INK SLINGS. -—The Quakers at Jordans, Eng- land, are not willing to trust the re- mains of William Penn to Pittsburgh. —The “Single-Taxers” deserve praise for optimism and persever- :ance, even if they have no other vir- tues. —The Philadelphia court clerk dis- missed for grafting has been prompt- ly “taken care of” by another as- signment. —Colonel Lindberg is still flying higher in the affections of the people and correcting the diplomatic blun- ders of the administration. —Samuel Insull, of Chicago, has tried to square himself with the Senate but it remains to be seen what Big Tom Cunningham will do. —There are a good many political “new brooms” at work in the State and it is to be hoped they will keep the records clean in the future. —No matter how people feel about Governor Smith’s political aspirations everybody hopes his wife will survive the ordeal through which she has just passed. —Colonel Lindberg doesn’t seem to care about altitude, long distance or other records. He is content with diffusing good will among men of the world. —Champion Gene Tunney threat- ens rebellion against the control of Tex Rickard. But it is a safe guess that he will temper his temerity be- fore long. —Wouldbe Senator Smith, of Ill- inois, has had the satisfaction of tell- ing the Senate where to get off as his consolation for having been told to get out. —Anyway, youll have to give it to Governor Al. Smith, of New York, for having had the back-bone to stand out against the mawkish senti- ment that was trying to save Ruth Snyder from the law’s penalty for a horrible crime. —If Washington is so keen to fight some one why doesn’t it leave Nica- ragua alone and come up here and join council or the local Red Cross chapter. In Bellefonte all anybody who wants to get into a scrap needs do is join something. —Mother Nature is being very kind to Bellefonte this winter. She knows we are head over heels in debt and is probably withholding snow for fear we'll get excited and ask council to rescind its rescinding of its resolu- tion to buy a snow-plow. —Mr. Mussolini must certainly be the Captain General in Italy. Re- cently King Victor Emanuel, in thanking TI Duce for having picked up his handkerchief, is said to have remarked: “This is one of the few things in which I may still stick my nose.” —Let us see. Wasn’t it back in 1917 or 1918 that the public wasn’t sure just what party Herbert Hoover belonged to and, perhaps we have him mixed up with someone else, but wasn’t he very non-committal as to whether he was a Democrat or a Republican ? —Just to prove that we ought to be a continuity writer for a ‘movie corporation we want to announce that only ninety-two days must elapse ere the trout fishing season will open. You know, we opined, early in Decem- ber, that we would be emitting such information about the second week in January. —Really, we don’t like to refer to it so often but we do wish that cam- era men making news reels of the President would carry atomizers loaded and spray his surroundings with some good perfumery before be- ginnine their close-ups. We would like to see him once when he didn’t look as though he were sniffing some- thing malodorous. —If you haven’t paid up your sub- scription yet we want to tip you off to the fact that our mailing list is going to be changed next week and we'd like to see the figures opposite your name looking like 1928. We got enough to put a new ceiling on our composing room in consequence of that December lamentation. We are doubtful, however, as to whether this one will bring enough to provide a new seat for the editorial trousers. —The office to which former Pro- thonotary Wilkinson has fallen heir is not just plain county detective like Joe Ritenour was. It is detective ex- traordinary and he is to get twenty- five hundred a year and such expens- es as may be incurred in the line of duty. We can see a possible cost to the county of five thousand, or more, annually because when it comes to the line of duty Roy can be counted on to step high, wide and handsome. Inasmuch as he is to be accountable only to the Court and the District Attorney all the County Commission- ers will have to do is pay the bills. —A1l]l last year we steadfastly stuck to our opinion that there are too many laws. In the light of hap- penings since the dawn of 1928 we have come to the conclusion that we were in error. Now we are almost persuaded to go to the Legislature and have one of our very own making passed. We think that there ought to be a law requiring every politician to make a job for any lieutenant who wants one. The taxpayers would holler their heads off, of course, but that’s all they’d do. Most of them would step right up to the ballot box at the next election, hold their noses and vote the same old way. Sy Demacrat 7B STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. VOL. 73. BELLEFONTE, PA.. JANUARY 13. 1928. NO. 2. Did Council Act Wisely? Since Council has decided that a borough manager has not been profit- able to Bellefonte it might be illum- inating if some one were to dig into the records and make a comparison of the cost of maintaining the var- ious departments of the borough for the nine years prior to 1919, when the office was created, with the nine years we have operated under it. Of course, we know that everything is more costly now than it was prior to 1919 and the fair person would take that into consideration when viewing such comparative exhibits. But the outstanding thing in the mind of every taxpayer, it seems to us, would be the condition of the two departments with which Mr. Seibert had most to do during his tenure of office. There is no town in the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania that has better streets than Bellefonte. Think of them as they were in 1919 and look at them today. Of course the various street com- mittees of council should be given credit for originating the work, but the borough manager executed it. In 1919 the water duplicate in Bellefonte was $11,000.00. Today it is nearing $21,000.00, and the rate hasn’t been icreased one cent. Ex- tensions of service account for some of this, not so much, however, as you might think. The major portion of the increase has been due to the con- scientious and intelligent co-operation of the Water committee of Council and the borough manager in check- ing up so that every property pays strictly in accordance with the possi- bilities it has of drawing water. An- other contributory cause to this grat- ifying showing has been the fact that the borough manager has been given the work of collecting the water rents and gets them. Few people understand that water isn’t a tax in Bellefonte. It is a rent. If it were a tax no more could be charged for it than would be nec- essary to keep up the water depart- ment alone. As a matter of fact it is the only money making depart- ment we have and its earnings make ‘up the ‘deficité in the other depart- ments, for none of them actually get through on the levy that is made to maintain them. Without regard to our conviction that Mr. Seibert has been a most con- scientious public official and our be- lief that he saved for the borough every year far more than the meagre cil has made a very serious mistake in abandoning the office. A councilman is supposed to be chosen only because of the superior judgment he is believed to be able to give in the conduct of a borough’s business. He is supposed to have no axes to grind. He should not be ex- pected to give his time to running hither and Jyon on the call of a grouchy public that fails to realize that he gets nothing for serving it. The office of borough manager furnished the ideal buffer. It was a decidedly disagreeable one for its oc- cupant, but a wonderful comfort to members of Council. Knowing this to be the fact we should think that Council, if it thought the office wasn’t paying the borough would have considered the matter of getting a new borough manager before it went to the ex- treme of rescinding its ordinance creating the office. No business cor- poration would approach a problem in that way. The whole affair has a very “fishy” look, to say the least. —The gentleman who answers questions in “Everybodys’ Column” in the Philadelphia Inquirer should brush up on his geography a bit. In telling a reader where State College is located he said, “It is 34 miles northwest of Altoona.” What if the reader doesn’t know where Altoona is? He should have said 12 miles southwest of Bellefonte because ev- erybody knows where Bellefonte is. rn ————p esi —Up to yesterday morning county agent R. C. Blaney had furnished or- ders for reduced transportation to eighteen farmers of the county who expect to attend the State farm show, in Harrisburg, next week. It is be- lieved, however, that this number will be considerably augmented by the be- ginning of the week. The boys’ lamb club of the county will be represented by seven pens of lambs. —Judge Fleming, on Monday, ap- pointed as a board of road and bridge viewers Edward J. Thompson and Philip E. Womelsdorf, of Philips- burg; Thompson Henry, of Martha; John W. Eby, of Zion, and Irvin Yar- nell, of Hecla. The Messrs. Thomp- son and Womelsdorf are new ap- pointments, while the others are re- appointments. —Subscribe for the Watchman. Governor Fisher Violates His Pledge. Isn’t it about time for focusing the | new science of psychiatry on Govern- or Fisher? A few weeks ago, address- ing the Election Law Commission, he expressed much anxiety for honest elections and declared his purpose to exhaust all the resources of his office to secure legislation which would Investigation Must Come. Recent developments in Nicaragua make a searching investigation by Congress inevitable. No sane man or woman will question the duty of the administration at Washington to protect every citizen of the United ! States in person and property or to : support any legitimate claim he may guarantee to every citizen of the have in Nicaragua or anywhere else. Commonwealth that his vote would! But the administration has no right be honestly counted and correctly re-|to declare war, either by proclama- turned. Lest week the newspapers | tion or invasion of territory by armed contained the information that “Gov- | forces, and that seems to be what - ernor Fisher yesterday acceded to the has occurred in Nicaragua. Under | wishes of Senator Vare and Mayor the constitution Congress alone has | Harry A. Mackey, of Philadelphia, by ‘that power. It has been claimed i appointing Louis Hamberg, a Vare that the marines are in Nicaragua to | leader in the Twelfth ward of Phila- | “preserve the peace and protect the i delphia, as police magistrate, suc- lives of the nationals of other coun- ceeding John F. Dugan.” A judicial investigation recently begun disclosed the fact that nearly, | if not all, the police magistrates in | tries.” Even if that were true, which is absurd, the government at Washing- ton has no legal right to exercise Philadelphia have been systematically | police power outside of its own juris- grafting for many years and violat- ing the laws in various ways. Most of these magistrates have been chos- en by Mr. Vare and they have be- come an important, if not an essen- tial, part of his machine. At the last election he selected the nominees of both parties for the office of magis- trate thus strengthening his strangle hold on this branch of the judicial system in the city and making it practically impossible to begin pros- ecutions against criminals except when a common pleas judge is will- ing to sit as committing magistrate, an unusual proceeding. The control of these minor courts is important to Mr. Vare for the rea- son that it enables him to protect perpetrators of ballot frauds from punishment and affords a prolific source from which to collect party slush funds out of the graft they ex- tort from their victims. If Govern- or Fisher sincerely desired honest elections in Philadelphia he would have filled the magisterial vacancy by appointing a man selected by others than Mr. Vare and Mr. Mackey. But his anxiety to serve the interest of the Mellons in their effort to re-elect Senator Reed to the Senate was prob- ably the -controlling- influence in the case. He is simply “selling” his con- science to Mr. Vare. —Whenever the League of Nations gets a boost the administration at Washington trembles. The selection of the president of the world court : to preside over the Pan-American salary he received, we feel that Coun- | conference has almost caused a pan- ie. Mayor Mackey’s Big Job. -— Mayor Mackey, of Philadelphia, has undertaken a great adventure if his purposes are accurately expressed in an interview published in the Sun- day paper political gossip. He pur- poses to reform the political machine of that city by compelling every mu- nicipal official to be scrupulously honest. To achieve this desirable re- sult he has called into the service a group of practical politicians edu- cated in the Vare school and proved by long experience. He will first appeal to their conscience in a kindly way and if that amiable method fails he will resort to force. That is to say, he serves notice that any infrac- tions of his rules of conduct will be promptly punished by dismissal from office. That sounds like an expression of the spirit of a crusader. But Mr. Mackey has not heretofore been a crusader in the cause of civic right- eousness. He has never been charged with sharing in the graft, which he freely admits has been common among the public officials. But he has for years been enjoying the ad- vantages that have come out of the graft. As head of the compensation fund of the Commonwealth and sub- sequently treasurer of the city, he has had what practical politicians call a “soft snap,” which has come to him in the form of recompense for eloquent and impressive silence while the grafting operations were in high tide of prosperity and full flower. He revealed no concern. Possibly the responsibility of power has made a change in Mr. Mackey’s consciousness within a brief period of time. Maybe he has be- come apprehensively honest and mili- tantly righteous. But it will be hard to eradicate from the mind of the Philadelphia machine politician that perquisites are vested rights in pub- lic life and that graft is not a legiti- mate feature in balancing the books between the boss and the servitor. It is barely possible that Mr. Mackey may entice or force his subordinates in office to abandon the graft, and it is even probable that he may com- pel an economical administration, but he makes no promise of reform in elections and that is quite import- ant. — —Irene Castle’s heart goes out to the dog, whether under or on top, if he is in distress. diction in repressing domestic dis- turbances or “protecting the lives of nationals of other countries.” The Monroe Doctrine involves this coun- try in such obligations it has been alleged by apologists of the Presi- dent. Its purpose was and is to pro- tect people and governments on this hemisphere from invasions or ag- gression from European or govern- ments on other hemispheres. Sending an army of several thousand marines to repress riots or control elections in any other country is an act of war and reprehensible in the highest de- gree. It can be interpreted in no oth- er way. Suppose there should be a local dis- turbance in either of the cities of Canada, would the administration at Washington send a force of marines to suppress it or restore order? Cer- tainly not. The government of Great Britain would promptly resent such an interference with its prerogatives. Suppose there should be suck a dis- turbance in any of the colonies of t France, would the government of the United States interfere? Certainly not. But Nicaragua is a “weak sis- ter,” as governments go, and some capitalists of this country, influenced gpe. by. cupidivy: than justice, have ertaken to exploit it and the ad- ministration engages in war with their victims in order to enforce their claims, —Various theories for disposing of used razor blades have been suggest- ed but throwing them away will con- tinue to be the popular method. Republican Propaganda at Work. The prosperity propaganda for the Presidential campaign of 1928 has been set in motion with much vigor. President Coolidge has supplemented his statement on the subject made in his annual message to Congress with a new and glowing promise for the immediate future. Mr. Grace, of the Bethlehem Steel company, have contributed their per- iodical assurances of prosperity and Herbert Hoover, Andrew W. Mellon, J. Pierpont Morgan, W. W. Atter- bury, Agnew T. Dice and a number of other earners of six figure incomes have expressed in writing or other- wise their sublime faith in the in-' dustrial and commercial prosperity of the country. Usually the guarantee of prosper- ity by a group of captains of indus- try and napoleons of finance is suffi- | cient to fool the public “until after the election.” Of course, the name of Judge Gary, who invariably headed the list on previous occasions, had vast power of persuasion, but he is no longer available and other influ- ences had to be invoked. President! Coolidge, who probably never earned a dollar except in the form of salary for official service, was drafted into the service but failed to inspire con- fidence. A group of professional prop- agandists was finally organized to prepare statistics and draw inferenc- es and their figures sent to all news- papers which would publish them. It costs money to employ profes- sional propagandists but the Repub- lican National committee has suffi- cient to meet any expense and for at least a week the papers have been filled with optimistic predictions dia- gramed and otherwise elucidated to prove that the land “is flowing with milk and honey,” and that nothing is needed to make this condition perpet- nal except the renewal of the lease of the Republican party to control the government for “four years more.” Those of us who are less favored in earning capacity may not be able to see the prosperity. But it must be here because records show that more diamonds have been bought in this country than anywhere else during the last year. —Mayor Mackey, of Philadelphia, is profuse in promises and even prof- ligate in verbiage in stating them. ng A AS —There are 228 men in the United States enjoying incomes of more than a million dollars. lA Mr. Schwab and The Railroads and Their Motor Bus Competition. From the Philadelphia Record. Both the Pennsylvania and Reading : railroad companies are about to apply for exclusive franchises to operate motor coaches on highways parallel- ing their routes between Camden and : Atlantic City. The action will bring to decision a controversy which pro- foundly affects corporate rights and the public interest; for this territory furnishes perhaps the most conspic- uous example in the country of rival- ry between the two forms of twans- portation. The railroads’ case has been force- fully stated this week by Charles H. Ewing, vice president of the Reading, and Louis K. Marr, superintendent of the Pennsylvania’s West Jersey and Seashore line. During the last five years, by reason of motor bus com- petition, railroad passenger traffic has decreased in the East 22 per cent., in the South 42 per cent., and in the West 48 per cent. Bus lines in the United States now have an aggregate mileage substantially equal to that of the railroads. But they operate under extraordinary advantages, be- cause the most costly parts of their facilities—the highways—are furn- ished to them at public expense, whereas the railroads must provide their own. In the last 10 years, for example, the Reading has spent $10,000,000 in improving its seashore lines. In con- sequence its New Jersey taxes have increased from $147,000 to $469,000 a year; and this money has helped to pay for expensive highways, which are used by motor busses, without cost except for ordinary license fees, in taking business away from the railroads. “If that isn’t unfair com- petition,” it is asked, “what is?” The conditions here set forth, which prevail in varying degrees in all thickly populated sections of the ‘country, have been repeatedly dis- cussed in “The Record.” That auto- mobile transportation has brought vast public benefits is beyond ques- tion; not since the discovery of steam has there been so far-reaching an im- provement in communications. The motor truck and the motor bus have become indispensable. They give service to scattered communities, im- prove living conditions by developing suburban and rural residential, areas, and. provide . multiplied traye!: faeili- ties. . In these respects Ty pe i tions are essential, and should be en- couraged. It is manifest, however, that their competition with the rail- : roads should be put upon an equitable basis. It is not only unjust, it is eco- nomically unsound, to pay them an indirect subsidy by furnishing free to them facilities which the steam sys- tems have to provide at their own cost. Railroads and trolley companies may be soulless corporations, but they have certain rights and equities which demand recognition. Not only have they invested vast sums in the crea- tion and maintenance of their prop- erties—rights-of-way, trackage, roll- ing stock, power plants and so on— but they are required to render ade- quate service, whether profitable or not, and their charges are regulated and their earnings limited by public authority. Yet in many parts of the country, notably in New Jersey, they find their routes paralleled by bus lines which operate over roadbeds paid for by the public—in part, indeed, by the rail- roads themselves. The latter contend that this is unfair and confiscatory competition. They neither expect nor demand suppression of motor traffic; but they urge that in specific in- | stances they should be allowed to de- velop the new system as a subsidiary i to their established lines. | There are involved, of course, the rights of the public, not only to ad- equate service, but to protection against monoply; but this issue is covered by the strict regulation un- der which the railroads operate. Fur- thermore, experience has shown that unrestricted motor competition often works public injury, for full railroad service cannot be maintained where a substantial part of the traffic is diverted to rival systems enjoying ad- vantageous terms. It is a fact that thousands of miles of branch rail lines have been abandoned for this reason, so that actually added facili- ties have led to impaired service. . tor these reasons the public in- terest, which is the paramount con- sideration, gives merit to the rail- roads’ demand for motor bus rights complying with the principles of reg- ulation. meer Congress On its Hind Legs. From the Clearfield Republican. Congress is on its hind legs again with President Coolidge the target. His Nicaraguan policy has aroused the patriots and statesmen who think they know more about what should be done than the higher-up officials who have such matters in hand. Any- way, a number of marines who should never have been sent to Central America, have been killed and many more injured. The cost to the people will run up in the millions, and mill- ions spent sending warships and ma- rines to the rescue. And all the while we hear, read and see so much about “Coolidge ecenomy” and kindred tom- myrot. —United States marines are still making peace in Nicaragua with ma- chine guns. | SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE. —While working at a receiving tank of the Pennsylvania Glass Sand works at Mapleton, last Thursday, Robert Brum- baugh, 50, of Mapleton, fell into the sand current and was suffocated before res- cuers could reach him. —An explosion and fire at the home of William Young, of Asbury, Columbia county, resulted in the death of his wife and two children, June and Zane, aged 2 and 3 years, respectively. The blast oc- curred, it was said, when Mrs. Young at- tempted to hasten a fire by pouring on a mixture of gasoline and kerosene. Young was working in the barn, and did not hear the blast. —Frank J. Hope, 34, a hot-air furnace salesman, was sentenced to two years in jail, at Pittsburgh, on Saturday after be- ing found guilty on charges of false pretense and fraudulent conversion in- volving $5,800 and a $2,000 diamond ring which Mrs. Minnie Reese, 45, said he ob- tained from her. Mrs. Reese also charged Hope wrongfully posed ss a single man, proposed marriage and was accepted. —The wages of York’s greatest sin has been cut by Mayor Jacob E. Weaver. He has slashed the price of liberty for “plain drunks” 50 per cent, under the prevailing quotations of former Mayor E. S. Hugentugler’s court. A five dollar bill will serve to deliver the ‘ordinary’ drunken prisoner from the usual 10-day jail sentence, whereas the former chief executive scorned anything less than a 10-shot. —The State Welfare Department has ap- proved plans for the new eastern peni- tentiary, which will be erected on an un- even plot in Gratesford, Montgomery county. Specifications and architects’ dawings are being placed on blue prints. The first block of buildings to be built will include eight structures, placed sev- enty-five feet apart and surrounded by a high wall with sentry boxes on the wall at intervals. —With a phonograph record, “I'm Bound for the Promised Land,” in his automobile, Edward Karachner, aged 32, of Berwick, met instant death early Sat- urday morning, when the car rammed in- to a telephone pole near Bloomsburg. E. Foster McNeal, of Nescopeck, and Paul Strunk, of Reading, were seriously in- jured and are in a hospital. The auto- mobile was reduced to junk but the rec- ord was not broken. —The explosion of a dynamite cap at Hammersly's Fork, about 30 miles from Lock Haven, at 2 o'clock Sunday, com- pletely demolished the west wall of the Gospel tabernacle while twenty women and children were attending Sunday school. The explosion occurred when the janitor started to light the fire in the stove, the cap having evidently been placed in the chimney flue. Bricks were thrown a distance of 200 feet but no ome was injured. —R. Clyde Segner, former clerk in the office of the county controller at Wash- ington, Pa., was pardoned from the coun- ty jail, by Governor John §. Fisher on Saturday morning. Segner was serving two and one-half years for theft of $27,- 000 in public funds, through manipulation of coupons. He had perviously refused a conditional parole, so that he might go home te be with members of his fam- ly who wete sick, Begner was sent up in January, 1926. —The State treasury is the only office in the Capitol, at Harrisburg, which has clear glass in its doors, giving passersby a view into the offices. In the other de- partments the doors leading into the cor- ridors all have frosted glass. As a re- sult, scores of persons daily stop to gaze at the huge vault which eontains millions of dollars in securities and which is guarded not only by armed men but is fitted with the newest appliances for mak- ing it burglar-proof. —Mrs. I. E. Miller, of Phoenixville, had occasion Saturday morning to use two diamond rings valued at $1250 and went to a closet in her bedroom where she had fastened them to the sleeve of a coat for safe keeping. The coat was missing. Then she remembered that on December 24 she had given the garment to Mrs. George Dobson, of Port Providence, whose home and clothing had been destroyed by fire that morning. She hurried to the Dobson home, explained her mission to Mrs. Dob- son, and they went to a bedroom, where the coat was found at the bottom of a pile of clothing which had been donated. The rings were fastened to the coat. —Because of an alleged discrepancy of between $12,000 and $13,000 in her ac- counts, as secretary of the Lawrence township, Clearfield county, school .dis- trict, a warrant was issued by the board of directors for the arrest of Mrs. Bessie Olson, former secretary of the board. Mrs. Olson was arrested at her home and tak- en to the office of John E. Dale, justice of the peace, Curwensville, where she was held in $5,000 bail for her appearance at February term of court. Bail was furn- ished by the woman's husband. About a month ago, a teller in a local bank dis- covered what he thought to be a forgery on a teacher's order for wages. Investi- gation disclosed many similar cases. —Robert Seibert, 55 years old, of Le- highton, committed suicide by placing a stick of dynamite under his body near the Mahoney Valley trail, two miles from Lehighton. Seibert was employed as a fireman in the Packerton shops of the Lehigh Valley railroad. He is said to have asked a friend, William Klinger, a miner, to give him a stick of dynamite. This Klinger refused to do although he did not know the purpose of the request. A brush fire drew several persons to the spot where Seibert killed himself. They found his torn body lying beneath a tree. Near the dead man were his coat and sweater neatly folded with a note which read: “Friend Klinger, cannot wait any longer, had to get dynamite else- where. Bob.” —John T. Booth, Philipsburg, was ar- rested at Blairsville, on Monday, charged with having assisted in the robbery of the Blairsville Grocery company wholesale store that morning. Cigarettes valued at more than $600 were recovered in a Pitts- burgh tailor shop immediately after the arrest. Booth, is believed to have had an accomplice in the job. After success- fully making the haul, Booth loaded the cigarettes in his car and started for Pitts- burgh. Near Alexandria he smashed into a car driven by a Blairsville man. The Blairsville resident returned to his home, got another car and took Booth and cig- arettes into Pittsburgh. Booth returned to Blairsville to inspect his car, and at the garage was dickering to trade it for a mew one, when he was recognized and arrested.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers