to f
i
—Few of our readers knew him,
but we drop a tear to the
of a devoted friend who slipped out | use the previous administration effect
on Monday, We shar miss Harmon
Kruse as much for his cheery salu.
tation when we met him on the
! —Dr. Compton, Nobel prize win-
ner for physics in 1928, has just,
come to the profound conclusion that |
since the world had a beginning it
very probably ison its way to an end. |
If the judges had heard of that one!
from the Doctor before they made |
the award in 1928 they probably |
would have given him two prizes for
constrained to ask who is running |
Bellefonte: Some department clerk
in Harrisburg or the councilmen in
whose ent this borough had Criticised some of the Fisher policies made to
[i ie opposition to the is, every
gas tax, the Governor's pet be made
other words, is Bellefonte a sovereign Measure. In revenge for that Fish- mitteemen concerned
s0 much confidence that it commit- |
ted its management to them. In!
entity or is it merely a tail to i
kite of whoever happens to be in|
authority at Harrisburg?
Thumbs are said to be down on
the loose tongues, loose morals and
loose joints of the last few years, This |
loud-mouthed he-girl business is!
passe and young women are going to |
be less hard-boiled. od hasten the
to be if they can't be hard-boiled.
head on the Pinchot ’ block
and he no directs the
ETE oT Ee a oa the
risburg.
the Hon. Tom would
tation. Through both ancestry and |
ommend him to the consideration of
he had
The announcement was a that he has succeeded:
| But it is not that that was the
§ieat surprise to us, for we thought | Bt reason for his attack on | Purchase of the Virgin Islands was
the ex-Governor. During the recent 2& blunder.
- campaign Governor Pinchot freely Some measure, but « was a trifling
personal service he had a lot to rec Mogriigy ili nid y affair compared with the farm board
the new Governor. And we are Pledged the farmers 20,000 miles of enterprise of which he was author |
escape decapi-
sen
the primary election last Spring
an
of Commerce, last week, Mr. Lewis now supported by
said “the State Highway Depart- sued by
ment is without sufficient funds be-
spent not only all the col-
m
Ever since the organization of
Fisher administration there has
and Fisher. Lewis had been a
ful element in the campaign
confidently expected a cabinet
folio. Like other professional
iticians
Grundy.
and by
and sponsored the
four-cent
er prevented his nomination for Gov-
ernor last year.
In his Bellevue speech Mr. Lewis
not only accuses the ex-Governor of
in office involving “ab-
solute bankruptcy of the motor li-
cense fund,” the “holding up of con-
tractor's estimates” for a time
ing “the financial embarrassment
many contractors and material m
The reason for this condition, Mr.
| Lewis adds, was the
of Mr. Lewis was to
ernor Fisher it must be
indulged
ies
i
i
vast campaign slush funds used
every Per
(important election have been obtain- S8nization hold Herbert Hoover in Sylvania are exorbitant, why is it
caus- |
of ministration this was openly asknowl-
ey
fa
#
oo
EQ
| peste. of the fast that the treasasy 1 ¥ 0" Tammany is an inex- as a political
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
Et aa ———.
BELLEFONTE, PA., APRIL 3, 1931.
Robbing The State for Party.
It is hard to determine whether A new and serious charge of mis.
of Commissioner of Highways Lewis’ feasance has been brought against |
there is a lot recent vitriolic attack on ex-Gover- the Fisher administration. In one
of horse sense in his latest pronun- nor Fisher was an expression of re- of his recent radio speeches Gover-
tment of Mr. Fisher's attitude in nor Pinchot declared
of gasoline taxes.
Benjamin
missioner
2
Charl
La
fs
3
ch was dated June 19, 1930,
|
+
i
t
and that the men allow politics to have
port- too great an influence on their work. |
pol- | All of the men are political commit-
and perennial office holders teemen and reluctant to offend some
no particular place in mind member of the organization. Under
accounts are very difficult.” The Of his party
backing of only response to this statement of
But he was disappointed, fact made by Commissioner Johnson
way of reprisal, publicly was that *
and thus impairing the efficiency
the Republican party machine
It has been for some years,
ter of common knowledge that
the Republican organization in
i
ed by levies upon the State and local |
job holders. During the Fisher ad- |
produces majorities in Pennsylvania
has not been realized. Whether the
defeat of one faction and the suc-
cess of another element will
cure remains to be seen.
President Hoover thinks : the
Possibly that is true in
. The Legislature of New
vestigate the Democratic administra-
pyramiding until it has
become as bad as Philadelphia and
rotten
necessary that something be done
about it. Mayor Walker, whose
self out trying to correct the faults,
but without perceptible improvement,
and now the Legislature has under-
the task,
. Of course the investigation will be
partisan and malignant. Its pur-
pose is to create a smoke screen to
divert attention from the delin-
quencies of a stupid and stubborn
, rather than in the interest
of municipal and judicial reform.
Equally of course ix was inspired in
Washington instead of Albany. By
the skillful use of patronage Herbert
“¢inched” the nomination
for President next year,
scrutiny of his present administra-
tion must be averted at any cost or
tial campaign
a state of bankruptcy, Eighty
cent of the leaders of the or-
utter contempt. Yet they realize
that it is impossible to prevent his
‘momination. Their only hope of pre-
venting the election of a Democrat
is to arouse fanaticism and inflame
haustible fountain for this
——The indication or the failure
right here to say that he was one of hard-surfaced roads; he promised and sponsor, |
the very few prominent Republicans
in this neck-o-the-woods who was
openly supporting him last fall.
—When Governor Pinchot left
Harrisburg after his first term there |
was a surplus of seven million dol-
lars in the . When he
back for his second he found sligh
of the Senate, and ought to be au-
thentic. So far as we are concerned
we prefer to believe them rather than
Pinchot's inferential statements to
the effect that Fisher spent all the
States’ money and left him with |
nothing to do anything with.
~—When some fanatical tells |
Pennsylvania and New Jersey there |
born |
Maryland, Kentucky |
as a pup
S0 miserable that
the rod, the reel and the book of
still where we put them
In our present state of
the morning after the night before.
And we want to say, right here, that
we have two misguided friends who
haven't contributed anything toward
recovery from our low mental state
mails
us pictures of fellows landing trout
a darn’d sight bigger than any we
might catch, even if we are able to
g0. Their intentions are good, so
we forgive them because they know
not what we do.
automobile owners a cut to half of
the license plate fees; he promised
motor vehicle drivers a cut to half
Another Proof of Insincerity.
of their fees. If he knew anything The refusal of the administration
he must have known that fulfillment forces in the House of Representa-
an alibi.
was no element of revenge in the
Bellevue speech but
. Lewis
thrifty idea of
stone”
entrench-
may be selected for Bellefonte's
federal building, and while a
ber of places have been suggested
as available one has been overlooked,
the former location of the old Belle-
constructing an
athletic ground in connection with
the High school building, but as
council has refused to permit
closing of Lamb street the lot, in its
but the specifications make the job
difficult. He must be a 100 per cent
Hoover man and “there are only a
|few of them left.”
——What seems to Haywood Broun
doesn’t matter so much since it
seems to nearly everbody else that
he is degenerating into a common
scold.
——A light snow fall, on Tuesday
night, turned out to be an April
fool, as it rained on Wednesday.
the Auditor General, certainly knew Pinchot's campaign pledges.
(the impossibility of fulfilling these bill was introduced
‘pledges and the present necessity of tive Sowers,
i
i
i
|
|
i
{
|
i
|
|
| of these promises would cause a loss tives in Harrisburg to consider a
{to the treasury of several millions bill to red
uce the license fee for auto
of Mr.
The
Representa- |
It
the excuse for delay in reporting it
to the House was lack of time. Cur- |
ously enough the friends of the ad-
that it was con- ministration were completely organ-
solely as an ized. There was plenty of time for |
might that. i
There are a good many automobile |
drivers 'n Pennsylvania and the prom- |
ise of a cut of a dollar on the N-
cense fee wus an enticing proposi- |
i
A Suprising Judicial Decision.
The Carbon county court has hand-
ed down a decision
validity of Representative William
A. Coyle's certificate of election as
| Representative in Congress for the
Thirtieth district
The certificate was
turn of approximately 900 majority
in the district. Following the issue
of the certificate the opposing
date, Everett Kent, demanded a
of Pennsylvania.
TT ————
The Investigation of New York.
A Square Deal for Business.
Republican i
York has properly determined to in- For more than a month, the in-
| From the Altoona Tribune.
| tensely ball investigation of
| the blic utilities of Pennsyl int
| the pu u es vania
‘has do the news from Har-
All the normal legislation of an
assembly session has been side-
| tracked.
| As a result, the met acco
{ment of the Legislature to date is
practically nothing.
: But the Cost of the suion to the
| taxpayers not been reduced or
| eliminated.
| This situation might be overlook-
led if the investigation had made
{any Progress, had justified its insti-
But no solid, irrefutable evidence
of the * . ao
that was supposed to exist has
uncovered,
The Tribune has upheld the in-
vestigation because, after the unrest
and distrust aroused by the guber-
natorial cam last fall, the pub-
lic is entitl to the facts of the
situation.
Those facts have been obtained:
The public utilities of Pennsylvania,
been
as a whole, are entitled to a clean
bill of health.
Charges have been made of “goug-
ing” by exorbitant rates, of exert-
eve effort had been Sacrifice, and the investigation of ing political pressure. No evidence
er the accounts.” That the Democratic administration of N2s been submitted,
effort was made that could New York city was the only avail-
Senate or to the Pinchot-directed
House committee, to substantiate
such charges.
The one hope of sensational dis-
closure collapsed when the letter
(cited by former Congressman Farr,
of Scranton, was proved to be an en-
tirely innocent document.
Many questions might be asked.
For instance, if utility rates in Penn-
| that the average rate in this State
is lower than that of the United
| States as a whole?
Perhaps there is sound founda-
tion for the belief that the
entire inves was instituted
If this country has one outstand-
|
ing need right now, it is public con-
| The ie utllity inv are work-
Hane x So jo Be oa;
RT
1 Cl Svar COMMIMILY.
|sult. And, while such lack of con-
fidence in an integral industry exists,
| restoration of normalcy is well-nigh
{ ssible.
t is only natural that the public
will lose faith when it sees men it
| has trusted, men it has looked upon
‘as stalwart citizens, haled to Harris-
‘burg, there to be questioned, grilled
{like criminals, It is only natural
‘that a feeling of suspicion will be
(awakened when the Governor of the
| utilities and the character the
men who lead them.
The effect upon business can easily
'be visioned. The caution, the back-
business recovery,
factor in re
will be redoubl
| In all fairness, in justice to the
= | tuberculin test, following
-
i» |
{head of cattle by State inspectors after s
| was only a week after the theft, he said,
{that he went through with his plans,
married the girl and settled down in
another town.
—In an hour's time, while traveling
| from Williamsport toward Lock Haven,
Wednesday afternoon, G. H. Gustin, of
| Lock Haven, State game protector, saw
300 wild geese in a flock, sixty-eight
‘black Mallard ducks, twenty-five red head
| ducks and seven white swans swimming
north in the west branch of the Susque-
| hanna river, toward Lock Haven. There
were groups of gulls and smaller ducks
|as well, he said.
| —Harry Wetzel, prisoner in the Butler
| county jail, was pretty good at figuring
but sheriff Lawrence Thompson went
him one better. Wetzel presented the
sheriff with a biil for $14 for scrubbing
and other work done about the county
| jail while he was confined there Sheriff
Thompson countered with a bill for board
‘and lodging which amounted to just $15.
| The ‘guest’ was allowed to check out
without paying the difference.
—A sealed verdict returned in the
Northumberland county court awarded
Mrs. Mamie E, Laudenslager, of Sun-
| bury, the sum of $22,607.50 in her dam-
| age suit against the Pennsylvania Power
and Light company for the loss of her
husband, A. L. Laudenslager, who was
electrocuted in front of his home on
October 22, 1929. A motion for a new
'trial was made by the power company’s
‘attorney, who alleged that the verdict
was against the law and evidence.
~Awakened by a crash while asleep on
{the second floor of her home, in Colum-
| bla county, Mrs. Theodore H. Clewell
| went downstairs and found an automo-
bile in a front room. Furniture was
smashed, plaster covered the floor and a
huge gap had been made in one wall,
where the carh ad crashed through. Mr.
and Mrs. John Gipple and Mr. and Mrs.
G. P. Hummel, of Bloomsburg, occupants
of the car, were severely bruised and
cut. They said they had been forced
from the road by two other cars attempt-
ing to pass, and Gipple, the driver, had
lost control of the machine,
~The weekly wash of Columbia, Pa.,
housewives was reposing in its custom-
ary place on the clothes lines in perfect
safety on Monday. Silk stockings, lin-
gerie, table liners and other articles
which grace the lines every Monday have
‘past few weeks and several
caused the police to investigate. What
was belleved to be a case of petty lar-
(ceny turned out to be nothing more than
{a number of hungry goats who were eat-
ing their Monday breakfast from the
clothes line. The owner of the goats,
Joseph Weisser, was instructed to keep
his animals penned up in the future,
—J. W. Stephenson, of Johnstown, pres-
ident of the Penowa Coal and Coke com-
pany, was held for court trial at Wash-
the State persists in attacks upon public ington, Pa.. on Monday, on ecHarges of
unlawful conversion of funds. He was
unable to supply $4,000 bond and was
placed in the county jail. The charge
was preferred by M, J. Hanna, of Pitts.
issued on a re- Wwardness which has been a potent burgh, head of a commissary company
‘which had boarded men working in the
Penowa mines near Avella, Washington
county. Stephenson is alleged to have
- | welfare of this Keystone State and taken money from the pay of miners for
re- its people, Governor Pinchot should their board and then failed to turn it
count of the votes and complied with | make clear just what he is driving over to the commissary firm. Claims of
the provisions of the law “in a he A a his efforts to the 132 workers have been filed with sheriff
cases made and provided.”
good deal of
Spent by the contestant,
»
faith and according to law,
The result of the recount not only
wiped out the majority claimed by
more boxes were opened
of concentra upon activities that
| only ne weaken that confi-
' dence.
| Appropriation Bills Now Before the
Legislature.
Among the appropriation bills
ion to some of them, a couple of Mr Coyle but revealed that a substan. |
tial | before the ture is one
Everybody in Bellefonte is nat- TI1On at least, who are not blessed now Legisla
urally interested in the site that “iL abundance. The rules of the
new | House provide for the discharge of |
_ the committee from consideration of
a measure which seems to be unduly |
delayed. The bill in question was
referred to the committee on March |
3rd, It would seem that four weeks
ought to be long enough to consider,
analyze and digest a bill of four
lines.
The fact is that the promise was
made to catch votes, and having ac- |
complished that purpose it is >
the | Present intention to repudiate it un-
der the false pretense that there |
wasn't sufficient time to consider it.
Most of the other pledges will be vio- |
lated in the same way. There will be
an attempt to fulfill the 20,00-mile |
road promise, but even that is doom-
ed to failure for the reason that it
is impossible to fulfill it, and
sponsors were aware of that fact
when it was introduced. But blame
for all the failures will be shifted to
the Legislature.
|
——Good may come out of Naza- |
reth. The investigation of the Public
Service Commission will probably |
result in a law suit that will give
service to the people.
i
———Meantime the Democratic Na- |
tional committee is functioning in
fine form and “flourishing like a
Green Bay Tree.
——Dave Reed blames all the ills
of the time on the soldier's bonus.
Speaker and the
which has served
during the last
continue to
feature of the affair
courages fraudulent
future, not only in
in all sections of the S
it justifies and increases
suspicion of the
courts is not an
incident.
2 Fees
iiss
tate
the
ty
:
——After all there is
deal of difference between
poses of Pinchot
Each is striving
sonal aggrandizement.
g
RE
i
Ef
¥i1i
introduced by Representative J.
Laird Holmes for $4,844,781 for sup-
is in addition to one for $960,000
* | for new buildings which has already
been reported out of committee.
For the western penitentiary at
| Rockview $358,200 is asked, $258,-
200 for a new cell block of 256 cells
capacity, $90,000 for a new boiler
house and boilers and $10,000 for a
piggery.
A bill appropriating $337,000 to
the Huntingdon reformatory has
also been introduced, $185,000 of the
amount to be used for a new cell
block, $165,000 for replacement of
the central service buiiding, $25,000
for an addition to the boiler house
and $12,000 for wages for the in-
——— a fp ————
———We have on the desk a very
{interesting communication concern-
ing the Bellefonte public schools.
The authors requested that we pub-
lish it, but since they failed to sign
their names we cannot do so. The
Watchman is always ready to give
space to those who have constructive
criticism to make of anything con-
cerning the welfare of the communi-
ty, but will not publish anonymous
communications,
——-Qur excess of wealth would be
a fit subject for boasting except
that our excess of poverty is almost
equally great.
Several building of public confidence instead J. A. Seaman.
, =—J. F. Snook, cashier of the Beaver
| Springs bank, sat for two hours, satur-
day night, looking asnto the dangerous
end of a bandit's pistol, arguing with
the would-be robber that an attempt to
| take money from the bank's vault would
be futile. The bandit entered Snook’s
‘house while the cashier was across the
street at a store. The house adjoins
the bank, and there isa connecting door.
When Snook returned he was held up,
| He then began the argument, telling the
bandit the bank's burglar alarm would
ring even if he opened the vault, After
two hours the bandit was convinced, took
[$4.25 from Snook and left.
| —A $1,000,000 check that Reese Edwards
|found on the streets of Pittsburgh wasn’t
‘as good as it looked, gut it proved con-
| clusively that Mr. and Mrs. Frank Grif-
{fin are very much in love, Edwards,
| driver for a baking company, sighted a
woman's purse lying on the pavement
| while making his rounds. The check was
{in the purse. It was made to Mrs. Jean
| Griffin, and Edwards, being honest, ana
[sensing a big reward, rushed to the
| Griffin home. There Mrs. Griffin, a
bride of six months, blushingly explained
that the check, written by her husband,
only signified how much he would like
to give her if he had 1t. She pointed to
the romantic “X's” with which it was
signed.
—A settlement effected in a civil suit
|at Lock Haven, a few days ago, by Mrs.
J. Boyd Mader and sister in law, Miss
Vanetta Mader, against S. W. Rososky,
of Coalport, for injuries sustained Jan-
uary 24, 1930, when the car in which
they were driving was struck by that of
Rososky, resulted in the awarding of
$3,000 to Mrs. Mader and $1,750 to Miss
Mader. Miss Mader, driver of the car,
sustained injury to her leg and shock,
and Mrs. Mader suffered a fractured
skull, and shock. Dr. J. Boyd Mader.
Clinton county treasurer, who was anoth-
er occupant of the car at the time of the
accident, was uninjured. Mrs. Mader.
who is deputy county treasurer, is seek-
ing election for county treasurer on the
Democratic ticket.