Bema atdn.
INK SLINGS.
—1It isn’t what you give that counts.
It’s the spirit that prompts the gift.
—We feel so toward everyone that
‘if it were in our power to make it so
next Sunday would be the happiest
Christmas the world has ever known.
—How priceless good-will is. Ev
eryone craves it. If you have been
withholding yours from someone get
‘the spirit of Christmas into your
“heart and give it to him or her.
—The Philadelphia woman who is
asking to be divorced from her hus-
‘band because he is “too wonderful” is
evidently one of the kind who doesn’t
like too much of a good thing.
—The Mayor has five deer that are
‘to be cut up and presented to the
needy in the community on Christ-
mas. If a bottle of sherry were to
go with each basket we fancy that
the roster of the needy in the com-
‘munity would be appalling.
—George Remus, the Chicago mur-
derer, wasn’t too crazy to understand
how to swing a temperamental jury.
‘The novelty of a man, who had con-
fessed k.ling his wife, pleading his
own case was something new again,
so they found him not guilty of doing’
something he openly told them he had
done.
—OQur peace messenger to Mexico
should feel flattered. He drew a big-
ger crowd than ever attended a bull
fight down there. Really that was
as it should be for Col. Charles
Augustus Lindbergh is something of
a bull fighter himself. He fights that
old “bull” “It can’t be done,” you
Jknow.
—Of course this is not the season
«of the year to be making trouble for
anybody and far be it from us to
‘be making trouble at any time, but if
it gets out over in Philipsburg that
‘Senator Scott is going to furnish a
‘big dinner here for all who come over
‘from that baliwick to see Judge-elect
‘Fleming inducted into office we fancy
the Senator will have more on his
‘hands than he thinks he will.
—Inasmuch as we won't greet you
-again until January 6, 1928, we have
crammed this edition so full of local
and personal news that you'll be busy
until almost that time reading all of
‘it. However, if you should get
through with it and crave more read-
‘ing pick up your Bible and read the
fourteenth’ chapter of St. John. If
‘there be no other cheer in the Christ-
mas season for you you can find full
.and plenty of it there. :
—1It looks as though Rear Admiral
Magruder might turn out to be a red-
‘hot poker in the hands of the Navy
Department. We shall not discuss
“the ethics of his supposed criticism
of his superiors. However great a
‘breach of discipline that might have
been it doesn’t appear to us that it
was for anything else:than “the good
‘of the service.” And if a man who
has given his life to naval problems
doesn’t know more as to their solu-
‘tion than a civilian official who sel-
.dom has more than four years’ con-
‘tact with the service all we have to
say is that he ought not to be a Rear
Admiral.
— Several months ago a reader
asked us what we thought of H. L.
‘Menken. At the time we were so
absorbed with other thoughts that we
.couldn’t concentrate on the much dis-
cussed writer long enough to tell
what we really do think. Now that
we have nothing else to do until bed-
time we seize the opportunity to say
‘that we don’t think of him at all
We have read much of his stuff, but
‘have never gotten enough from it to
convince us that he is a philosopher
of unusual erudition—in truth, that
‘he is a philosopher at all. We are
more inclined to believe that Mr.
Menken is not wholly sincere, that he
is more or less hypocritical and writes
with the view of attracting attention
‘to himself by antagonizing public
opinion. He does his work well, but
it’s all bally-hoo for H. L. M.
—1In his new book “The Future of
an Illusion” Sigmund Freud contin-
ues his studied attempt to destroy
religion. He laughs at “religious
America,” says there is no God and.
that psycho-analysis has spread the
knowledge of this in widening circles.
Freud is another of the Menken kind
William James once said that the
-great snare of the psycho-analyst is
the confusion of his own standpoint
with that of the mental fact about
which he is making observation.
Freud is another of the Menken kind
—so-called profound thinkers, so ab-
_sorbed in their own egoism that they
think the walls of Jericho are going
to topple over every time they blow
their horns.
Now that we have disposed of
Menken and Freud we crave the floor
a second time to state that psycho-
analysis will never uproot common-
sense. The gorgeous colorings of the
heavens at sunset, their hopeful.ra-
diance at dawn, the majestic grandeur
of the mountains, the purpose of the
rolling valleys and purling streams,
the fragrance of the flowers, the in-
stincts of the animals and the good
that is in human hearts are not mere
accidents. Common-sense will tell the
simplest mind that there was a de-
*gign in it all. And who might the
-+designer have been if it:was not. God ?,
rtal man might eventually conquer
iniverse, but there'is nothing in
: tory to give rise to even a fleet-
,-ing#thought that he might have cre-
“ated it.. And it couldn’t just have
. ;
SAG
VOL. 72.
Concerning the Tax Cut.
During the discussion of the tax
bill in the House of Representatives,
the other day, Republican floor lead-
er Tilson admonished the members
against adopting amendments “lest
the entire programme of tax reduc-
tion be defeated.” This action is sub-
ject to two interpretations. It may
mean that unless the Mellon bill is
enacted in practically its original
form the Republican majority will de-
feat it entirely and continue to exact
from the people three or four hun-
dred million dollars in taxes in ex-
cess of the needs of the government.
In other words, “saving the face” of |
the Secretary of the Treasury is of |
greater importance to the Republic-
ans in Congress than saving their
earnings to the people.
It is not clear to the average
thoughtful mind why such deference
should be paid to the opinion of Sec-
retary Mellon upon the question of
revenues. Three years ago he sol-
emnly warned Congress that a reve-
nue cut of more than $300,000,000
would result in a deficit. Congress
voted a cut of nearly $500,000,000 and
at the end of the period covered by
the appropriations of the same ses-
sion there was a treasury surplus of
upward of $200,000,000. Last year
the Secretary held before the eye of
Congress another limit figure and
prediction that a greater cut spelled
national bankruptcy. Congress again
cut a couple of hundred millions be-
yond the limit and there was another
considerable surplus.
This year the Secretary has sub-
mitted an estimate of receipts and ex-
penditures which would justify a’ cut
of $225,000,000 in taxes, with the ad-
monition that any amount beyond
that figure would be disastrous. The
Republican majority of the House
Committee on Ways and Means ex-
pressed its want of confidence in the
Secretary by agreeing upon a cut of
about $250,000,000. The National
Chamber of Commerce estimates that
a cut of $400,000,000 is not only
justified but advisable, and many of
the leading financiers of the country
boldly declare that even a greater cut
might be safely made. But the repu-
| tation which President Coolidge and
others have bestowed upon Mr. Mel-
lon as a ‘superman must be main-
tained.
—Of course, as Viscount Rother-
mere states, Great Britain was to
blame for the failure of the recent
ar.s conference at Geneva. But our
own delegates were hardly 100 per
cent efficient.
Mr. Hearst’s New Scandal. |
The forger, thief or procurer who
projected into the: current gossip of
the period, the other day, the story
that the government of Mexico had
paid a large sum of money to four |
Senators in Congress for some unde-
fined but sinister service was unfor-
tunate in the selection of the victims |
of his malice. We are not obsessed |
with admiration for either Senator
Borah, of Idaho, or Senator Heflin,
of Alabama. But it would seem that
connecting their names with such a
transaction is about as absurd as ac-
cusing President Coolidge of shop-
lifting. Associating the name of Sen-
ator Norris, of Nebraska, or Senator
LaFollette, of Wisconsin, is even
more preposterous and malignant. It
is positively inconceivable.
If the! purpose were to create a
first pagé newspaper sensation it
would have been wiser to select less
conspicuous Senators or leave the
Senate out of it altogether and lay
‘the charge against one or more of the
lobbyists who infest Washington
while Congress is in session. In that
case the probability of truth might
have held the story on the front page
for several days. As it is, probably
less than one in a million of those
who read it gave the matter credence
for a minute. Nevertheless the ac-
cused Senators were justified in
promptly demanding an investigation,
not to ‘exculpate themselves but to
prove that President Calles, of Mex-
ico, is not an egregious idiot.
As an esteemed contemporary de-
clares, ¥it is an outrage that the
names of four United States Sena-
tors should have been dragged in as
the beneficiaries of a huge Mexican
slush fund, and that a reputable
American lawyer should be named as
intermediary so long as there are
widely ‘circulated newspapers in the
country’ conducted solely for profit or
used for the more despicable purpose
of disseminating scandals. This Mex-
ican scandal is the more atrocious be-
cause it came upon the heels of a
decisive action to preserve the dig-
nity and integrity of the Senate in
which three of the four accused ac-
tively participated.”
|
—Mr, Schwab is also persuaded
that prosperity is running strong. His
employment is steady and his wages
are regularly paid.
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION,
BELLEFONTE, PA.. DECEMBER 23. 1927.
Perhaps—Ilike me
In each and every
Oh, ’twill be good to
Grow bundles for
« BUNDLES!”
Every one carrying bundles,
Carrying them—all day long,
Some, in wistful sadness
Some like the lilt of song.
Some with the ease of flying birds—
A-wing—through the Winter blue,
And some, just happily trudging on,
Bundles—and bundles—and bundles—
But—every one has their own.
To carry—uwith love—for some one
No need to question the bundle—
Its size?—Ilike a mountain or small!
Or what it contains—no matter—
"Tis a bundle—for love—that’s all.
The Christ-Love Thought in the bundle,
A gift for some one, today,
Or something to lighten a burden—
Carried on—for aye and aye.
Each day through this coming year—
Bundles, for love of others,
So smile and carry your bundle—
A smile for all whom you meet,
And Peace on Earth will come to those
Whom you greet or pass on the street.
WINIFRED B. MEEK-MORRIS.
Christmas, 1927.
or vou.
home.
carry bundles,
us—of cheer.
Election Law Commission in Action.
The first session of the election law |
commission, created by the General
Assembly nearly a year ago, was held,
in Harrisburg last week: All except
two of the members were present and
Governor Fisher gave some excellent
advice to “those present.” He urged
them “to simplify the ballot to en-
courage voting; safeguard the ballot
as far as possible to protect the voter
and make the detection of crimes
against the ballot as easy as possible
with severe penalties.” These are
valuable as well as pertinent sugges-
tions but are not likely to be adopted
unanimously. The Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh machines will not approve
of thus interfering with the preroga-
tives of the boss.
The first session, though brief, de-
veloped some differences of opinion
on important points. The majority
seemed to favor the voting machines
but the Philadelphia member of the
commission is not in accord with that
idea. He said it would take longer
for electors to vote than by the pres-
ent method. “In my district,” he said,
“almost eighty per cent of the vote
is cast between 5 and 7 o’clock .and
one machine would not take care of
this number of people.” He also ex-
pressed the belief that the machines
might be manipulated so as to pro-
duce a corrupt result. He had in
mind, probably, the experience with
the Baker ballot law when schools
were established in Philadelphia to
teach voters how to cheat.
Mr. Smith, of Pittsburgh, proposed
the elimination of paid watchers at
polling places. “Watchers are mere-
ly paid workers for candidates at elec-
tions,” he said, “and we should abol-
ish them.” This suggestion again
brought the Philadelphia member to
his feet. “Paid watchers can’t be
eliminated,” he declared with em-
phasis. The machines need them in
their business. They provide the
easiest and cheapest method of buy-
ing votes that could possibly be de-
vised. Paid watchers don’t have to
be at the polls at all but they “bring
home the bacon.” One paid watcher
in a family of ten voters will do
more service for the candidate than
ten times the price they get will buy
in any other way.
-—The Supreme court judges of
Kansas have decided to wear robes
hereafter. That is conforming to an
appropriate custom, and if the legis-
lators of Oklahoma would adopt masks
they would be moving in the same
direction.
—1It is to be hoped Mayor Thomp-
son, of Chicago, will suspend his war
against King George until after the
Holidays. The people are too busy
with Santa Claus now to keep tabs
on Big Bill’s foolishness.
A A ———
—A little salt sprinkled on the tail
of the comet might convert it into a
Christmas gift for the man in the
moon.
\ Governor Fisher's Fine Promises.
In an address before the Pennsyl-
: vania Society of New York, on Sat-
_urday evening, Governor Fisher made
«generous promise of improvement in
the electoral system of the State. Af-
ter referring to his pre-election
pledge on the subject he said, “I shall
; continue to press the issue until ev-
‘ery citizen can feel in his heart the
assurance that his vote will be re-
ceived and counted as cast.” That
will be a splendid consummation. If
similar assurance could be given that
only citizens legally entitled to the
franchise would be permitted to vote
an ideal political condition would be
established. There would be no rec-
ord of over 300 fraudulent votes in
one precinct of Philadelphia as was
shown in 1926.
But on the subject of ballot regula-
tion the promises of Governor Fisher
are not always to be depended upon.
His pre-election pledge was almost
as strong as that made Saturday
night, but the thousands of frauds
committed in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
and Scranton, at the primary . and
general elections this year, prove that
they were “promises to our ear and
broken to our hope.” He refused to
approve the real reform legislation
prepared by the Committee of Sev-
enty-six and sponsored by Senator
Barr, and afterward consented to
“pulling the teeth” out of the series
. of measures he had himself prepared,
which though inadequate, were in the
right direction. He yielded to po-
litical expediency.
It may be true, as the Governor
declared, that “whenever politics is
is required first of all, it will soon
adjust itself to its own betterment
and advantage.” But rendering moral
and material support to the political
methods of the Philadelphia “neck”
and the Pittsburgh “strip,” as Gov-
ernor Fisher has been striving to do
in supporting a false claim to a seat
in the Senate by William S. Vare,
is not setting an example to politics
that will give it the proper under-
standing. If Governor Fisher sin-
cerely desires to improve the political
morals of his party he must “prove
his faith by works” and contribute
to the cause something better than
lip service.
—President Cosgrave, of the Irish
Republic, will not be visited by Presi-
| dent Coolidge when he gets to Wash-
ington. Official etiquette and the un-
certainty of the Irish vote are prob-
ably jointly responsible.
—It is estimated in Washington
that the very ambitious, not to say
extravagant, naval programme of the
administration is somewhat of a bluff.
But well-meaning governments never
bluff.
PL ——— AAA UII
—In China they kill girls for wear-
ing bobbed hair. This is a rather
drastic form of giving a cue to Mon-
golian flappers.
| ernor. General.
given to understand that good service
NO. 50.
| Now for a Gentler Policy in the
> Philippines.
From the Philadelphia Record.
In nominating Henry L. Stimson as
Governor General of the Philippines
President Coolidge made a personal
selection compargble in importance to
that of Dwight Morrow as Ambassa-
dor to Mexico. Whether the appoint-
ment will result in more peaceful re-
lations between Manila and Washing-
ton remains to be seen. The constant
friction which marked the former
regime was due largely to resentment
among Filipino officials and political
leaders toward what they called a
military administration. General Wood
could not make them forget that he
was a distinguished soldier, and more
especially he could not overcome their
distaste for the group of army sub-
ordinates known as the “cavalry cab-
inet.” The difficulty was that he had
to work under the War Department
and through the only aides available.
He was himself in favor of develop-
ing a more distinctly civil form of ad-
ministration.
Mr. Stimson is a civilian, but one
with a military career and War De-
partment training. Moreover, his ap-
pointment follows rejection by the
| President of Filipino requests of the
Department of the Interior. His de-
cision is that any modifications of
policy found necessary shall be made
under the existing system. To this
extent the appointment conveys no-
tice that American sovereignty is to
be fully maintained, and the require-
ments of the fundamental law under
which the Philippines are adminis-
tered shall be applied as completely
as they were by General Wood,
But this policy leaves wide oppor-
tunity to introduce methods more
satisfactory to the island leaders.
Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmena,
who are now in this country, have de-
nied that they seek revolutionary
changes in the powers of the Gov-
, Mr. Stimson has
shown notable capacity as a concilia-
tor, and if new regulations permit
him to establish a really civil admin-
istration he should be able to re-
store that confidence and co-operation
which have been so seriously im-
| paired by forms of military rule,
One Popular “Gringo.”
From the Harrisburg Telegraph.
Apparently there is at least one
popular “Gringo” in Mexico. He is
Colonel Charles A.. ‘and he
is teaching ‘the Mexican people to un-
derstand that after all folks north
of the Rio Grande do not wear horns
and that some of them, at least, are
kindly disposed and friendly souls
who desire nothing more than to live
at peace and harmony with their
neighbors.
If the doughty Colonel can get that
thought across he will have done more
to establish friendly relations between
the two countries than all the am-
bassadors we have ever sent to the
turbulent republic.
One of our troubles with Mexico
has been that we of the north do not
know the truth about the Mexican
people. We have been all too ac-
customed to the cartoonist’s notion of
the Mexican of the bloody knife and
the smoking pistol, which bears about
as much real resemblance to the real
article as some of the old-time car-
toons of Teddy Roosevelt and his big
stick did to the man as he actually
appeared. We have thought too much
of Mexico and her revolutionary ten-
dencies and too little of the tre-
mendous problems with which the
country is confronted and is endeav-
oring to solve. The Mexican who sees
in the account of an occasional gun-
battle in Chicago a picture of what
is transpiring in the average Amer-
ican city has about as clear an idea
of conditions in this country as has
the American who thinks of Mexico
only in terms of blood-shed and ex-
ecution.
Even more outlandish is the aver-
age Mexican’s conception of the Unit-
ed States and its people. The Grin-
goes to them are terrible persons, sit-
ting along the Rio Grande, rifle in
hand, waiting only a favorable op-
portunity to hop across the border
and enslave the whole country. If
Lindbergh can improve the opinion
of Americans in the minds of Mex-
icans he will have performed a great
service—and from all accounts he is
doing it.
A —————— A ————————
Officeholder for Fifty Years.
From the Clearfield Republican.
County Commissioner Jesse Dale
should give a banquet to his friends
when he steps out of his present job
on January 2nd. He owes it to them.
Jesse has been feeding pretty regu-
larly at the public crib for over fifty
years. He was postmaster at New
Washington in the early seventies;
postmaster of DuBois late seventies
and early eighties; Sheriff of Clear-
field county 1886-1889; Justice of the
Peace, Patton, Cambria county, for
several years in the nineties; candi-
date for Sheriff of Cambria county
and withdrew after receiving the Re-
publican nomination; back to Clear-
field county and County Commission-
er 1916-1928. A pretty long record at
the receiving end. This suggestion is
not offered with the hope of being in-
vited to said banquet if staged. Jesse
does not feel that way.
rb ———————
— Probably “Lindy” attended the
bull fight in Mexico just to show that
he is a “regular fellow.”
Lm a a AN
TA a —
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE.
—The York Telephone and Telegraph
company has declared a stock dividend
of 50 per cent, according to notices sent
out to stockholders. It is the first divi-
dend of this kind paid by the company.
—With the lobby crowded with guests
a fashionably-dressed youhg man Sunday
night walked to the mezzanine floor of
the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, Philadel-
phia, held up the cashier and escaped with
$700.
—Lawrence W. Strawbridge, aged 24,
of Franklin, Pa. dropped dead Friday
night a few minutes after arriving home
from doing his Christmas shopping. His
wife was in another part of the house
at the time. She heard a thud and found
Strawbridge dead on the kitchen floor. He
had been in apparent good health, but
doctors who were called said he was &
victim of heart disease.
—Hints of a huge graft exposure have
been made by John Parker, warden of
the Coal Township almshouse, Northum-
berland county. Parker said twenty-nine
pairs of shoes have been purchased by
overseers of the district at a rate of
$19.28 a pair when they really represent
shoes of a much inferior grade. Parker
said he will also have other startling an-
nouncements to make before he ‘is fired.”
—A victim of starvation and exposure
Harriet Metzger, 64 years old, died in the
general hospital at Lancaster, on Sunday,
36 hours after the body of her sister,
Catherine, 70, was found in a barnyard
near their home, one mile east of the city.
The sisters, according to neighbors and ac-
quaintances, possessed sufficient money
through leasing of real estate to live com-
fortably. Instead they chose to live the
life of recluses.
—The malicious action of some hunter
in shooting off the glass insulators along
the power line between Belleville and
Lewistown put Mifflin county in darkness
for a few minutes Friday night. The
lights along the line fluttered several
times and finally went out until the
switches could be thrown and another
line put in- service. An investigation
proved that a bullet shattered the insu-
lator, causing the short circuit.
—Robert Kahn, Brady township foreman
of the Mapleton Limestone company, Ma-
pleton, died at the J. C. Blair Memorial
hospital, Huntingdon, at 10 a. m. Thurs-
day, of injuries sufferc.« at the quarry.
He was about to close one of the large
crushers at 5 p. m. Wednesday when his
clothing cought in the fly wheel and his
body was drawn between the wheel and
post standard. Officials of the company
believe he suffered a broken back.
—Fred J. Broad, New Kensington real
estate dealer, on Saturday again became
the benefactor of striking miners when he
bought the furniture of twenty-two Ben-
ton families at a forced sale and then
returned the goods. The miners will re-
imburse him when they are able, Broad
said. Broad had acted in the miners’ be-
half in previous similar instances. The
sale was held by the Union Collieries com-
pany, to which the miners owed back
rent.
—C. A. Confer, of Mill Hall, was thrown
from the seat on his wagon into the bed
of a swollen mountain stream in the Tan-
gus, Scootac region, near Lock Haven,
striking his head on a sharp stone and
sustaining an injury which rendered him
unconscious. George C. Snyder, a mem-
ber of the Snyder hunting party, whose
outfit Mr. Confer was bringing home fo
Mill Hall, plunged into the stream and
after a hard battle succeeded in getting
the unconscious man to safety.
—VWilliam C. Helmold, 19, a native of
Curwensville, now a resident of Philadel-
phia, has been awarded the Rhodes schol-
arship for Pennsylvania. Helmold worked
his way through three years at Oberlin
college. He is a senior this year. Helm-
old is majoring in the study of Greek
and philology. He speaks fluently four
languages, French, Spanish, German and
Italian, and reads seven languages. Helm-
old is a son of the late Arnold and Eliz-
abeth Helmold, of Curwensville.
—Highway inspectors working on a new
road between Lock Haven and Renovo,
which passes through much hitherto un-
opened territory, have discovered an old
Indian mill, probably once used by the
Sinnemahoning tribe. The mill, carved
in the centre of a massive rock, weighing
probably ten tons, lies in the center of
the right of way of the new road, near
Cooks run in the northwestern part of
Clinton county. Public subscriptions have
been received to raise funds to have the
mill moved from its present location for
preservation as an historical object.
—Dr. Jeremiah Vanderbilt Reeder, 74,
died at Picture Rocks, Lycoming county,
last Friday, a martyr to the profession
which he pursued in Phoenixville for
twenty-seven years. He left there a few
months ago intending to retire. On De-
cember 7, he was called back to Phoenix-
ville to consult with the physician at-
tending Mrs. G. L. Fetters, his former
housekeeper. He remained at her bedside
for twelve hours until hope was aban-
doned and then started home by way
of the Pennsylvania railroad. Near Sun-
bury there was a slight wreck which
necessitated two coaches being cut from
the remainder of the train and left on a
track with no heat for more than an
hour. Dr. Reeder was in one of the
coaches and contracted a severe cold
which developed into throat paralysis. He
was unmarried and leaves no near rela-
tives.
—That there is a difference between the
proverbial burying of a lone talent in
the ground and planting a single dollar
is revealed in the story of a Clarion-coun-
ty 4-H club girl told recently by John
U. Ruef, assistant State club leader of the
Pennsylvania State College. When Leona
Burnham, of Corsica, received a dollar at
the club round-up a year ago from the
Kiwanis and Community clubs of Clarion,
she wondered what she would do with
it. In the spring she bought one and
one-fourth ounces of Penn State Ball-
head cabbage seed. Good weather con-
ditions gave her a large supply of fine
plants. After selling 1000 plants for $3
she transplanted the remainder. In early
July it was hot and dry so Leona and
her little sister hauled water to the field,
putting a half-pint in each hole. Then
the plants were set. They grew rapid-
ly, and from late summer until the round-
up this fall she sold 3,000 pounds of cab-
bage at one to two cents a pound. From
the cabbage she got $45, making $48 in
all from her original $1. Leona has start-
ed a ‘go to college” fund and'is quite
pleased with this ‘substantial addition. At
the round-up this fall she received the
$5 prize awarded for the best essay writ-
ten by a girl about what she did with
her dollar.
Re: =~ vr