8 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH A NEWSPAPER FOR TIIE HOME Founded iSji Published evenings except Sunday by THIS TKLBGK.IPH I'HIXTIM; CO., Telegraph IlulldlnK. Federal Square. L. J. STACKPOL.K, Fres't and Editor-in-Cliief F. Ti. OYSTER, Business Manager. GUS M. STEINMETZ, Mana S ing Editor. 4 Member American Newspaper Tub lation and Penn sylvania Assoclat _^aiUe!__ Eastern office, Story, Brooks & Flnley, Fifth Ave nue Building, New- York City; West ern office. Story, People's Gas Build ~~~~ ing, Chicago, 111. Entered at the Post Office in llarris burg. Pa., as .second class matter. By carriers, ten cents a week: by mail, $3.00 a year in advance. MONDAY EVENING, .TAX. 22 J like not twice to grieve my soul, First in bearing pain itself and then relating. —Sophocles. UNSALARIED PUBLIC SERVICE MANY good citizens in every com munity fail to give proper sup port to those who are engaged in the people's business because they are not in touch with what is trans piring from day to day. In other words, they fail to realize that the government of a city like Harrisburg is similar to that of a large cor poration and that the people them selves are the stockholders. If they understood more intimately the vari ous transactions which affect the indi vidual citizen as well as the community at large there would be less indiffer ence to the selection of officials and the admirable work of voluntary com missions and boards. For instance, we doubt whether the large majority of people here have any proper conception of the important work that has been done and is being done by the City Planning Commis sion. This body is devoting its energies, its thought and its time without com pensation to outlining plans for the future Harrisburg which will save to taxpayers thousands of dollars and provide a much more attractive and wholesome city. This commission has made a study of the general topogra phy of Harrisburg and the contiguous territory with a view to directing the building development, the plotting of streets and the building of the future. Harrisburg has been wonderfully blessed In a high class of unpaid public service. Many men and women have given of their time and effort freely and cheerfully for the benefit of the whole community. There have been discouragements, of course, but when the people get awake they must realize how important has been this disin terested and public spirited service. But they must realize the necessity of choosing for their officials men who have a vision of the future and a de sire to co-operate in the development of a city that will continue to deserve the appreciation and plaudits of all visitors. Upon another page this evening is printed a photographic reproduction of I the new Penn-Harris million-dollar, j fire-proof hotel as it will appear when finished a year hence. As was sug- 1 gested by a prominent clergyman in ! one of the city's pulpits yesterday, ! every step in the progress of this im- ! portant community enterprise is j watched with interest. Judging from present prices of shoes., I parents are apt to be more than un- ! usually inclined to let their boys go barefoot next summer. THE ASH PROBLEM THE ash collection problem has reached a stage where council must do something to relieve conditions or admit its inability to cope with a situation that is fast be- \ coming intolerable. it will not do for the members of! Council to place all the responsibility j on the Health Department and let it go at that. Making the goat of a department, the head of which is dead, j will not bo a popular move. The j Health Officer already has his hands full. The force at his disposal for the routine work of the office is no bigger than it was when the city had a population scarcely half as large as now. Either the health officer should he provided with more men and suffi cient money to collect the ashes, charging the bill up to the contractor, or his bondsmen, or he should be relieved of the work shouldered upon him. One hundred men are needed for the work, it is said, but cannot be procured for the wages offered. Then let the wages be made sufficiently large to attract the men, for the situation has reached a stage where the ashes simply must be collected. The thing to do is to employ a man to take charge of the work and give him money sufficient to hire large auto trucks and the men to clean up the city In a Bhort time. The fear of a lawsuit with bonds men need not trouble councllmen. The contractor has not lived up to his agreement and If the bondsmen will not compel him to do no then cer tainly the city Is Justified in taking th* situation into its own hands. It is not to be supposed that coun cil will permit a condition like this to arise after the expiration of the pres ent unsatisfactory contract, but the people cannot watt until next year for relief, They want It now, and It |h for council to provide U or explain why not. The public In entirely out MONDAY EVENING, of patience, and very justly so. They are paying out their money and get ting nothing in return. WHAT OF THE SESSION? I IF the Legislature which reconvenes to-night after a recess of three weeks—this period having been utilized in conferences of political leaders with those who wilt conduct the business of Senate and House — will honestly endeavor to legislate for and in the interest of the people, then the waste of weeks of time may be overlooked. Indeed, there is so little that need be done in the way of new legislation that remedial measures only merit serious consideration. As the Telegraph pointed out a few days ago, most of the time of the Legislature is consumed in the discus sion of matters affecting the munici palities of the State when, with some constitutional limitations removed and a larger measure of home rule pro vided, these same municipalities could paddle their own canoes and in a much more satisfactory way work out their own salvation. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Scranton and Harrisburg and scores of other cities are forced by con stitutional and statutory restrictions to go before the Legislature every two years for relief which would not be necessary under proper home rule provisions. What is satisfactory for one city is wholly unsatisfactory fot- another, but with "thou shalt nots" confronting the various municipalities at every turn their development is checked and in tolerable conditions arise which de mand legislation to correct. Harrisburg is at this moment faced with a problem which illustrates the point. The death of one of the five city commissioners now compels the holding of a special election to fill the vacancy and there is thus imposed upon the taxpayers a needless and bur densome expenditure of approximately six thousand dollars. All because the framers of an act designed to govern all the cities of Pennsylvania save three, instead of permitting them to manage their own affairs under proper general restrictions, neglected to pro vide some simple and inexpensive method of filling such r. vacancy. Then comes Senator Penrose and others with a program of legislation for Philadelphia, including a civil service provision for the police force and the creation of a single council for the metropolis. All very good, and here's hoping the civil service business will apply to all police departments; but why should the Legislature be called upon every two years to wrestle with these municipal problems? This imperial Commonwealth is spending millions of dollars in legis lating under general provisions for j specific municipal ills when the cities are perfectly able to do their own j legislating if allowed to do so. Cities and boroughs and other in corporated municipalities ought to have more freedom of action. They must have the chance to expand, and the Legislature should find time be tween probings and investigations and other political diversions to do a good turn for the folks back home. FAIR PLAY FOR HOME INDUSTRY THERE is food for thought for every American in the follow ing statement of the Bethlehem Steel Company relative to the recent contract let by Secretary Daniels to a British firm for shells for the United States Navy: To the American people: The Secretary of the Navy has awarded contracts amounting to over $:s.000,u00 to a British bidder for fourteen and sixteen-inch pro jectiles for the navy, for the rea son that the British firm offered prices very much below those of American manufacturers, including ourselves. We know nothing of the basis upon which the British bids were made, but the public is entitled to know the facts upon which we our selves bid for this work. Our Mil* for (lie sivtecn- Ineh sliells < shells which have never lieeii used by thin country I, were Itnaed upon our experience in making fourteen-lnch projectiles. Two years ago we took contractu to make 1,-UO (our teen-Inch shells at a price of 91 *315,000 I with heavy pen alties lor delayed delivery). Despite the fact that all our experience and facilities have been strained to fulfill these contracts, up to now not a single shell has been accepted by the Government, althouKh We have expended In wages, materials, etc., on these or ders 14-17,881 Expended in making tests on shells.... 75,000 Making our total ac tual expedlture. . . $322,881 And we have not received a SIMiI.K DO 1.1. A It on these contract*. In addition, literal enforcement of the contract might in volve payment of penalties for de layed delivery al ready amounting to $67 8,016. Navy Department tests are now so severe that neither we nor, so far as we know, nny other manu facturers have yet been able to produce In quantity fourteen-lnch shi-'llß which will meet them. In tho light of our experience, and havlnff no other basis, we hid for sixteen-lnch shells approxi mately tho same rate per pound as that upon which the Navy Depart ment actually awarded a fourteen lnch shell contract one year ago. The Bethlehem Steel Company Is the corporation which has offered to turn Its entire plant over to the gov ernment in rase of war, The Bethlehem Steel Company is the corporation which has offered to make armor plate for the government at whatever figure the government's experts decide is a fair price. The Bethlehem Steel Company is the corporation which has offered to build cruisers for the government at the price for which they can be built in the government's own navy yards, and to deliver them sooner than the navy yards can. The Bethlehem Steel Company is the corporation which in case of war the government would have to depend upon for a very large part of its sup ply of munitions. And yet the Bethlehem Steel Com pany is brusquely turned away with out explanation in order that Secretary Daniels may favor a British company whose specifications and other agree ments with the governmcht are kept secret by Mr. Daniels. This is neither fair to American businessmen nor to American work men, but it is much more unfair to the American people. In case of war we could not depend upon England for our 16-inch shells, and unless we encourage their construction by Am erican manufacturers the outbreak of hostilities would find us with a lot of big guns and no ammunition with which to supply them. Germany, it may be pointed out by way of example, encouraged the building up of the Krupp works, which correspond to those of Bethle hem in this country, and had it not been for Krupps Germany long ago would have been crushed for lack of munitions. The German government would encourage the Schwab interests were they located in that country, in stead of doing everything in its power to discourage them. The American people, also, are en titled to know what kind of shells they are buying. Are they second raters, turned down by the British gov ernment as not coming up to grade, or have they been in storage so long that their usefulness is doubtful? Is this the first effort of England to unload her cheap labor products on the United States? Are our workmen to be turned down after the war is over in favor of English workmen, simply because the English will work for less than our workmen will? Are we to buy all our government's supplies abroad because Europe will be will ing to sell at starvation prices, while their cheap workmen get the work that our highly paid employes should have ? These are questions that interest the people mightily and it will be sur prising if labor does not unite with capital to demand an explanation of the lordly Mr. Daniels and his col leagues. Mr. Daniels' assertion that, the Beth lehem company cannot make shells up to government tests does not hold water since Bethlehem has been pro viding the Allies with countless shells the quality of which never has been questioned. City Clerk Charles A. Miller's name has been suggested as one worthy of consideration in filling the vacancy in City Council. Without knowing how Mr. Miller feels about it, this news paper has no hesitation in saying that such a choice would be eminently proper to make in view of the intimate knowledge of municipal administration possessed by the popular City Clerk. * I th. By the Ex-Commltteem— 1 The policy the State administration will adopt In regard to the proposed Investigation of the departments of the State government is the big theme of interest in Pennsylvania politics to day. It is dwarfing even committee places and legislation is forgotten tor the time. The Penrose people insist that the resolution for tlie probe is going to be presented and that its passage will be demanded. The State administration people have not yet announced what they will do, but that there will be resistance of some sort Is indicated by Attorney General Brown's remark that he thought some "fair Democrat" like E. Lowry Humes. United States dis trict attorney for Western Pennsyl vania and chairman of the Democratic legislative advisory committee, should be chosen as counsel. This suggestion, says the Philadelphia Inquirer, has added to the "tenseness of the sit uation." Senator Penrose lias announced a series of bills relative to Philadelphia that look a.s though Mayor Smith would have to abandon his position of the last year or take the consequences. The Democrats are regarded as sim ply trying to make all the capital pos sible out of the ruction, notwithstand ing high sounding statements by Pal mer and his pals and reverberating editorials in the national chairman's newspaper. —The Philadelphia Ledger says that the State administration demanded various things of Banking Commis sioner Smith, which made it impos sible for him to remain "any longer in the office. It is also charged that he was not backed up as he desired by the Attorney General's department. It is also said that efforts to get the Health Department into politics were made. On this the I-edger says: "Dr. Dixon, the Health Commissioner, is not in politics, and he does not pro pose to be. Despite this fact, Private Secretary Ball has made demands on the commissioner at odd times for the dismissal of some of his employes on the ground that they are 'not loyal to the Governor.' There are more than 300 appointments in the Health Department, and the politicians are more than anxious to oust at least half of these persons and put in their places their own followers. This mat ter will no doubt engage the attention of the investigation commission, be cause many of the persons in the Health Department must be skilled in their line of work." Considerable discussion has been aroused in "Western Pennsylvania by the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times state ment that the Democrats are consider ing Ambassador Guthrie and Col. Klchard Coulter, Jr., commander of 'be Tenth Infantry, as gubernatorial timber. —Representative John W. Vicker nuin will speak at the welcome ot the North boroußlis of Allegheny to the returning: guardsmen. —The fact that Senator Vare and Senators MoNlchol and Snyder had a loilx conference on Saturday at Phil adelphia has started a lot of (,'osslp about the South Philadelphia senator having been mollfled, Mayor Thomas B, Smith, of Phil adelphia, insists that he is not tak- RAKRISBURG TELEGRAPH Whena Feller Needs a Friend . By briggs ing a hand in the present muss and that all he Is Interested in is the en actment of Philadelphia legislation and nothing else. The mayor says that both factions are favorable to his legislation. He is urging a special loan to take care of sewers and other improvements in his city. —Speaker Baldwin has started out to insist upon a plan for economy, lie will insist that the governmental ap propriations be held down, including the Governor; that the school and road appropriations shall be increased; that the country members have more say in legislative affairs, and that there be a speeding up of some of the departments of the State govern ment. —According to Philadelphia papers Senator Penrose will urge among other measures a bill to take the police of all cities in the State out of politics and thus divorce them from further participation in factional squabbles. It will also include bills to abolish dual ofliceholding by mem bors of Councils, require the confirma tion of Mayoralty appointments by Council or Councils, eliminate office holders from canvassing election pre cincts and probably provide for the substitution of a small single body in stead of the cumbersome Councils of the present with its two unwieldy branches. Other measures which are expected to be introduced early are congressional and legislative appor tionment bills required by the State constitution, which were neglected en tirely by the last Legislature and that of 1913 as well. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR] Pay Pressmen More Than Scale To the Editor of the Telegraph: A few days ago your paper pub lished on the front page a small item stating that the Harrisburg Telegraph had given the compositors an increase; or in other words, had signed the union scale, and that the Telegraph has dealt squarely with these men ever since the Typographical Union was formed. Now we want to congratu late the Hon. Edward J. Stackpole and his associates for their friendly dealings with the typos, but now it appears to me that there are other labor organizations connected with the printing trade just as important to the printing craft as the compositors are. This other organization of which I speak is the pressmen's organization. This labor body, we learn, has pre sented a scale to the employing print ers some time in December to take effect on or about the first of the year, but have not as yet received their in crease. Now what they ask in com parison to the compositors is a very small item. In conclusion we wish to say that if the Telegraph can boast of giving one part of its employes un increase, why do they not deal fairly to all union labor and give all an in crease so that they may enjoy the pleasures of the present? Kindly pub lish this in your paper to-morrow evening and put it on the front page, for the benefit of all organized labor. (Signed) UNION LABOR. Editor's Note —The new scale for the pressmen, mentioned in the fore going letter, weut into effect Janu ary 1. It affected only two press men in the employ of the Telegraph for the reason that all but two of the Telegraph pressmen were receiving mpre pay than the new scale provided long before it was presented to the employers. He Retains the Brogue [New York Sun] John McCormack, who has taken out naturalization papers, may call himself an American, but his brogue, the most delicious that ever came from the Land of the Shamrock, he can never relinquish; and no Irish man will ever be able to compete with him In singing "Kathleen Mavour neen" and "Killarney " RAILROADS CEASE FIGHT ON FEDERAL Now Advocate Measures of National Control Deemed Radical Ten Years Ago—Dual System Costly A LITTLE over a decade ago the railroads were fighting hard against national regulation," says Harold Kellock in an article in the February Century published to day. "To-day their attitude shows a complete reversal. Virtually every railroad manager in the country rec ognizes that regulation has come to stay. They are reconciled to it, and they are advocating more thorough national control. In fact, they go far beyond the measures proposed by the advocates ot the Hepburn statute, now the basis of our national rail road law, -which was considered rad ical ten years ago. 'The people want regulation,' suy railroad managers. "Let's help make it efficient.' "Railroad managers are substan tially agreed upon the following pro gram to end the present railroad muddle: "Federal incorporation of all inter state carriers. "Federal supervision and regulation exclusively for all carriers of inter state commerce, this supervision to include Federal regulation of all se curities. "Increasing the size of the Inter state Commerce Commission and di viding it regionally, so that regional bodies, as under the Federal Reserve Hoard, will conduct investigations on the ground in the different traffic dis tricts and present their findings to the central body at Washington, which need review only exceptions to such findings. "Distributing the functions of the commission so that the same body does not act as judge, jury and prose cutor. "The rate muddle with forty-nine [States indulging in rate-lixing, com peting with one another and conflict ing with the rate-fixing powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission, is productive of some of the most vexa tious and costly litigation the rail | EDITORIAL COMMENT"] It is now evident that Germany can reply to some notes much more prompt | ly than to others.—Nashville Southern I Lumberman. | Entente Allies' New York resolutions seem mora convincing than most.—Wall Street Journal. Peace comes roaring onward with all the meteoric rush of an invalid snail with a ball and chain attached to his tail.—Kansas City Star. Secretary Lansing's postscripts to the peace note suggest the advisability of having a woman in the Cabinet to handle such matters expertly.—Chicago Daily News. The Kaiser suggests holding the im mediate peace conference in some "neu tral city," which lets Milwaukee, Cin cinnati and St. Louis out of the running. —La Crosse Leader-Press. A good example of the topsyturvy conditions growing out of the war is afforded by the arrest of those mili tant suffragettes for participating in a peace demonstration In Ijondon.—Nash ville Southern Lumberman. ' Peace proposals without terms are as dead as faith without works.—Louis ville Post. Switzerland's peace proposals are be ginning to look like chunk of hei famous dairy product.—lloston Tran | script. I It has been a great year for all finan cial institutions. Even the pawnshops report a record prosperity.—New York World. JANUARY 22, 1917. roads liave to bear. In some States railroad managers complain that they have to spend from a tiuarter to over a half of their working hours in court or appearing before various commis sions. In some States railroad agents have been arrested because they would not accept rates established by the State Legislature, which had been enjoined by a Federal court. In other States, in similar circumstances. In dictments have been brought against the railroad seeking the injunction. Alabama reduced rates and thereafter decreed that any railroad operating in the State which sought to question in court proceedings the acts of the Leg islature or the State Railroad Com mission should thereupon forfeit its license to operate in the State. "One State lias solemnly decreed that there must be a cuspidor between every two seats on passenger trains; an adjacent State forbids cuspidors as vulgar and unsanitary. One State requires screens in the windows of passenger coaches, and ail adjoining State forbids screens. "One byproduct of all this chaotic regulation has been an increase in ten years of eighty-seven per cent, in the number of general office clerks cm ployed by the railroads and' an in crease of nearly 120 per cent., over 5*40,000,000, in the amount of wages paid to them. During this period the gross earnings of the roads increased only fifty per cent In the liscal year of 1915 the railroads were compelled lo furnish to the National and Slate Commission and other bodies over two million separate reports, and if duplicates are included, the total is swelled to three million. "The cost of State regulation to the railroads, to the shippers, to the pub lic generally, is a staggering sum. It runs into hundreds of millions of dol lars a year. The expense of merely maintaining the various State rail road commissions must be close to $50,000,000 annually." OUR DAILY LAUGH I ' CARBrUL HUBBY. Does your ; husband sub scribe to the I\ A theory that lciss- // * j ing transmits \MP | germs. No. He thinks [ij that germs are V T"T® mostly trans- I V Wjjggp* ' mitted by | \■V money, and is t very careful not -""mP ftf ,to hand ma *1 any. Tvtjffiy LAUOHING ( V ""rY J laughing at me? (yj demanded the | professor stern jßjV, ly to ' ,la class. p came the reply ! p?-" ' n cllorus " 1 th e professor Ifjj | even more srim |>] > k ly, what else is / Jtt there in tlie room to laugh at 7 '| Ibetttttg (Ehal This will bo "Farmers' Week in Harrisburg because of the meetings of the State Board of Agriculture and the allied organizations and the launching of the first midwinter show of farm products. It seems rather odd to bo talking about raising apples and cor* and shearing sheep and the difficulties of "grass" butter when there are sno\r banks in the street and the sleigh befj. echoes to the automobile horn and rnj trolley gong, but it seems that t'us | week in January is always given up to the farmers and they will divide at tention with the legislators who conio back to Harrisburg to-night to take up the real work of the session of 3 917. The State board has been meet ing in Harrisburg for over thirty years, according to George Hutchison, of Warriors Mark, who is one of th<* few survivors of the first session. Tho meetings have been held in various halls and In the Capitol. Years ago the board used to meet in the Senato chnmber and in the old Supremo Court room and once it met in tho State Library. It has been an insti tution that has been attacked and gone serenely on. In recent years tho livestock breeders, that horticultural ists, the sheep raisers and others have been meeting here at the same time and having joint meetings at which the embattled farmers "resoluted" to impress their desires on the Legisla ture. This year the State Vegetable "Growers and State Veterinary Medical organization have arranged to have' their annual meetings in Harrisburg and there will be about live meetings going on while the Legislature Is in session and the City Council is doing business. * * • It. seems that the snow which has been falling the last day or so is worth a good many dollars to the farmers of the State, especially in this section, because the acreage de voted to wheat is larger than it has been for years. The high price of grain and the certainty that there would be a market for it as soon as threshed caused a good many farmers to plant wheat In place of corn and from all accounts that rule of the land, rotation of crops, has been some what tampered with. It might be re marked in passing that the general experience of farmers with hay has been that it, has been a very profitable crop and there will be a large area devoted to alfalfa next spring. Hay will be given much attention. ** * ✓ , "The worst thing I have to think about thgse days is the coaster." said a motorman hist, nighL "The kids are out In full force with their sleds and every street that has an incline has a bunch. We have to sound the whistles more than we do for farmers' wagons and automobile trucks and we keep car 3 ready to stop on tho instant." ♦ * The snowbanks have been put to use again. There were few in the central part of the city that the alert Floyd Hopkins did not pre-empt for advertising purposes. No one can ob ject to it. It does not violate any or dinance like tacking a poster on a pole and it certainly docs attract at tention. • • • While railroading is nothing like as arduous as it used to be back in tho days when airbrakes wore in use only on passenger trains and the long coal trains arc controlled from the en gine, there Is not much of a snap con nected with handling the big trains that are seen passing through tho city. Yesterday work was a tough I proposition in the snowstorm and tin* I frequent blocks of tralfic caused tho flagmen and the brakemen to be on the alert and to do some tramping over rough tracks in deep snow. Tho wonder is that schedules are so well maintained in the present rush of traffic and weather. * * The wintry weather has not inter fered with the demolition of the build ings in the Capitol Park extension zone bought for the expansion of the State's park and buildings have been disap pearing like the snowflakos which have been falling the last ten days. The people in charge of the work say that the demand for-building material Is great and that as fast as It is taken out of the old buildings it is sold, some 1 times before. * 9 * I The midwinter mosquito, like the housefly that lives near the stove anil tho radiator, is with us and the wise man and woman will kill the insect on I sight. It is astonishing, the number of flies that are to be found lingering in houses in midwinter. They gen erally turn up at meal times and their killing is not a difficult matter. With the mosquitoes it is different. They turn up at any time and while they do not sting it is always the part of safety to kill a mosquito. • * * • • Several third-class cities are watch ing to see the manner In which Har risburg handles the vacancy In Council which has resulted "from the death of Commissioner H. F. Kowman. This city has taken the lead in regard to municipal legislation in many ways and Its tryout of the Clark act has been awaited with interest, in more places than one would think. | WELL KNOWN PEOPLE ] —Congressman Thomas S. Butler has been invited by citizens of Coates ville to get a new post office for that city. —Dr. B. IC. Wilbur has been elected president of the Lower Merlon Board of Health for the ninth term. —The Tiev. Dr. C. H. Woolston, Philadelphia pastor, celebrated thirty years In the ministry yesterday. Ho has preached to 3.000.000 persons. —W. H. Connell, chief of Philadel phia's bureau of highways, has called in medical men to help devise ways to clean up the town. —John F. Lowers, former legisla tor, has been elected president of the Lmployes' Protective Association of Alegheny county. [ DO YOU KNOW "] That 11 arris burg distributes hundreds of cars of coal for east ern points every twenty-lour hours? HISTORIC HARRISIU'RG William Maclay ran lines for what is now Front street before the Kevolu tion. Local Option "When the friends of booze argu* about local option, sincere person* ure going to say that local option would work better if the liquor inter ests would permit if to work, and would not use the machinery of the Federal Government, as theV do now, to defeat the purposes of various States and counties which have gono dry. Moreover, it' prohibition can be adopted successfully as a nation-wide rule by Russia and by France, why not by the United States? If Paris and Petrograd can get along without booze, why not New York? And if those countries adopt prohibition under the pressure of a necessity to achieve a maximum moral and physi i cal efficiency, why shouldn't we do it |as part of tho policy of prepared- Incss'."' —From January 20th Collier's.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers