Brwaifitn | INK SLINGS. —Nobody ever got anywhere with- cout making a start. —If loafing is as expensive as it is supposed to be there must be more rich people ‘round this community than some of us have any idea of. —1If the Doheny payment to Fall was a simple token of friendship why didn’t the oil man send a check instead of the “black satchel ?” ——Banking Commissioner Cam- eron is assured of his meal ticket for another four years, and his reappoint- ment is an encouraging sign. -——Count Salm is persuaded that professional tennis is debasing but liv- ing off a woman is all right. Some foreign noblemen have queer ideas of honor. —The Watchman for a year would brove a very acceptable and inexpen- sive Christmas present for anyone. Why don’t you send it to that neigh- bor who goes to all the trouble of running over to your house to borrow yours and usually arrives just when you want to read it yourself. —If we are to believe the Williams- port Sun that city thinks its plea to have the trans-continental air mail station taken away from Bellefonte should be answered by Uncle Sam be- cause the trains back into this place. Some of them do, but what of that? Its a pretty darned good town that’s so important that a great railroad company is so determined to get into it that it will back its passenger trains for two miles to get there. And it’s a pretty darned good town that can say that it’s the best paying point on the best paying single track road in the world. And its a properly prideful town that points to the fact that iis sons were largely instrumental in building the road and it didn’t run them out like Williamsport did Peter Herdic, the man who laid the founda- tions on which she is built. —We have a secret that we're just bustin’ to tell. Before us lies a letter from a gentleman whose opinion com- mands our respect. He is a Republi- can and in a position of prominence in a profession peculiarly qualifying to know what he was writing about when he jotted down these words: “It may sound strange for a Republican to commend you for your editorials on the tariff, but I will say sincerely that such a move—tariff elimination--is the only real relief farmers can ever get.” We thank the correspondent for the compliment he pays the Watchman, but we could have taken so much more satisfaction from it had he not added this restriction: “Don’t show this to my Dad, for he would disown me for being a traitor to the cause.” And, knowing the eminent “Dad” as we do, we believe the son is right. —Admirers of our new Senator- elect have organized a Harry B. Scott marching club to participate in the parade when Governor-elect Fisher is inducted into office on January 18. Delegations are enlisting from all over the District and the new Senator's friends are planning to show the State that when it comes to parading strength on the streets of Harrisburg there are others besides the ward leaders of Philadelphia and Pitts- ourgh. We note that car fare, music and regalia is to cost not more than fifteen dollars per admirer. The re- galia interests us. In the old days solitical marching clubs thought them- selves fittingly dolled up if they had a :wo-quart lid on the head and a pint on the hip. Since the latter vestment 1as betome rather hard to procure we wre wondering what substitute the Scott marchers will find for it. —It’s a far ery from the fastnesses f the Seven mountains to the dairy yarn owned by Tom Beaver on the order of Bellefonte. It’s often a very ong and tortuous route from cause to ffect. And who would imagine that he prank or deviltry of some-one with v gun could nearly jerk the life out of 1 cow thirty miles’ away. That’s just vhat happened last Saturday evening. someone shot the insulators off a pole n the Penn Central power line over n “Jacks” mountain. That cut Belle- onte out of electric service except that the McCoy hydrostatic plant ere could give. The entire load was oo heavy for it to carry and it was ecessary to turn over the ponderous otary lime kiln of the American ime and Stone Co., in this place, once very five minutes, in order to pre- lude great loss to that industry. The IcCoy plant turned the kiln, but hen it was being done lights and ower went down everywhere else. In rder to balance this, if possible, John IcCoy would open his wheel on the ve minute periods and race his gen- rator far beyond its safety-load. The ‘heel manipulation being cumbersone e couldn’t get it closed just as quickly s he would like to have done after he ad sent the extra juice through to rn the kiln. While this process of on again, off again, Hooligan” was in rogress Tom Beaver’s dairymen -arted milking with the electric milk- 1g machine ‘and what an ordeal those ws went through. Everytime the in went over the milk flowed as sual from the cows then the machines ded up until they jerked the lives 2arly out of the patient herd. It t so rough on them, in fact, that the lechanical milkers had to be aban- ned. cel A emacrati RO VOL. 71. STATE RIGHTS AN BELLEFONTE, PA. DE D FEDERAL UNION. ————— CEMBER 17. 1926. NO. 50. President Coolidge’s Curious Habit. President Coolidge has the curious habit of asking “ongress to consider, upon a non-partisan basis, questions of legislation which he expects to use for partisan purposes. For example, in his annual message to Congress the other day he said: “I am very strong- ly of the conviction that this, (the mat- ter of tax reduction) is so much a purely business matter that it ought not to be dealt with in a partisan spirit. The Congress has already set the notable example of treating tax problems without much reference to party, which might well be continued,” adding, “I therefore urge both parties of the House Ways and Means com- mittee to agree on a bill granting the temporary relief which I have asked.” The temporary measure referred to is a proposition to rebate the income taxes for last year to the extent of the surplus reported, which amounts to something like $300,000,000, in- stead of applying the surplus to the public debt. The process involves continuing the present tax rate an- other year so as to create another surplus of equal or greater propor- tions, to be handed out in the next Presidential year. Eighty or ninety per cent, of this rebate would go to big corporations and wealthy indi- viduals who have already reimbursed themselves, and the easy money thus acquired would greatly increase the generosity of campaign contributors. The trifling proportion of the rebate which would go to wage earners might be regarded as non-partisan. The question of taxation is essen- tially partisan. Men of all parties and of no parties are required to pay taxes, but the form of the levy is a question upon which the two great parties have differed from the begin- ning of the government. The Demo- cratic party adopted the graduated system of levying income tax for the purpose of adjusting the burden as nearly according to the ability to pay as possible. In fact the income tax is a Democratic measure and had its inception in the same thought. The present purpose of the Democrats in Congress is to decrease the income tax rate on all classes of tax payers ard’ limit the collection to an amount which will meet the expenses of government and make no surplus. Secretary of the Treasury Mel- lon may have owned lots of whiskey at one time or another but the law en- forcement folk have no cause of com- plaint against him now. { First Practical Step. i The first practical step to prevent Mr. William S. Vare’s tainted certif- | icate of election from reaching the | bar of the Senate was taken last week | when Senator Dill, of Washington | State, introduced a resolution provid- | ing, “that the Senate hereby declare | the said William S. Vare disqualified | as a Senator-elect from the State of Pennsylvania to present to the Senate | or to have presented to the Senate for | him, credentials of his election to the | Senate from the State of Pennsylva- | nia as a result of the primary election i held May 18th, 1926, and the election | held November 2nd, 1926, and the Sen- | ate hereby directs the officers of the Senate to refuse to receive said cre- | dentials.” The nomination of Vare was obtain- ed by the corrupt use of money unlaw- fully acquired. His election was the | result of fraudulent votes and false returns. Both of these things are for- | bidden by law and punishable by | penalities. The Senate Slush Fund committee exposed an expenditure of $800,000 to nominate Vare. It sub- | stantially proved that this vast sum ; of money was contributed by persons | engaged in criminal operations under | promise, expressed or implied, that | they would be protected in their un- : lawful commerce. ‘The corrupt voting | and fraudulent returns of the general election were encouraged by the candi- date as well as the party managers and the crimes are shared by them. The United States Senate is “the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of it§ own members.” It ought not to be egough that a Sena- tor-elect is thirty Pan old, has been a citizen of the United States nine years and is a resident of the State for which he has been chosen. He ought to be obliged to show that he was honest- ly elected and is a man of good char- acter. The people ought not to be allowed to think that the laws of the land are made by criminals, and if men who are elected by fraud after of tainted money are allowed to qualify as United States Senators, there will be no way to escape the im- pression of evil influence. EE —— ——Germany hag finally “signed up” in the World Court. But we still have Turkey, Russia and Mexico with us on the outside, official favors was exhausted his in- 'ly supports the attitude of the home , but not mercenary, to ask the Presi- being nominated by the corrupt use Governor Fisher’s Opportunity. If Governor Pinchot had earnestly urged ballot reform legislation dur- ing the first sesson of the General Assembly after his inauguration ha would have found the Senators and Representatives cordially responsive to his wishes. He was familar with the need of such legislation. He knew that his majorities in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had been greatly augmented by fraudulent votes which, though not needed for his election, served as a stain upon his title. He was requested by real friends in his own party and by un- selfish voters of other parties to adopt that reform as a dominant issue of his administration. But for reasons as yet unexplained, he refrained for the time being. Governor Pinchot believes in honest elections. Every act of his adminis- tration within the last two years is evidence of that fact. In the begin- ning he may have been inclined to leniency toward ballot thieves for the reason that they imagined they were helping him by fraudulent voting. He may have hoped to annex them to moral forces by acquiring leadership of his party machine. But if he had such expectatons they were sadly dis- appointed. As soon as his store of fluence in the party ended and he was discarded as a political outcast. His really sincere efforts for ballot reform within the last year dissolved into wasted energy. Governor-elect John S. Fisher may profit by Governor Pinchot’s neglect- ed opportunities first and subsequent failure. He didn’t need the thousands of fraudulent votes that were cast for him in the recent election. It might be safe to say that few, if any, of them were intended to help him. But they make a record which stands as an aspersion against the integrity of his title, notwithstanding his vast major- ity. When the General Assembly meets in Harrisburg, next month, Mr. Fisher will have a chance to command ballot reform legislation, and if he avails himself of the opportunity the reproach that has attached itself to Pennsylvania may be stricken from the public memory. ——Secretary Kellog’s correspond- ence with Mexico hasn’t frightened the Senate down there. It unanimous- government. Spoons to Bellefonte D. A. R. Both the November and December meetings of the Bellefonte chapter, D. A. R. were held in Bellefonte; the No- vember on the evening of the fourth of last month at the home of Mrs. Frank McCoy; the December, the evening of the second, at the Brockerhoff house, where Mrs. Harry Clay Valentine, Mrs. William Gray, Miss Elizabeth Dorsey Green, Mrs. Foster L. Rich- ards, Mrs. John Gray Love were hds- tesses. The November, thirty seven mem- bers from State College and Belle- fonte answered the roll call. Decem- ber second there were over fifty pres- ent. In December there were reports of the State meeting at Uniontown by Mrs, Edwin Erle Sparks and Mrs. Wil- liam Frear, the latter the recently ap- pointed State chairman of the student loan fund committee. As the loaning of money to worthy students is one of the most gratifying pieces of the Society’s constructive program the Bellefonte chapter is proud to have its regent at the head of the State committee working for this object and, at its December meeting, was happy to find its treasury in re- ceipt of two substantial gifts from in- dividual members toward the Chap- ter’s student loan fund. From Mrs. A. O. Furst, the Bellefonte chapter's first regent, whose name its student loan fund is to bear, came a gift of twenty- five dollars ($25.00,) from Mrs. N. B. Spangler five dollars ($5.00,) these two, together with the twenty-five dol- lars voted from the treasury and some smaller gifts of one dollar each, ag- gregated already a fair amount of as- sistance for some struggling Pennsyl- vania State College student for one year, at least. The program of the last Thursday evening meeting had an instructive and entertaining variety. A reading of the revised code jogged our memo- ries ¢oncerning flag laws, a reading of “What the Daughters Do” made us glad we have a part in an organiza- tion seeking not only to preserve the memory of heroes and their heroic déeds concerned in our nation’s build- ing, but to aid in the constructive tasks belonging to the present day. The D. A. R. do philanthropic, educa- tional and patriotic work, and it must be done in an enlisting way for their membership during the past year has increased at the rate of one thousand (1000) per month. Anticipating the immigrants’ needs they meet him at The Fall-Doheny Trial, The trial in Washington of Albert | B. Fall, former Secretary of the In- terior, and Edward L. Doheny for con- spiracy in the California oil. lease, is making slow progress and is likely to end in the Scotch verdict of “guilty but not proven.” The most important witness thus far heard was former Secretary of the Navy Denby. During the period of his service in the Navy Department Denby was known as a “stupid,” and his testimony in the trial justified the epithet. He volun- teered to take upon himself both the responsibility and the blame for a transaction which Mr. Doheny declar- ed at the time would yield him a profit of one hundred million dollars. The lands had been set aside by Act of Congress as a reserve to supply the navy with oil fuel. Mr. Doheny, as an expert oil producer, coveted the property. Secretary of the Interior Fall, as an impecunious rancher, need- ed money to increase his acreage. The control of the oil property was vested in the Secretary of the Navy. Some- body induced Denby, who was stupid dent to issue an order, in violation of |! law, to shift the control to the De-, partment of the Interior. Doheny sent $100,000 in a black satchel to Fall and a few days later a lease giving Doheny authority to drain the terri- tory of all its oil was signed. The defense has set up an imagi- nary war scare in which Doheny was to rescue the country from impending disaster. The $100,000 in the black bag is said to have been simply an ex- pression of affection for an old friend who imagined he was in need of more ranch territory. The dupes in the transaction seem to have been Presi- dent Harding, Denby and the American people. Denby may have believed the story of an impending war with J apan and the President may have acted without thought. But Fall and Doheny knew what was going on and if they escape the just penalty of their con- spiracy to rob the government it will mark a miscarriage of justice. ————— i ————————— ——Vare says he is willing to have the Philadelphia elections investigat- ed. Maybe he imagines the ballot boxes have already been fixed. ————————— ——Anyway it is gratifying to be able to hope that the Ormiston-Me- Pherson scandal has been taken out of Pennsylvania for good. i tea—""! | Ellis Island, they teach his children, they assist educational institutions, they distribute copies of the Consti- tution of the United States, encourage conservation and thrift, expend large sums to preserve historic spots and mark graves. In view of all this pride might have become over-weening the humorous address of Madame Ponafidine, (a school-mate of Mrs. Harry Keller, daughter of a Presbyterian mission- ary who for years was head of the mission in Urumia, West Persia, and wife of the late Prince Ponafidine, of Russia, who was in the diplomatic service before the rise of the Bolshe- viks) let us see ourselves as, at least some others, see us. She told of one Persian’s description of America’s geographical location—in London, or on some island, his picture of our Revolutionary struggle, of our Boston Tea Party,as in convivial attitude with tea cups poised in air, with the child’s hauteur, we cast the cups into the sea declaring “We would drink no more Had we been permitted the unrestrained spontaneity the Persian attributed to those inhabitants of i “some island,” “More! more!” would have ‘importuned the too early close ! of Madame Ponafidine’s story—even | had we known of the more good things | to follow. l In order that we might picture the | more vividly the lives of our Southern | Mountaineers, a sale of whose hand- | work we had just visited in a room adjoining the Brockerhoff house din- | ing-room, Mrs. W. G. Chambers, of State College, read, most delightfully, extracts from “The Quare Woman” by Lucy Furman, (the story was re- cently published in The Atlantic Monthly) portraying, with pathos and humour, life in those isolated regions where even to suggest that the women folks should not milk the cows was to be turning the course of nature! to be voicing a thought not to be entertain- ed in a sane brain! Before adjournment at both meet- ings examples of culinary art were set forth and enjoyed—but the silver spoons which formed part of a gift made to the chapter before her departure for a winter in California by Miss Mary McQuistion were not used! This gift, from an esteemed member, of several valuable historical works and silver spoons made from knee and shoe buckles of one of her Revolutionary ancestors will be care- fully cherished among the Chapter’s treasures. "are other counties . other. rT — | Miss McQuistion Presents Historic | Universal Interest in This Question. { From the Pittsburgh Post. y | Despite that there is traffic ‘con- | fusion in the State over the multiplic- ‘ity of local laws applying to the sub- ject, every autoist knows considerable of the question—has to know how to get through. With this universal and intimate interest, there should be no difficulty in getting the coming Legislature to do what it can for un- iformity in regulation. Practically every member of the Legislature is himself or herself a user of the auto- mobile and naturally a sharer in the desire to improve traffic conditions. This universality of interest in the subject was shown in the recent con- ference in Harrisburg of mayors, po- lice and other officers of cities, bor- oughs and townships of the State, as- sembled on the initiative of the Penn- sylvania Motor Federation, to take steps for uniform regulation of traffic. Practically every city in the State and a number of the boroughs and town- ships were represented. A committee appointed to draft a bill for presenta- tion to the Legislature “to make uni- form and standardize the regulation of vehicular traffic” includes among its membership, in addition to mayors or traffic officers of the cities, the presi- dent of the Pennsylvania Association of Boroughs and the president of the State Association of Township Super- visors. The secretary of highways, registrar of motor vehicles and the head of the State Motor Patrol also are included in the committee. With the desirability of uniform regulation general, and with the de- mand for it in the interest of safety as well as convenience, there should be no doubt about securing suitable action from the coming session. There is the ideal condition for obtaining it —public opinion unitedly and actively for it, and with such vigorous leader- ship as that afforded by the State Mo- tor Federation. Even so, a reasonable length of time will have tobe taken 'to arrive at the best in the shaping of the legislation. 2 Meanwhile the procedure in getting the movement started furnishes a most practical example for those try- ing to secure favorable action on oth- er desirable measures. re —— es ———————— One Half of One Per Cent. ——— Krom the Philadelphia Inquirer. ay. | Bills by the hundred have been pouring week. These hundreds are added to the 12,000 already cluttering up the pigeon holes of the various committee rooms. There isn’t a chance for them, with possibly one or two bare excep- tions, and that’s a blessing. For if the 12,000 left-overs were spread out before you and you had power to deal with the batch, how many do you sup- bose you would find worthy of pas- sage? Would you say 10 per cent.? Too many. Five? Four? Three? Two? One? Even one per cent. no doubt would include a lot of legislation ! which the country is better off with- rout. And the new proposals, what of these? They cover about every phases of national life. Some are extremely foolish. Some are impracticable. Most are lacking merit of any kind. | With the exception of the measures ‘carrying the departmental appropria- tions, regulating radio and reducing taxations, we dare say that the Vol. | stead standard of one-half of one per i cent. would be more than sufficient to {cover the offerings either made or ‘about to be by Senators and Repre- . sentatives that might by any stretch of the imagination be deemed im- portant. + There is one thing about these piled- (up proposed enactments. They are perfectly harmless as long as they lie ‘dormant. And on March 4 next, with : the expiration of the Sixty-ninth Con- gress, they will be swept into the i waste baskets. However, that does { not mean that they cannot be salvaged ; and reintroduced all over again in the ' Seventieth. I Good Work Suggested for Governor- elect Fisher to Undertake. From the Clearfield Republican. There are counties in Pennsylvania where constables of boroughs and townships collect the taxes. There where the County Treasurer collects and there are stiil others where the School Board names one man, Borough Council another and the County Commissioners still an- Many counties are operating under special acts passed before the Constitution of 1873 was adopted. These conditions only add to the many other good and sound reasons for com- plete readjustment of our tax levying and collecting laws. Governor Fisher is expected to direct the attention of the incoming Legislature to these ab- surdities and ask that curative meas- ures be introduced and passed as soon as possible. into Congress during the A | SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —John Bradley, aged watchman at the Alaska colliery, Shamokin, was held up and robbed of his pay of 3 : —Thirty-six silver grey foxes, valued at $60,000, have been purchased from a farm in New York State and removed to Rimers- burg, Clarion county, where a new fur farm has just been started. —Mrs. Fred McCormick, aged 20, and her 16-months-old son, Russell McCormick, were both severely burned about their heads and faces when an accumulation of gas in the heating stove exploded at their home in Newton Hamilton. —A nervy thief is believed to be at large in the western part of the State. He entered the home of Michael Joseph in Monessen in daylight and stole the kitchen sink, wash stand, water pipes and spigots. He tried to steal the bathtub but couldn t get it out of the door. ——Pain and suffering caused when she slipped on a rotten apple, after being ordered to leave the yard of George W. Foster, a neighbor, brought Mrs, Eliza Smith, elderly resident of Franklin, a ver- dict of $1750 on Friday. After a legal bat- tle of three days, the case went to the jury at 1 o'clock and a verdict followed ninety minutes later.” Mrs. Smith’s wrist was broken. —When his truck was hit by a Reading company express at Berne station Monday night, P. E. Naftzinger, postmaster and merchant at Berne, took a 200-foot ride on the cowcatcher of the engine amid the ruins of his truck. He was practically unharmed, although much shaken. Four crates of chickens in the truck and the vehicle itself were smashed. Fog caused the accident. —Because George McCall, 19, of Altoona, didn’t know a 30-30 rifle was loaded, Mrs. Arthur Nelson, 28, mother of two small children, is without her left arm. McCall was a visitor at the Nelson home, near Bellwood, and was cleaning the rifle while Mrs. Nelson was preparing supper. The Weapon was accidentally discharged, the ball shattering the bone in her arm. An- putation was necessary. —When he fell down the stairs at the home of his daughter early last Friday, Samuel Copenrafer, of York, Pa, aged 91, strangled to death. It had been his cus- tom to sleep without removing his collar and necktie. Coroner L. U. Zech says that the collar strangled the aged man after he tumbled to the foot of the stairs. He was going from one room to another and missed his footing while passing the stair- way. —Joseph O’Brien, 21, and Robert Sim- mons, 20, both of Patton, convicted of second degree murder, growing out of the death of Mary Elizabeth Bogan, eighteen- year-old Patton girl, while on a “joy ride,” were sentenced in court at ‘Ebensburg, on” ‘Monday, O’Brien being sentenced by Judge John BE. Evans to serve not less than ten nor more than twenty years in the western penitentiary. Simmons, stepbrother of the slain girl, was sentenced to serve not less than four nor more than eight years in the western penitentiary. TP --Millions of dellars in damages are being asked in libel suits which are now being prepared on behalf of ‘General Charles Miller, eighty-four-year-old Frank- Hn eapitalist, who recently settled a di- hvorce setion brought against him ‘by ‘Mrs. Emma Miller. The suits are against a number of news and picture syndicates and newspapers in the eastern States and aggregate vast sums. They are based on the linking of the General's name with that of Alyce McCormick, former Follies girl and Nebraska beauty. —A Farley, aged 25, soldier of fortune who had been entrusted with payrolls often containing $50,000, pleaded guilty be- fore Judge James I. Brownson in court at Washington, Pa., on Tuesday, to a charge of stealing chickens. “I am unable to éx- plain why I stole chickens,” said Farley. “I have served in the United States Marines and helped to guard payrolls of vast sums of money and never thought of taking anything.” ‘He apparently won the good will of the court and was paroled for four months, during which time he must pay $162.27. 1 —Sometime during Sunday night bur- glars broke into the W. J. Wallace meat market, in Milton, and made a get-a-way with the majority of the meats in the shop, besides a large quantity of canned goods and groceries. A full inventory of the missing stock showed that a large number of hams, bacon, a dressed hog and a hind quarter of beef were taken. The front door of the shop was broken in and no one dis- covered the theft until Monday morning about 6 o'clock, when the shop was opened for the day’s business, and the owner found little meat left. —Although he lay in the snow for more than an hour with the bone and artery in his right leg just above the ankle shat- tered by a charge of shot, George Craw- ford, 55, of Cleveland township, Columbia county, suffered little from loss of blood in what physicians say is one of the most peculiar accidents in their experience. The wound was so jagged that a clot of blood quickly formed in the artery, and only about four ounces of blood were lost. Crawford was hunting foxes on Little Mountain with his son and as he stooped to pick up a fox he had killed, his shot gun fell and discharged. —Investigation by Pennsylvania railroad officials have disclosed that Reuben RE. Crum, Harrisburg, engineer of the Red Arrow express, met death last Friday night when his head struck a freight car on an adjoining track from the Altoona station. Conductor Frank T. Hess, of Har- risburg, brought the train to a stop by pulling the emergency brake cord when it failed to stop at the station. Railroad officials advanced the opinion that Crum was leaning out of the cab, looking back- wards, perhaps to verify signals just passed when his head struck the freight car. His skull was fractured. ——Mae Hergert, of Wilkes-Barre, has filed a libel in divorce against her husband, Henry K. Hergert, of Nuangola, on the | ——There’s nearly always “a fly in the ointment.” General Dawes will re- | member that Roosevelt had a Nobel prize in his pocket when he was de- | i feated for President. —————— i —— ——Vare was a guest at the Presi- | dential reception recently for the first time in his life, which indicates the moral support of the administration in : his political troubles. ! | ground of cruel treatment. The couple were married on February 23, 1926, and lived together four months. "During that time she alleges Hergert kept his goats in the bedroom on cold nights to keep them warm. She said the family never had meat, but lived on goat's milk, bran and stale bread. During the time ‘they lived to- gether she declared the only thing he bought for her was a pair of slippers, though he did allow her to trade a Rhode Island red rooster for a house dress val uéd at $1.25." The wife was 10 and the husband 42 at the time of their marriage.