—Crickets will be chirping soon,
then it will be time to look with
concern at the empty coal bin.
——Old Mortality has thrown
away the scythe and taken an auto-
mobile as the symbol of his trade.
——The troubles in Europe give
no concern to Calvin Coolidge. His |
mind is centered on the Vermont
trout streams, at present, and too
narrow to take in much territory.
——It's a trifle hard to conjure
up sympathy for Albert B. Fall, rec-
reant cabinet officer,
VOL. 76.
| Suspicions about the Moratorium |
| The suggestion of Senator Robin-
and besides hope on the moratorium as a cure son that President Hoover supple-
It would be unwise to build much
The Need of Tariff Legislation.
justice is even-handed and punish- for the present economic depression. ment his amiable gesture for the re-
ment must be administered to
great as well as the meek.
—Just thirteen days of the fishing
Season remain and it would be just
our luck for a couple more storms
to come along and muddy up the
Streams again. Thus far July has
been almost a complete washout.
—President Hoover's moratorium
helped Germany exactly like “the old |
woman kept tavern out west.” Ger-
many didn't need delay in paying |
her debts. What she needed was
something to live on while getting |
On the day the Presi-
As a matter of fact there is a
| mills
squared off to start making some- ‘lack of confidence in the public mind causes
the It may work a temporary relief, as lief of Germany by a movement for
it actually did cause an increase in the relief of the United States
security values alike in this country through a decrease of the tariff
and abroad.
dent's announcement was issued stock
price a shot upward in Wall street.
But it was not an enduring improve- | The attempt to shift responsibility
ment. Within a day or two a reces- [for unemployment in this country
'sion ensued which was attributed to the economic distress in Europe
to the failure of France to express having failed, the Arkansas Senator
spontaneous approval. Since the suc- | thinks it would be wise to strike at
cess of the plan has been made ex- the real cause of the trouble here
pectations are disappointing. Signs Tariff rates which have closed for
of industrial stabilization are absent. eign markets to the products of our | disposed of and enlisted Vice Presi-
and factories are the real dent Curtis and Senator Capper, of
| Kansas, on their side.
schedules of the Grundy law is like-
ly to precipitate a tariff war in the
approaching session of Congress.
of unemployment. Goods
thing to pay them with. You can't as to the sincerity of the President. must be sold or factories can't oper-
get blood out of a turnip and only It is widely believed that he has no ate.
| Senator, Watson, of Indiana, Re- | Chairman Stone promptly resented
hue in the eyes of a near bankrupt. bert Hoover is absolutely destitute | publican floor leader of the Senate, | the interference of the Vice Presi-
honor gives a moratorium a rosy
——A letter from Congressman |
Chase suggests the idea that postal
officials are considering the McClure fering
and Miller properties on west Bishop 38%
street as a probable site for the new form of relief except
post-office.
owners have made any proposal to
of “bowels of compassion.”
(sympathy for human suffering. Her-
millions of his countrymen were suf- | Senator to introduce such Legisla-
the pangs of hunger, a year
he opposed every available
mind. For this reason thoughtful
tion. It will be remembered that
when the final vote was about to be
such tardy taken on the Grundy bill Senator |
measures as occurred to his own Watson declared “that within thirty
Netter one. of the |days after the passage of the meas-
sell to the government and don't Persons look elsewhere for wae causes ure prosperity would be restored and
want to.
the post-office will be located there Moratorium. And there are plenty this country”.
The Krader property, corner of How-
ard and Allegheny streets is still
the government's real objective.
—The announcement that Mrs.
Pinchot has had a second secretary
added to her staff at the State's ex-
pense is pleasant news to a lot of
us who find it so hard to pay our
taxes that we can't have even one
secretary for ourselves. Why should
the State pay for any personal serv-
ant of the Governor's wife? If this
competent to discuss such technical
questions, but we do know that since
there was so much ado about get-
ting the approval of the State High-
way Department as to the structure
much might have been saved had
the Department been asked to draw
the plans for the bridge and
supervise its construction. It would
have done that without charge and
there would have been no commis-
sions to pay to a foreign engineer to
pile on top of the cost of building a
bridge that will be longer than nec-
essary.
—The creditors of the defunct Cen-
tre County Banking Company are
being asked to take Whiterock Quar-
ries stock in lieu of cash. The
trustee holds enough stock of that
corporation to make a fifteen
cent distribution, or thereabouts. If
it should be sold at public sale the
price would probably be pounded
down to less than half its value be-
cause this is no time to sell good
stock and even if il sre were a bet-
ter market for securities this com-
munity is too small to absorb so
large an offering, without disastrous
effect on the price. Having been
one of the four men who started
Whiterock, its first treasurer and a
member of its board for many years
we know something of the value of
the property from which this stock
issues. In the light of that belief
we feel that those creditors of the
bank who can do so would profit
considerably by taking stock in lieu
of cash. The company is being
capably managed, it has maintained
its six per cent dividend right
through the depression and the book
value of the stock is actually nearly
double its par. The best feature of
the plan is that an individual holder
of a few shares at $70 might some
day discover them to be worth double
that sum. In such an event he
would in reality have a thirty per
cent dividend instead of the fifteen per
cent one they are to be issued for.
Even if one could not find a market
for his stock should a need be press-
ing it is good collateral on which to
borrow at the banks. We have much
faith in the future of Whiterock
Quarries, we have already assured
many creditors of the bank as to
that and for the long pull we recom-
mend the offering to its other cred-
itors.
of leads to guide them in the search.
It is conservatively estimated that
there is at present $17,000,000,000 of
American capital invested in Europe.
impressed upon the mind of Presi-
dent Hoover he devised the plan
and promulgated it, not for the re-
lief of suffering humanity, not for
the stabilization of industry, not for
the alleviation of economic distress,
but to save Wall street.
It is true that the postponement
of payments for the brief period of
a year would not serve to rescue the
vast amount of American invest-
ments in Europe. But it was ex-
pected, and among optimists be-
lieved, that even so brief a respite
Sem. pressing Suligasions would in-
American investors an opportunity
to unload their foreign holdings on
the unsuspecting “Lambs” at home
and abroad. It was a promising en-
terprise and an enticing bid for Wall
street support next year.
—The Watchman now has a baby
subscriber and he is paid so far in
advance that we are worried lest
the old sheet peters out before young
Mr. Gray grows old enough to learn
to read it.
Stream Purity Legislation Delayed.
Governor Pinchot promises legis-
lation to purify the streams of the
State next year. In a message read
before the Conservation Council of
Pennsylvania, in session at Harris-
burg last week, he said, “the pollu-
tion bill should have passed at the last
session. This administration gave it
every backing. I am against stream
pollution and for ending it every-
where promptly, as soon as it can
be done.” In his campaign, last fall,
he promised action during the ses-
Per | sion of 1931. It was one of the prin-
cipal planks in his platform. Un-
less a special session is called there
will be no legislation on any sub-
ject in 1932.
During the recent session of the
General Assembly a bill was intro-
duced at the instance of the Con-
servation Council. Governor Pinchot
induced the friends of the measure
to abandon it and accept an admin-
istration bill to be introduced sub-
sequently. The result was that no
legislation was enacted on the sub-
ject. As happened in the coal and
iron police matter, the Governor's
interference prevented action. Under
pretense of serving the public he
was helping the interests which
drew profits from stream pollu-
tion. A promise now for legislation
next year is an appeal to popular
credulity rather than public intelli-
gence.
In addressing his colleagues of
the Conservation Council Mr. Lad-
ner, of Philadelphia, stated that
“out of 100,000 miles of water in
our streams only 14,000 miles can
be found in a state of purity. The
other 86,000 miles are badly pollut-
ed and their unmentionable, filthy
and poisonous waters swallow up
the 14,000 miles which are mostly
small streams located in remote
places with no direct channel to the
sea.’ Governor Pinchot was fully
aware of these facts. But he sacri-
ficed remedial legislation in order
that he might acquire the right to
“hire and fire,” certain big salaried
public officials.
which influenced him to propose the unemployment will be ended in
Neither Ia 1 Hedy that Nearly a year has | “the situation in Kansas is approach-
elapsed since and instead of the
promised improvement conditions
{have been getting worse. Our ex-
port trade has been cut in half and
It is believed that the collapse of such factories as were still in oper-
Germany would have involved the ation have been compelled to close
loss’ of practically all this money because they can find no market for
and that the collapse of Germany | their products at home or abroad.
would be inevitable on the date of |
the July reparation payments unless President Hoover promised that the
something was done to postpone the Tariff Commission would correct the
payments. These facts having been inequalities and eliminate the inequi-
ties which he acknowledged to be
In approving the Grundy bill
present. ‘The report of the work of
the Commission has just been pub-
229 subjects considered decreases
have been recommended in eleven
cases, increases in tem and the rest
undisturbed. This record shows the
futility of the flexible feature of the
bill but the faults of the Grundy
should be corrected. = =
——Mental delusions produce curi-
ous spectacles. For instance, Bill
Vare still thinks he is a party leader.
A ——— ——————
Philadelphia Crooks at War.
“When rogues fall out honest men
come by their own” is an ancient
adage. The crooks who compose
the Philadelphia Republican machine
are involved in what seems to be an
irreconcilable war and it remains to
be seen whether the time honored
result will follow. These same po-
litical racketeers have had quarrels
before but the adhesive force of self-
ish interest in common has brought
them together in the end and public
expectation of destruction has been
defeated. The present cause of
quarrel appears to be deeper, how-
ever, and the enmity more bitter,
which inspires a hope that the hon-
est voters of Philadelphia will come
into control of the government of
the city.
Four years ago a similar, though
less acute, difference among the
leaders was compromised by the
selection of Harry Mackey for Mayor
and the people accepted the solution
as a promise of improvement. But
it turned out to be an aggravation
rather than an alleviation of the
evils. Since the infamous Ash-
bridge administration there has been
no such orgie of corruption as has
prevailed under the Mackey regime.
That fact has made it more difficult
to fool the voters this year. No
man who sincerely desires improve-
ment in the methods and morals of
government will accept favors at the
hands of the machine, and the man-
agers are unable to agree on a can-
didate who will serve their purpose.
It will be a great boon to the
people of Philadelphia and a vast
benefit to the voters of ithe State if
the quarrel among these crooks is
continued through the primary cam-
paign and up until the election of
November. The city, rich in tradi-
tion, abundant in resources and fav-
ored in all the elements which make
for prosperity and contentment, has
been brought to the verge of bank-
ruptcy to serve the cupidity of these
lecherous politicians. If the fight
among them continues long enough
it will force the better element of
the population to oppose them and
elect in their places men of charac-
ter, intelligence and integrity, thus
vindicating the adage “when rogues
fall out honest men come by their
own.”
va
——Mussolini talks peace with
great volubility but rattles the saber
at the same time.
lished and it appears that out of
bill and the inequalities which the
blk,
RE
The war between the Farm Board
and the farmers of Kansas and other
wheat growing States of the middle
west is increasing in interest and
energy. A few days ago chairnian
Stone, of the Farm Board, announc-
ed that the Board will sell 5,000,000
bushels of wheat a month until its
accumulation of 200,000,000 is dis-
posed of.
that announcement was a decline in
price of six cents a bushel to the
low of thirty-five cents a bushel. The
farmers, through their organizations,
entered protest against any Board
| sales until the crop of this year is
But this ag-
gravated rather than composed the
quarrel.
While | promptly challenged the Democratic dent and the Kansas Senator and
ascribed the decrease in price to a
conspiracy of the wheat speculators
“to discredit the Farm Board in its
efforts to aid agriculture,” and sig-
nificantly added. “I am not going to
let these people dictate to us what
is for the best interest of the farm-
ers.” Senator Capper’'s reply was,
ing a crisis. The farmers are in re-
volt and their anger may be reflect-
ed in the coming elections. Wheat
is selling at thirty-five cents a bushel
in Kansas, the lowest price in years,
which means that the farmer re-
ceives for his product less than the
cost of production.”
In the controversy, if it may be
so called, chairman Stone declares
that he has the support of the Pres-
ident. His policy to sell 5,000,000
bushels a month was announced af-
ter a conference with Mr. Hoover
and he believes the President will
stand to the agreement. But Cap-
per and Curtis appear to entertain
a different opinion on that subject.
At least they have announced a
purpose to appeal to the President
in person. They realize his mental
infirmities as revealed in the past in
relation to the operations of the
for Farm Board. He has already chang-
ed his mind and reversed his policies ago.
ih “respect to its activities half a
times, and the fear of losing
~have a. strong effect in
———— pe ———————
—Among three names now being
frequently mentioned in connection
with the Republican nomination for
Auditor General is that of Senator
Harry B. Scott. Senator Frank
Baldwin, of Potter county, and Hon.
Benson E. Taylor, of Jefferson, are
the other two. It has been on the
card in organization circles to give
our Senator a State office, but slate
making is not now the easy job it
was before Mr. Pinchot messed
things up, so that no one can tell
just whose “number is up” for the
Auditor Generalship. If the regu-
lars intend naming a regular for the
office it goes beyond question that
Senator Scott embodies the quint-
essence of regularity.
Germany Will Not Collapse.
At this moment Germany is in a
critical condition . The moratorium,
well-intended, failed of its purpose,
temporarily. Adverse conditions were
moving too rapidly to be stopped by
a single gesture. But there well be
no collapse. The threatened crash
will be averted. The German gov-
ernment is under wise management.
Von Hindenberg and Chancellor Brue-
ning are capable and patriotic pub-
lic officials and enjoy the confidence
not only of Germany but of the
world.
The collapse of Germany would be
a world-wide calamity. It would in-
volve adversely every government
within the radius of civilization and
possibly convert a number of them
to the policies of Communism or
. In either event it
would involve the loss to each nation
concerned of all or a large part of
their foreign investments. That
would make universal bankruptcy
practically inevitable. No country
could survive such a disaster.
For these reasons it may safely
be predicted that the impending col-
lapse of Germany will be averted.
Word comes from Washington that
the American government will not
further intervene. But the American
bankers and investors will. There
are $17,000,000,000 involved and they
will not allow that amount of money
to disappear without en effort to
save it. Investors of other coun-
tries will adopt the same view and
ultimately they will chip in the nec-
essary funds.
———While the organization Re-
publicans are throwing harpoons in-
to each other Gifford Pinchot is
quietly enjoying himself at the sea-
shore.
The market reaction to
From the Philadelphia Record. |
When the Winnie Mae landed at
Roosevelt field, N. Y., last week, af-
ter the greatest flight in the history
of aviation, the cockpit door opened
(and Wiley Post, the pilot, stepped
‘out, weary but happy and grinning.
Inside the plane sat Harold Gatty,
the ship's navigator. He was all
in. They had to lift him out.
Post handled the ship through fog
and clear; over seas and mountains.
And Gatty gave him the course.
Two men of skill and courage,
nerve and endurance. They deserve
all the honors they will get. But
the conspicuous thing about their
splendid achievement is the accurate
navigation over 15,500 miles of a
strange course.
Lindbergh shot his ship at an in-
visible speck of ground 3000 miles
|away—and hit the mark. “Lucky
i fia some, overlooking the
fact t the young flier had s
cialized, in his preparation, on the
problem of navigation.
Chamberlain, his ship as
well as any pilot could, missed his
| mark, got lost. Imperfect naviga-
Yon sent many eager fliers to death |
at sea.
(a triumph of scientific accuracy.
| William Brock, who in 1928 flew to
Tokio, said: “What a flier sees in it i
to admire most is the speed and the
precision, with credit going equally |
{to both men. It is unbelievable |
even to some of us old-timers—the
(manner in which they clicked off
place after place on their route.”
From New York to Harbor Grace:
from Harbor Grace to Chester, Eng-
land; to Berlin; to Moscow; across
Siberia and Manchuria; to Alaska;
over Canada and the Great Lakes,
and on to New York, the plane ran
close to schedule; the paper plans |
were translated inte actual achieve-
men no bling, gro |
trusting to luck on a A SDE |
Almost as surely as a train on
the rails, and perhaps quite as sure-
ly as a liner at sea, the Winnie Mae
reeled off its thousands of miles
and scored its scheduled contacts.
Fliers who gathered to greet the
boys at the end of their cruise
agreed that their demonstration of
accurate control could not have been
made with the equipment available
80 recently as two or three years
i
Ground speed and drift are the
toughest problems of the naviga-
tor; the actual rate of progress
gardless of force and direction of
wind, and the incalculable side-slip-
ping of the craft.
Gatty used a drift indicator of hfs
own invention; we suspect that lit-
tle instrument was the prime secret
of the success of the ;
Compasses, artificial horizon and
drift indicator-—these and other del-
icately adjusted instruments are!
| West Chester.
| recommended the decree, but Judge Win-
‘set in the yards and gardens of
ee mm—
SPAWLS FROM THE KEYSTONE
—Frances Leberman, 19 years old, was
struck and burned by a bolt of light
ning at Pottsville, on Monday night, in
the most severe lightning and rainstorm
of the summer. Miss Leberman was at-
tempting to close a window when struck.
Her right arm and shoulder were burned.
—Although he testified his wife stood
by and cheered her ‘boy friend” on
while the latter beat him, John N, Clarke,
formerly of Coatesville, was refused a
divorce on Monday, by Judge Windle, at
The master in chancery
AnntAad
dle this did not constitute an
“indignity” within the meaning of the
i law.
—The Lawrence Stone and Setting
company, operating the new stone quarry
| near Curwensville, has been awarded a
contract for furnishing the stone for three
more boulevard bridges on Long Island.
The officials of the company were in
Curwensville last week and say the con-
| tract already entered into will keep the
plant going at full capacity until Jan-
uary 1, 1932, at least.
—Three hundred beetle traps have been
Lock
Haven residents and a special Federal
agent, Harry G. Barton, Duncannon, has
been located there by the United States
Department of Agriculture, to be in
charge of the Japanese beetle work until
the middle of September. The traps will
be visited several times a week and the
beetles killed by the use of cyanide.
—The bureau of liquid fuels tax of
the State Department of Revenue has
instituted a State-wide investigation to
determine how many gasoline retailers
| should be classed as distributors under
the new liquid fuels tax act. The in-
vestigation includes a checkup of all re
| tailers who were operating under the old
act and is being made by revenu: pa-
trolmen and investigators of the bureau.
—Miners digging coal in a Lansford
strippings operation of the Lehigh Coal
& Navigation Co, in Schuylkill county,
The flight of the Winnie | recently uncovered anthracite that burned
their fingers when they tried to handle
it. The men had uncovered the site of
an old mine fire which had been believed
extinguished ten years ago. The coal
company plans to remove as much coal
as possible from the path of the fire
which has defled efforts to seal it and
shut it off from valuable coal seams.
—While Albert Lutes, 20, of Belle Ver-
non, was swimming to rescue a child
adrift in a boat, a sneak theif ransack-
ed the clothing he cast off on the Mo-
nongahela river bank and stole $15 and a
$60 wrist watch. George Brusic, 9 years
old, had climbed into a speed boat. Tha
wash from a passing towboat set the
boat adrift and the boy started scream-
ing. A fire truck played a search light
on the boat and swimmers from both
banks went out to bring the lad ashere.
~—Two churches and the Young Wo-
man's Christian Association building at
Williamsport, were visited by safe crack-
ers, burglars and thieves. At the Cove-
nant Central Presbyterian church a safe
was picked, but nothing was missing.
The sum of approximately $20 in éhange
was taken from a desk drawer in the Y.
W. C. A. The third robbery was at-
tempted some time during the night when
burglars forced their way into the St.
Paul's Lutheran church. A drawer In
one of the Sunday school desks was
“jimmied,”” but nothing was stolen.
_e=Mrs. Bessie Fyock, aged 41, of Banks
township, Indiana county, met with al-
most instant death in an odd manner at
her home last Saturday morning. A
charge from the barrel of an old shot
gun which had been placed in the kitch-
en stove struck her in the abdomen. The
gun had been discarded many years ago
and all that remained of it was the bar-
rel. It is believed a charge was left in
the sources of the navigator's ability the su a ne Sie 2 i Ydsevered
to give the pilot his course withun- nove
faltering accuracy. damp powder and caused it to explode.
“A fiier's flight,” they are calling —Many coal miners in the Panther
this. It thrills the technician. The | Creek yalies: Sayin SoumEY. are going
spectacular element appeals to the back to arms, a survey of that sec-
public; but the true triumph of Post tion shows. The Lehigh Coal and Nav-
and Gatty, their chief contribution to sation company, which operates mines
progress, is in the clean precision !n that section on a rotating basis in
with which they followed their difti- |
cult course.
They gave a hundred per cent. |
demonstration of reliability in avia- |
tion. -
|
A Serious Situation. i
From the Altoona Mirror, i
A serious, not to say critical, sit-
uation is developing in Germany,
with the run on the banks there and
the closing of the Nanat bank. i
There seems to be 3 loss of |
fidence u the part e people |
in their De al institutions. Per-
haps it is an hysteria of fear, such
as certain communities in the United |
States have recently enced. At |
all events, heavy wi wals have
continued and depositors have thus
threatened the financial stability of
So far it is a European problem.
When appeals were made to France
for assistance that country is re-
ported to have asked for certain po-
litical guarantees first. To give
them, it was feared, would result
in a cabinet crisis, with the Facists
and communistic groups profiting
thereby. But it may have a more
far-reaching effect than upon Europe
alone.
The United States has let it be
known that the Hoover m um
lan, which grants relief to the ex-
t of $400,000,000, is as far as this
nation can go at the t time.
The federal reserve aystem,
it is understood, is willing to lend a
hand to relieve conditions.
Meanwhile directors of the bank
of international settlements are
meeting at Basel, Switzerland, and
they may envolve a plan of assist-
ange that will help Germany in the
What the outcome will be cannot
be 3ssurately forecast at the mo-
men
——The new Tariff Commission is
proving its value. It has recom-
mended an increase of fifty per cent
on dried eggs. There is no dried
egg industry in this country to pro-
tect, but it's a good subject to prac-
tice on.
order to give some work to as many men
as possible, has only two collieries in
operation this month. As a result a great
number of men are without employment
and many of them are returning to farm
work. Wages on the farms are less sub-
stantial than in the mines but the men
are able to make a living for themselves
and their families. <
—T he Swarthmore Chautauqua, for
years a medium of culture and enter-
tainment, and which gave summer enter-
tainments in Bellefonte a number of
years ago, made it's final exit on Wednes-
day, the 8th, to the accompaniment of an
auctioneer’'s hammer, according to re-
| ports. A year ago the Swarthmore Chau-
tauqua Association went into bankruptcy.
Edward F. Hitchcock was named assignee
for the benefit of creditors, the associa-
tion having liabilities of $162,000 and as-
sets of about $2600. Hitchcock derided
upon the auction to clear up a Mttle of
the indebtedness.
—A bomb, believed by police to have
been placed by mistake under the front
porch of the home of Thomas J. Conley,
retired business man at McKees Rocks,
exploded at 8 a. m. last Thursday, show-
ered the neighborhood with debris, and
did damage estimated at $2,000. Chris
tina Sichak, 18, asleep in a second floor
room across the street, was injured in
the back when a flying chunk of wood
flew through the window and hit her.
A sister, sleeping with her was uninjured.
None in the Conley family was hurt al-
though all windows In the three-story
house were shattered and the porch de-
molished. No reason for the bombing
can be offered.
—Golfers must play the game at thelr
own risk, the State Superior court has
ruled in deciding that a person cannot
collect damages for injuries received at
play. The opinion handed down supports
that rendered in Pittsburgh by Judge
Swearingen in the case of Leon H., Ben-
teeth when struck by a ball driven by
Attorney Maurice A. Nernberg, in Schen-
ley Park in July, J820. When Judge
Swearingen reversed the jury, Benjamin
took an appeal to
“Many bad shots
right or left of the
play,” the opinion said,
all golfers must accept.