INK SLINGS. —Writes H. H. G. to Levi P., I quite agree, that a “nip” o’ “tea,” is just the thing for you and me. —Possibly Secretary Mellon is mad ‘because Senator Couzens has pretty _ near as much money as he has: - —Among the appropriation bills re- ported out of committee on Tuesday ‘was one for $1,055,000 for the west- ern penitentiary. —Herbert Hoover is still in the “Cabinet, but one hears little of him ‘these days. Can it be that Herb. has xun out of ideas? —The Schantz bill providing for the retail sale of oysters by count, instead of by measure as now, will get the purchaser nowhere. Dealers will just «charge that much more for the bi- ‘valves and be in the soup. —-Senators LaFollette, Frazier, ‘Brookhart and Ladd, having been summarily kicked out of the Republi- can household, are probably not wor- rying as much about where they will go as are those who evicted them. —We’re for the bill introduced in the Legislature, Monday, by Repre- sentative Derby, of Lackawanna. It is designed to prevent candidates for -office from running on more than one party ticket. It will not be passed, but it ought to. —If the Legislature were smart it ‘would pass its special hospital bills, put them up to the Governor and then act on his pet measures in the light of what he does to the bills the Members and their constituency back home are really most interested in. —TRobins are here aplenty, spring is just eight days in the offing, winter flannels are getting scratchy, rhubarb is bulging through the ground and the lawn mower is looking like it needs sharpening and grease. But wait— the saplin bender, the poor man’s ma- nure and the onion snows are yet to come. —The President gave one of his «clerks a ten dollar prize for suggest- ing possible economies to be effected in running the White House, then he rode to the other end of the Avenue and signed the bill increasing the pay .of Senators and Congressmen to the aggregate of nearly a million dollars a year. —The House committee on railroads killed the full crew bill on Tuesday. It was a very proper action, for a full «crew, as the bill interpreted it, merely meant a few more needless men riding on trains at present sufficiently man- ned, and being paid for the snit by shippers of freight and passengers on the same trains. —The technical reason for the de- motion. Mitchell is given as criticism of his superior officers. The ~real reason was fear on the part of his swivel-chair over-lords that the country ‘would discover that when it comes down to real knowledge of con- «ditions in the army and navy General Mitchell has no superior officers. —Suggestions for saving what the enemy is disposed to describe as “the wreck of the Democratic ship” are as numerous as those for the cure of coughs, cold and consumption. Every political quack in the country has a nostrum to be tried. The party has been doping itself with that kind of stuff too much these last twenty years. It is not a wreck. It is only in a fog that has thrown it off its course. Let us chuck the un-Demo- cratic panaceas overboard and sail the course charted by Jefferson and Jack- son and it will come into a port of vic- tory in 1928. —We hear that residents of south Spring street are going to fight the proposal to widen that thoroughfare. The block in question is no narrower than five others on the same street and is exceeded in width by only two other streets in town. It is wider than many city streets that are carry- ing far heavier traffic and, naturally, some of its residents are up in arms against the proposal. Council will probably do as it pleases in the mat- ter, but, from news filtering in here, not before there has been a show- down as to the rights of the borough and those of the property holders. —In sustaining a verdict for ten thousand dollars awarded a Philadel- phia woman by a lower court for in- juries sustained by her husband, when he was run down by an automobile at a street crossing, the U. S. Circuit court of appeals, on Tuesday handed down an opinion of great interest to every automobile driver. The court held that on a street crossing the pe- destrian has the paramount right and every driver of a car, no matter what the signals or other conditions may be, must approach a crossing with his car under such control that he or she can stop on the shortest possible no- tice. —Vice President Dawes could have saved the President the humiliation of having his appointee for Attorney General of the United States rejected by the Senate, had he been in his place on Tuesday to cast the vote that would have broken the tie and confirmed the nomination of Charles Beecher War- ren. Gen. Dawes may plead misinfor- mation as to when the vote on War- ren would be taken but the public re- members that Warren, chairman of the resolutions committee at the Cleve- land convention, was the only member of the Michigan delegation who refus- ed to vote to put Dawes on the ticket for Vice President. It was the first rejection of a cabinet appointment in fifty-seven years and there is likely to be a “hell and Maria” time about it. STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. VOL. 70. Couzens Refused Seat on Finance Committee. The press dispatches from Wash- ington indicate pretty clearly that boss government is to be the rule in the future. The action of the Re- publican Senators in excluding from their councils all members of that body who supported LaFollette was promptly followed by similar ostrac- ism in the House. Now it appears that recalcitrants, whether they supported LaFollette or not, are to be penalized and only those who swear allegiance to the machine may expect favors. This was demonstrated beyond ques- tion in the refusal of the Republican Senatorial caucus to give Senator Couzens, of Michigan, a coveted seat at the table of the Senate committee on finance, though his fitness for that office is obvious. Senator Couzens is a very able man and has had much experience in big business affairs, but he is a trifle too independent. When he entered the Senate, by appointment, as the suc- cessor of the disgraced and despised Newberry he might have assumed a leading position in the chamber. But he didn’t approve of some of the methods in vogue by the party mana- gers and as the head of a subcommit- tee charged with an inquiry into oper- ations of the treasury aroused the antagonism of Secretary Mellon. His opposition to the Mellon tax bill fur- ther incensed the party managers and vent his election. This was deemed unwise, however, and he was allowed to go through. Bat recent events lead to the belief that he has not been forgiven. His efficient service in the investigation of the Treasury had given him a fond- ness for details in treasury opera- tions and he expressed, “through the regular channels,” a desire for a place propositions. agencies have been set in motion to defeat his ambition in that direction and the caucus decided to fill the va- cancy on! that committee by appoint- ing Wadsworth, a harmless but par- tisan nobody. Couzens will be chair- map of the, Gixil Service committee, aaa be able to make the machine regret that it snubbed him by refusing his modest request. ——Those Democratic Senators who forces to organize the Senate are sufficient rope is provided the Repub- lican machine will “hang itself.” Not an Enduring Triumph. The little flurry of independence re- vealed in the Senate, in Washington on Saturday, when in spite of the op- position of the administration forces the consideration of the nomination of Charles B. Warren, for Attorney General, was in open session should not be construed as a guarantee of future freedom from machine control. So many Senators had committed themselves on the subject in advance of the crisis which came unexpectedly on Saturday that any other result was impossible. A refusal to treat the subject in open session would have been stultification to all those Sena- tors who demanded publicity during and before the Harding regime. Through a temporary victory over invisible government the event was an achievement of considerable value. It enabled Senator Walsh, of Mon- tana, to lay before the country the record of the nominee and inferential- ly expose the influences which con- trol the Coolidge appointments to office. “Confirm this nomination,” Senator Walsh declared, “and you may as well hang out a sign that for the life of this administration the Sherman act is suspended. Confirm this man and extend an invitation to every plundering monopoly in this country to do what it pleases.” Mr. Warren served the Sugar trust not as an attorney but as an agent to crush out opposition and create a monopoly. Senator Borah, of Idaho, led the independent forces against the ma- chine and made the strong point that in discriminating against the Sen- ators who voted for LaFollette the constituents rather than the Senators were penalized. But it is not safe to depend on Borah in future emer- gencies. He “thunders in the index” but yields to the force of circum- stances and the machine has a way of getting and using him when it needs his services. In this instance he served the public well and maybe willingly. But in a graver matter he is likely to serve the machine with equal zeal and efficiency. The result of his course was satisfactory on Sat- urday but not an assurance for the future. The late President Ebbert, of Germany, didn’t accomplish much but the people there will be lucky if his successor does as well. for a time it was their purpose to pre- | on the committee that handles tax | But some underground ; indirectly helped the administration | probably acting on the theory that if | Impending Fight for Senator. The friends of Senator Pepper pro- fess complete confidence that he will be renominated and re-elected next year, notwithstanding the opposition of Vare, Grundy and Pinchot. It is | certain that this triumvirate will be against him in whatever form will ! prove most effective. Vare and Pin- chot are aspirants for the favor and i each hopes that he will be chosen as i the entrant. Mr. Grundy would pre- fer a candidate of his own selection but is willing to yield to exigencies and accept either of the others. But they will go the limit to defeat Pep- ‘per. They are all practical men and political traders who will hesitate at ‘nothing to accomplish their purpose, “which is to force Pepper “off the po- litical map.” The friends of Senator Pepper base "their confidence in his success against the combination of Vare, Grundy and Pinchot, in whatever form it may as- ' sume, on an analysis of the vote for ; delegate-at-large to the Republican , National convention last spring. In : that contest Mr. Pepper polled 560,133 { votes against 500,950 for Vare and 304,036 for Pinchot. Pepper and Vare | had the support of the organization { alike, so that it is obvious that Vare is the weaker as between them. Pin- chot’s strength may be characterized i as purely personal, though in the ear- | ly stages of the campaign he was in the ; machine favor. In the impending con- | test Vare will be opposed by the ma- ' chine outside of Philadelphia. The combined vote of Vare and Pin- chot in the selection of delegate to the convention considerably exceeded that of Senator Pepper, but it is not prob- able that it could be combined on eith- er of them even under agreement of the leaders. In Philadelphia most of those who supported Pinchot last year would go to Pepper against Vare and the personal following of the Gover- nor in the rural sections could hardly be delivered to Vare as against any other candidate. Still there is an ele- ment of uncertainty in the equation. Pinchot and Vare are both very rich men and in support of their ambitions exceedingly liberal. Both of them have long cherished a desire to occu py a seat in the United States Senate. ——The good of the service, accord- ing to the interpretation of Secretary Weeks, requires subordinate officers to perjure themselves to cover up the | blunders of their superiors. Undesirable Legislation. The Newspaper Legislative bulle- tin, to which we made reference last week, calls attention to a pending measure the purpose of which seems to be to conceal information that ought to be made public. It is known as Senate bill 390, and provides for “the repeal of all laws requiring the publication of mercantile appraisers’ lists.” It was introduced by Senator Griswold on February 18th, and is still in committee. No reasons have been given for such legislation though it may be assumed the purpose is to save the expense of publication. A cursory examination of the measure fails to reveal any merit to justify it. It might cause loss rather than gain to the taxpayers. As the bulletin observes, there is no , demand on the part of the public that this information be withheld. It is important that the people should know what mercantile taxes are paid and which of the merchants in the several communities pays them, and the expense of the publication of the lists under existing laws is not great. The author of the measure may have imagined that his action would spite some local publisher or punish some personal enemy. Or he may have had some other good or ulterior idea in his mind. But he has adopted a doubtful medium in either event. Pub- licity does no harm to any just cause and saving money is not always wise in public affairs. Secrecy is not desirable in the ad- ministration of public affairs. More crime has been covered up, more graft encouraged by concealment than in any other way. Public officials who are performing their duties properly have no need of concealment. As a rule they prefer full publicity of their operations. The public is not nig- gardly, either. Just obligations are cheerfully met and discharged. It is only wasteful expenditures that are complained of, and giving needed or desired information to the public is not wasteful, if the cost is fair and reasonable. Senator Griswold should recall his legislation on this subject. Or it should be defeated. rn ps — fr ———— ——The Senate may adopt a clo- ture but it will not be moved to that ‘action by the methods adopted by Vice President Dawes. The sarcophagus of King Sene- fero has been discovered and the search for ancient relics is making gratifying progress. Brigadier General Mitchell has paid the penalty of telling the truth con- cerning the - inefficiency of certain bureaus of the government. He has been reduced to the rank .of Colonel and will probably never be allowed to rise higher. Beaurocratic govern- ment can’t afford criticism and a sub- ordinate officer who has brains must suppress his opinions or withdraw from the service. General Mitchell felt that it was his duty to give the public information upon a subject of which he is an acknowledged master. His superior officers assumed that the public has no right to know how well or ill they perform their work, Mitch- ell was admonished to remain silent but paid no heed. The beginning of the quarrel was in’ the publication of opinions which General Mitchell held with respect to the relative value of the air service as a defensive agent compared with the army and navy. Before venturing an expression he submitted the matter to the President who replied that if his theories were not objected to by his superior officers they might be pub- lished. Thereupon he outlined his theories to his immediate superior who offered no objection to the publi- cation of a series of articles in a mag- azine. But the Secretary of War adopted a different view of the ques- tion and controversy followed which led to a Congressional investigation in which bitter animosities developed. In beaurocratic government secrecy is essential, for the blunders as well as the crimes of those in control must be kept in concealment. That being true, if it is the policy of our public officials to promote beaurocratic methods General Mitchell made a grave mistake in exposing the secrets of the service. On the other hand, if the purpose of those in authority. is to take the public into their confidence and strive for improvement, if not perfection, in administration, it would seem that General Mitchell has been unjustly punished for the fulfillment of a moral obligation to the people. In any event it would seem to any falt minded observer that there is ymething wrong in Washington. | ——Unless the present Legislature changes the date it is just thirty- three days to the opening of the trout fishing season and we know a number of men who are already becoming as restless as a one armed paper hanger with a bad attack of hives. Of course the tang of spring is in the air, the sap is running and the lure of the great outdoors is coursing through the blood of man. Then it is also re- ported that this should be a good year for trout. Most of the streams were liberally stocked last fall and while the winter was long and. cold none of the mountain streams were frozen dry so that trout fishing should be good. —The Governor and Dr. Ellie Pot- ter think that appropriations to state hospitals should be made in a lump sum so that Ellie can dole it out to them according to the whim that seiz- es her. Section 15 of Article III of the organic law of the State specific- ally says that all such appropriations “shall be made by separate bills each embracing but one subject.” - But what’s the constitution between Gif. and Ellie. —The United dry bill is having its own troubles in the Legislature. The druggists, the paint manufacturers, the candy makers, all have been pick- ing it to pieces and the Grange pro- tests against placing its enforcement on the Department of Agriculture. Even Dr. Clyde King, Pinchot’s yes man, refuses to assume the burden of having his department take it on. ——A movement has been started at Mifflinburg to induce the State Highway Department to take over the fourteen mile Narrows between that place and Woodward, Centre county. Petitions will be sent to the depart- ment in the near future presenting the reasons why the State should add this piece of road to its primary system. ——It is said that our Governor was the most picturesque feature of the inaugural parade and nobody en- joyed the distinction more than Giff. ——The leases of the Teapot Dome may be broken and the government rights restored but the credit is not due to the Republican party. mm — pf ———— ——Senator Couzens may get him- self into a law suit but it is a safe bet that the other fellow will find trouble in pressing it. ‘ ————————— a ——— ~——President Coolidge preaches po- litical morality but practices machine methods. ——Experience is a dear teacher but in most cases it is worth all it costs. BELLEFONTE, PA.. MARCH 13, 1925. | Punished for Telling the Truth. | From the Philadelphia Record. ‘compensation on a higher level than NO. 11. Johnny Ward, Oldtimer. The recent announcement from Georgia of the death there of John Montgomery Ward must have stirred the heart-strings and the memories of many a gray-haired baseball fan; and it should also have drawn the inexpen- sive tribute of a tear from every pro- fessional ball player of this day, for it was Ward, more than any other one man, who made possible the princely salaries that the athletic employees of organized baseball now enjoy. Long before he became John Mont- gomery Ward, Esq., of the New York bar, Johnny Ward was a big figure in the national game. Since he was born in Bellefonte (the date was March 3, 1860), it was natural that if he went to college at all the State College there should get him. It did, and he made the baseball team, of course. It was there that he learned (among the first) to pitch a curved ball. He pitch- ed later for Renovo, for the Philadel- phia Athletics and other teams in this State; but it was with the old Provi- dence Grays that he made his first big hit in the professional ranks. Then New York got him, and in the metrop- olis he attained a popularity which was a match—or as near as it could be in those days—for that now enjoy- ed by Babe Ruth. ; Ward was a great player—a great pitcher and a still greater shortstop —but it is as an organizer and a fight- er for the rights of his fellows that he will be longest remembered in the game. When the Brotherhood fight broke out in 1890 he took the Brook- lyn Players’ League under his leader- ship and won an honorable peace. From this grew those several agree- ments between magnates and players which gave the latter the large share of profits many of them now enjoy from their athletic activities. The Irresponsible Conflict. Frank Simonds in American Review of Re- views. f Only the French veto prevents Ger- many from being as great or even greater in the Europe of today than she was in the Europe of 1918. If the Europe which was created after the war endures, it will be Plainly Because French power has supplied to the new States that period of time necessary for them to become feneible States Themselves. If Germany is n t, a quarter of a century hence; Tiamas-) cause France has prevented it; and French policy is based ‘ the ines- capable fact that in a Europe domi- nated by a supreme Germany, French security and French independence are both impossible * * . If Germany were actually crushed, if it were possible to imagine such a condition, French security would be absolute; if France were smashed there would be no single force or com- bination of forces in Europe which could deny Germany a continental su- premacy greater than that of any State since the age of Napleon the Great. But, as it stands, the mini- mum of each, from its own point of view, seems to the other to deny a corresponding minimum. Compro- mise has proved impossible, funda- mental conditions have worsened, Franco-German relations have been and are unmistakably leading all Eu- rope toward another abyss. That is the solemn fact, the supreme fact of contemporary European history. Brighter Plumage for Man. I'rom the New York Sun. With the arrival of Monsieur R. de Tirtoff Erte from Paris the life of the American male at once becomes pros- pectively brighter. M. Erte is a de- signer of clothes—a fashion arbiter, in fact. But he is less cruel to the American husband, brother and father than such of his fellow arbiters as the great Murdocke of England. Mr. Murdocke came here last De- cember assuring us that man was just a background and that his clothes should accordingly match subdued things like twilights, mice, spider webs and London fogs. The ladies, it seem- ed, must have them so to set off their own brighter plumage. But M. Erte is kinder—or more rebellious. He de- fies Mr. Murdocke and the ladies. His goal seems to be a bright red suit for evening wear. He has already design- ed and wears one of a beautiful brownish violet. To be sure, even M. Erte is a com- promiser. He does not advocate a re- bellion that will affect man in his shop or office. He would leave daytime clothes sober grays, browns, blacks and blues. Still, the prospect of emancipation for a few hours at night is alluring. Man, who used to wear tunics of crimson and togas of purple, who achieved plum colored coats and plumed hats and gorgeous hose, may eventually get back a portion of his sartorial freedom. An evening suit of brownish violet —him— Still, all great reforms must have their beginnings. ————— Salary Juggling. From the Scranton Times. Fixing the pay of subordinate coun- ty officials by statute is a wrong practice, one that has been frequent- ly resorted to in recent years by un- derstrappers in an effort to put their could be wrung from local salary boards. ——Vice President Dawes will be ee SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —William Trimble, 70 years old, sexton of the Indiana, Pa., cemetery fell dead into a grave last Friday, which he had been digging for Mrs. Joseph Welteroth. Heart disease caused his death. He was dead about five hours before his body was dis- covered by a person walking through the cemetery. : —Members of the Legislature from the mining counties will decide whether bare legs are proper or not on a theatre stage. Representative Thomas J. Burke, of Phil- adelphbia, has introduced a bill to bar bare legs from theatre stages in the “State. Speaker Bluett has referred the bill to the House committee on coal and iron. —Suit was entered in the Clearfield county courts on Monday of this week by Bell & Brockbank and Liveright & Chase, representing Mrs. Sophia Gleason, against the Continental Casualty company in an effort to recover $15,000, the amount of an accident policy held by the late James A. Gleason, of DuBois, in that company. —Alleging alienation of her husband's affections, Mrs. Elizabeth Degroot, af Cata- sauqua, has filed a suit in court at Allen- town against Mrs. Annie Kemmerling, a widow of that city, for $50,000 damages. Mrs. Degroot is the head of the mothers’ pension fund in Lehigh county and mem- ber of the Republican county committee. —B. B. Hunter, former cashier of the Peoples’ Bank of Marianna, Washington county, arrested last week on a charge of embezzlement of funds of the institution, waived a hearing before an alderman and was held under $15,000 bail for court. Bank officials announced the shortage would be less than the amount of the bond instead of $41,000 as originally stated. —After pleading guilty to defrauding the East Prospect State bank in York county of $23,000, Ernest L. Burg, former cashier of the institution, and Roy J. Sit- ler, merchant, were each given a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined $25. The defendants were paroled because the mon- ey taken was returned without loss to the bank and because of the former good repu- tations the two men bore. —Arrested by postal inspectors three months ago on charges of using the mails for purposes of extortion, Chauncey F. Pyle, of Chester, has been indicted by the federal grand jury. Pyle is alleged to have written T. Woodward Trainer, prominent Chester resident, demanding $5000 for the release of his 18 year old son, whom he said had been captured by rum runners. Before the demand was made, the youth was drowned at Cape May while trying to rescue a drowning girl, ard kis body has ‘not been recovered. — The United States Circuit Court of Ap- peals last week sustained the federal dis- trict court of Philadelphia in awarding $35,568 insurance money to the estate of Oscar W. Rosier, of Philadelphia, who with his stenographer, was shot and killed by Rosier’s wife. The award was made under a double indemnity clause of four insurance policies for an accidental death. The insurance companies paid the single indemnity but fought the double payment on the contention that Rosier met death while “violating the law.” —-On information sworn out by Val Shoenberger, postal inspector for the east- ern district on Thursday afternoon, Harry J. Kramer, postmaster of Laureldale, Schuylkill county, was arrested on charges Tithe postoffice at that place. He was held under bail for court by Federal Commis- sioner Malzberger, of Reading. Kramer was relieved of his position and A. C. Go- heen, a druggist, sworn as acting post- master. The charge alleges funds slightly less than $1,000 were taken. —An attempt to steal a kiss from dam- sels fair upon the broad highways consti- tutes attempted highway robbery Judge Johnson ruled in the Delaware county court last Thursday, in sentencing James Irvin, 23 years of age, of Addingham, Pa. to from six months to a year’s imprison- ment. Irvin, who recently went to Media from Tennessee, pleaded guilty to the charge, made by two girls. A passerby, in the role of Knight Errant at the time, it was testified, rescued the distressed fair ones, and unromantically turned Irvin over to the police. 1 — Entering the office of the ‘Butler Oil company, in Altoona, by way of a side window, thieves early Saturday morning made away with the company safe contain- ing $245 and a number of checks. The safe was found on Saturday afternoon lying along the road leading from Llyswen to near Eldorado where it had been thrown after being blown open and rifled of the contents. Members of the Hollodaysburg detachment of State police are working on the robbery but as yet have learned but little regarding the identity of those who committed the theft. — Mrs. Charles Buhrman and Mrs. Daniel Garver, of Waynesboro, were attacked by a young Holstein bull on Monday, but were saved from serious injury by the arrival of James Reed. Both women were knock- ed down, and when the former fell, her chin struck a stake, which inflicted an ug- ly wound and which broke one of her teeth. While Mrs. Garver was on the ground the bull ran up to her and struck her in the side with its horns, causing a bad wound. Reed stood on the running- board of an automobile and roped the ani- mal after a chase into the business section of the town. Scores saw the capture. — Refusing to divulge the combination of his safe in which was stored his life's earnings to even his wife, Simon Horo- shack, Shamokin groceryman, died two two weeks ago. In the safe were stored considerable change placed there by Mr. Horoshack the night before taking ill, in- surance and other valuable papers and his will bequeathing his entire estate to the widow. In answer to urgent summons, Russel Blauvitz, expert locksmith, the other night and before members of the family grouped about the room, swung open the iron doors of the safe, with little difficulty, revealing its valuable contents intact. —The bodies of three young girls werd recovered from a reservoir mear Johns- town late on Saturday, after the girls had been drowned when a thin coating of ice over the dam gave away beneath their weight. The dead are Frances Doubt, aged 10 years, and Olive Doubt, 13, sisters, and Carrie Randolph, aged 12 years. An hero- ic effort to save the girls was made by Em- ma Grace Randolph, 14 years old, a sister of Carrie Randolph, and the fourth mem- ber of the party that had been spending the day playing on the ice-covered dam. Her efforts were unsuccessful and the girl finally was forced to save herself. She then ran a half mile in her wet clothing to procure assistance, but when help arrived the bull in the Senatorial china shop. | the girls had disappeared.