12
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded iSjt
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO..
Telegraph Building, Federal Square.
U. J. STACKPOLE. Pris t and Editor-in-Chief
F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager.
QVS M, STEINMETZ, Managing Editor.
* Member American
Newspaper Pub-
A t j;T Ushers' Aasocla-
BgggjSr-jUisjji tlon, The Audit
Bureau of Clrcu-
latlon and Penn
f £ll3 U eylvanla Assoclat-
Pfc v 3 odi '3l Eastern ofnce.
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l SeSlSe nue Building. New
fc iqi S3 BBS If York City; West
i ern Story,
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Entered at the Post Office In Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
By carriers, six cents a
week; by mall, 13.00
a year in advance.
MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 11
Business despatched is business well
done, but business hurried is business
ill done. — Bulweb-Lttto^.
FTBIiI© spikit
THE Telegraph's congratulations
to the Harrisburg Rotary Club,
the Chamber of Commerce, the
Jovian League and the Harrisburg
Light and Power Company for their
joint efforts in behalf of a Municipal
Christmas tree. It is but fair to say
that but for their joint enterprise the
city, which Inaugurated the Municipal
Christmas tree in Central Pennsyl
vania, would have been without a tree
this year, while many of the smaller
towns around about which take ex
ample of us would have had their
community celebrations.
Christmas Is above all else a season
of thought for others. Most of us feel
that way about It, but even In our giv
ing we'are apt to be selfish. We think
of our immediate friends and possibly
a few people we know who need as
sistance, and let it go at that. Too
few of us have the community Christ
mas spirit. But It Is a good thing that
some of us do have It. The community
oelebration of any sort makes for a
better city and a more contented
people. It gives to even the poorest
and humblest a share In the Joys of
the holidays. It would be a sad day
for Harrlsburg If it ceased to observe
such occasions.
The small boy with Santa Claus
thoughts in his mind will frown upon
that proposal to make stockings
shorter.
CimiSTMAS STAMPS
WHEN you set aside your Christ
mas appropriation, Mr. Harris
burger, when you make up your
gift list, Mrs. Harrisburger, and when
you figure out your selections for
relatives and Little Harrisburgers,
don't forget to include a certain
amount for Red Cross Christmas seals.
Within a few weeks another cam
paign of Yuletide goodwill and good
cheer will have been closed and from
all indications previous records for
sales will be smashed to smithereens.
As ever, the school children of the
city and neighboring communities are
coming to the fore as salesmen and
the possibilities are that the half
million mark—the number which Dr.
C. R. Phillips and the general Red
Cross committee expect to sell—will
easily be reached before the dawn of;
the Birthday.
For several years Harrisburg people
have responded generously to the call
for enlistments in the great nation
wide campaign; each year the sales
have been larger. As the years go
by the educational end of the crusade
Is being driven home more forcibly.
Harrlsburg people realize pretty gen
erally now that all but twelve and
a half per cent, of the proceeds go
toward the assistance of the local
sufferers of the dreadful "White
Plague"—to provide trolley tickets to
and from the open-air schools, cloth
ing where necessary, carfare to Mont
Alto or to Cresson, clothing for the
less fortunate folks who must travel
the long way. The balance goes to
the National Red Cross organization.
And as Harrlsburg learns so Har
risburg responds. That's why, in the
opinion of the general committee, half
a million Red Cross Christmas seals
■will be sold in this city and surround
ing towns before the advent of 1917.
It is Just possible that Hiram John
son may not go so far as to vote all the
time with the Senate Democrats.
IS RESERVE BOARD BOSS?
THE activities of the Federal Re
serve Board are causing some
comment these days, especially
among those who recall that the chief
complaint and criticism of the cur
rency plan worked out by the Aldrich
commission was that It provided for
too much centralization of financial
authority and power.
The law as finally passed was shorn
of some of this, but it is evident that
the reserve board holds that it pos
sesses sufficient powers of admonition,
at least, to admit of its talking a large
share in directing the general opera
tions of the banks which compose the
federal reserve system.
The British government planned to
make Use of its treasury bills in this
country to finance some of its military
purchases and American bankers con
templated accepting these obligations,
backed as they are by large gold re
serves held for the purpose In Cana
da, In the same manner as if they were
MONDAY EVENING.
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I / EVERY MAN HAS a I \ 00 GHTA "Be A PAL- '
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A T2M '- "a"
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\ J rw To cro.M us V friend op m.ne .n toujo-
s— r ( '"N. { I i/JAMTS 7b TALK BOSO4ESI
'' 1 VAMTH ' • DONT V^ANTA
regulation bills of exchange drawn to
cover ordinary commercial transac
tions.
The reserve board frowned upon
this plan and issued a circular warning
member banks from tying up their li
quid funds in such securities. The
board held that the funds of the mem
ber banks should be kept In fluid state
for the benefit of American enterprise
and that they should not be absorbed
in foreign treasury bills.
The obvious retort of the member
banks who contemplated such action
was that the operations of the Federal
Reserve Bank system in the large fin
ancial centers have not yet been of
such character as to demonstrate their
tremendous value to enterprising
Americans, and that tlio system—out
side of the South—has caused very few
borrowers to procure accommodation
at any other place or at any lower
rate of Interest than they did before
the law went into effect. In addition,
many banks, especially in the smallei
communities, have seen no inconsider
able percentage of their assets tied up
in their investment in the stock of the
regional reserve banks, from which
they have received practically no
benefit. They probably thought. In
addition, that the opinions of the re
serve board have no binding author
ity.
On the face of It, trading In the
treasury bills of the British govern
ment looked to be safe and remuner
ative. But the British government
promptly ended the discussion and the
agitation by withdrawing the bills
from the market; though the,pro
priety of the reserve board's action
and the manner in which its warning
was issued still remain the subject of
comment.
When peace is Anally negotiated
Belgium will have to rely again on an
other "scrap of paper."
GOLD INCREASES
SPEAKING in round numbers, the
money In actual circulation in the
United States a year ago was a
little less than S3B per capita and now
is about $42 per capita, an increase
of about $4 per capita, or a little more
than 10 per cent. Of gold coin alone
there was an Increase from about $5
per capita to SC.SO per capita, or 30
per cent.
This great Increase in gold in circu
lation has been due to shipments of
gold to this country by the nations at
war- to pay for supplies. Increased
gold means vastly greater increases In
credit and a business situation which
many people call inflation. It is a
condition brought on by the war and It
will last as long as the war continues.
Broadway, as the police of New York
Bay, may be free from pickpockets, but
have the police looked inside some of
the places of business as well as on the
sidewalks?
Another inventor announces the dis
covery of an "absolutely punctureless
tire," but what we would like to have
somebody Invent Is a gasolineless auto
mobile.
William Jennings Bryan says the
Democratic party will "make war on
liquor;" and he might have added that
many, many Democrats already are en
gaged in putting down liquor.
"Danes Face Food Shortage." News
paper headline. But at that Denmark
has nothing very much on us Ameri
cans.
Do you remember the time when
there was no greater Joy In the whole
world than one of those large, yellow
clear toys?
Lloyd George promises that the new
English war cabinet shall be "little, but
oh, my!"
Now that we have found Oliver Os
borne there may still be some hope of
discovering Charley Ross.
The forecasters predict a white
Christmas, but what we are far more
Interested in Is a green pocketbook.
The munition factories are becoming
almost as deadly as the munitions they
make.
T>cotcC4 OV
j
By the Kx-Committee man
Return of Governor Brumbaugh to
the State Capitol to-day is expected by
administration people to be followed
by a series of conferences on the
speakership contest and the State
Executive will be urged to a more
vigorous effort In behalf of Represen
tative Edwin R. Cox. It Is understood
that several of the administration
leaders will counsel radical action
even bo far as to demand changes in
personnel of departments if attaches
can not Induce their home members
to swing in for the South Philadel
phian.
Governor Brumbaugh was assured
a few days before Thanksgiving Day
that Representative Richard J. Bald
win could not be nominated for speaker
of the House. It was also intimated
that all that was needed to solidify
the elements opposed to Baldwin was
a declaration by the Governor in favor
of Cox, who had been agreed upon a
few evenings before. The statement
was issued and the Governor left for
North Carolina, believing everything
was as lovely as represented to him.
It was found that reports of some of
the "pickets" were unreliable and on
top of discovery that men claimed
were the other way came the an
nouncement of his candidacy by Rep
resentative George W. Williams, of
Tioga, the local option leader, and the
man who carried the Governor's ban
ner in the local option fight of 1915.
It is also intimated that Mr. Cox did
not find things as lovely as had been
represented to him either.
In the next few days State adminis
tration leaders will tell the Governor,
what they think about it and Private
Secretary Ball, who has been most ac
tive in behalf of Cox, will inform him
of what he has found out. The Gov
ernor will then be asked to determine
whether he wants to make a relentless
tight with all its possible consequences
in the session or whether he will so
campaign in behalf of Cox as not to
arouse any new antagonisms.
—The Baldwin people have an
nounced that the two Lebanon coun
ty members have signed a statement
declaring for the man from Chadds
Ford for speaker, and intimate that
there will be more. According to the
Philadelphia Inquirer there are twen
ty legislators in the anthracite field
for Baldwin. They include five in
Luzerne county, five in Lackawanna,
three from Northumberland, four in
Schuylkill, one in Wayne and one in
Carbon with the upper end member
from Dauphin.
—Friends of Edwin R. Cox declare
that he made a dent in the Baldwin
strength in Western Pennsylvania by
his visits to Allegheny county and that
he will turn up with members from
the big steel county who have been
counted for the Delaware man. On
the other hand the Baldwin people say
that Cox's visit to Allegheny county
was the worst thing he could do as
It brought out the men who are be
hind him and their combined efforts
did not gain him anything.
—Democrats in this State are get
ting somewhat apprehensive about
William Jennings Bryan. There is a
plan made to capture the Pennsyl
vania governorship in 1918 when the
national administration will throw all
of Its influence into the fight for its
slate. With the peculiar attitude of
the President toward prohibition and
local option in the campaign just end
ed there are fears that Bryan may set
out to make fences for himself by
backing some slate of his own in
Pennsylvania. Bryan Is popular with
the rank and file of the Democrats in
the State and if he starts to buck Wil
son and Wilson's choice there will be
merry doings.
—The Democratic State windmill is
being kept open and ready for
emergencies. It Is the plan to have
the Democratic members of the House
caucus in the headquarters and noth
ing will be said about local option if
it hurts any member's feelings. The
attitude of recent candidates on the
subject will not be referred to out of
consideration to them and deference
to the President.
A Great Hotel Man
[Prom the New York Sun.]
George C. Qoldt was the greatest
hotel man of his time because he un
derstood the Innocent weakness of
mankind, because no fault was too
"mail for his attention and because he
worked hard. It has been said of him
that he would have made a great
Mayor or Governor. It is better to
record his actual accomplishment, the
rescue of an important but neglected
bus!nas from the slough of ineffici
ency.
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
I EDITORIAL COMMENT!
In future elections, why not let Cali
fornia decide all by herself, to save
wear and tear on the other States?
Philadelphia North American.
Broadway objects to the "saving-day
light" plan on the ground that we have
too much daylight already.—New York
Morning Telegraph.
Champ Clark's idea that a country
can keep out of war by attending to
its own business would cause a Bel
?:ian to smile sadly and mockingly. So
ar as nations are concerned it does
not take two to make a quarrel—only
one.—New York Sun.
Morals and Magazines
[The Fourth Estate.]
Certain magazines were roundly de
nounced for the character of the mat
ter they publish in last week's meet
ing of the Illinois Federation of Wo
man's Clubs. The speaker's subject
was "The Problem of Reading for the
Adolescent Girl." Two magazines were
singled out for special condemnation
and one of them was dubbed "the un
speakable."
It is not strange people are begin
ning to protest against this type, says
the Chicago Herald commenting on the
Incident, as there has been a striking
deterioration in the character of maga
zines during the last few years. The
honorable exceptions emphasize wbat
might be regarded as the general rule.
They likewise furnish a standard of
taste by which the fall of the maga
zines denounced may be measured
• • •
Once the monthly magazine was
the familiar friend of the family—
even deemed worthy of preservation In
binding. No father or mother hesi
' tated to leave it on the table for the
young girl to read.
It was read carefully from cover
to cover because it was felt that the
conto"!* were all worth while.
To-day It is often bought for a sin
gle story or a single name and lightly
thrown aside.
The newspaper is read more care
fully than most of them.
Tho magazine has fallen and one
somehow thinks of the Mann act in
connection with the kind denounced at
the Woman's Federation.
Thrift to Rule
Our grandfathers discovered a
country of "inexhaustible" wealth.
The prairies upon which their cattle
could graze were "limitless." Tho
stretches of land upon which grain
might be raised were "endless." The
forests, the coal lands, the great
reservoirs of oil and gas were without
hounds. So we grew wealthy—and
wasteful. The plea for conservation
has been heard for several years.
Perhaps it is not too late to be effec
tive.
This "inexhaustible" wealth of nat
ural resources has had its influence
upon our national character. Our
governments have been wasteful. Our
workmen have paid little attention
to preventable sickness, to the the
economies practiced in foreign coun
tries. We haven't been shiftless, but
we have been thriftless.
Tho Italian who has come to this
country and become wealthy, the Jew
who left Russia in poverty and ac
quired a banking business, the Jap
anese, who became rich on a little
garden patch in California, serve as
lessons of what we might have done
if we had the saving instinct.
There will be more thrift In Europe
when the war is over. Every interest
•will be subservient to thrift. Govern
ments will take a hand in it, teaching
the public ways and means of living
without waste. In a greater field they
will conserve their natural wealth,
watching over water power and coal
lands and agricultural projects lest
there be waste. Intensive methods of
manufacture and of selling manufac
tured products will be put into opera
tion. Scientists will be called in to
advise government and people how to
make every resource and every penny
count.
If Americans, while this is going on,
do not reverse the present method of
living for the day only, of spending
lavishly merely because they have the
wherewithal, the wealth which has
been piled up in this country will
slowly but surely gravitate to the
other continent. This is not a plea
for hoarding. It is a plea for invest
ment and conservation of all re
sources—human and natural. —From
the Syracuse (N. Y.) Post-Standard.
Santa Shops Early
Santa Claus, old jolly fellow.
In the autumn rich and mellow,
Strikes out early for his toys;
Christmas gifts for girls and boys,
He don't wait till bleak December,
But gets busy In November,
For lie has a sense of pity
For the clerks in town and city
Who detest the Christmas season
'Cause some people won't use reason;
So he smiles and counts his money
And while days are bright and sunny
Santa stores each toy and treasure
And the shop girls beam with pleas
ure.
Not a whit fatigued or surly;
Do your Christmas shopping early.
MARTHA J. OPIE.
Wllliamstown, Pa,
HOW GUARDSMEN TALK ON ,
BORDER; MANY STRANG TERMS |
L J
BRING on the chow; only don't
give me any slum," one guards
man told his mother on the night
I of his return from the Mexican bor
der. His mother naturally demanded
a translation, says William M. Tugman,
in the Providence Journal.
"Why, chow is the army term for
anything good to eat." the guardsman
explained. "Slum means soup. I
niig-ht say, 'Bring on the eats, only
don't give me any soup.' That would
be perfectly plain."
Many of the guardsmen have come
home from the border with an en
riched and picturesque vocabulary.
Part of it is regular army slang; part
of it is mongrel Spanish; it has some-
I times shocked and sometimes amused
I the home folks.
i Most of the army slang relates to
chow. That Is almost the most im
portant subject of conversation in the
army, anyway. But the faltering
Spanish phrases are an embellishment.
"Please pass me the blood," a re
turned guardsman is apt to say, point
ing to the catsup.
I "Gracias," he will say when his wish
has been fullllled. Hardly any one
on the border says "Thank you." It,
is "gracias," and "gracias" It will be
with the guardsman for a long time to
come.
Nearly every one, even those not
connected with the army, knows that
"corned Willie" is canned corned beef.
The returned guardsmen hope they
may never see it again.
I Some people are going to be sur
| prised, however, when they hear
guardsmen referring to "ole Bill."
"Ole Bill" is not a departed comrade,
merely "corned Willie" under another
alias.
Returned guardsmen say they have
sworn off drinking "blackleg." "Black
leg" is strong drink, not alcoholic,
however, simply the powerful black
coffee served In the army to wash
down the "Willie."
Beans are apt to be called "bullets"
or 'berries" in the army, according
to their condition. Hot cereals may
be called "bran" or oats." Potatoes,
of course, are "spuds" or "Murphies."
All other vegetables are "greens."
There is a Tittle song which the men
sing to the notes of the mess call,
a complaint more often made in fun
than in earnest. It goes;
Soupy, soupy, soupy,
Without e'er a bean;
Porky, porky, porky.
Without any lean.
Coffee, coffee, coffee.
The worst you ever seen.
The ungrammatical conclusion of the
verse is conscientious. Grammar Isn't
popular in the ranks of the army, and
some of the Rhode Island men will
have to practice to regain their old
time correctness of speech.
Army men have borrowed from the
circus in calling their mess halls the
..£.5 t .? p ' Mess kits are called
China, ana that is a real touch of
1 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR"
STILL. A BOOZE STATE
To the Editor of the Telegraph:
It seema strange that Pennsylvania,
the great Keystone State of the Union,
which was foremost in the struggle for
American Independence and foremost
in the effort to emancipate the slave,
should be one of the three "booze"
States of the land, sharing with New
Jersey and Nevada the infamy of being
still given over to liquor rule. May the
day be hastened when our otherwise
noble Commonwealth will take its place
with tlie devoted sisterhood of States
which are working for a liner type of
manhood, a safer world of business, and
a purer, happier home! Christian men
and patriotic men should unite with
commercial interests to do away with a
business that besmirches our lawmak
ers, nils our Jails and almshouses,
breaks the hearts of wives and motn
ers, debauches our youth, sends inno
cent children to want and dishonor, and
leaves behind it everywhere the serp
ent's trail.
At the recent election, the liquor
traffic received overwhelming condem
nation. Twenty-four of our States are
now In the "dry" column; thirteen have
local option, with less than half their
territory without saloons; and eight
have local option, with more than half
their territory without saloons. Sixty
per cent, of the*people of our country,
and 85 per cent, of the area, are now
within "dry" territory.
The Rev. Dr. C. F. Swift, State Super
intendent of the Pennsylvania Anti-
Saloon League, recently said: "Never
in the history of this great movement
have the temperance people had greater
reason for rejoicing than now. Or equal
ly (Treat importance, and possibly more
so, is the decided expression of a large
number of the other Prohibition States
reafllrming their action in refusing to
vote to enact any other form proposed
by the liquor people to change to any
method of restriction of the liquor traf
fic other than Prohibition. Pennsylva
nia is ready for and will fall Into line
under the new watchword and slogan,
'On to Washington for National Con
stitutional Prohibition.'"
It is a Joy to know that not only
booze dealers, but politicians also are
now being put on the defensive. In the
recent election, neither of the dominant
parties would adopt a prohibition plank
Four years hence, however, a far dif
ferent condition will prevail, and the
party tbat does not realize the vast im
portance of reckoning with prohibition
Eentlment will by that very act sur
render all hopes of having Its Presi
dential candidate elected.
AUjAN SUTHERLAND. I
DECEMBER 11,1916.
humor. The mess sergeant Is some
timed called "the mesp," and that,
perhaps, Is an unfair and deceptive
abbreviation.
Finally, of all the slang pertaining
to chow, there is the "galloping gou
lash," otherwise known as "cooks
mounted," or the "kitchen chariot."
The worst thing about the "galloping
goulash" is that its chief production
is "slops," thin soup not considered
worthy to be called "slum."
Some of the strangest language in
the army is heard 011 the picket line.
Horses are frequently called "goats"
or "sheep." Occasionally there is a
"camel," a "giraffe" or a "juggernaut."
Tile term "outlaw" for a wild horse
is not unusual, although the name
"corrahu," common in Battery A, is.
Automobile and horse terms have
become crossed in some mysterious
manner. The owner driver speaks of
putting a "shoe" on his machine. In
the army the horseshoer puts "tires"
on the mules. Long before the Rhode
Island militiamen went to the border,
a captain was "the old man" or "the
skipper." They have picked up other
names for officers on the border.
, A lieutenant Just out of West Point
is a "shave-tail," because he has Just
changed his long cadet coat for the
service uniform. A general is a "big
chief. ' A colonel Is an "eagle," be
cause of his insignia. Other officers
Ket any nicknames that come handy.
Kven the non-coms have special
names. The first seargeant Is always
the "top." Any sergeant is a "sarge
and any corporal a "corp." Signal men
are known as "boobs with flags."
Infantrymen are always "dough
boys," and this term has never been
sufficiently explained. One theory is
that the Infantrymen wrap their feet
in fresh dough when they are swelled
from long marching.
A man who has served on the bor
der will probably not say cavalry soon
again. In the ranks of the army cav
alry is always "calvary." It Is bad
form to call It anything else in en
listed men a circles.
One term which the Rhode Island
guardsmen picked up on the border is
the Spanish "abarrotes" for groceiies.
Un the trip home, wherever a stop was
n L ade ; , a general store was always hail
ed with a shout "Abarrotes."
"Ciudad," the Spanish for city, is
another word adopted by many of the
men. Likewise there is "toros" for
bull and sometimes for beef. "Adios"
is the word used by most of the
guardsmen in saying good-by to any
one. *
As long as the border service is re
membered mud of any kind will be
dobe to the militiamen. Adobe mud
is really peculiar to the border coun
try and Mexico, but, nevertheless, all
mud is dobe.
l , he L s tr an Kest habit of
speech formed by the Rhode Island
guardsmen on the border was calling
home_. That, however, is a
habit already forgotten.
I OUR DAILY LAUGH
f PUZZLED.
Giraffe: Now
what was It I
was to remem
ber when 1 tied
this knot In my
Statistics show
that married **JuEuj,m
men live longer ' will 'j
than single ones. ffiw!)
lerves th*m mT
AN OBSOLETE
JI Tlmea Hay*
changed,
j IH, Yes, I don't
/ J believe you'll
\ M ever hear linjr
°' t ' le young
stfrs growing up
Juir Y% wishing for th
kind of pie their
mother's used
to mak*.
*
" "Tls, Indeed, a sanitary age."
"How now ?"
"I notice that the electrician who
Installed our phone never touched the
wires with his bare hands. He wore
rubber gloves."—Kansas City Journal.
iEbpntng (Eljat
Pennsylvania Is Just now expert*
encing one of those periodical cam.
paigns in behalf of individuals sen
tenced to pay the extreme penalty of
the law as recognized from the days
of the Tower of Babel and the office
of the State Board of Pardons is re
ceiving pleas for mercy for lads of
seventeen and eighteen convicted of
parricide. The strenuous nature of
the efforts calls to mind the fact that
every year for the last fifteen there
has been some big caso in which the
clemency placed within the control of
the State Hoard of Pardons by the
Constitution has been sought by news
papers, committees, individuals and,
even communities. The natural senti.i
ment of people against capital punish
ment and especially against sending to
death women or boys has been In
voked, adroitly at times, but always
with vigor. The case of Kate Edwards,
of Berks county, sentenced to death
and refused commutation and pardon
time and again, set a precedent in
I ennsylvania against capital punish
ment for women. Governors refused
to sign her death warrant and the pub
lic did not object. Ultimately she was
pardoned and passed into oblivion. So
othe / women who stood In the
snadow of the extreme penalty. The
present Board of Pardons has taken a
j' a ' ,d against campaigns such as have
been launched In the last month for
lad= mU ation of y° un men - mere
nnn t Z.- lO f e c ? ses have already been
FW ' decided against them.
h™L Stances in the history of the
DO?tunftv m ? are , with the "me and op
fon .n l {\'. Ven ln tho March-Pen ning
f " sntJ5 nt J Blgeso cases, in which the
ard declined to interfere Youth
retardation tr ? n^f r mlnfls ' ,nt oxlcatlon;
ties nsanuv k °, f CUrly opportuni-
m Pulse °f the moment.
been rnorto Ki a . other Plw have
Deen made by eminent counsel and vet
whereTt w deC " l ned to lnterf re except
where it was shown that matters had
th nt's S wl C | e i, the trial or where those
withw! . v V hich can not be considered
within the rules of evidence or some
?vn a ? ?u. ry colu,i,lon was found. It
wof J- is P ,lr P<>se that the board
nas constituted, as is to be found in
the memoirs of those who sat in the
constitutional convention. Time and
again people of counties have been
worked up by sentimental waves and
•! n iS olne cases they have come here
Vith matter which gave a new phase,
but too often with only those things
which were threshed out at trials and
which when winnowed by the board
were found to be based upon the hope
of mercy.
• ♦ •
Successive State officials who have
sat upon the State Board of Pardons
have told me that it is the hardest
form of service for the Commonwealth
and I know one man who used to
dread the coming of the third Wednes
day of each month, the date of the
sitting of the board. Another told me
that it was only a sense of duty that
kept him from getting sick sometimes
when the board was scheduled to meet.
The late Robert S. Murphy, Lieuten
ant-Governor under Edwin S. Stuart,
who, like, John C. Bell, Attorney Gen
eral under John K. Tener, had "been a
district attorney, once said that it re
quired all his brains and training to
keep the legal aspects of a case in
their proper place and all his sand to
avoid giving way to pleas for mercy in
many cases. Most of the men who
have sat upon the board in the last
decade have been personally opposed
to capital punishment and the idea of
it is positively repugnant to two mem
bers of the present board by their own
statements.
* • *
One of the odd things about cam
paigns for extension of clemency to
persons convicted of murder is that
they seldom lead to moves to abolish
capital punishment. Of all the recent
cases in which unusual efforts wera
made to secure recommendations ol
mercy I recall only one which led to
anything like an attempt to get the
Legislature to change the law. Cases
which have stirred up the whole state
brought expressions of regret or grati
fication. according to the way the case
went, and ended there. Bills foi
abolition of capital punishment have
turned up in the Legislature and nevei
gotten out of committee. It took years
of energetic propaganda to get th<
electrocution law passed. One session
a bill giving juries the right to saj
whether a person should die or suffei
life imprisonment for murder attracted
little or no comment and was vetoed
Since the last General Assembly mel
there have been some big cases sub
mitted to the board. It will be in
teresting to see what turns up ln the
Legislature and how any propositions
are backed.
In another instance some printed
matter regarding blankets came to u
friend and he brought it around tc
show. In this envelope were the cata
log of the blanket manufacturing firm,
a circular about a gas engine mada in
the same town and a slip sheet with n
boost for some kind of breakfast food,
The card of a lumber association was
enclosed. Harrinburg may be the heart
of distribution, but it has something to
learn about co-operative mailing.
• * *
Glfford Pinchot, who speaks to-nighl
before the members of the Engineer!
Society on the conservation measures
now before Congress, plans to paj
some visits to liarrisburg during tlx
coming legislative session. Mr. Pinchol
has been carefully following up th
legislation proposed in this state rela
tive to water power and forest con
servation and has been visiting sonu
of the districts.
| WELL KNOWN PEOPLE ]
—Congressman G. W. Edmonds, ol
Philadelphia, who is active in fooc
embargo legislation, got first-hand in.
formation for his bill in Philadelphlt
and by inquiries throughout the state.
—Major-General C. M. Clement
commander of the Pennsylvania troops
on the border, has been In the Na
tional Guard since It started under th<
reorganization.
—James M. Beck, president of th<
Pennsylvania Society at New York
used to be active In the PhlladelphU
courts.
Highway Commissioner Frank B
Black spends his spare time on hli
model farm In Somerset county.
| DO YOU KNOW ~")
That liarrisburg is sending ma
chinery to Japan?
HISTORIC HAimiSIWRG
Harrlsburg's first manufacturing ven
ture was wrought fron nails It begai
about. 1786.
Shutting Door to Drinker
[Kansas City Star.]
The opportunities for the man whi
drinks are narrowing ull the time. Th
railroads won't have lilni. The shop
the factory, the stor do not want him
and now the drinking policeman am
fireman must go. The mayor and clt]
council of Joplin, Mo., decreed thl
week that city firemen and policemei
who take even one drink, on or of
duty, shall be discharged. The head
of the Chicago police department hav
just announced that the man who doe
not drink will be given the preferenc
over the man who does. James Couz
ens, millionaire Detroft police commit
sioner announces: "Applicants for Job
must not drink."
Booze Is on its last legs.