i ad INK SLINGS. — The Mayor of Johnstown is in jail but a bad mayor harm in jail than out. — Senator Borah’s demands for stricter enforcement of the prohibi- tion law may cost a lot of lives. —The old year died in a halo of glory so far as the weather was concerned and the new one was born in the gloemiest of atmospheric con- ditions. Those Philadelphia Democrats who expect Governor Fisher will ap- point a lawyer of their faith to an existing vacancy on the bench don’t know Governor Fisher very well —The lady who writes from Rich- mond to hint that she ought to be miade the victim of our idea of pub- lishing the picture of our most de- linquent subscriber is hereby notified that her scheme to get her picture in the paper won't work. If she thinks two years nas another think coming. Sheriff and us would be going in op- sosite directions, instead of toward sach other, if none of our readers were further back than she discov- sred herself to be. —One never gets a chance to live n the atmosphere of the present, Nhen some incident isn’t stirring up nemories of the past hope is eter- wally leaping away into the future. sitting at the desk last Saturday fternoon we were about to concen- rate on what was doubtless a very nteresting affair that was going on n an automobile parked at the curb utside the window. The young man vho hopped into it certainly was a ast worker but before we got a hance to see how fast, the postman anded a seed catalogue in and in- tantly we became oblivious of the wo in the car and could see nothing ut spring, the fifteenth of April and shing tackle. When I Was in the “Arn” Bizness” When I was in the ‘Arn’ business,” 1id Wesley to us on Christmas eve -and he said it as naively as if he ad once been master of a mighty last furnace—‘“I had a lot of trou- le with Mr. Mitch Cunningham,” Knowing that Mr. Cunningham's seling toward Wesley is exceeding- + friendly we inquired as to what 1d been the cause of the trouble. “Well, you see, it was this way: Then I was in the ‘arn’ business I as supplying his foundry with You know it was out where si lumlsé rd is now. And We bd to sell him that me piece of ‘arn’ He didn’t say iything more, but it worried me id I tried to find out what was the suble.” Wesley became reticent then and » insisted that he must finish his ory so he went on and told us the use of the trouble, It appears that th his grandmother and his moth- were ill at the time and he uldn’t get out long enough to ther up iron, so he had gone into e brokerage business. His best urce of supply was in a family at lived in the “Brown Row,” just posite Cunningham’s foundry. It pears that the youngsters in this night shift in their ‘would visit it and t m "take the scrap out d ‘sell it to Wesley. The same af- noon Wesley would haul it back the foundry and sell it again. At this juncture he chuckled and d: “I don’t know how long that s guing on, but Mr, Cunningham dme afterward that he knew I i sold him a certain piece of sting four days in succession and uppose I did because I didn’t know at them kids were doin.” “You see I might have broke Mr. nningham up because he couldn't sp on buying his own ‘arn’ for- sv and he put me out of the ‘arn’ siness because all I was gettin s from them kids and I didn’t st take that anymore.” Ne might add that rags and jes were side lines in Wesley's mn business.” Ne have told this little story nking that it might start you o the New Year with a smile on ir face. Certainly you can’t be spier than Wesley was over the ristmas Watchman readers and ers made for him. He told us: “I sreciate these gifts very much, it’s nicer to know I have so ny friends, for often fellows tell no one cares.” ook at the picture of his new ne on anocher page of this issue, ile, if you please, but it is a pal- to Wesley. The lot is 40x200. bought it for $200 and is paying it at the rate of $5 per month. » palace is to cost $83 when com- ted and that is being paid for the 16 way. fe is happy and hopeful because vill be the first home he has ever sed. To us his courage and his tentment with the trail fate zed for him is a constant source wonderment. f he can be happy with his lot rest of us ought to be able to » the New Year with a courage t will bring heaping measures of sess. can do less | political is far back she The VOL. 75. Former Congerssman Kent Makes Suggestions. Former Congressman Everett Kent, of Northampton county, ona professional visit to Harrisburg, the other day, was interviewed by the vigilant press correspondents in that city and made public some informa- tion that ought to encourage the Democrats of Pennsylvania. Mr. Kent, though no longer a member of Congress, is still the Pennsylva- nia member of the National Con- gressional committee and is in con- stant contact with the activities of that body. “Chairman Joseph W. Byrnes, of the Democratic National committee, has assured me,” Mr, ‘Kent stated, “that within a few weeks he will meet the State Dem- 'ocratic leaders in Harrisburg and lay plans to elect a delegation of , Congressmen from Pennsylvania. It is hoped that at least twelve | districts may elect Democrats at ‘the next election.” | Mr. Kent's services to the Dem- ocratic party of Pennsylvania have ‘been varied and valuable and his | opinions and recommendations de- ‘serve careful consideration. He ‘urges an intensive fight in every Congressional district. Of course some of the contests would be hopeless but they would serve the "purpose of keeping the opposition busy at home. It is of record that Republican candidates in close . districts are frequently saved {by help of one kind or another { from districts that are given to them by default. An active con- {test in behalf of a worthy candi- | date in every district would prevent such a miscarriage of results some cases and in others might re- isult in an unexpected victory for | the Democratic candidate, Such i things have happened in the past. Mr, Kent offers another sugges- | tion which deserves careful atten- tion. Recalling to mind the fact that the Mellon machine in Pitts- | burgh, which counted out Beidle- jman and returned Fisher as the | Republican nominee, also counted lout Judge Samuel E. Shull, of Mon- | roe county, and. adds:. “Now we ye an exceptional opportunity to together and cure the troubles of the past, nominate Judge Shull for Governor without opposition, and | wage an intensive fight in Novem- ber.” It may be a trifle early and in a measure arrogant to pick a candidate at this time but it is none too soon to think it over ! carefully and in the spirit of har- mony. It is certainly true that Judge Shull's nomination would “appeal to all classes of voters, and his election would usher in an administration which would relieve the people of heavy burdens of taxation.” 1 Borah Kicking Up Trouble Senator Borah’s recently express- ed dissatisfaction with the enforce- e was very handy. | ment of prohibition legislation has , created consternation in administra- tion circles in Washington. What | the outcome will be remains to be seen. The indications are, however, | that after a brief period of activity the matter will be dropped. The Hoover Law Enforcement Commis- "sion will probably report progress soon after Congress reassembles next week and recommend patience, and the dry Republican Senators will accept the promise of ultimate im- | provement in the interest of party prosperity and to save the face of the President, Senator Borah is absolutely right in the wording of his complaint that the cause of the failure is the man- ne- of enforcement. The law, fun- damental and statutory, is ample if the power of execution is applied. But it has not been applied for the reason that the agencies are corrupt ‘and their purposes are political rather than moral, That the Presi- dent is largely responsible for this condition is beyond question. He has power under the Volstead law to create an enforcement organization that would achieve the purpose. But such an organization in accom- plishing the result would wreck the Republican party. But while Senator Borah has cor- ‘rectly stated the facts it is not clear that he has a right to complain. In other words he is somewhat a party to the delinquency. When Hoover stated that the movement is a ‘“no- ble experiment to be worked out constructively,” he made no promise of improvement, But Borah accept- ,ed the sophism as a guarantee of good faith for the future and in- fluenced thousands of credulous vot- ers to support Hoover on the strength of it. If he had been con- cerned for prohibition rather than politics at that time the result might have been different. In any event he would have justified his attitude now. ——A Happy and Prosperous New Year to every Watchman reader. in ‘welware and labor legislation is such AR ae———— allman: Republican Ticket Practically Chosen The Republican candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania will be named at a conference to be held in the New York office of W. L. Mel- lon early in February. St. Valen- tine’s day has been suggested asan appropriate date for the event but the majority of the aspirants are likely to object to that. There are a considerable number of candi- dates for the party favor but aec- cording to late reports the process of elimination has reduced the list to five, namely: Francis Shunk Brown, of Philadelphia; Secretary of Labor James J. Davis, of Pitts- burgh; Sam Lewis, of York; State Treasurer Martin, of Washington county, and State Senator Horace Schantz, of Lehigh county, The issue among these aspiring gentlemen will be determined by an equally limited group. According to the indicated programme those who will compose the conference will be Senator Joseph R. Grundy, Governor Fisher, W. L. Mellon and a proxy for William S. Vare, which is probably all the vanishing Philadelphia boss will get out of it. Mr. Vare will not be present in person for the reason that he in: tends to spend the remainder of the winter in Florida, His repre- sentative, however, will champion the claim of Mr. Brown and threaten to “rough house” the or- ganization if he is not chosen, At this distance from the time and place of the conference, however, it is safe to predict a failure of the: plan. Vare is no longer a formid- able figure. It is surprising that the rank and file of the Republican party of Pennsylvania so tamely submits to’ this Mussolini method of politics. Less than eight years ago Gifford Pinchot issued a protest against star-chamber nominations and won against a fitter candidate than has since been chosen. But that was before the Mellon millions had be- come a controlling factor in the. management and Grundy’s im- perialism had fully developed. Pos-_ sibly some crusading twill ap’ pear during the impending primary campaign and upset the plans of the bosses, Even now the atmos- phere is charged with dynamic elements. If Davis and Pinchot should “hook-up” there would be plenty to support a real revolt, i 1 i ——Mr, Grundy’'s Doylestown newspaper plant was flooded, Sun- day night which may be premoni- tory of a more serious submersion later on, eee deem Davis—Pinchot a Probable Combine The recent announcement that Secretary of Labor Davis switch his ambition and become a | candidate for United States Senator | instead of Governor is susceptible of two interpretations. That is, the purpose may be to scare the Mellon machine and Mr, Grundy into accepting him as their candidate for | Governor or it may be to open a way for former Governor Pinchot to | slip into the scrimmage. It is well | known that the Mellon machine is anxious to run Grundy through with- out a contest in the primary cam- paign. Mr. Grundy’s record in the Harrisburg lobby in opposition to that a full exposure and wide spread discussion might be disastrous. For several years Secretary Davis has been fondly cherishing a hope of occupying the executive mansion at Harrisburg and exercising the prerogatives of Governor. Some months ago he had dispatched from labor organizations’ headquarters a, “return” post card soliciting him to | become a candidate for the Republi- can nomination and promising to en- ter the campaign if the response were sufficiently formidable. More recently he announced.that the pres- | sure upon him is so strong that he may not be able to resist it. The other day, without explanation or | apology to his petitioners, he declar- | ed in an interview that he might be- come a candidate for Senator in’ Congress instead of Governor, ! It is well known that former Gov- ernor Gifford Pinchot is willing to run for something. He has made’ two attempts to break into the Sen- | ate without success. He won the Governorship on a single trial and liked the job amazingly. Many of his friends are now persuaded that | a hook-up between Davis and him- | self as candidates for Senator and Governor. would have a strong ap- peal to popular support, and an’ equal proportion of the friends of. Davis are of the same opinion. H many respects Mr. Pinchot made a fine record as Governor. He might have done better if he had been less self-centered in his administration. But that is another story and com- parison of his work with Fisher's has created an urge for Pinchot, — A ————— —Subseribe for the Watchman. may ‘basketball team, business manager ganda with respect to prosperity. mm STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. BELLEFONTE, PA.. JANUARY 3. 1930. Not Yet but Soon, A member of the Vare family an- nounces Mr. Vare has no intention of retiring from political activity and that he is still in the race “to the finish” for the Republican nom- ination for Senator next Spring. A recent relapse of his infirmity is responsible for this announce- ment. His physician had expressed an opinion that impaired physical force disqualified him for the labor of an intense campaign and that he would be compelled to forego his long cherished ambition to occupy a seat in the Senate. If this opin- ion had been accepted by the Vare family the anxiety of the friends of Mr. Grundy would have been reliev- ed and the troubles of the Mellon- Grundy machine abated. Miss Vare, who served as spokes- man of the family in the matter, is mistaken. Mr, Vare has not with- drawn but he will in ample time to relieve the Grundy mind and as- sure the “king of the lobby” an un- opposed nomination in the coming primary election. But it will not be on account of impaired health or inability to withstand the rigidi- ty of a keen competition. There will be no campaign of that character. The Mellons and the Grundys and the Fishers will run a steam roller over the State which will crush everything in its way in the event Mr, Vare remains in the running, and every close ob- server of political events in the State, including Mr. and Miss Vare, understands the situation. The truth is that Mr, Vare's fol- flowers have deserted him with the unanimity and swiftness that “rats flee from a sinking ship.” He has never had many real friends. He has held, subservient to his will, by “the cohesive power of public plun- der,” a group of grafting politi- cians who are as ready to fight him now as they were willing to serve him when he could satisfy their greed for power and plunder. He may make a pretense of being a candidate for Senator for a while the hope of neg tat “will dave his face.” due time his bluff will be called. The gang has his number and he will withdraw from the fight in or- der to avert the humiliation of an overwhelming defeat. ; | Elmer T. McCleary, who as president of the Republic Steel Company heads the third largest steel company in the United States, was graduated from the Pennsylva- nia State College in 1901. In his college days McCleary took an ac- tive part in the campus activities, | being manager of the football team in his senior year, captain of the of the La Vie, and a member of the Thespians, McCleary advanced to his ‘present position from the presi- dency of the Republic Iron and Steel Company, which he assumed last year after having risen to the vice-presidency of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company from the position of assistant to the chief chemist. The new combination of steel companies was formed by the amalgamation of the Republic Iron and Steel Co., Central Alloy Steel Corp., Donner Steel Corp. Bourne- Fuller Co., and their subsidiaries. —_ The final meeting of the old borough council, administering the oath of office and organization of new council will take place next Monday evening. With four new members going in whoever is elect- ed president will have to do some figuring in making up his list of standing committees for the ensu- ing two years. . If all those “sons of wild jackasses” should come into Penn- sylvania during the coming cam- paign they might kick some of the conceit out of Mr. Grundy. ——If the Mellon-Grundy group would put Francis Shunk Brown on its slate for Governor it might avert a good deal of mental anguish dur- ing the primary campaign. — The numerous celebrations of Woodrow Wilson’s birthday show that popular appreciation of his serv- ices to the country is increasing. : ——Jt might be worth while for the lobby committee to look into the source of the prevailing propa- ——Probably Mr. Vare is too gick to withdraw now but he will be bet- ter after awhile, and meantime ne- gotiations will proceed. ——There seems to have been enough money spent by the sugar lobby to sweeten the whole world negotjating 3.2 : - ministration. ‘From the New York Times. for a generation, NO. 1. Tax Retunds Show Costly Blunder- ing. From the Philadelphia Record. As the Christmas bills come roll- ing into the households of the land there will be found in some of them, no doubt, stray items that will be disputed. But considering the millions upon millions of transactions represented the number of mistakes will be in- significant. Modern merchandising, despite the bewildering detail of the work of sales, delivery and ac- counting departments, is astonish- ingly accurate. Certainly it could teach the Gov- ernment something about efficiency. Federal tax refunds made during the last fiscal year have just been reported to Congress. They amount- edto more than $190,000,000, an in- crease of $48,000,000 over the pre- vious year. Claims paid numbered about 200,- 000. One corporation received no less than $25,850,000. A private es- tate was reimbursed in the sum of $6,456,000. Several firms and in- dividuals recovered more than $1,- 000,000 each. Nearly 5 per cent. of the total revenues collected had to be return- ed on account of illegality or error in the levies made. Uncle Sam is the most exacting and peremptory of creditors. His rule is “Pay first and argue after- upon conclusive evidence of wrong- ful collection. In every one of the cases making up the vast total of refunds, there- fore, glaring mistakes in the official computations were established, Business operations in these days are intricate. and provisions for their equitable taxation are neces- sarily complex. Large enterprises have to employ high priced account- ants to prepare their returns. Yet even with this precaution innumer- able disputes arise. It is not unreasonable to expect that experts of the Treasury and the Bureau of Internal Revenue should be familiar enough with the law to interpret it correctly. But the yearly record reveals a liability to error which suggests either in- competence in the official staff or needless uncertainty in the terms of the statutes... . . i + The results, at any rate, are pro-. digiously costly. = Not only must claimants go to great trouble and expense to obtain adjustments, but the public must pay for the labor- jous processes of investigation and settlement. No great commercial organization would tolerate such a system as that which has compelled the Gov- ernment to make good its own blundering to the extent of $190,- 000,000, plus $41,000,000 interest in a single year. Congress should either clarify the law or inquire into its slipshod ad- remem fp eee The Wakeful Senate. Of all our public bodies, the Unit- ed States Senate has now won the reputation of being the most easily “aroused.” Hardly a day passes when it is not, In fact, the Senate never sleeps, or at least never takes more than cat-naps. It al- ways keeps one eye open, and the bed covers loose so as quickly to be thrown off when the call comes to awake, arise or be forever fallen. What aroused the Senate recent- ly was the discovery that an adver- tisement about the tariff had been placed in a hundred or more news- papers in Minnesota and other States. It was an appeal, too trans- parent to be ingenious to Congress to hurry up and pass the tariff bill, with all the blessings for farmers which it contains, and to do this without cutting down the protective rates on industries. The obvious attempt is to make the farmers be- lieve that they will get nothing un- less they consent to let the manu- facturers get a lot. This strategy is naturally abhorrent to the insur- gent Republicans in the Senate, who have set out to give agriculture everything and manufacture noth- ing. Accordingly they are propos- ing the usual Senate investigation to find out who paid for this adver- tisement, so that the western States, where it has been published, may find out exactly which are the ‘‘so- called country editors” who have “hetrayed” their farming constitu- ents, : Senator Allen, of Kansas, who has himself been a ‘successful resented the attack class. He might have pointed out that it is no crime to print an advertisement of a political bearing in which the edi- tor does not at all believe himself and which he may, in truth, sim- ultaneously attack, If a mnews- paper has space to sell for the de- cent publication of political opinion —as, for example, when Republican newspapers in New York city print the political advertisement of the Democratic party-—there is no impropriety in the procedure. Cer- tainly no one but a continually wakeful and excited Senator could gee in it a ‘party “betrayal.” But the Senate, by a process something like self-flagellation, seems to have got itself into a state of nerves where it sees many things that do not exist. . country editor, on that worthy | seven months, ! George W. Levengood, who i entries were made wards.” And he doesn’t relinquish a | week, dollar once in the Treasury except | ' SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE 1 —Nazareth has $20,000 worth of bonds on its hands which it must sell to meet | paving costs. Council advertised for bids i and these were to have been opened Monday night. Not an offer was receiv- i ed. | —The State board of voting machine ' examiners has announced approval of the | Shoop voting machine. It is manufac ! tured in Union City, N. J. The only oth- jor machine approved so far is that of the Jamestown Automatic, Jamestown, N. Y. | —Mrs. Blanche Hay, of Bethlehem, in a suit instituted in the Northampton county courts, seeks $10,000 heart balm from Florence Fisher, of Bethlehem. She | alleges the defendant alienated the affec- | tions of the plaintiff's husband, William Hay. —Driving by a piece of woods west of .of Lewistown, Clearence Neff saw , what he took for a pretty kitten by the roadside. He pulled it out from a pile of brush, where it had taken refuge. It was not that kind of a kitten and cost him a suit of clothing. | —The Bellefonte Lime company, oper- , ating the stone quarry at Salona, has ob- tained a favorable decision on a protest y fled against the freight rates charged i the company by the New York Central, the Pennsylvania, the Reading and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh rail- roads. —Basing suit for divorce on the fact that his wife did not speak to him for Edward H. Jendricks, of Coplay, seeks freedom from matrimony in Lehigh county courts. Jendricks averred they were married in 1924, but lived to- gether unhappily from the beginning. The greatest humiliation, however, says he, was her refusal to speak to him. —A wrecking train was required to re- move from under a Pennsylvania Rail- road passenger locomotive the body of committed suicide by leaping onto the tracks in front of the depot af Coatesville, on Mon- day. Police said Levengood, a former P. R. R. brakeman, had been drinking hedv- ily and had threatened suicide several | times. —Informations charging embezzlement, conversion, false entries and omission of at Greensburg, last against Frank D. Peoples, 42, treasurer of the Irwin Savings and Trust company of Irwin. J. D. Swigart, chief examiner of the State Banking Depart- ment said that as a result of the irregu- larities, the bank suffered a loss of $114,- 427.01. Full restitution has been made and Peoples surrendered himself. —Referee G. Scott Smith has announc- ed that $3,827, believed to be the first workmens compensation award made in Pennsylvania for a death as the result of an airplane accident, has been given Mrs. Bernice M. Michaels, of Bradford, for the death of her husband, Ellis Michaels. The man, a machinist, was one of four persons killed in the crash of a seven-passenger plane piloted by Lieu- tenant Harry Emery, Bradford, several months ago. —Cooking her own meals, reading her Bible, and taking an occasional automo- bile ride are among the chief delights of Mrs. Caroline Lewis, of Indiana, Pa., who is 102 years old. Whether or not her cooking - has been the secret of her good health, Mrs. Lewis will not say, but her love of preparing her own meals is so much a part of her life that last elec- tion day she declined the opportunity of casting her first vote because she was baking bread. —The one hundredth anniversary of the opening of the Philadelphia and Co- lumbia railroad, the oldest line in the United States, occurred last month. An advertisement published at that time cailed the attention of the public to the convenience of the new form of travel between Philadelphia and Columbia by rail and Columbia and Middletown by ca- nal. The time for the 80-mile trip to Co- lumbia was ten hours, and the cost of a ticket was one dollar. — After a delay of ten months, Mifflin county's new almshouse, erected at a cost of $76,000, is to be occupied by the poor of the county just as soon as the poor directors can bring them back from other institutions in neighboring coun- ties where they have been kept since the old almshouse was condemned. The final approval of the new building was given by Mrs. M. J. Magee and Mr. Wilson, of the State Welware Department, when they made a tour of inspection, in com- pany with the Mifflin county commission- ers and poor board. —A call for a conventon of the Prohibi- tion party to be held in Pittsburgh, Jan- uary 29, has been issued by the party's state chairman, Dr. B. E. P. Prugh, of Harrisburg. The party lost its standing as such in the State by failure to poll the required number of votes in the Iast election, but has pre-empted the name of the Prohibition party and will nom- inate candidates for the various State- wide offices by petition, Dr. Prugh said. The petition must have 6362 signers, which is one-half of one per cent. of the number of votes cast for the candi- date polling the highest number of votes at the last election. —Fifty-three persons were killed and 210 injured during the 1929 hunting sea- son in Pennsylvania the State Game Com- mission announced on Monday. The fatal accidents show an increase over the 1928 hunting season when 45 hunters were kill- ed and 238 were wounded. During both years the bulk of the fatal and non-fatal accidents were during the small game season which closed with the end of No- vember. This year 12 fatal and 33 non- fatal accidents occurred during the big game season, which closed December 15, as compared to five fatal and 25 non-fa- tal during the 1928 big game period. The figures for 1929, the commission admits, may be increased by later reports. —Johnstown’s mayor is in the Cambria county jail as a convict to serve a two- year sentence, but he still maintains he is mayor of Johnstown and will try to exercise functions of that office from his cell. Other city officials of Johnstown hold a contrary opinion, maintaining Jo- seph Cauffel forfeited his claim to the of- fice by his conviction and sentence on charges of misdemeanor in office and con- spiracy, with a few side charges of con- ducting a gambling establishment for good measure. Cauffiel gave himself up at the prison on Monday, afternoon. He arrived unescorted, ending his long and bitter - battle to have his conviction and sentence set aside. He lost his last chance of escaping punishment when the Cambria Court: ruled it would not —Read the Watchman for the news consider his petition for a stay of execu tion.