Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, July 17, 1925, Image 1
Broa fim INK SLINGS. —Most of the grain in Centre coun- ty is in shock and much of it has been found to be frosted and blighted with rust. —Possibly, when people come to re- alize that they are safer in a church pew than they are on the highways there will be more of them at church on Sunday. —Governor Pinchot might think an extra session of the Legislature de- sirable, but we can’t conceive of any other Pennsylvanian being in the same state of mind. —“Midnight Frolics” and Sunday baseball games, advertised for a near- by pleasure resort, certainly indicate a marked change in the outlook on life by the present generation in Centre county. —Having returned to the State Governor Pinchot may be expected to start another Fourth of July celebra- tion. Doubtless his investigators have gathered together a lot of fire works for him to put off. —Let us hope that the effort of Dayton, Tenn., to get on the map by way of the Scopes’ evolution trial doesn’t end in the dismal disaster that befell Shelby, Montana, when she un- dertook to stage the Dempsey-Jeffries fight. —The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that a Williamsport doctor has isolated the “ammonia” germ. It is probably the pathogenic bacteria that causes some people to contract what they call “am- monia.” —A Sunday Pittsburgh paper an- nounced that a citizen of that center of iron and steal had gotten as far away from home as Palestine. We watch the evolution of Pittsburghers with great interest. When we first came to know them they were content to wander as far as Red Mason’s place at McKees Rocks. Then they ventured to Cresson and later to At- lantic City. We understand those mi- grations, but we can’t just get the idea of a Pittsburgher having any in- terest in Palestine. —The clash between the Federal authorities and Anti-Saloon League has an interesting outlook. The de- termination of the government to ap- ply the “acid test” t5 the Volstead law by enforcing it to the letter doesn't meet with favor in the higher councils of the League. Just why, is not ex- plained, though the suspicion is aroused that League officials see the possibility of the disappearance of the fat salaries they have been drawing. Their contention that enforcement “ought to be. in the hands of its friends” is tantemount to saying that the government is incapable of admin- istering its own affairs. —Having just returned from a week of rest we're here to say that it’s going to take three or four weeks to recover from the strenuosity of tiy- ing to have a good time doing noth- ing for seven days. We love a fishing camp, the solemn grandeur of the mountains, and the rifles and pools of a trout stream. We love the com- panionship of genial fellows about the evening camp fire, the awful stillness of the night and the matutinal songs of the forest birds. We love to cook and serve the camp breakfast and hopefully start for another morning on the stream. But love is a state of heart and mind. It never grows old. Muscles and nerves do and because they do we're in a darned sight worse condition today than we thought we were in when we rolled down the top of the desk a week ago. —Two Women. Wednesday night we took the boys down to the carnival. It so happened that in the lay-out the ferris wheel heads the Midway and to its right is a baby rack. We have al- ways loved baby racks, ever since Ez- ra Kendall cracked his premier joke about them. The boys wanted to ride the wheel, but the old man wanted to see them throw balls at the babies, so we compromised by letting them ride the wheel first. We had had a hard day. There were few people on the carnival d and business had not opened, so we rested weary bones cn the baby rack counter until the boys got off the wheel to join us in the game. There were two fine little fel- lows behind the counter to whom we talked until a woman, evidently the proprietress, came along and fired us from the seat. Of course the mon- ey we intended to fritter away there wouldn’t have made or broken her. That isn’t the idea. There was no business in sight on the grounds at the time so we were not jamming any- think and know enough about the game not to have done what we did had there been any chance of it. The thought is to bring out the contrasts in human nature. Half an hour later we were standing in front of a show called “Happyland,” waiting for the boys to come out. It was their second visit. In front, looking eagerly, was a group of other little fellows, appar- ently without the price of a lollypop. The woman ticket seller noticed them and with a smile that was the truest thing we saw that night, she bade all of them go in and have a look. There were nine of them in that bunch. We don’t know how many little hearts she made happy Wednesday night without loss to her business, but we do know that that woman is an asset to Harry Copping. Were there more of her type and fewer of the other in the show business the public attitude to- wards them would be more friendly. (2 Gs = > enacra v . 1( RO! Gt VOL. 70. ‘STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. Sham Battle on Taxation. The predictions of a bitter fight among Republicans in Congress on the question of tax reduction should not be taken too seriously. The gos- sip is that the administration will in- sist on big cuts on surtaxes and in- heritance taxes, while another faction of the party protest that “there are other factors which should have first attention.” Both sides express con- fidence, however, that the President’s program “will have more cohesive support than a year ago.” In other words, it would seem that the conten- tion among Republican leaders on the subject of taxation is likely to degen- erate into a sham battle staged for the purpose of diverting public atten- tion from a real tax reduction. Neither the President nor those Re- publican leaders in the Senate, headed by Senator Couzens, of Michigan, want any decrease in tariff taxation, which is the only tax reduction worth while or that will materially benefit the people. The surtaxes may be bur- densome to the few who enjoy in- comes of fifty thousand dollars a year or over, and the inheritance taxes may hit pretty hard legatees of vast es- tates, an equally meager bunch. But tariff taxes impose burdens on mil- lions of consumers of every necessary of life and the less able they are to pay the harder the blow strikes. Moreover the incomes and inheritance taxes go into the treasury while most of the tariff taxes go to party favor- ites. These crafty statesmen imagine that by organizing and for a time maintaining a pretended quarrel among themselves on unimportant questions of direct taxation they will cause real tax reformers to neglect opportunities to correct the faults of the tariff laws and thus renew for an indefinite period the license now held by campaign contributors to loot the public by excessive tariff taxation. We hope this expectation will be dis- appointed during the coming session of Congmess, and that a measure will be pressed for the relief of the indi- rect: taxpayers/who are paying exor- bitant. for everything they eat and Eine Repiblicans in Con- gress are a unit on tariff taxation. —If the League of Women Voters really intend to continue their effort to correct the system of tax collection they will all vote against gang candi- dates for the Legislature next year. Pinchot is Home. What Next? Governor Pinchot has returned from his extended western tour of uncertain purpose and finds a lot of work cut out for him. During his absence all the politicians of his party were guessing as to what he was talking and traveling for. Now that he is home they are busy conjecturing what he intends to do next. There are a lot of things that ought to be done. But when they will be done and how is left to the imagination. It may be assum- ed, however, that the Pittsburgh bank scandals will receive early attention and that out of them will come some grave negotiations or drastic punish- ments. Both friends and enemies of the Governor are involved. It is possible that Mr. Pinchot will take early occasion to inform the pub- lic not only why he made his pilgrim- age to the West but what he accom- plished. If it was for the purpose of promoting his Senatorial ambition it may be written down as a failure. le did utter some strong words about Secretary Mellon and use some bitter language concerning the Pennsylvania political machine. But voters in far western States have no voice in the selection of a Senator for Fennsylva- nia and the political machine here doesn’t care much what far western- ers think of it. But if his mental eyes were focussed on the Republican con- vention of 1928 he may have “cut some ice.” Prohibition and conserva- tion are strong out there. During the Governor’s absence his subordinates in office have been active in the investigation of the Pittsburgh bank scandals and no doubt they have accumulated considerable store of po- litical ammunition for use in the event he concludes to run for Senator. But the Governor does not always use his ammunition in a destructive way and as a great many influential politicians are interested in the suppression of facts, it is possible that the ammuni- tion will be conserved for constructive purposes. As the late Colonel Roose- velt might say, he and Max Lesl’e are “practical men” and the menace to Max might be employed as a boosting agent for Gifford. Time will tell. ——Nearly 800 automobile drivers’ licenses have been revoked this year, which indicates that the authorities have not been altogether neglectful. ii ——The Dayton trial may not have much effect on the question of evolu- tion but it is likely to make monkeys of some of the lawyers. | Looks Like a Political Game. There are growing suspicions that the anthracite scale commission which assembled at Atlantic City last week, is little more than a political “listen- ing post.” The big men of the coal producers’ organization were conspic- uously absent from the early meetings of the conference and Mr. Lewis is ab- sent from the sessions this week. The only persons who are regular in at- tendance are the “official observers” appointed by the Governor and those named by the Secretary of Labor at Washington, who is an aspirant for the Republican nomination for Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania. As one of the newspaper correspondents in attend- ance writes, these men can do noth- ing “except run up expense bills,” which the public must pay. Two years ago a similar condition existed and after the operators and miners finally disagreed Governor Pin- chot “made himself solid” with both sides by declaring each should have what it asked at the expense of the consumers. The miners demanded an increase in wages and the operators insisted on an increase in price of coal equal to and a trifle more than neces- sary to cover the increase in wages. This decision cost the consumers of anthracite a couple of hundred mil- lions of dollars, but it made the Gov- ernor look like a great adjuster of difficulties to those who were scared stiff over the prospects of a real coal famine, and the Governor enjoyed the distinction thus bestowed upon him immensely. The fuel question is one of great importance in this State and through- out the country. It has been brought into public notice and created popular anxiety periodically for several years. The surprising result of the scale com- mittee conference two years ago cre- ated the suspicion that the coal opera- tors and coal miners were in collusion in an enterprise to loot the consumers and were aided and abetted in the ne- | tarious scheme by a Governor, who was seeking personal approval at any expense to the people. The trick was successfully pulled off then, and the ‘fort will be made to repeat it this year. But the expectation of the con- spirators may be disappointed. — Centre county’s allotment from the five million dollar fund for State aid road construction for 1925 is $61,- 773.51, based on the 1,001 miles of road within the county. Pepper for Wet Enforcement Officers. It is generally agreed that the com- parative failure of prohibition enforce- ment is ascribable to sinister political influence in the selection of enforce- ment agents. In Pennsylvania this is notoriously true. From the beginning men have been employed in the serv- ice who were not only entirely out of sympathy with their work but ready and willing to aid in the defeat of the purpose for which they were employ- ed. One of the assistant United States Attorney Generals declared some months ago in Philadelphia that it was impossible to enforce the Vol- stead law in Pennsylvania for the rea- son that all, or nearly all, the govern- ment agents were interfering to pro- tect the violators of the statute. Among the alleged “wet” officials of the courts in Pennsylvania is the Unit- ed States marshal for the Middle dis- trict, Mr. John H. Glass, of Shamokin, Republican boss of Northumberland county. Recently, in an alleged reor- ganization of the prohibition enforce- ment forces, an army officer was placed at the head of the force and he announced that politics and politicians would be absolutely eliminated from the service and that no aspirant would be appointed at the solicitation of any politician. This aroused hopes of a better condition of affairs in the serv- ice. It led to the belief that the evils of which the federal assistant Attor- ney General complained would cease. But information which comes from Washington in the form of newspaper correspondence disappoints this hope. It is stated in the news dispatches of Tuesday that Senators Pepper and Reed have asked for the re-appoint- ment of Mr. Glass, and the military guardian ef righteousness in the de- partment promptly declared that the recommendations of Senators and Representatives in Congress must be respected. Recently the ministers of the gospel in Northumberland county entered a protest against the reap- pointment and Senator Pepper openly declared himself as “dry.” But polit- ical exigencies have forced a change of mind. It is believed that Pinchot has the “dry” vote and Pepper needs some “wet” help. ——1If the fool killer would perform his full duty the bootleggers would have fewer patrons and less profits. ——The London girl who says she needs 110 pairs of stockings must im- agine she is a centipede. indications are multiplying that an ef- BELLEFONTE. PA.. JULY 17. 1925. Take the Profit Out of War. ~ The sanest proposition to employ benevolence in the work of promoting peace thus far submitted is that of Mr. Bernard M. Baruch, of New York, who has tendered to the Walter H. Page school of International Relations a quarter of a million dollars to be used “in finding a way to take the profit out of war.” As chairman of the War Industries Board during the world war Mr. Baruch had intimate touch, not only with the conduct of operations in developing the resources of the country, but with the various elements which influenced the minds of men closely concerned in the mak- ing and managing of the war. His plan is to strike at the root of the evil and destroy it. The inference to be drawn from Mr. Baruch’s offer is that the profits of war are largely responsible for war and he believes that if the profits of war were eliminated one potential cause of war would be removed and the chances of war to that extent les- sened. His theory appears to be that the mobilization of things and dollars, as well as of man power, will achieve that result, and there is reason in his proposition. If the munition makers and manufacturers of war materials were deprived of the profits they get out of their operations, and the gains which accrue to other profiteers were conscripted by the government as the man power of the country is drafted into service, the opposition to war would multiply. There is scarcely a doubt that the ratification - of the covenant of the League of Nations by the Senate of the United States was defeated through the influence of the New Eng- land makers of war munitions. The late Senator Lodge represented this element of the country in the Senate rather than the people of Mussachu- setts, and he organized the opposition _ to the League of Nations for the dou- ble reason that he hated President Wilson and wanted to preserve to the manufacturers of war materials an opportunity for future profits of war. ‘Mr. Baruch is moving in the right di- Lzection and it is to be hoped his plans will materialize. The world has had . enough of war. : | 1 | The National League of Women ‘Voters has declared that the women l «will be impatient with luke-warm "leadership and long drawn-out de- bate” in the coming struggle in the “Senate over American adherence to ithe world court. They will become _ impatient, however, only after they | ‘have cast their ballots for the very Senators whom they know will op- pose adherence. As voters, women are very much like most men. They vote for the nominee of their party first then devote the time until the next election holding meetings of pro- test and passing resolutions. — Figures compiled by the De- partment of Forests and Waters show that during the spring of 1925 forty- five tree planters in Centre county set out 230,168 forest trees. The num- ber of trees planted in the entire State was 8,236,840, and the total for six- teen years since forestry agitation was begun in this State is 40,549,746 trees. These trees when grown to maturity will furnish over a billion and a half feet of board lumber. —Between four and’ five miles of the new state highway up Bald Eagle valley has been covered with concrete and the contractors are making good progress all along the line. imp — A —————— — Monday evening, July 6th, came too soon after the glorious Fourth for Bellefonte councilmen, as not enough could be assembled for a regular meeting. ——The early photographs of the Scopes trial in Tennessee show a booth at which Mr. Bryan’s books are on sale. Mr. Bryan always “gets his.” ——1It is semi-officially announced that J. E. B. Cunningham’s hat has been chalked by the machine for Judge of the Superior court. ——According to the survey of the State Department of Agriculture there were 692 acres in alfalfa in Cen- tre county in 1924. mre senna pA teers, ——Few get all they want, some what they deserve and others are let off easily on a lawyer’s plea for len- iency. ee ——The State pay roll continues to grow by “leaps and bounds” and every addition gives Pinchot a new worker. i die. ht ar ——The administravion seems not only willing but anxious to meddle in the affairs of China. ———— A ——————— ! ——Maybe ‘it was a barber's wife who started the bobbed hair fad. NO. 25. This is a Nation of ‘Spenders. From the Chicago Tribune. - Since President Coolidge started on his own time it has been apparent that his chief message to the people was of thrift. He has precept and example. A leader may talk econo- my, be applauded, and not followed. Mr. Coolidge believes what he says. That’s Vermont. cago in the drawing room of a Pull- man. A private car cost too much. He issued orders for the saving of soap, pins, towels, and other office supplies. He decided not to get a new suit of clothes for Easter. He decided not to get a straw hat, but to have the Panama cleaned. That was reasona- ble. It is why a man buys a Panama in the first place. ’ : This thrift in the White House seems to have made an impression on the people. How much we do not know. We did not believe that any precept or example could keep the American people from spending mon- ey when they had it for things they wanted. It is their habit. It gets them what they want and it seems to us that there is a great deal to be said in favor of a life having what you} | want rather than a life of wanting what you won’t have. Some business I men say that Mr. Coolidge has slowed things down, that he has stopped con- siderable spending of money, and that the old suit is. on a good many of his fellow citizens’ who ordinarily would be sporting a new one. : Thrift is a virtue much admired even by people who do not practice it. To preach against thrift would seem an enormity, as preaching against honesty, virtue, and square dealing, But nations live on different levels. The level of the American nation is one of spending. Our idea is to make money. and . convert it into - things which make life enjoyable. People are busy making the things and sell- ing the things which other people want. There is a quick turnover of the pay check and the turnoyer makes ! other pay checks. - i The expenditure for automobiles, radio sets, clothes, furniture, rugs, amusements, food which is not need- ed to sustain life but is pleasant to the palate, all this keeps people busy. If buying stopped, the savings accounts might have a sudden st b - ently a good many people needing their savings for ti. nance. When buying stopped produc- tion would stop. The whole nation is geared up to this speed of spending. It gives the individual a rich life. He gets his money because he is contrib- tuting something to what other people want. He is buying from their contri- ‘butions. The people are working for each other and each has something . out of the great production thus stim- - ulated. _ The saving of money has a protec- tive purpose. Money itself is only in- tended to be exchanged. It converts a particular kind of work into a great variety of articles. It has ceased to serve its purpose when it is under a mattress or in a sock. If a man could be guaranteed a daily wage for labor to the hour of his death he would not need to save a cent. The more he spent the better everybody would be off. Thrift merely protects him against the time when he cannot work. We live by spending, not by saving. Great accumulations of wealth give men power and its gratification, but the average man gets his normal life out, of what he spends. It may be on his home, in his amusements, to grat- ify his tastes, to broaden the intel- lectual scope of his existence, or to increase his grossress. It depends on the person; but he lives by spending ani the rest of the country lives with im. This makes wealth in the real sense of things which are used. That is all wealth is. A mountain of gold as such has no value. Bryan and Evolution, From the Harrisburg Telegraph. William Jennings Bryan ought to be the last one to doubt the theory of evolution—didn’t he see free silver develop into a Presidential nomination and sixteen to one evolute into a de- mand for the public ownership of rail- roads? And didn’t he pause to note the day when a political spellbinder, speaking for nothing, became a Chautauqua lec- turer at $500 a speech? Yea, and he may be able to recall the day when he ceased to be a millionaire baiter be- cause he had been himself transform- ed into a millionaire. | | He Went Some, Anyway. From the Pittsburgh Post. In settling up the estate of Thom- as W. Lawson, it is declared that the financier and writer who once was re- puted to be worth $20,000,000, died | penniless. Still he got considerable o 2 Jick out of his wealth while it asted. Over-Night Mail. From the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times. Seventy-five years ago it required days for carrying mail from New | York to Chicago. The new night air service does it in eight hours. The world “do move.” ri Se ——The Fourth of July is a thing of the past and it won’t be long until Christmas will be looming in the of- fing. With Mrs. Coolidge he came to Chi- SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —Sleeping in his canee, Hiram L. Mc- Cauley, 21 years of age, of West Reading, went over the falls at Haines’ lock in the Schuylkill river early one morning last week, His body was found in a pocket in the river several hours later. He is be- lieved to have been killed in the fall. —John Harder, of Clearfield, 15 year old son of Emet Harder, of Clearfield, early on Monday morning arose from bed and ob- tained a revolver, ewned by his grandfath- er, the late Captain John Harder. While twirling it about on his first finger, it was discharged, the bullet passing through his heart. —Warm summer days fail to bring vaca- #| tion thowghts to Philip H. Foust, station agent at Danville, for the Philadelphia and Reading Railread company for the last 35 years. He has had only one vacation since 1885 and that was last year. Foust began working for the company when 17 years of age. —Expenditure of more than $5000 for the erection of deer-proof fences was author- ized by the State Game Commissioners during June, according to Seth E. Gordon, secretary. The fences will be erected large- ly in the South mountain district to pro- tect orchardists and farmers from dam- ages by deer. —William L. Wilson, of Jersey Shore, has purchased at auction the physical properties of the Antes Fort. Trolley line, and also the franchise, for $7,110.5 The auction was conducted at the Jersey ore Trust company. The purchase includes the trolley cars, ties, rails, ear barns and everything in connection with the line, — Trapped on a bridge near Connellsville in the path of a Baltimore and Ohio pas- senger train, Margaret Sheard, 16 years of age, was killed when she was struck by the locomotive and knocked into the Youghiogheny river, last Thursday. A girl compailion dashed to safety at the end of the trestle as the train approached. The Sheard girl hesitated in fright. The body was recovered. 3 —With his new home in Berwick almost completed, George Knorr discovered that the lot on which the house was built was the property of five Nanticoke contractors and that the lot he owned, and on which he thought he was building, was a block distant. Knorr went to Nanticoke and found the five men willing to make an cven trade, with the result that he now has ti- tle to the lot which he improved. —Mrs. David IL. Burkhart, of Cambria county, aged 72 years, wife of a promi- nent farmer, was struck by lightning and instantly killed during an electrical storm on the night of July 4th. The piping of a carbide system of lighting in the Burk- hart home furnished a conductor for the electrical bolt which struck the roof of tho house. The gold frame work of Mrs. Burkhart's glasses was melted into a nug- get and her shoes were torn into shreds. —_Robert Rupert, 13 years old, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth G. Rupert, of Mill Hall, was drowned in Bald Eagle creek last Wednesday night while in bathing with two companions. Leonard Scott, one of the boys who accompanied him, at- tempted to save him as he was unable to swim, but was obliged to abanden his ef- forts after being pulled under several times, and narrowly escaped a similar fate. | A searching. party was organized to re- cover the bedy by means of diving aid grappling with hooks and at ten o'clock they located it. —Virtually recovered from a broken neck, Joseph Smeltzer, aged 24 years, a Pennsylvania Railroad employee, has been discharged from the Altoona hospital. Caught in an elevator shaft in the railroad shops in ‘Altoona on May 13, Smeltzer was squeezed about the neck and shoulders. The fifth cervical vertebra was fractured. Surgeons placed the neck in a collar cast, and when the cast was removed a few days ago it was found the fracture had knit together. Paralysis of both legs fol- lowed the accident, but it is virtually cured. Surgeons regard the recovery as remarkable. — Wilbur Dale Lehman, 8 year old son of Wilbur Lehman Sr., of near Oriole, bled to death late Monday afternoon after an ar- tery in his right side had been severed when the lad fell and was impaled upon the horns of one of the cattle he was feed- ing. The boy slipped and fell down the hole through which he was feeding straw and landed upon the only horned animal of the herd. While attending the Lehman boy, Dr. Welker received a second call from his home at Collomsville, summoning him to attend the adopted son of Charles Laubaugh, of that place, who also had fall- en through a feed chute and broken his arm. - —Major Rupert MeGlachan, sauve ex- Major of the British army, veteran of the world war and described as a “refined, in- telligent man and good dresser,” is miss- ing from Lancaster. When he disappear- ed, checks totaling $7,300 of the Lancaster Metal Products company also disappeared. All but $1,000 of the checks, however, were not countersigned, so Major McGlachan left them in the apartment he and his wife occupled during the short time they Fes sid>d in that city. When the Major reach- ed Lancaster last winter he made such an impression on officials of the company that they made him general manager of the concern. —The authorities of York, Pa., are look- ing for a stranger who on Saturday night stole more than $270, the day’s receipts at the community swimming pool. The strau- ger had been seen about the place for sev- eral days, and before closing time Satur- day night, when the day’s receipts had been put in bags, ready to be put away, the stranger approached the clerk in charge and pretended to be much inter- ested in a radio outfit which was in op- eration in the office. Just listen to this, and handing the ear pieces to the attend- ant, waited until he placed them over his ears, then he turned aside, grabbed the bags of money and disappeared. —Both legs of Mrs. John Latsha, a Dau- phin county farmer's wife, were torn off at the ankle last Tuesday afternoon when the rope attached to a hayfork looped about her feet. Mrs. Latsha was leading the horse which was drawing the fork to the eaves of the barn on the Latsha farm near Millersburg. As the horse turned, the rope caught her ankles. The animal shied and ran into-the barn dragging Mrs. Latsha. As the fork hit the runway at the eaves of the barn, the rope tightened with a jerk that tore off both legs above the ankle, Her husband, who was on fop o fthe hay wagon, and a physician, took Mrs. Latsha to a hespital in Harrisburg where both legs were amputated below the knees.