admonition against getting wet feet and sitting in drafts, a big burial case company sends these hopeful words to its sales- man: “Wait for March, the month of opportunities.” Such direful prophe- _ cies by business that ought to know ! what it is talking about are not cal- _ culated to bring joy to anybody but "the undertakers. If March is as dan- ' gerous as they intimate we feel that we didn’t escape much , when = Mrs. Rowan’s effort to bring the world to an end last Friday ‘night. “flopped.” The Mt. Carmel Item undertook to turn that scare to its own advantage - by urging all its delinquents to pay up . * before the catastrophe because its - collectors weren't keen to “chase all ‘ sover hell collecting accounts.” STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. VOL. 70. Pinchot Appeals to Women Voters. Wisely or otherwise, Governor Pin- chot continues to pin his hopes to the apron strings of the women voters. Last week he addressed a letter to the Friday Morning club of the Lea- gue of Women Voters, then in ses- sion in Philadelphia, in which he urged the women of the State to “sup- port the administration’s legislative programme and general policy, par- ticularly with reference to institution- al work.” In this he was supported by his Secretary of Welfare, Dr. Ellen C. Potter, in an address to the League who assailed “political and other groups that would hinder the forward march of good government” as expressed in the work of the ad- ministration thus far. ernor’s plans depends upon the fidel- ity of the women voters of the State to the ideals they profess. While the women voters are not a majority of the electorate it is certain they are in sufficient number to constitute a “balance of power” amply able to con- trol in every contest between civic righteousness and corrupt govern- ment. The obvious purpose of the Governof is to enlist this potent force to oppose with all their strength “any legislation that sacrifices good government to Past experience has hardly justified his faith, but “hope springs eternal in the human breast,” and the future may develop a different point of feminine view. The main purpose of the joint ap- peal of the Governor and Dr. Potter is to create sentiment in favor of the blanket form of appropriating funds to community hospitals and other local charitable institutions. There are many and grave reasons for getting away from the old “log-roll- ing” method of dispensing these bene- volences, hut legislators are reluctant to adopt a policy which would de- prive the men and women of commun- ities all voice in the management of institutions they have made sacrifices to create, and there is reason for the hesitation. The Governor’s plan may become as vicious as the worst feature {of the ald gystemuand a8 difficult to ——It may seem strange but is nevertheless true that when Mr. Taulane was tendered a seat on the bench in Philadelphia he withheld acceptance until after he could con- sult the machine leaders. Discrepancies to be Explained. Nobody takes much interest in what State Treasurer Charles Snyder says an any subject and when he is talk- ing about Governor Pinchot he doesn’t seem to be very particular what he says. But in his somewhat melancholy swan song delivered in Harrisburg the other evening, in the form of his last annual report to the Legislature, he makes assertions that require ser- ious condition. For example, in ref- erence to the $29,000,000 deficit which the Governor declares he in- herited from the Sproul adniinistra- tion, Mr. Snyder boldly states “I now again, in the most emphatic manner, deny that such deficit ever existed, and challenge confirmation of the same from the books of the fiscal officers.” This claim of rescuing the State from bankruptcy has been the prin- cipal asset of the Pinchot administra- tion from the beginning. Upon that achievement he has constructed his clain that the “mess” at Harrisburg has been “cleaned up”, and the Com- monwealth not only set safely on a solvent but a “pay-as-you-go” basis. If there were no such delinquency Governor Pinchot has been making a false pretense and to a very consider- able extent “getting away with it.” If, as Mr. Snyder states, such deficiency never existed, the fraudulent claim | should be exposed. If the books of the fiscal officers will reveal the facts, and they ought to, it is the public duty of the fiscal officers to produce the records. In other paragraphs of the State Treasurer’s report it is alleged that the Pinchot administration expended $60,000,000 more during the first two years of its control than the Sproul administration spent in the previous two years, and that instead of de- creasing the cost of the State govern- ment for salaries by $1,372,000 in the biennium covered by the Pinchot ad- ministration, there was an increase in this item of $4,500,000. These discrepancies are too great to pass over without careful scrutiny and if the Governor is perpetrating such a fraud on the people of Pennsylvania he ought to be exposed. None of us is likely to take Charles Snyder's word on the subject, but the books are official. ~The failure of the world to end last Friday may have disappointed a few but most of us are fairly well satisfied. The success or failure of the Gov-' partisan politics.” | Amendment of Doubtful Value. If the effort to amend the pending legislation entitled the “enabling act for the sale of the $50,000,000 bond ! issue for good roads” had even the semblance of public interest in view, it { might be justified. But the plain pur- : pose of the proposed amendment is to humiliate the Governor. The act as | ' drawn vests in the Governor the con- ‘trol over the disposal of the bonds. ‘The proposed amendment creates a board composed of the Governor, the Auditor General and the State Treas- urer to exercise this power. The ori- ginal act is practically the same as the law under which the last highway loan was disposed of. In fact it is said that all previous bond issues have been so regulated. The Auditor General and State Treasurer, recently elected and to be inducted into office in May, are shin- ing lights in the temple of the State Republican machine. In any matter of disagreement between the Gov- ernor and the machine in the disposi- tion of the bonds or the employment of the funds obtained by sale of the bonds, the machine would have a ma- “jority of the board and the Governor "would be a nonentity in the proceed- ing. We are not over-confident of the wisdom of the present Governor but the Republican machine, as re- cently reorganized, is neither noted for wisdom nor celebrated for pro- bity, so that no great good will be accomplished by the proposed amend- ‘ment to the pending measure. The people of Pennsylvania want good roads and “they want what they | want when they want it.” Governor , Pinchot has been an earnest advocate of what the people want in this par- ticular matter and he has not allow~ led politics or any other extraneous | influence to interfere with his pur- pose to make the Highway Depart- , ment an efficient agency in the work for which it was created. If it had | been the custom to include the Audi- ' tor General and State Treasurer in | administering this trust there would ‘be no harm in the proposed amend- | ment. But even at that there is dan- ' ger in giving Bill Vare and Joe Grun- .dy control in the disbursing .of . so {large & sum of ‘money: ~~ “oo | ——The combine “reckoned with- out its host” when it practically ‘forced State chairman Baker and Governor Pinchot to join hands. It framed a fight between brains and . brute force. Pinchot’s Prohibition Message. For the third time this session, Gov- “ernor Pinchot addressed the Legisla- ture in joint session, on Tuesday ! afternoon. On the occasion of his ap- ' pearance to present his budget mes- | sage he was coldly received. Accord- ing to the newspaper reporters his | presence caused a chill that threat- ened to transform the chamber into i a pneumonia factory.. This time he staged the performance much better. We learn from the newspapers that a ! number of women and State employ- ees were present and led in a demon- stration that seemed like an enthus- | iastic reception. The Governor has | grown wise. { The purpose of his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday was to urge the enactment of certain prohi- bition legislation which failed of pas- sage during the session of two years .ago. And it is not exaggerating to say that he urged it with great force. He alleged that Philadelphia is a principal centre of the United States for the manufacture of illegal drink from denatured aleéohol and that Pitts- burgh is the centre for illegal beer. Within two years Philadelphia pro- duced 5,000,000 gallons of denatured alcohol and there are 100 breweries now operating in the State produc- ing illegal beer. The Governor not only revealed the colossal proportions of the business but gave in detail the processes by which those engaged in it are able'to avoid the penalties. His purpose is to stop this traffic and he believes the legislation he proposes will accom- plish that result. It is said that the Senators from Philadelphia and Pitts- burgh smiled derisively at his state- ments but they will regard them in a different light before the session is ended. We predict that the bill in question will pass and that any coun- try Legislator who votes against it will be on the retired list from the snd of the session to the end of his ife. One reason why Grundy op- poses the Pinchot budget is that a treasury deficit might compel the levy of a tax on manufacturers. ——Senator ‘Leslie, of Pittsburgh, may be an expert. “slum worker” in politics but he understands Harry Baker’s influence in the Senate. - This is Friday, the thirteenth, so if you are at all superstitious knock on wood. General Mitchell’s Charges. 'eertainly the most disturbing sub- t of discussion in Washington dur- ing the past week has been the testi- with re- Congressional committee, won distinction as an airman, | the opinion that the air service of the ! government ought to be under a sep- arate control rather than that of the War and Navy departments. The Sec- mony of Brig. Gen. Mitchell, before a | BELLEFONTE, PA., FEBRUARY 13. 1925. | t The State’s Child Labor Vote. i Probably the most interesting and From the Milwaukee Journal, It cannot be charged faizly that the thirteen States which have rejected the child labor amendment to the consti- tution want childhood exploited. For all of them have State shild employ- i ment laws of their own. And among { i spect to the efficacy and efficiency of | these States that make it impossible the air service of the government. It to have ratification now are Ohio, one seems that General Mitchell, who has | of only two States with the employ- is of | ment minimum as high as 16 years, and Kansas, that has held the lead in “reforms” since the day of Carry Na- tion. Nor will any one . seriously think that the campaign against the amendment by certain textile inter- | retary of War and the Secretary of ests, on the ground that it was an | the Navy, reluctant to i part of their authority, relinquish any entering wedge for Bolshevism, has take the op- frightened the legislatures into hasty | posite view of the subject and resent ' action. Each of the forty-eight States { the criticism of their subordinate. | General Mitchell holds that the ' maintenance of an air service bureau jor branch in the Navy department and another in the War department impairs the value of the service for the reason that duplication is in- evitable. Besides, he intimates that both branches thus maintained are under direction of officials not well in- formed on the subject and in support of his contention he cites cases in | which the service was glaringly in- efficient. Officials of both the War and Navy departments deny these statements and Secretary Weeks of the War department threatens to court martial the offender. That would be a hardship because the as- sertions were made not as an officer or individual but as a witness. The point at issue between the heads of the War and Navy depart- ments and the aviator are technical, but borrow public interest for the reason that the authority of Congress and the interest of the public are somewhat involved. If an army or navy officer is not allowed to tell the truth as he sees it Congressional in- vestigations of military and naval questions would degenerate into farces and the public would have no means of ascertaining the facts in any dispute. That would be an in- tolerable situation., On the other hand, if witnesses wearing uniforms ee compelled to perjure themselves (tify an even worse condition would i be created. ——Of course we’re not giving {credit to the groundhog but the | weather of the past week has been i mild enough to result in a general ‘ breakup of the long spell of winter ! and the melting of the greater portion | of the deep bed of snow. It has also ! resulted in raising all the streams in the county and should in a great meas- ure relieve the water famine that has existed in some sections the past month or six weeks. Spring creek was quite high on Monday night and came near reaching the danger point at the “Watchman” office. But for- tunately the high mark was about a foot below our press room floor and then the water began to recede. While the greater portion of the snow on the roads and in the fields has melted there is still an abundance of it in the mountains, but it is to be hoped that it will go away gradually and not re- sult in any damaging flood. — With all the melting of snow in consequence of the warm weather of the latter part of last week it was not until Monday that local streams were the least bit discolored. It is a mat- ter of much speculation as to where the snow went to. The ground was frozen so that very little or any wa- ter was taken up that way and as there was very little running it is evi- dent that most of it must have been taken into the air as moisture by the sun’s rays. Having been a very light snow of course its melting didn’t make as much water as a heavier one would have done. —— During the years 1923 and 1924 five boys were sent to the Industrial reformatory at Huntingdon by the Centre county court, making our total number there eight. Of this num- ber two were pardoned during the biennium, three paroled, four later given final release by court order, while three still remain in the insti- tution. It has cost the county $1107.- 82 to maintain them there during the two year period. i ——— A ——————— — Treasurer Snyder has exposed the “nigger in the woodpile.” He ad- mits that the amendment to the bond enabling act is intended to delay work on the highways until after Pinchot’s term expires. ——1It is said that Senator Pepper will make a fight for re-election. In other words, George Wharton is about to “spit in the eye of a bull dog.” o—— I ————— Following the example of Davy : Crocket’s coon - the Vare—Grundy combine capitulated when it saw the Pinchot guns pointing at it. i i will have to be sought elsewhere. already has child employment laws of varying stringency and so knows how much of Bolshevism there is in this kind of legislation. The main reason for this rejection It is not hard to find. When the pro- hibition amendment to the constitu- tion was adopted, few realized that if ! experience showed a need for revision Congress hands were tied. The amend- ment has been interpreted judicially to mean that physicians may be rigidly limited in the amount of liquor the may prescribe for patients. Suc rigidity was not contemplated. More- over, enforcement has been a continu- ous brawl, with revelations of cor- ruption that not even the most ardent antagonist of the amendment had prophesied. With this awakening to the inflexibility of the eighteenth amendment has come a distrust of anything labeled “An amendment to the constitution.” Here is the explanation for the quick rejection of the child labor amendment. And this suspicion of amendments shows a healthful trend in public thought. For we have been moving along toward a consolidated republic with an all powerful central government in place of a federal union. Protection of childhood from inhuman treatment is no new thing. For three-quarters of a century the States have been enacting laws to pro- tect their children, and the scope has been extended and enforcement made more rigid as public opinion grew in support of such laws. re is noth- ing to prevent the States from writ- irg upon their statutes - laws they want for children. now best serve their purpose by bend- ing their efforts to educational work. Lawlessness in New York. From the Philadelphia Record. “The Record” is astounded to learn, from New York advices, that the ballots cast in the November elec- tion in the Fourteenth Congressional district of the Empire State are being recounted by the Board of Elections, and that as a result of the opening of ballot-boxes in some : precincts and the correction of returns from others a Democratic candidate, who was shown to have been defeated by 126 votes on the original count, may prove to be the victor over his Republican opponent. The most cursory reference to the outcome of the election in the Twen- tieth Pennsylvania district, and to the decisions of our Courts thereon, will demonstrate that what is going on in New York is very irregular. In the Johnstown case the Republican can- didate was found to be the victor on the face of the returns. It was dis- covered that some of the returns were false, and the election officers asked the permission of the Court to correct them. This permission was granted; but when the Court discovered that a correct count would result in the elec- tion of Mr. Bailey, a Democrat, its Republican members decided that it was illegal to go behind the face of the returns. The Court consisted of one Democratic and one Republican, who held opposing views; so a third Judge, a Republican, was called in, and he decided the case, holding in effect that it was not the number of votes cast for a candidate, but the number originally counted for him, that must determine the result. The highest Court of the State refused to upset this decision. If this is good law in Pennsylvania, it ought to be good law in New York; for it was mot Pennsylvania law, which permits the correction of er- roneous or fraudulent election re- turns, but Federal law and practice that guided our Judges; and Federal law is the same the country over. Why does the New York Board of Elections waste its time recounting the ballots cast in the Fourteenth dis- trict and correcting the errors made in the original returns? How did a Grand Jury have the nerve to open a ballot-box used in an election for a United States office and expose the fact that a candidate har been done out of 22 votes in one precinct alone? The New York method may be based on common sense, and may be consonant with the principles of jus- tice; but what of it? Who wants justice when he can get law? Costly Tax Gathering. From the Washington Observer. - One of the many evils of this sys- tem is that it fosters increase in local taxation to make fatter fees for the collectors. Another is that the cost of living is increased because the cost of doing. business is increased. = An- other is that political machines are financed by fees. . em pe —————— SE———— a * Five hy ‘supporters of the amendment may SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —H. H. Dewey, of Gaines Junction, Pa., master of the Pennsylvania State Grange, announced on Monday that the next meet- ing of the organization will be held in Johnstown December 8, 9 and 10. —A verdict awarding a $5,000 accident insurance policy to Mrs. Ruth M. Norlund, rendered in the Lycoming county court, and appealed by the Reliance Life Insur- ance company, Pittsburgh, was affirmed on Monday by the State Supreme Court. —The Berwick plant of the American Car and Foundry company has received an order for one thousand sixty-five-ton steel box cars for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad. It is the largest order booked by that plant in some months. — Three small children of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Wingert were burned to death in their bedroom, on Monday evening, while their parents were doing evening chores at the barn on their farm six miles from Cham- bersburg. —Harry Kantner, 48 years of age, fell down a stairway twice Friday night at the home of Emory Miller, in Reading, where he was visiting. He was not hurt in the first fall. After the second fall, he was picked up about midnight by Raymond Price, a lodger in the house, with a broken neck. The fall had killed him. —Boys throwing stones at giant icicles that hung from a water tank of the Penn- sylvania Railroad at Barnesboro, last Wed- nesday afternoon cost the life of Frank Gosch; aged 13 years, son of John Gosch, of that place, who was caught under one of the icicles when it fell. His skull was fractured and his back broken, and he died half an hour after the accident. —Charges have been made against Sam- uel Alley, a Syrian, before Alderman Mantz, of New Castle, alleging that he at- tempted to force his daughter, Annie, 15 years old, to marry a man as old as her father. The father was to receive $1500 in the transaction, it is alleged. The charges have been preferred by county detective J. M. . Dunlap and humane officer W. W. Stevenson. ' — After writing a note in which she de- clared there was “no place in this world for a widow and her children,” Mrs. Rose Hall, 34 years old, of Albion, Erie county, according to police, administered poison to her two sleeping daughters and then took a quantity of the poison herself with fatal results. The two children recovered. The woman's husband was killed in a railroad accident six years ago. —Although picked up on a street in Pottsville, last Saturday, after an automo- bile had run over him and flattened him out, Heber Kramer, aged 20 years, 4 still living at the Pottsville hospital, and early this week was believed to be actually im- proving. It was necessary to lift up the auto to get Kramer from under and his chest was crushed, five ribs broken, lungs and liver punctured and his skull frac- tured in two places. —Calvin Hime, aged 57 years, of Ephra- ta, Lancaster county, was so amused by the antics of a fellow townsman under the influence of “white mule,” that he laughed himself to death. Hime was standing out- side his home in the borough when George Riddle appeared on the scene, Riddle showed the effects of too much moonshine. ; 8 the ge of under- coat. Af the height otibe excitement Hime fell dead. —Amos Tecuran, a Negro, employed at the mines at Black Run, Schuylkill county, was so sure on Friday that the world was coming to an end that he gave away all his clothes and jewelry, including a fine gold watch. On Saturday he wanted the articles back, but the recipients refused to return the goods and when Amos tried to have them arrested the justice of the peace told him his gifts were perfectly legal and the articles could not be recovered. —Ruth Angelo, 21 years old, of Sharps- burg, Westmoreland county, alleged ac- complice of George W. Trost, sentenced to serve from eleven to twenty-two years in the western penitentiary for his attempted robbery of the Delmont National bank on November 10, decided to enter a plea of guilty. She was sentenced to serve not less than four and not more than eight years in the western penitentiary on charges of attempted robbery and forgery. —Frank L. Clinefelter, a former employe of the Lawrence Savings Trust Company bank, in New Castle, entered a plea of guilty to forgery and smbezzlement in the Lawrence county court on Saturday morn- ing. He was sentenced to serve from six to twelve years in the western penitentiary by Judge S. P. Emery. The amount alleg- ed to have been taken from the bank was $17,000. The confessed theft occurred dur- ing a period preceding three years ago, when Clinefelter was employed by the bank. —John Oliver, of Wilkes-Barre, is mourning the loss of his wife, and savings of $000. John Patony, a border, has dis- appeared also. Oliver has five children. Mary Oliver, the mother, departed without warning after being married fourteen years. Oliver consented to take in a boarder to help finance the enterprise of a new home last year, and when the wife de- manded, several days ago, that the money be placed in her hands so that she might apply it to the debt, Oliver gave it to her. The next day the wife, the money and the boarder disappeared. —Miss Paula Rossler, who is a patient in the Williamsport hospital under guard, being charged with having disposed of her child and then tried to burn it in the fur- nace at the home in which she was em- ployed, and Gustave Schaefer, who has been arrested as the father of the child, were married in the hospital on Friday by the Rev. Theodore Beck. It is understood that the charge against the man will not be dropped. An information was made be- fore Alderman George B. Allen the day of the wedding in which the woman is charg- ed with “concealing child murder,” and a warrant was issued for her arrest. —George Hopper, a legless shoemaker, late on Monday prevented the escape from the Columbia county jail at Bloomsburg of Alexander Green, colored, of Philadelphiy, serving twenty years for murder, Hopper saw Green scale the wall with a rope blan- ket and telephoned to sheriff Gunther. Deputy sheriff Whitenigst was only a min- ute or two behind Green and caught him within two blocks of the jail. Green was taken to Bloomsburg eighteen months ago from the eastern penitentiary and had been a model prisoner. He was in the jail yard when he climbed ‘the rope made of blan- kets, fastened to the bars of his cell. Reaching the top of the wall he pulled the rope up after him and dropped it down on the outside. .
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers