INK SLINGS. —The time is approaching. forty-six days it will be here. —JIt is not what one does that irks. The feeling that he has todo In § 1 g the Senate. but we imagine that Arthur the anxious bench not at all to his liking. Mr. Raskob is going to sell the Democratic party to the country like he sold General Motors, That's putting politics on a business basis and our friends, the Republicans, if they which they could trade in that car they have on their hands. Governor Pinchot is cooling off, they say, on his campaign pro to reduce motor license fees, as well as drivers’ license fees. The Gov- ernor will have legislation to that end introduced, but will not press for its passage, In other words, he got the votes and now he is going to let the motorists get the reduc- tion. All we can tell you about the allocation of the new Pinchot coun- try roads in Centre county is that one piece planned is the section of road from Pennsylvania Furnace, across “The Barrens,” to connect with the Buffalo Run valley road. Of course it is merely an accident that the piece leads the summer camp Holmes. — We're for “Alfalfa Bill' Murray's idea of restoring “the little man.” There are so many “little” men the country that if they were to see how Such used of the Hon. probably work out very much like revivals in our spiritual life. Most of the would have to be “done over’ every year. ‘The effect of the recent rains what some hoped tha in last June. After reading the proposed new election code we discovered that we were wrong in stating that it would create new offices and take the elec- tion machinery out of the hands of It provides that no person who holds any federal, state, county, town or township job, whether elective or appointive shall be appointed or serve as a watcher at a primary or general election, And in presiden- tial years it provides that the primaries will be held in April. —The army of mews writers that was here for the electrocution of the Schroeder woman and Dague caused far more excitement about Bellefonte than the affair, itself. Presumably they were not personally interested in the morbid scenes enacted behind the grim walls of Rockview last Monday morning. We prefer to think that the high tension in evi- dence among them was only the competitive spirit to get the first flashes and the best story off to their respective papers. It was big news and the boys were eager to make the most of it. It was big news, however, only because the public feeds on tales of human de- pravity. Why it should be so we have never been able to fathom. But it is. —After council into six thousand dollars to build a trestle to carry water pipes over Spring creek the authorities at Har- risburg permit council to carry wa- ter under Spring creek, The in- consistency of such action justifies the position we took at the outset of the controversy over the manner of conducting the water from the Big Spring to the new Gamble pumping station. At that time we advised council to lay its pipes first and then ask Harrisburg what it was going to do about it. might have been fined five hundred dollars, but to save the fine of five hundred it wasted fifty-five hundred, marred a beautiful natural prospect and now finds that the water that it couldn't conduct to the pumps under the stream can be conducted from them to the consumers under the stream. right over to Congress a few | fo Council | 0 | i i : conference re- port on the Muscle Shoals measure ‘in the House of Representatives in | Washington, the other day, affords little hope of a satisfactory settle- ment of that ten year old contest | between the Power trust and the | people. The vote was 216 to 158, | which is a substantial majority and | probably guarantees the adoption of | the report by both branches of Con- gress. But it is practically certain to be vetoed by the President, either openly or by the “pocket” process, and 153 is more than a third of 435, the complete roster of the House. out controversy has been acrimonious ‘at times and tiresome nearly always. | It was begun immediately after the | close of the World war. The plant, | created for the purpose of manufac- | turing war munitions at a cost of | $180,000,000, became useless for that | purpose but of great value as a wa- | ter power and a plant for the man- ufacture of fertilizers. ‘The Power ‘trust at once set about to acquire it {on lease at a nominal figure when | Senator Norris conceived the idea of | operating it by the government to provide cheap fertilizers for the farmers and electricity for the public. Accordingly the Nebraska Senator introduced a bill with this purpose in mind. After a strenuous contest | the measure passed the Senate but | was held up in the House, Subse- ‘quently it passed both branches of but was defeated by a pocket veto by President Coolidge. | At the first session of the present Congress it again passed the Senate | but was “pickled” inthe House com- in | mittee to which it had been referred. | Efforts during the second session | failed to bring it out but the result |of the election served that purpose. | Consideration of the question or an | extra session of Congress were al- | ternatives presented. | An early session of the Seventy- |second Congress would be like a | dreadful nightmare to the adminis- tration and in order to avert it con- | sideration of the Norris bill was | promised. It was a reluctant agree- | ment, however, and fulfillment de- layed to the last minute So thta pocket veto might be invoked in the event the vote indicated sufficient strength to overcome a veto mes- 'sage. As it appears now the Pres- ident may adopt either plan to serve the Power trust. —In the next presidential cam- | paign there will be one less bogey for the Democratic party to face. Everybody who has survived present conditions will be so accustomed to won't be afraid to take a chance. The Public Service Investigation, The Senate inquiry into Governor Pinchot's charge against the Public Service Commission has made little progress thus far. Only a few wit- ‘nesses have been examined and they ‘have revealed little beyond consider- ‘able mental agility in dodging facts ‘and information. An analysis of the testimony thus far brought out very | clearly shows that the Public Serv- | | ice Commission has utterly failed of | | the purpose for which it was creat- led and that the law creating it is purposely or otherwise defective. | der it the Commission might have | rendered valuable public service if 'influencd by consideration of | interests. That the Commission has failed 'in this is commonly understood. It i i |so. The testimony con the attempt to burden the city of | | Philadelphia with a decaying prop- erty at an exorbitant price was an | essentially political enterprise for | the benefit of the Vare machine and | the pecuniary advantage of a few | of the leaders of that organization. | Other adventures of the Commission, | little less reprehensible but more | successful, were plainly in the in- [terest of corporate greed. Alto- ‘gether they fully justified popular | reprobation and loudly called for correction. But neither the facts revealed nor the evidence justify Governor Pin- chot's fantastic notion that the rem- edy lies in abolishing the Commis- gion. The purpose of the Public Service Commission was to regu- late corporations operating in the State and restrain them from ex- cesses detrimental to the consumers of their products. The proper way accomplish this result is to strengthen the law and appoint honest and courageous men to adminster it. BEuphemistic titles afford mo guaran- tee of superior service and a Fair Rate Board chosen by machine poli- ticlans might make things vastly worse, instead of better. —Subscribe for the Watchman Now that the soldiers’ bonus bill has become a law thoughtful people wonder why the administration op- its passage so strenuously. The President and Secretary of the Treasury Mellon admonished Con- gress that the law would certainly disrupt, if it did not actually bank- rupt, the treasury and that it would compel an issue of bonds in large amounts and cause a material in- crease in taxation. We have not seen the veto message of the Presi- dent but presume that it reiterated and emphasized these gloomy predic- tions. As a matter of fact it will not work any of these evils. With an addition provided by a rider on the paval supply bill there will be no less than $897,000,000 in the insur- ance reserve fund of the Veterans’ rm eee Ta STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION. HR "FEBRUARY 27, 1931. Bureau available by the time the ‘machinery for putting the law in saw it force is prepared, and that will be ample to meet the demands under it for a considerable period of time. In view of this fact Senator Jann- son, of California, was justified in| declaring in the Senate that “there has been gross misrepresentation in some official quarters leading the public to believe that the bill means increased taxation.” i From the beginning of the gov- | ernment the people of the United States have been taught to believe that any statement coming from the President may be confidently re- lied upon, In the past an official statement concerning the operations of the Secretary of the Treasury has gone unquestioned. Even Pres- A Short Circuit Caused Brilliant Pyrotechnics in Town. A short circuit somewhere on the 'Bigh tension lines of the West Penn Fower company, about two o'clock last Friday morning, caused a bril- liant electrical pyrotechnic display and caused sorae superstitious peo- ple to believe that the end of the world was heading this way. Exactly what caused has not been definitely officials of the West Penn. At first it was believed to be a leaky in-' sulator near the transformers of the American Lime and Stone com- pany. Later some of the officials ex- | pressed the belief that the rain and | wet snow had sagged a wire suffi- ciently to : that there their own along the wires, flames sparks were sho street. One pole destroyed. The entire system of company was put out of commis- sion for a quarter of an hour and the lines of the Penn Central up to Altoona were also putout of service temporarily. As quickly as they could em- ployees of the compay cut out the short-circuited section at the big’ substation and hastily restored the service. Friday it developed that the trouble also affected the tele- phone wires to the extent that bells were set a ringing in a large num- NO FIFTY YEARS AGO IN CENTRE COUNTY. Items taken from the Watchman fssue | of March 4, 1881 Co. B. left here for Washington, | D. C., last night, making a fine ap- pearance on their parade station. Today they will march the Garfield inaugural . 9. —The people of Snow Shoe and vicinity celebrated the anniversary of Washington's birth holding | a masquerade ported nearly and spectators attended. was | held in the dance hall on the third was excellent and the dancing | spirited. | about Pleasant Gap, | where is there a village of its size that can have a musical convention, three hops and two concerts all in one week. —A. J. Smith has sold his store in Port Matlida to S. S. Miles, of Philipsburg, Mr. Smith has mov- | ed to Clearfield and Mr. Miles to —The musical convention in the Presbyterian church at Jacksonville | came to a close with a grand con- | cert on Saturday night. It was! very successful and some splendid nging was done W. J. Aley, C.H. Yearick, Aggie Beatty and Helen McCalmont and Prof. Curns. —I1. Guggeheimer will start for adelphia and New York tomor- row for the of. buying a new stock of carpets for his store | the rock was removed from his | a resident “the demnition bow-wows" that they Un-. ident Harding's statements were ac- in the Arcade, cepted as dependable. But President Hoover has frequently, for political or personal reasons, made state- ments that were wide from the | facts, and for years Mr. Mellon's official opinions have had no value. His guesses have been as wide of the mark as that of a bucket shop evening, for Tyrone to attend the meeting of the Foreign | of the Hunting- —Knox township, Clearfield coun- ty, has elected a female school di- | broker. Hr r. An equally preposterous reason | Mrs. Magazet Carson died ~ for opposing the bill advanced by | Spring Mills, county, on the 2nd 'both the President and the Seecre- | inst. ‘tary was that the veterans wore Shr er Uh B® BER allel PRL RT ‘that in Bor half the amo four full days, last jaot week. ‘of their certificates they lose ‘other half. The truth is that the | other half remains to their credit in realy and may be drawn at | {Be fact that twenty per tent ofthe Coy and Libw's dain was damaged | maturity. Of course they will nave 0l° were ignored bears out the almost to the breaking point. to pay interest on the half which | Watchman's recent statements that _ ,, ,,, bridges between here 'a large number of returns are made and Rock were carried away by the to court that should never have f,0d4 and the dams at Valentine's | gone beyond the office of the justice forge and Mann's Axe factory both | J the grand jury broke. | evidently was e same mind, i | | —L. M. Coudriet, of Frenchville, Centre County's Quota of Townstdp | ogi from its report, which isas ,.o ready for the market two sticks Roads. ay a i 5 {of imbes each 0s ft long wi 18 . we have ac upon bills es square. e has two others Blue prints showing the alloca- .¢ indictment of which 40 were found 82 ft long and 25 inches square. ‘tion of township roads in each coun- | tye bills and 10 not true bills; that ‘ty scheduled for improvement in| we visited and ius —Dr. Thomas Kirk, of this place, ted the coun ‘Governor Pinchot's much buildings and find that the interior 3014 out bis iistarest, ib the Birk 120,000 miles road building program of the court house is in fine condi- | £8 BE DEUS Bas oa ‘were distributed to members of the tion, but find ap- gor B Oak, eh | Logialatyre Wham! {Hy ‘other brother and his mother reside. on Monday. miles as Centre county's allotment, ac- —Harry Green returned fom Phil- cording to reports coming up from Harrisburg the past several weeks, bridge pring creek was badly damaged by | the flood on Sunday night and Mec- has been drawn but at a less rate than would be charged if they had borrowed at a local bank. i | due solely to the antiquated and ex. lectures there. the total is mn mille, The hue umbing system. The — Mrs. Susan Weaver, wife of prints were furnished Members should also have a separate heating Geo. H. Weaver Esq. died last Mon- was a highly esteemed and respected woman and death | not find her unprepared, for she was a very devout christian, | —Mr. and Mrs. W. righle ar- Lancaster county, which place they had journeyed to be pres- ent at a big party the people of that town gave for Mr. Geo Tripple on the occasion of his 55th birthda; Among oth- | changes they might have to suggest. | |One piece of roadway included in | Centre county is that from Penn- sylvania Furnace through the Bar- 'rens to Halfmoon township to con- |nect with the road through Buffalo Run and Halfmoon valleys to War- riorsmark. | | come excited over this road build- ing program. Governor Pinchot has hedged on his promises to reduce autoand drivers licenses and (mow he is reported as saying that (he only promised to start the road {vallding program, an Ce— ——While former Judge Arthur C. Dale has been appointed chair- man of the Workmen's Compensa- tion Board by Governor Pinchot he so far has only the appointment without the salary, as neither his own appointment nor those of the other members of the Board have been confirmed by the Senate. Sen- ator Frank Baldwin, of Potter coun- ty, chairman of the Senate com- mitte on executive nominations, stated on Monday evening that he has received letters from twenty local unions in Luzerne and Lacka- wanna counties asking for a hearing on the appointments before confirma- tion is made. g i: i 5 “> > yy © g § wrong. starting to figure out what itis just count up the number of milk- men you know who are getting rich. ——Operator's licenses for 1930 Sr ———— En | 300 men. required by the * struction cost of the new will expire at midnight, Saturday night, and if you have been a little tardy in getting one for this year better not drive your car or the State patrol may get you “if you don't watch out.” —The day: have become so much longer, the weather really spring- like, and it seems as if it won't be long now until we can quit shovel- ing coal and start pushing the lawn ——President Hoover's veto of the soldiers’ bonus bill is a candid ex- pression of “the courage of dis- pair.” The President knew that the measure would become a law any- way. next tions during hatching season vorable. —With a roar that more than ten miles, gas wells in the United on if —Diphtheria contagion tea party attended reecntly by a score or more teachers in the York, Pa, at the party, who is suffering from the in contact with the | 7 of Uszzie’'s hotel. The music! disease in its virulent form. She is Mrs. E. A. Gladfelter, wife of the princi- pal of the Hannah Penn Junior High school. —While supervising the removal of clay from the Brockway Clay Products mine, Monday morning, Emmett Welling- | ton, 43, a foreman, was caught by a fall of rock and instantly killed. Workmen went to his aid immediately but when inert form it was found that death had al- ready occurred. The deceased had been of Brockway for the past several years, moving there from Toronto, Ohio. He is survived by his wife and two children. —G. 8. Herbert, chief engineer for the Cumberland Valley Telephone company, has acquired the controlling interest in the Farmers’ Telephone company, which served the rural territory about Belle- ville, Mifflin county. The company Was organized twenty-eight years ago by Harry Smucker and incorporated in 1914 and will be continued under Mr. Smuck- er's management until April 1, when the new management will take charge. The | installation of new equipment and Iim- used Daniel in the face house was neglected. jail attendants, but a few moments’ con- changed her property of the Eastern steel mill. The promoters of the new organization had already raised $200,000 and this sum was matched by bankers of that city. The new plant is expected to start operations within a month or so with a force ot The plant will be gradually expanded in order to take in new lines of work, which will eventually open an almost new field of work for the plant. —Ralph G. Irwin, chief of the bureau of milk control of the State Health De- partment, reports that 5000 applicants for permits for the sale of milk have just been forwarded to the dealers. These applications are for permits for the dis- tribution and sale of milk from Septem- ber 1, 1931, to September 1, 1932. In- vestigations on these applications are made by the district State representa- tives and if the plants and equipment are found to be up to the standards law of 1929, recom- mendations are made and permits jssued by the Secretary of Health. —Lancaster county has made the final payment for it's share of the con- intercounty bridge across the Susquehanna river be- tween Columbia and Wrightsville when county's share of the final payment on a check for $69,474.56, representing the the span, was turned over to Glen MM. Wiley, president of the company which built the structure. A like sum is to be paid by York county, thus making up the last portion of the original con- tract price that was withheld until the —When Mrs. Charles F. Sandler, of returned to her home Sun- day night following a visit with her parents at Snydertown, she found her
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