St INK SLINGS. —Be of good cheer. Summer will ' eventually tire of lingering in the lap of winter. ; —If newspaper accounts of the re- ception are true New York certainly hit the ceiling in its frenzy to wel- come Lindbergh. —The Coolidges are safe and, we . hope, - comfortably located Black Hills of South Dakota. They - are to spend the summer there, far from the turmoil of Washington but close to the delegates Calvin desires most to land. —John W. Davis, our candidate for President three years ago, sailed for Europe on Tuesday. Before embark- ing he said: “Hope springs eternal in the Democratic breast.” John’s a wise guy. He gave the exact reason _ why so many people voted for him in 1924. . —Jerome K. Jerome is dead and the head-lines in the metropolitan papers call him a “humorist.” We have no desire to snitch the flowers from the graves of the departed but if Jerome was a humorist then we've got to admit that crape-hangers are . not as dolorous as we have thought them to be. . —The deliverance of Capt. Nunges- ser and Maj. Coli seems like a mira- cle. Unheard from for a month and nine days they had been given up for , dead, monuments to their memory were being planned and benefits for their families were under way. Then they walk out of the woods of Quebec and assume the role of live heroes with Lindbergh, Chamberlain . and Levine. —The staff of the Carnegie Foun- dation has set out to make study a _ major sport in our colleges. We say it has set out to do so, but the Lord only knows where it will land. Who could conceive of fifty thousand peo- ple paying five dollars per to see eleven men from Yale and eleven from Princeton contest in mental - gymnastics through four fifteen min- ute periods? Study will never be a major sport at any American college as long as its coaches draw down more than its president and its athletic teams have to commercialize their sports in order to maintain their recreational facilities. —The President’s latest bid for popular favor is his recent call for _ higher wages for labor. Everybody would say: Amen! to that if he had - made clear just what he meant by labor. If it was unskilled lahor he was pleading for . we. join: in the Amen! for unskilled labor is getting less than half as much per hour as skilled and much of the skilled labor is getting more per hour than those who furnish it with employment. The President's utterance was only grand-stand play, however. He can get more for common labor if he wants to. All he need do is tell the tariff beneficiaries that he will advo- cate a cut in their schedules unless they give more of the tariff’s unearn- ed increment to their employees. He hasn’t the courage to do that. —The political pendulum has been swinging back and forth so erratically in Centre county that nobody seems to know just what way the Republi- can judicial cat’s going to jump. One week there is nothing to the nomina- tion but Judge Furst. The next week we hear nothing but Fleming talk. Lately, however, rumors are sifting into the effect that with each sweep of the tide of popular favor a few more supporters are swept up onto the Fleming jetty than onto that of the sitting Judge. We don’t know and we give it only for what it is worth: Gossip tells us that Judge Furst has a mill-stone about his neck in the person of the new dispenser of patronage in Centre county. It, gos- . sip, leads us to the conviction that the hired and fired armies in Centre coun- ty are going to decide the issue and ‘at the present stage of the battle it looks as though the fired army has more supporters than the hired one. —An incident that occurred in Washington on Sunday convinces us that it was not wholly due to Ambas- sador Herrick’s coaching that Lind- bergh did the right thing in every emergency that confronted him in Paris. His comportment there and in Brussels and London is the talk of the world. The very simplicity and naturalness of the young man were so impressive that they almost wrote a new dictum into the ethics of diplo- .. matic procedure and because his con- duct was so unexpected Ambassador Herrick was generally credited with tipping him off as to what to do. On Sunday Lindbergh and his mother went to church in Washington with President and Mrs. Coolidge. All the way from the temporary White House to the First Congregational church crowds lined the streets and cheered him to the echo. There was no sign from him that he either saw or heard them. In that moment Lindy was the idol, not the President of the United States, but he remembered who -he was riding with and what his errand was ‘and knew, because he has had good home training, that there are times and places for everything. A . man who makes a bally-hoo of his procession to church isn’t the kind in the | It is believed that the north building who would have done what Lindbergh , did. VOL. 72. STATE RIGHTS AN __ BELLEFONTE. PA.. JUNE 17, 1927. Capitol Construction Work to be | Rushed. The expressed purpose of Governor Fisher to hasten the construction of what is to be known as the north office building in Capitol park, Harris- burg, is commendable. When the new capitol building was designed a trifle more than a quarter of a century ago, it was believed it would supply ample room: for the activities of the State government for a century at least. More than fifteen years ago this ex- pectation proved futile and within that period of time enough money has been paid in rentals for space for use of the several departments to pay for the additional buildings contemplated in the plans subsequently drawn by the late Arnold W. Bruner as neces- sary to properly conduct the business of the State. The south office building, now about completed, cost in the neighborhood of $5,000,000. Four years were spent in the construction and the work was performed during a period of peak prices for both labor and materials. may be completed in less than two years, and though it will be an exact replica of the other it can be built for $3,500,000. Its completion within the two years will enable the State to house all its agencies of administra- tion instead of having them scattered about in Harrisburg at great expense in the way of rentals. - The quarters now occupied by the Department of Public Welfare and the Public Service Commission cost nearly as much an- nually as the interest on the propose building would amount to. . The General Assembly, at its last session, appropriated $1,000,000 to start the work, which will serve the purpose. But piecemeal method of construction implied in that act is neither economical’ nor wise. For that reason Governor Fisher has set about to devise a plan to finance the undertaking in a more expeditious manner. “Construction work on the new building will be vigorously push- ed to give Harrisburg and Pennsylva- nia a building they can well be proud of,” the Governor declared, the other day, and ‘he added, “we intend to es- tablish a ‘new record for State con- struction on the new building.” That will be fine and if it is free of graft, as well as expeditiously. built, all the better. : ——Mexico “goes the whole hog.” By government decree all the clocks in that country are to be set forward an hour for the whole year. Usual Fight on Tax Reduction. The stage is already being set for the usual contest between the leaders , of the major parties in Congress on the question of tax ceduction. There i is perfect agreement on the main | question, which is that with a vast and , annually increasing surplus business interests and national safety demand a decrease in the revenues. But there | is a wide difference of opinion both as | to the amount and the form of the de- | crease. Senator Reed, of Pennsylva- | nia, personal representative of Secre- | tary of the Treasury Mellon, and pre- ; sumably spokesman of the President | on the subject, would limit the cut to | $300,000,000 while Senator Simmons, speaking for the Democrats, demands a reduction of $500,000,000. The books will show a surplus at the close of the present fiscal year, the 30th of this month, of upward of . $600,000,000, an increase of more than $300,000,000 over that of last year. The President has publicly stated that some of the sources of this surplus may not be present next year but has failed to specify which will default. In the absence of this information it may be assumed that there is not likely to be a considerable falling off and with a practically certain surplus of approximately $600,000,000, a tax reduction of $500,000,000 cannot be harmful. If the Democratic pro- gramme had been adopted last year the people would have been relieved of the considerable unnecessary bur- dens which were imposed upon them ! by the compromise then adopted. There is also a great difference in the programmes as to the form of the tax cut. Senator Reed, speaking for the Republican party and the admin- istration, proposes to cut the tax on incomes of upward of $75,000 in half, on those of $25,000 to $75,000 a trifle less and on those under $5000 not at all. The Democratic schedule would i leave the rate on the big income alone and make the cut on small incomes and corporations’ incomes, which are shifted to the consumers, thus doub- ling the burden of taxpayers of small means. Both favor the repeal of the inheritance tax and most of what are known as the “nuisance” taxes, which include automobile and similar levies. Fighteen church denominations distributed $8,014,737 to ministerial pensioners during 1926. f | the plan suggested by the committee Deserving Adventure in Politics. The creation of a State-wide organ- ization “dedicated to the dual pur- pose of reforming the election system and protecting the ballot” is the most deserving adventure in the political. life of Pennsylvania in recent years. Such an organization has been sug- gested by a number of influential men and women of Philadelphia, and it is. to be hoped that it will he cordially | and generously supported by the peo- ple in every section of the State. It is to be absolutely unselfish and non+ partisan, and as Thomas Raeburn White and Roland S. Morris are among the sponsors, and the other members of the preliminary commit- tee are men and women of the same type, there can be no doubt of the | sincerity of purpose. The temporary committee, compos- ed of twenty Republicans and Demo- crats in equal ratio, has addressed a letter to 500 men and women of Penn< sylvania asking them to contribute to a fund of $50,000 to finance the en- terprise, the money to be collected D FEDERAL UNION. Concerning the Extra Session. The expectation of an extra session |, of Congress some time in advance of the usual date of assembling, based on a statement made by Senator Smoot, of Utah, after a conference with the President, -has been some- what impaired by a subsequent dec- laration by Mr. Coolidge that he had “made no definite decision” on the subject. There are good reasons why an extra session might be called. The Mississippi flood situation needs at- tention, the deficiency bill, defeated by the filibuster to shield Vare at the close of the last session, ought to be passed in order that the courts may function, and the necessity for tax reduction before the opening of the Presidential campaign all cry out for an extra session. Senator Smoot is chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and is anxious to get the tax reduction bill on its way. One of the clearest head- ed politicians in the country, he real- ‘izes not only the importance but the necessity of decreasing the tax bur- by contributions in smaller sums from#dens during the first session of the citizens in ‘sympathy with the moves ment. The object is “the creation of public sentiment which would secure from the next State Legislature a substantial improvement in the elec-, tion laws; assistance in the enforce- ment of these laws and the bringing. to justice of those who might violate’ them, and the conduct of a campaign to assure the adoption of the voting machire amendment at the general: election next year.” So long as the millionaire corpora- tions, bankers and manufacturers are supporting selfish and corrupt politi- cians in corrupting the ballot the only hope for honest elections lies in the thorough reorganization of the better element of the electorate to repeal their malign influence in public life. The creation of such a force is not on- ly possible but entirely feasible, and should appeal to every voter who fav-: ors honest elections. It may be that a greater fund than that named by ‘the conmittee will be necessary to ac- complish the result, but the achie ment will be worth dll it costs" us hope that the respense will be prompt and generous. ——The late Russel Sage was an export in dodging expense bills and his widow’s estate is running true to | form in = escaping an income tax! charge of $1,500,000. i | Hard Boiled Republican Boss. | In politics, as played in Pennsyl- | vania, there are bosses and bosses. | The late Senator Quay was an “easy” he had chosen for Governor, or any other office that had patronage to dis- friendly, he allowed full latitude in selections. The late Senator Pen- rose was an “amiable” boss. He with men loyal to the organization and willing workers in the cause. But he never put other restraints on the appointing power or required the adoption of his personal choice. It is true that the appointment by the Governer of an open enemy provoked | a “roar” that was heard from the! Delaware to Lake Erie. But the present boss of the party, ! chairman W. L. Mellon, is a “hard- | boiled” master. When the General | Assembly organized last January he selected the officials of that body from the president pro tem of the Senate to the pasters and folders of the House of Representatives. Even the com- mittee assignments in both chambers were made under his direction. In the selection of the ‘Governor’s cabinet his voice was loud and controlling. No important legislation could be enact- ' ed until it had his approval, and the ' Governor as well as the Legislators were obliged to yield to his caprices. Ballot reform : legislation, the most important work of the session, was mutilated to meet his perverted meas- ure of merit. For years it had been the privilege and duty of the Governor of the Com- monwealth to select the managers of the several charitable institutions of the State. As a rule the only recom- pense which those faithful men and women received for their arduous but benevolent efforts was the conscious- ness of doing well." "Partisanship was rarely if ever considered in the selec- tions. But the new boss has revolu- tionized the system and usurped the power of naming persons to discharge the duties of these honorary offices. The other day the public was inform- ed, through the newspapers, that Mr. Mellon had gone ' to Harrisburg to “confer” with the Governor on these appointments. —-—Probably the fifty per cent in- crease in the='tariff tax on Swiss cheese, recently ordered by the Presi- dent, is a levy on the holes. pr Seventieth Congress. He is also wise to the fact that the measure has “a rocky road to travel.” The contest for the Senatorial seat fraudulently claimed by Bill Vare, and other dis- turbing questions are likely to occupy ‘the time of the Senate for so long a period that the revenue bill may fail altogether and the best claim of the Republican party for a continuance in power be lost. Of course the President gave Sen- ator Smoot ample reason for his state- ment thst an extra ‘session would be called. The Senator is far too wise a politician to make such a statement without - complete authority. Likely Mr. Coolidge expected the Senator to keep the information to himself -un- j til released by the White House, and the publication was disappointing. But the disappointment is hardly an excuse for practically branding the Republican leader of the 3enate as a prevaricator. Some men would re- sent such an aspersion, and if Smoot would take it into his head to adopt course it would-be bad for the third term ambition of Calvin Cool. idge, which is not quite safe at pres- ent. : ; ——The man who made the remark that “there is nothing new under the sun,” ought to be alive now and he would undergo a change of mind. Especially had he been interviewed on Monday by W. H. Garman and his sample of congealed liquid air. The sample was only a small slab about six inches long, two and a half inches wide by three-quarters of an inch thick, but he claimed that there was “boss. That is so long as the person sufficient congealed frigidity repre-|T: sented in the small parcel to supply an ordinary refrigerator for seven- ; pense, selected subordinates who were (teen hours. It represented a temper- ature of 140 degrees below zero. The liquid air is entirely devoid of mois- ture and if it has all the cooling prop- insisted on filling the minor positions ' erties represented it will revolution- ize refrigeration methods, especially if it can be commercially manufactur- ed to render its use general and eco- nomical. ——1In demanding that expenses of the government must be kept at the , resent level President Coolidge “is addressing the galleries.” He made a similar statement a year ago and the expenses increased many millions. ——The Philadelphia subway scheme will provide for an underway walk for pedestrians. This is entirely proper. That city is governed by the “underworld” population. ——Marconi, inventor of wireless telegraphy, was married. in Rome last Sunday. He may now direct his in- ventive powers to framing excuses for domestic derelictions. rm —— A e———— ——French troops have been with- drawn from the Sarre valley by order of the League of Nations, thus re- moving a cause of irritation that made much trouble. ——-The Governor made 500 ap- pointments in one day.recently. If he keeps up that pace Mr. Mellon's troubles will soon be ended. Captain Richards, of Lebanon, is also an air hero. Though eighty- four years old he flew from Philadel- phia to Washington to greet Colonel Lindbergh. The President is still driving the caution car on high gear. With a $600,000,000 surplus in sight he hesi- tates about reducing revenues. -——Centre Hall Camp, No. 889, P. 0. S. of A., will hold Mémorial serv-. ices at Sprucetown at 7:30 o’clock on Sunday evening, June 19th. Rev. Ha- zen will preach the sermon. A full turnout of members is desired. NO. 24. President and Budget. From the Philadelphia Record. Congressmen would like to reduce taxes; that is always popular. They would like increased appropriations; that is always popular with some lo- cality or class. Almost everybody wants more money from Congress for something he—or she—is particularly interested in. But the President has no glad hand for either. Both are likely to feel that he has a marble heart. : But we hail with great satisfaction one evidence of broadening of the Re- publican horizon. Among all the Re- publican speeches and documents we believe that the President’s address on Friday was the first time that any Republican has taken notice, even by implication, of the enormous reduc- tion of the public debt during the last vear and a half, or a little over, of the Wilson Administration. The amount was over two billions of dol- lars. The President doesn’t specify, but he does what no Republican be- fore him has done; he takes the start- ing point in reduction from its high- est points in August, 1919. All oth- ers have started with March 4. 1921. The world began for all Revoublicans with the inauguration of President Harding. We are now permitted to know from a high Republican source tha debt reduction began more than a year and a half before Mr, Harding was inaugurated, and’ by considering the debt statement at the peint where Republicans have always begun ‘it is possible to see that debt reduction was more rapid in the last part of the Wilson Administration than at any. time since,” But, of course, the reven- ues have been reduced in later years. The President is extremely conserv- |. ative; it will seem. to many persons ‘competent to judge that He is too ¢on- servative. The $600,000,000 surplus of the year now approaching its end is, he says, no basis for appropria- tions or tax reduction; there were rey- enues of a non-recurring’ character.’ The" estimated surplus: for the fiscal vear soon - to ‘begin "is $338,000,000, but he deducts from that $133,000,000 as non-recurring receipts and limits the possible tax reduetion to $205,- 000,000. But if this surplus is so used no margin is'left to increase ex- penses, and the Presidéntiwarns Con- gress that it must net think of in- creasing the disburs ly By the time Congress" shail .meet we shall know a good deal more than. we do now about the finances. We may very well remember that all the estimates of revenue in these recent years have been exceeded. ' By De- cember we shall know exactly what the surplus of 1927 was, whether it was just under $600,000,000, or whether it was a good bit over. Even in the last few weeks of a fiscal vear esti- mates have been substantially exceed- ed. We shall also know what the rev- enues for almost half the coming fis- cal year will have been. Lats The President refers to large and unexpected demands upon the. Treas- ury which may arise. But the public [reasury is not exactly in the condi- tion of a private business. There is always the taxpayers to fall back up-. on, and it has generally been regard- ed as wiser public finance not to raise money in anticipation of possible de- mands, or to carry large surpluses of idle funds, but to meet unexpected emergencies by temporary measures. Furthermore, it’ is by no means necessary to reduce the public debt by a million, or a billion and a quar- ter, annually. It is niee to reduce the debt rapidly, but it is net essential to keep up the present pace. The President himself has spoken often enough and urgently enough of the importance of leaving as much money as possible in the citizen’s pocket. A temporary emergency can be met by temporary means, and if the flood con- trol to which the President alludes should cost 50 or 100 millions that amount might be stopped out of the payments on the public debt without serious results. iia as The Moscow Orgy. Irom the Philadelphia Public Ledger. The orgy of executions reported from Moscow has shocked the whole world. It is a further evidence that Russia under Bolshevism is not fit to be received into the comity of civilized -nations. - A- revolutionary Government which, after ten years, has to resort to terrorist methods shows ‘not only weakness and inef- fectiveness but a fundamental and in- excusable criminality. If the Bol- shevists hoped in this way to give proof of their power to the outside world, they have merely proved them- selves execrable - psychologists. But perhaps .the main idea was to make an ‘impression on their own . people. So there is a suspicion that these may have: been “newspaper executions.” At least one of the victims has been “executed” in this manner before. The world is inclined to extend its sympathy to the Russians. But what is to.be thought of a people who will tolerate a Government so fraudulent, weak and criminal ? i ——The committee in charge of making arrangements for the annual .convention of. the Central Pennsyl- vania district firemen’s association, which this: year wil be held at Du- Bois, August 10th and 11th, has com- piled a long list of prizes for compet- itive events which total $1465.00 in cash. dise. | SPAWLS FROM THE KEYTSONE. - —His first mistake in 20 years as bot- tom .man at Pennsylvania Colliery cost the life of Michael Gonbeck, aged 42, of Mount Carmel, last Saturday. He stum- bled when turning and was crushed be- tween a car and side of the mine, sustain- ing two broken arms and a crushed chest. - —Believed to have been caught in a whirlpool when she ventured too far out in the stream while bathing in the Rays- town creek at the Narrows brdge, seven miles west of Everett,’ Evelyn Brunnet, 18, of Mill Run, near Central City, Somerset county, was drowned shortly after 5 p. m. last Thursday. —While playing bridge on the first floor of the residence of City Treasurer R. M. Keiser, at Wilkes-Barre, Thursday night, the valuables of sixty guests in the wrap room upstairs were taken by a sneak thief. The women, who were the guests at a card party given by Mrs. Keiser, lost their purses, wraps and other articles. - —Struck on the head by a batted base- ball during a juvenile game which took place near his home Wednesday afternoon of last week. William MecAlonis, 11, of Girardville, suffered a fractured skull, from which he died at the Ashland State hospital early on Monday morning. This is the first baseball fatality in that section for the season. : —The office of the American Oil Co., in Reading, was robbed on Sunday night of its safe, a 100-pound steel case containing $000 in checks and about $350 cash. All that was left in the office of the safe was the door knob and part of the frame, bat- tered off with a heavy railroad sledge found on the floor. Police believe it was hauled to the country for dynamiting. —Willis Beck, 30, a battery supply sta- tion proprietor of Nazareth, Lehigh coun- ty, chose a somewhat unique method of suicide, it was reevaled yesterday with the dscovery of his body in a small coupe in the fair grounds. at Nazareth. Beck had twisted the exhaust pipe of the car so that the fumes poured into the car through a ‘hole in the flooring. The windows of the little car were then tightly closed and the engine started. 1 : —When Charles Trotter, 76 years old, went to the Lancaster county poor house for admission as an inmate he met at the door of the institution his wife, Bertha, 73, whom he deserted fifty-six years ago. The woman, who had been in the institution since 1871, recognized Trotter who desert- ed her as child wife. She went to the poor house when she became ill from worry over her abandonment and the death of her infant child. : : —John Falls, 9, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Falls, of near Beech Creek bor- ough, burped. his right hand severely while playing with fire at his home Thurs- day night. His mother wrapped the in- jnred member in a cloth saturated with turpentine, and the boy getting too pear the kitchen fire, the bandage took fire, burning his hand to the bone from the wrist to the ends of his fingers. It is doubtless if the hand can be saved. LL A near panic occurred . in a .Wilkes- Barre barber shop one morning last week when a snake ten. feet in length crawled ot of an opening in-the brick wall Men sceambled from the barber chairs and rushed into the street with lathered faces and aprons around their necks as barbers scattered in every direction. When, Po, liceman’ Pesavento, who wis called, enter- ed the shop the snake had crawled back into the wall and has .not been seen since. —8everal convicts on duty in the boiler room of the Western Penitentiary -at Pittsburgh, aided firemen early on Tues- day in fighting a fire which broke out im the novelty shop on the first floor of the main building. The flames were confined to that shop and were extinguished after a two hours fight with a loss of about $3,000. Scores of defectives and city police sped to the prison when the fire alarm was sounded to be on hand for a possible attempt at escape. ‘—Kxplosion of 400 quarts of nitro Glye- erine at Lick Hill, near Butler, on Thurs- day. cost the lives of two men, while hos- ptal reports indicate that two, at least, of the score injured, may die. Three houses were demolished by the blast, several oth- ers were badly damaged, telephone poles were ‘torn down and gas lines broken. Preliminary estimates placed the property damage at more than $100,000. The ex- plosion occurred when a rear wheel of a truck carrying the nitro glycerine to a storage magazine slipped from the high- way into a small ditch. —After warning his two small child- ren to keep away from a tree which he was cutting on his farm near Kembles- ville, Chester county, on Friday, John A. Kirk, aged 46, stumbled and fell beneath the tree when it toppled over, receiving injuries which resulted in his death two hours later in an ambulance that was tak- ing him to a Philadelphia hospital. He receved a punctured lung, four broken ribs and a fractured arm in the accident. When one of the trees was about to fall he warned his children, Mary and John, Jr., who were watching him. As he start- ed to run away he tripped on a rock, and he was pinned to the earth by the heavy tree. —A small gold medal awarded for mer- itorious service in the Johnstown flood of May, 1889, is awaiting a claimant at the capitol, in Harrisburg. When Joseph Bates, paper baler, reached the bottom of the paper bim he saw a small sparkling object. He picked it up and found it to be a medal. On the bar to which the pend- ant was hung is the name “A. N. Me- Innes,” while the pendant says ‘Presented for valuable service rendered-Johnsiown Flood.” Mr. Bates said that a check fail- ed to disclosed any one by the name of McInnes in the State service at the capitol. He is at a loss to know where it came from and how it came to be with the waste paper, but if Mr. McInnes can be located the medal will be turned over to him. — Breaking into the H. Fisherman shirt factory at Quakertown, Pa., early on Mon- day, some person or persons destroyed 12,000 finished shirts, valued. at $12,000, by throwing a dark acid over them. Two one-gallon jugs used to earry the acid were found on the factory floor. One hun- dred persons are employed in the plant, which will be reopened Wednesday. The culprit left no clew. State police and Po- lic Chief Harry Rhoades, of Quakertown, are conducting a thorough investigation. No insurance was carried on the merchan- On January 28 the plant was partly gutted by fire, when smoke and water caused a loss of $15,000, origin of which was undetermined. No cause can be as- signed for the attack on the plant, as there have been no labor or other troubles.