Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, January 30, 1931, Image 1
vow otiat only through could the country hope to remain In film parlance the Bellefonte Republican is fading out this week. Even if Governor Pinchot’s idea of building twenty-thousand miles of by-roads were not practical think of the filling station sites it would pro- duce. Sunday's meiting Snow raised the water in Spring creek high enough at least to wash the accum- ulation of dust off the backs of the big trout. — Since Governor Pinchot has elected to worship in the Methodist church in Harrisburg we suggest that the congregation at once send a call to Bishop Cannon to occupy its pulpit. We apologize to the Associated Charities of Bellefonte. Over an article in this issue referring to the activities of the organization we have put a heading that is more or less suggestive. It ought to be clari- fied but it is too near press time to do it, so we leave it to you to deter- mine who needs the underwear. Charles C. Shuey is to take a fling at politics. He told us yester- day that he will be a candidate for County Treasurer and that means that Mr. Jones and Mr. Frantz who are other aspirants for the Re- publican nomination will have to step on the gas. “Brother” Shuey is a “go getter.” He has no end of energy and a wide acquaintanceship in the county. __Mr. Wilhelm Hohenzollern, retir- ed resident of Doorn, must be think- ing that he was a piker when he reads of what those ‘brown shirts” plan to do if they can seize the reins of government in Germany. Bill was no gentle tyrant, but we don't think his program ever con- templated chopping off the heads of leading citizens in three dozen lots. __Mahatma Gandhi, “toe little prown man” of India, who has given the British Empire an almost un- solvable problem, is out of jail. He was released by an imperial order of clemency, but he says he ex- pects to “be back within two months,” And what he is going to do that will put him back is pyramiding the Gandhi trouble for England. —In Monday's Philadelphia Public solid | It's an ill wind that blows no one good. That was profitable business for the damning commentary the when it said ‘election Ledger there were sixty-four columns of sheriff's sales. Ledger, but a on the times world two years ago, that it promised prosperous. —Surely this is a cockeyed world. the crime the murders, the weather vagaries, the good men Possibly is We the abnormal condi- by laying it to the Jack of old fashioned home training but what is there to ex- What is to account for waves, the suicides, and women going wrong. some new planetary influence throwing everything awry. might explain tion of society of youth, plain the freaky seasonal changes. ___Next Monday will be ground The lady who wrote us ago, calling attention to our then obfuscation over the event, is hereby notified that we have a long memory for trivialities and waited for the appropriate mo- ment to reply to the facetious com- ment she made on our blunder. By grace of more perspicacity on the part of the writer of the column we ground hog day in Centre county will fall on the same day as it does in York year of our Lord, hog day, from York, just a year have arranged it so that county in this 1931. —Present effect that Centre county will spring as usual. ably two reasons for th is. | One of them is that those who might have contemplated sell- ing out saw nothing but slow notes, that bankers are not as eager to discount as they once were, in return for their offerings. The other is a sane conclusion to hold on to a job that at least insures a roof over the head, beef, pork, chickens, milk, eggs, vegetables and a lot of other necessities that the rest of mankind isn't so sure of. —Governor Pinchot is an Episco- polian. During his former admin- istration he worshiped in the church of that denomination in Harrisburg. He has announced that during his present regime he will worship in a Methodist church in the capital city. The change has been made because the rector of the Episcopal church did not support Mr. Pinchot in his campaign for Governor while the pastor of the Methodist church did. The Governor ought to be happy in the Methodist church, for there is none other that so loves to visualize the old Republican elephant, with wings on, sitting up in the amen corner fumbling at a harp with his trunk. Since Gifford evidently doesn’t go to church to worship God so much as he does to placate his exaggerated ego we hope the good brothers of Grace church, Har- risburg, will see to it that he has prominent seating. It would be aw- ful if he were to find himself in the right church, but the wrong pew. information is to the not have as many farm sales in the There are prob- | to create confusion | mind and rely upon popular creduli- VOI. 76. Governor Pinchot’s Second Inaugural Address. With the advantage of eight years of intensive training in the expen- sive school of experience, Governor Pinchot starts his new administra- tion in a different atmosphere than that of his first venture. Eight years ago he met that element of his party which opposed his nomi- nation in a conciliatory spirit. He welcomed Mr. Vare to his councils and practically made him spokes- man of the administration on the floor of the Senate. In his inaugural address this year he hurls defiance at all enemies within his party and by proclamation and promise threatens them with a war of ex- tinction. Disappointment with the result of his first experiment prob- ably accounts for the changed at- titude in the second. In his first inaugural address he featured prohibition enforcement. In the second he emphasizes control of utility corporations. In both in- stances he pays tribute to the force of popular opinion rather than def- erence to principle. Eight years ago prohibition enforcement was the paramount subject in the public mind and with the avidity of a skill- ful opportunist he plunged into it with enthusiasm, Now it is a com- paratively negligible question and he dismisses it with a cryptic state- ment that “this administration will be dry.” With the rapidly increas- ing opposition to the degradation of the federal constitution to the level of a police code probably that was enough to say about it. With a surprising confidence in his own omnipotence Mr. Pinchot, in ‘his new inaugural address, before a friendly but eager audience, repeat- | ed, seriatum, the more or less ab- ‘surd pledges with which he beguil- ed a credulous public during the campaign. Some of these promises will be fulfilled because there isand will be no opposition to them. But others will fail because they are of doubtful value and still others for the reason that they are with- out merit altogether. Men quite +his equal. in integrity intelligence, and patriotism hold different opin- jons on certain subjects and are likely to assert them. Besides, it is unreasonable to expect the Republi- can organization to take punishment and look pleasant. —— Even if the $25,000,000 ap- propriation for the drought sufferers is supplemented by a $10,000,000 in- crease of the Red Cross fund there will be plenty of prudent use for the money. Congressman Beck's Heart is Broken Mr. Vare's representative in Con- gress, James M. Beck, is heart- broken because President Hoover has wrecked his hopes for a second term in the White House by an ambiguous declaration of fidelity to the Anti-Saloon League and the Eighteenth amendment. If the de- feat of Mr. Hoover could be admin- istered at the nominating convention, next year, Mr. Beck might survive the shock. But Mr. Vare's Con- gressman is persuaded that the dis- aster will come at the general elec- tion, and to quote from a statement issued by Mr. Beck the other day, “the success of the Democratic party in the next Presidential election would probably be an irreparable calamity to the nation.” The report of Mr. Wickersham's law enforcement commission, which provided Mr, Beck with an opportu- | nity to get into the lime-light, is ‘not satisfactory to him. He de- 'nounces it as “a travesty” and de- | clared that instead of the Wicker- sham commission the body ought to be called the “Wicked-sham com- mission.” Yet he says that it is ‘not only a very valuable contribu- ‘tion to the literature of a great sub- | ject, but it is the most damning in- | | dictment of the Eighteenth amend- 'ment.” How he reconciles these | conflicting appraisals is difficult to imagine. Probably his purpose is in the public ty to get away with it. | Mr. Beck's complaint against the | President, however, is that though | the report is a travesty, contradic- tory and generally preposterous Mr. Hoover failed to give it complete |approval. In other words, if the | President had adopted Mr. Beck's idea that it is “not only a very val- 'uable contribution to the literature of a great subject but it is the most damning contribution of the Eighteenth amendment” he would have performed a valuable public service and secured the cordial ap- proval of Mr. Beck and a guarantee | of re-election. It makes a vast dif- | ference when the wrong bull is | gored and the country will probably | survive the election of a Democratic President in 1932. Red Cross is impaired STATE RIGHTS AN Real Enemies of the Red Cross. Urging delay in the appropriation of public funds for the relief of drought sufferers Senator Reed, of Pennsylvania, said he was asking postponement because he believed that “the very integrity of the Red Cross is at stake” and in his opin- jon “we ought to postpone a gov- ernment contribution to give the Red Cross a chance to put through the drive which they themselves have started and to fill up their funds by voluntary contributions.” Mr. John Barton Payne, head of the Red Cross organization has entered a similar complaint, He says an appropriation by Congress, even though it be disbursed by the Red Cross, would discourage subscrip- tions and defeat the drive. If the integrity of the Red Cross is menaced it is not because of ap- propriations to its funds by Con- gress. It is because that great or- ganization is being prostituted to the uses of politics. When Senator Robinson took issue with President Hoover on the question of an ade- quate relief fund John Barton Payne appeared before a Congressional committee and testified that the Red Cross had ample resources to meet the demand for relief. Unless he is an incompetent he knew that his statement was false and made, not for the purpose of relieving dis- tress but to help the President in an absurd contention with the Sen- ate, That was the blow that gravely injured the Red Cross. Senator Caraway correctly labeled the activity of President Hoover, Senator Reed and Mr. Payne in the matter in controversy. Speaking of calling Governor Smith and John W. Davis to the service of the Red Cross drive Mr. Caraway said “it was not done to add a dollar to the Red Cross but to install courage in- to the weak to stand up against the cry of the hungry,” and he de- nounced the Reed motion for post- ponement “as an attempt of the ad- ministration to save its face and an alibi for the Red Cross for its fail- ure to realize the gravity of the, situation.” If the reputation of the blame rests on those who would pervert it to political service, as they have done with every sacred agency, Soviet Russia wants techni- cians, and they are welcome to a good many of those who have been work- ing confusion in this country. An Insulting Offer. Robert H. Lucas, executive direct- or of the Republican National com- mittee, offers to apologize to Al Smith for employing dishonorable methods against Senator Norris in the recent campaign in Nebraska on condition that Mr. Smith will public- ly state that he is now for prohibi- tion. This proposition is entirely consistent with the political record of Mr. Lucas. A political advent- urer without character or principle he is willing to stultify himself and make any bargain that promises ad- vantage to himself or the party that employs him. What he or his party would gain by such a statement is not apparent but evidently he im- agines it would help some. During the Senatorial campaign in Nebraska Mr. Lucas procured and circulated a cartoon falsely repre- senting Raskob as in sympathy with the most odious form of the saloons un- | | der the inscription “Al Smith-Raskob Governor Smith Idea of Happiness.” demanded that the Republican Na- tional committee apologize for this slander and Mr. Lucas, with or with- out the approval of the committee, made the insulting reply substantial- ly quoted above. If Mr, Lucas is the Republican National committee he is within his rights to speak for the committee and the party may justly be held responsible for what | he says. But there is no record that the committee has abdicated entirely. Senator Norris was the regularly and fairly nominated candidate of the Republican party of Nebraska and the Republican National com- mittee was normally bound to sup- port him The is positive evidence that instead of fulfilling that obligation, Lucas, as the executive director of the com- mittee, perfidiously opposed his elec- tion. If the treachery was perpetrat- ed without the approval of the com- mittee Lucas ought to have been kicked out of the office he holds by the favor of the President, as a| traitor. That he has not been 80 dispensed with indicates that not only his sponsor but the entire com- mittee is equally guilty with him. —— ——1In other words the Republi- | Gov- | can State Senators have notified ernor Pinchot to “keep off grass.” the Mr. Smith and Chairman scurrilous cartoon | D FEDERAL UNION. BELLEFONTE, PA. JANUARY 30, 1931. The Coal and Iron Police. Governor Pinchot has promptly taken the first step toward the ful- fillment of his platform pledge to abolish the coal and iron police. On Monday he issued an order “that every commission of a coal and iron policeman now in force or hereafter issued shall be terminated on June 30, 1931.” There are 1100 men em- ployed in this service and their ac- tivities have been the subject of criticism for some years. Two reme- dial measures were enacted dur- ing the last session of the General Assembly and the one least effective was approved. But it neither guaranteed a remedy nor abated the opposition to the system. Governor Pinchot proposes to sub- stitute a police force to be appoint- ed by the Governor, at the request of the corporations, and to be paid by the corporations. Representative Musmanno, of Allegheny county, author of the bill, vetoed by Gover- nor Fisher, has already expressed doubt of the wisdom of the Pinchot plan. It might work all right, he thinks, so long as the Governor is in sympathy with its purpose. But in the event that a Governor should be chosen ‘friendly to the corpora- tions,” it would work mischief rath- er than benefit. Mr. Musmanno has already introduced a bill which he believes will serve the purpose bet- ter. Governor Pinchot says “I recog- nize the necessity for police protec- tion in those regions,” and Mr. Musmanno declares that “industries with vast properties should be per- mitted to employ guards to protect their property.” But if the Pinchot order goes into effect on the 30th of June and the Legislature should fail, meantime, to agree on a measure providing a new force, the corpora- tions would be without the protec- ‘tion which it is conceded is just and necessary. But we all agree that the coal and iron police ought te be abolished, and welcome the evidence that the Governor intends to | promote that result. islature as long as he doesn’t inter- fere with the present control of the | State organization. i Perfidy to Save Monopoly. Following the last Congressional election a number of leading Dem- ocrats somewhat elated over the result of the vote, magnanimously offered to aid the administration to carry out any fair programme for the relief of unemployment and the restoration of prosperity to the country. They realized that credit for improvement resulting from leg- islation enacted during the short session of Congress would redound to the advantage of the President and his party. But national pros- perity was of greater importance, in their estimation, than party advan- tage, and they were willing to ac- cept the leadership of the President during the brief period in which his party had control in Congress. But from the beginning the Presi- dent and his party betrayed the con- fidence which had been reposed in ‘him. His first act was to make public the opposite side of a corres- 'pondence between Senator Robinson ‘and himself and conceal his own His obvious purpose was to mislead public sentiment and, to say the least, it was a form of treachery, side. | Then the leaders of his party in the House of Representatives repudiated promises they had made respecting pending legislation and set up a line of procedure which could not be ac- cepted by the Democrats for the reason that it favored sufficient ~ monopoly and was inimical to the interests of the people, a policy which had been repudiated by the people. | was to prevent an extra session of Congress before the expiration of the | fiscal year. What reason Mr. Hoover has for this has never been revealed, ‘but there are strong suspicions that lit is sinister, The false pretense |is that Congress in session impairs ness activity. If that were true the remedy would be to abolish Congress ‘and invest the President with the powers of a dictator. But it is not the reason which mfluences the President. His purpose is to post- pone for another year legislation which will rescue the business of | the country from the strangle hold of monopoly. ——Thus far the administration has done nothing toward carrying out the amity agreement entered into after the election. Both the wets and the drys | seam determined to make | burden to President Hoover, The indications are that Pin- 'chot may have his way in the Leg- The object of the administration public confidence and disturbs busi- NO. 5. Pinchot and the Legislature. From the Philadelphia Inquirer. Governor Fisher is preparing to move out of the Executive Mansion. And, by the way, it is his opinion that a new and modern structure should take the place of the present one. Governor-elect Pinchot is pack- ing his trunks and ticketing them for Harrisburg. Speaker Goodnough of the House and President pro tem of the Senate Daix are busily en- gaged in perfecting their lists of committees. On the 20th all will be ready for action. Just what the in- coming Governor has in mind, at least in a general way, will be made known on that date, He will go through the ceremonies incident to inauguration and afterwards send in his message. The flurry of the Harrisburg week, of course, was the triumph of Augustus F, Daix, Jr, of Philadel- phia, over William D. Mansfield, of Allegheny county. The latter had heen backed strenuously by Mr. Pin- chot for president pro tem, He lost in caucus by two votes. There was no Republican opposition to Daix when the Senate ratified the caucus choice. While the contest had been lively, even bitter, there were ex- pressions of good feeling after- wards. The Senate had stood for its independent rights; refused to submit to what some of the Senators called dictation on the part of Mr. Pinchot. The gentleman from Milford is an experienced politician, He realized that could he control the appoint- ment of committees he would be in a much better position to command the situation than loss of such cor- trol would leave him in. He played for high stakes and lost. But his failure should not be construed as meaning that a spirit of hostility for the mere sake of hostility is to pre- vail throughout the legislative ses- sion, Recommendations considered to be meritorious will surely be re- ceived favorably. General Martin, chairman of the Republican State Committee, gave voice to the right idea when, address of the House, assembled in caucus to nominate C. Jay Goodnough for Speaker, he said: “The Governor will recommend to you certain matters for your | consideration. Many of these and others will come before you in the form of bills. The Re- publican Party of Pennsylvania expects that you will give fair, prompt, impartial and thorough consideration to each measure presented.” There will be numerous measures dealing with tax reform, election reform, public welfare. Philadelphia needs and expects legislation giving her a greater measure of home rule. City and county offices should be concentrated under one head, But Philadelphia can look for little that would be advantageous should her representatives at Harrisburg cross swords upon every occasion with the Governor. Such antagonism should be avoided. Unquestionably Mr, Pinchot will have many Sug- gestions of value. They should be accepted. Unfortunately he has rather radical ideas along certain lines—ideas unseteing to business interests. These will develop in course of time. «I shall vote for the bills pre- sented by the @overnor-elect,” says Senator region devoted to Pinchot—*which I think are right and proper after I have given them due consideration. ‘On the other hand, it is my duty and the duty of all the Senators to oppose those bills which we think are not right.” This is the correct and sensible attitude for every lawmaker to as- sume. It is the business of the Governor to recommend legislation, It is the business of the Legislature to create legislation. The Legisla- | ture is alone responsible for what ‘it does. In the meantime Mr, Pin- chot is the elected choice of the voters. He has been elevated to a high position, and is entitled to all the respect which such position de- mands. —————————————————— Few Farm Sales for This Spring. .. The old-time vendue or public ‘sale of farm stock and implements will be few and far between this spring. In fact the number dated | so far is perhaps the smallest ever known in the county, and the habit- uel sale tender will have to travel far to find his customary diversion | during the months of February and March. Just why sales should show such a ‘slump is an unsolved question. With two years of bad ciops it would seem as if farmers would become discouraged and want to quit. Then again, they right be like the man chasing the bear who had him by the tail and was afraid to let go. The poor season of last year, due | entirely to lack of rain, has proven | a serious setback to a number of) farmers who bought heavily at sales, | last spring, and gave the custom- ary notes for payment. They are now unable to meet the notes and | the result is that more such obliga- | tions are being entered on the dock- | ets at the court house than ever life a before. What the outcome will be |is hard to tell at this time. the members Baldwin from up-State—a SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE, —Offers for the sale of forest land continue to flood the office of the Penn- sylvania Department of Forests and Waters, a recent report said. Offers now on file total’ 938,690 acres. The stump of a tree near Jersey Shore is serving as a home for a swarm of bees and three raccoons. The bees have ‘the ground floor and the raccoons climb twenty-five feet to the top of the tree to enter their apartment. —John Kazmier, former brewery own- er of Blair county, last Thursday pre- sented to the Altoona Rescue Mission the Franklin Hotel property in Altoona. It is a five story brick building valued at $100,000. The structure will be used for religious services. —Out of the huge number of gray foxes which were sent to the State Game Commission for bounty payments, two, which were received in a recent shipment, showed traces of albinism. One had been killed in Westmoreland county and the other in Centre. —The Pennsylvania Securities mission on Monday announced the ap- proval of eleven applications made by security dealers. At the same time the Commission announced that it had re- fused to approve the application of the General Finance Service Corporation, of Tyrone. Willis Whitney, Wellsboro Junction farmer, is being bothered by the scarcity of water. The mid-summer drought Is still continuing, and his only well went dry. He cut away the ice to investigate and found no water, but in the bottom a colony of frogs. He has sold 538 and the end is not yet. —Rev. A. 8S. Albright, of Milton, was transporting 150 dozen of eggs from Com- Milton to Locust Dale when his car skidded on a patch of ice and over- turned. The top of the sedan, loaded to the roof with eggs, was torn to shreds. The pastor escaped injury and so did 135 dozen of eggs. —Dr. T.C. Harter, 79, a practicing physician of Bloomsburg and a former member of the Legislature, who last week was paroled from the county prison after serving a month on a charge of possession and sale of liquor, died on Sunday of a stroke of paralysis, He was paroled Monday of last week and on Wednesday was found uncon- scious in his apartment. — Intense interest has been aroused by a 14,000,000 cubic feet gas strike on the william McClure farm, near Finleyville, Washington county, by the Plymouth Oil & Gas company. The pay was found in the fifth sand, the first strike on any properties ever made in the deeper sands in the district which has long produced in the upper strata. Rock and dirt were hurled over the derrick top when the gas was tapped suddenly. —A pair of cuff links, valued at $150, was found in some clothing, which was distributed among the poor of the city | of York, Pa., by a charity. The links were found in the pocket of a coat by a man who disposed of them to a grocer 'for the sum of $8. The cuff links are studded with fifty-two small diamonds. The grocer took the jewelry to a local dealer who said they had a value of ap- proximately $150. The grocer turned them over to police. As yet the owner of the jewelry is not known. —Fire damaged the principal business "building of Williamsburg on Tuesday, causing a loss estimated at $100,000. The quarters of the First National Bank and the Williamsburg Hotel were damaged. The fire broke out in a tea room. An adjoining storeroom, a grocery store and the Penn Central Light & Power com- pany's office were swept. Persons living in apartments on upper floors were driven out. The bank was damaged by water and the hotel scorched. Forty guests fled from the hotel, but fortunately no one was hurt. —Philipsburg has been heartened re- cently by the reopening of a number of mines in that section, the most recent of which is the Baltic Shaft, employing about one hundred men. Although there is no boom in the coal business and prices are not showing any material im- provement, there appears to be an in creasing demand for bituminous products and mines are beginning to feel the benefits derived therefrom. Orders have been received by the Baltic concern which will keep the mines in operation for at least a year. Captain T. A. McLaughlin, former "head of Troop A, of the State police, , stationed at Greensburg, was sentenced to serve three months in jail and pay a fine of $1000 after he pleaded guilty in federal court at Pittsburgh, on Friday, to charges of failure to file an income tax report and attempting to evade pay- ment of income tax. The former troop head was alleged to have attempted to evade payment of a tax on income of $133,689 during the years 1924 to 1929 inclusive. McLaughlin received $3600 a year as a State officer. —Erection of a tubercular hospital for World war veterans at or near Cresson, Pa., was proposed on Monday in a bill introduced in the House by Representa- tive J. Russell Leech, Ebensburg. The hospital would be of 500 bed capacity and Leech’'s bill proposed expenditure of $2,500,000 for its construction. Such a hospital has been proposed in the pro- gram of the Pennsylvania department of the American Legion, Leech said. Loca- tion of such an institution at Cresson would place it near the State tuberculosis sanitarium there. Representative Leech said there is sufficient ground available in that territory for a federal hospital and added such a site was ideal for the treatment of tuberculosis because of the elevation. —According to the will of his mother, Mrs. Sophia Torrey, filed at Scranton, last Thursday, Thomas F. | Torrey must marry and become a father if he wants to get full title to an estate | valued at $850,000. If he dies without | marrying, the estate is to be divided by | the District Nurse Association and the | Westminster Presbyterian church. When grand- | he marries and becomes a father, Torrey will get the entire estate, until then | he receives the income. Mrs. Torrey's will provided $10,000 for “my faithful | nurse,” Miss Bridget Conroy, of Mor- | ristown, N. J., but Miss Conroy died before her employer. Another maid, Rose O'Donnell, receives $2000 and a monthly | income of $50 for life. Mrs. Torrey in- herited a fortune from her father, | Thomas Dickson.