12 HAP.RISBURG TELEGRAPH A NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME Pounded I&31 Published evenings except Sunday by THE TBLGGRAPH PRINTING CO, Tr learn ph Rnlldlna, Federal Square. 13. 3. STA CKPOL.E, Preset & Editor-in-Chief F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager. GUS M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor. Member of the Associated Press —The Associated Press is exclusively en title* to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. I Member American Ushers' Associa- Eastern office. Entered at the Post Office in Harris burg, Pa., as second class matter. diyytr B} " carriers, ten cents a > week; by mail, $5.00 a year in advance. FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 1018 There is no greater tign of holiness than the rejoicing in another's good. •— GEORGE HERBERT. AUTOS ESSENTIAL AUTOMOBILES, it is to be noted, are no longer classed among non-essentials by the govern ment, and automobile industries are not to be closed wholesale to make room for war industries, as was fore casted last year. The reason is two fold. In the first place we are be ginning to learn that the difference between essentials and non-essen tials in trade is not to be decided off hand, and secondly that the auto mobile has proved its worth in such times of stress as those of the pres ent. The day of the "pleasure car" Is past. The automobile has become a passenger car and Its use in this capacity will increase constantly with the growing embargo upon pas senger traffic on steam railroads. Unquestionably, some of the auto-' mobile manufacturing production must be given over to the making of munitions and materials used in the war, for which the factories are ideally adapted, but it would not do to close down any automobile fac „ tory entirely, disband its organiza tion and lose its productivity after the war when it will be needed to help keep reconstructed business going. No; the answer lies in an other direction, and it is to permit the making of as many cars as the public will buy this year, depend ing upon the good sense of car pur chasers to make the best possible use of their machines, to speed up business deliveries, to carry men to and from business and to and from work and between towns, taking the place of accommodation trains re moved to permit the passage of freight. Nor need the phantom of a "gaso line famine" deter the owner of an automobile from the use of his car. The gasoline shortage is not nearly so serious as it has been made to appear by some who hope to find an excuse therein for advance of prices. As A. C. Bedford, chairman of the Petroleum War Service Committee, said recently, the winter weather, with its resulting light domestic de mand. has permitted the reserve Blocks to be increased by millions of gallons. It is not gasoline, but fuel oil, which the government needs ur gently and since gasoline is a by product of fuel oil the more fuel oil used the greater the quantity of gasoline produced. The prospects are that the government will be able to meet all our own war demands as well as those of the allies and still have left a plentiful supply for users of trucks and pleasure cars. Bank deposits have been Increased by billions of dollars. There is plenty of money with which to keep industry active If the demand Is kept up, and since upon the volume of business done depends our ability to stand the constantly growing stress of war expenditures we should go slowly indeed in pronouncing this or that line of manufacture '"non-es sential." And as for the patriotic rr.an who desires an automobile and has the money with which to buy it, but is hesitating because of the war, let him go place his order, particu larly if he intends to use it for the furtherance of his business or to re lieve the overcrowded railroads and trolley lines. There la every reason why he should have the car find no good reason why he should not. With snow entrenchments thrown up on every curbline and drifts block ing roads and streets in every direc tion, there are few who have the hardihood nowadays to talk about the "old-fashioned winter." THE FUEL RESTRICTIONS THE more the effects of Dr. Gar field's fuel restrictions are studied, the more it appears the Fuel Administrator has thrown a bunch of monkey wrenches into the business cogs of the country. No one can doubt that the federal au thorities acted with the best of In tentions. Nobody will think of dis obeying or dodging any of the reg ' ulations. We are solidly back of the KWiD'AY "EVENING, government In this, the first test of our willingness to sacrifice for the winning of the war. But that need not prevent Just and fair criticism of the wisdom of the order. Regardless of the results, which it would appear are bound to be dis astrous to business and to labor, al though doubtless a very large quan tity of coal may be saved for do mestic uses, the cause of the pres ent conditions and responsibility for them are the essential considerations at this moment. Placing the blame ,is necessary, so that, If possible, the remedy may be found. Treating symptoms is no longer the practice of the wise physician. The seat of the disease is his constant thought, and so it must be in this case. Back of all the trouble lies the starvation of the railroads over a period of years. Wages have gone constantly up, and very properly so to meet advances in living costs; operating expenses of all kinds have been increased and the cost of new equipment and new construction has rocketed along with everything else. The railroads saw their expenses steadily rising and their net earn ings slowly decreasing. They were doing more business than ever be fore and making less. But the gov ernment kept right on their trail, clamping down the lid more tightly every year and refusing them ad vances of rates. There was but one end. Rolling stock and motive power went to pot and the roadbeds de teriorated because nobody wanted to buy railroad securities or loan the roads money. Then we went to war and at once the added strain on the roads began to tell. "Priority orders" commenced to play a part in the general confusion. Garfield got into a controversy with Hoover as to the priority of coal over food, with the result that for five days the railroads moved neither coal nor food, awaiting the "scrap" at Washington to be decided. These things are back of all the trouble; these and the selection of a theorist, instead of an acknowledged expert, or experts, to handle the fuel f-ituation. The choice of a college president to solve the fuel problem was a blunder that a more prac tical President would not have made. There are three factors nec essary in coal production and dis tribution. The cp-operation of the operators, the mine workers and the railroads are essential. The wise thing, it would seem, would have been to have selected a big operator, a big traffic manager and a man like John Mitchell, for example, as a fuel administration board. In that* way i the frightful blunders from which we are now suffering would have I been avoided. But by-gones are by-gones and all we can do now is to make the best of a bad situation and con line our criticisms to constructive lines. Calling the fuel administra tor hard names will do no good, and a seeming division of the American public would be but encouragement to the enemy. There are several outstanding de \ elopments that may give comfort to those who have been fearsome of the bogey of government ownership, and one of them is that the Amer ican people are getting their All of autocratic rulings from Washington, which might be repeated at any time if war provisos should be ex tended into days of peace following the war. Another is that Secretary McAdoo, taking over control of the railroads to relieve the congestion, has gotten them into a worse mud dle than before he took charge. Gov ernment ownership has been given a body-blow by the developments of the past week. Professor E. J. Decevee occupied a large place In the musical circles of Harrisburg, and his passing Is a dis tinct loss to the community. Affable and always interested In all that goes to make the city attractive, he will be greatly missed. PATRIOTIC CRITICISM IN a conservative statement re garding the patriotic limits of criticism former President Taft, who certainly cannot be accused of lack of support of the President, de clared that facts should be made known even If they may be uncom fortable. This Is precisely the view of the average patriotic citizen. There is no occasion for disclosure of military secrets which may be of benefit to the enemy and there should be a careful avoidance of anything of that sort, but the smug attitude of selfsufflciency adopted by certain of the bureaucrats at Washington is giving rise to a spirit of indignation throughout the country which is likely to burst forth in a general protest. Just now Secretary of War Baker is sharing the popular distrust with Dr. Garfield, the Fuel Administra tor. Both these officials are com ing in for widespread criticism, much of which is the outgrowth of their own indifference to the sug gestions of men of large experience In the particular things which have been most under discussion. Mr. Taft says Secretary Baker's "commendable desire to learn shown in his early days In the department seems to have gone." Too often the attitude of Government officials Is that of wise men who cannot be en lightened upon any subject and the result of this attitude Is to discour age bigger men tendering their good offices and the results of their ex perience for the benefit of the coun try In this crisis. Nothing has done so much to im pair the confidence of the country In Secretary Baker's Judgment as his misleading statement recently re garding the preparedness of the Army. President Wilson has been given tremendous power and the people are disposed to support him In every necessary measure for the prosecu tion of the war, but the time is com ing, if It is not at hend, when there must be no withholding from the people of the Information to which they are entitled. Reasonable cen sorship of facts regarding the mili tary plans of the Government Is ex pected, but It doesn't follow that the people shall be treated as children from whom the facts must be con cealed. Mr. Taft says further— Mr. Raker's attitude suggests tne question, What are the patrio tic limits of public investigation into the preparation of the Execu tive for war'?. Investigation should, course, be prompted solely by the motive to help the prosecution of the war. Hostile partisan in vestigations for political purposes even in time of peace are rarely useful. They tend to paralyze the Initiative of bureau chiefs and frighten them from their proper responsibility. They consume . e . effort of the bureaus in making defense which should be devoted to executive work. In time of war they are despicable. „ n the other hand. Impartial in vestigation and publicity pene trate that smug executive satis faction which regards substantial aerects as either immaterial or inevitable. Those responsible are thus put on their mettle. Their rear of Just criticism moves them to strenuous effort. ■ Unless and until the people are thoroughly informed as to the things which are proper for them to know they will not have the same interest in the prosecution of the war which they should have under present circumstances. The more they are told as to real conditions the more earnest will be their sup port of the government in the tre mendous responsibilities which have been assumed in this world war. T>o Hue* u 'PtltKOn&KUua By the Ex- Committeeman Arrogance of The Democratic State bosses in decreeing that Con gressman Arthur G. Dewalt, former Democratic State chairman, shall be opposed for renomination and in at tempting to set up opposition to Con gressman H. G. Steele in the old Palmer district as well as their ma chinations to choke off opposition to Democratic congressmen in other districts appear to have stirred up considerable criticism and there are chances that some of the latent feel ing against the ruling class may crop out in the form, of a movement to make Vance C. McCormick or any one else slated on the banks of the Potomac fight for his nomination. The humor of the situation is that in their desire to show power the bosses have aroused Charles B. Spate, the margrave of Boyertown, who seems to think that he should have the job and who is inclined to dispute the vote of Berks which would ordinarily swing the nomina tion. Another funny thing is that the bosses have solemnly declared that the people wanted their choice. Naval Officer William M. Croll, whereas his statement is that he is not running of his own action and will, but because bidden to. And then the bosses have placed their seal of approval on some legis lative leaders who aspire to renomi nation and who voted very, very "wet" last session. —Congressmen Kelly and Camp bell, the Allegheny county accidents, who slipped in because of treachery li. certain quarters, may have op position for renomination at the hands of Democrats, while there are signs of hatchet waving in the York- Adams and the Northumberland dis trict over the nominations for seats now held by Brodbeck and Lesher. —As anticipated yesterday High way Commissioner J. Denny O'Neil last night announced that he is "a Republican candidate for Governor. "Mr. O'Neil's statement bears un questionable marks of O'Neil's au thorship as it attacks Senator Pen rose and Senator William C. Sproul. The announcement created no sur prise. but there was a great deal of speculation about the city as to what would be done next at the Cap itol. Governor Brumbaugh refused to comment upon the statement un til he had read it. —The Democratic newspapers hail the appearance of O'Neil as a can didate for Governor as meaning a big Republican fight, and the Phila delphia Ledger says that hope of harmony fades. The North Ameri can merely gives the statement with out comment. The same course is pursued by other newspapers ex cept the Philadelphia Inquirer, which tartly remarks upon Mr O'Neil's references to himself is M? ns i dere d lively that Mr. ONeil will add to his statement next week at the dinner to be given in his honor at Pittsburgh. The fact that he made such savage jabs at Penrose and Sproul Is taken to mean that the men who counseled a more conservative announcement were overruled at the conference at the Governor's mansion and that the fur will fly from now on. —Whether Senator Sproul will make any reply Is doubtful, and It Is believed that the dozen or more men mentioned as receptive candi dates will await developments Con cerning the mention of favorite sons in various counties the Philadelphia Press says: "Almost anyone who feels that he could fit Into the cTov ernorship can have his day now and some of them will need to hurrv for their days will be few. If it shall wtVw.n h H nt thP ™ ~ s to be * cu test It will be a man's size affair." . S L ate friends of O Nell have been spreading the story that if the highway com missioner came out for Governor in a statement br(nthlng fire and brim stone, Senator Sproul would refuse to become a candidate as he prefer red to be an aspirant for the chair of the Governor who could unite all factions. —This makes very interesting the declaration of Senator Penrose at Philadelphia yesterday that no slate had been made at Pittsburgh. O Neils statement charges that Sproul was "hand-picked" but the Penrose statement denies it. Senator Penrose said: "Those stories from Pittsburgh about an agreement upon a state ticket were without founda tion. They represented the gossip in the hotel lobbies and were not the result of any conference upon the subject. The presence of some of the men mentioned at the dinner to former Mayor Armstrong probably accounted for the grouping of some of the names on an alleged ticket. As far as I am concerned. I am not committed t® any candidate for a state office to be filled this year. I look for the candidates to formally announce themselves soon, and then it will be time to discuss the most available men for the nominations at the May primaries." The latter re mark was also made by the Senator last week after his return from Pitts burgh. —The Philadelphia Inquirer says that Senator Penrose "repudiated re ports from Pittsburgh that he and his friends had agreed upon a set of candidates." It also says that Kvan Jones, chairman of the McKean county Republican committee, would like to be a candidate for Congress man-at-large on the Rwubllc&n ii iii iiii mi mi i H I in in m ill ticket, but lntlmatea that he may run' for the Twenty-flrst district Beat. Congressman C. H. Rowland will not run again. —Ex- James Gay Gordon, of Philadelphia, last night declared that his name had been used without his sanction in connection with the Democratic nomination for Govern or. It is said that the judge has been urged to become a candidate by a number of upstate friends. —The Philadelphia Ledger to-day says: "Direct, emphatic and vigor ous notice was served on the slender Vare-Smith majority in Common Council yesterday by the newly-elect ed Independents, who are more largely represented than in any of the recent years, that all proposed legislation will be searchlngly ex amined into and studied and that if necessary the sharpest opposition will develop. It was the opening fire In what may prove to be one of the liveliest sessions of Councils in years. The meeting yesterday, although not the first for the new Council, was the first at which real business could be touched upon. The independents plan a test vote of strength at an early hour." —Edwin F. Warner, of Weather ly, Fuel Administrator of Carbon county, and former Chief Engineer Dr. J. E. Waaser, of East Mauch Chunk, were appointed at Mauch Chunk yesterday directors of the Middle Coal Field Poor District, comprising the upper portion of Car bon county and the lower end of Luzerne county by Judge Barber. Mr. Warner was filling the unex pired term of the late Samuel West, of Weatherly, and now starts on a five-year term of his own. Dr. Waaser succeeds William H. Gibson, of Lansford, whose term expired. The appointments carry an annual salary of SSOO each and expenses. WHY COAL IS SCARCE While many Important factors en ter Into the problem, It Is perfectly obvious that the fundamental cause Is that the government utterly neg lected national preparedness; that the. administration took no meas ures to meet an inevitable emer gency the warning shadow of which was projected across our pathway for more than two years. This in ertia and lack of foresight might be Incredible were it not a matter of current record, in the testimony of the secretary of war, that the gov ernment made not a move to pro vide arms or ammunition or uni forms or any other necessary of na tional defense until after making a formal declaration of war which was two months after Germany had proclaimed hostilities and the Unit ed States had taken the fateful step of severing diplomatic relations. It was not until last August,' when the country had been at war for four months and a half, that solu tion of the fuel problem was under taken. Congress gave to the Presi dent virtually autocratic powers ever food and fuel, and a few weeks later he named as national fuel ad ministrator Dr. Harry A. Garfield, president of Williams College. The tremendous duties and responsibil ities of the position manifestly re quired that it be filled by a man possessing extraordinary force, ex ecutive genius and intimate knowl edge of the factors of production and distribution. Doctor Garfield obviously had no such equipment; his principal qualifications seem to have been that he was a pacifist and had been an ardent advocate of President Wilson's re-election upon the ground that he had "kept us out of war." Before making the appointment, President Wilson had proclaimed a maximum price for bituminous coal at the mines, with penalties for sell ing at higher rates. He acted with out full knowledge, for the prices were so low that thousands of small mines those working thin veins with meager machinery—were com pelled to shut down. The action was based upon a theory that price was the vital consideration, whereas production was the all-important matter; and the result was a reduc tion of millions of tons in the bitu minous supply during months when it could have been marketed most, readily. I And of course this was ultimately ; felt by the users of anthracite. When the little bituminous mines ceased operations, their customers demanded supplies from the big mines that could sell at the low; prices fixed, thus taking from the j general market fuel that would have 1 been available; bituminous which ordinarily would have come to Philadelphia was taken by districts containing numberless closed mines, j And the scarcity of bituminous na turally increased the demands of industry for anthracite, so that fac tories came into competition with hcuusehold consumers. Later the President fixed the mine price of anthracite, but in this case made a rate higher than the opera tors had asked. Bituminous pro duction, which could have been stimulated was discouraged, and extra profits were given to aijthra cite production, which could hardly be increased because the industry was already running at top speed. A Delusion A large number of fanatics In the United States seem to be laboring under the delusion that the American troops were sent to France for the purpose of enforcing prohibition in that country.—Springfield Union. Guns and Blueprints \ The Browning gun may be a hun dred times more efficient than Che Lewis, but it can be said, without fear of contradiction by partisans of either gun, that no blueprint ever killed a German. —From the Out lcok. Boys, She's a Bear W. H. Ainsworth and Miss Ima Bear, of Roodhouse, were visitors in the city Wednesday. Jacksonville Courier. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR" HOW ABOUT SALOONS? To the Editor of the Telegraph: I wonder how many of our good American citizens are Just "s'Jzling" with indignation at the fact that saloons and playhouses, etc., should be permitted to remain open during these five days when our factories and plants (manufacturers of war munitions), the very things that would lead us on to victory, should be stopped. The coal consumed by these places of amusement and the men who go there to get "something to warm them up" could be used to a better purpose. It would help make a few more ships, a lot more guns and many of the other much needed things. It is not for us to question our government or our great -men at the head of It, but a cog or some thing must have slipped when this bill went through. Can you Imagine the much hated, terrible Wilhelm permitting such a thing? And It's up to us to "beat him to It." A CITIZEN. f WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND ... By Brigg, \ i J Cowrltht 11T A br Tb* Trlbun* Anotlatlon (M*n fork Tribunal Bacheller at Camp Dix By LIiOYD S. GRAHAM, Staff Correspodent TALES of German atrocities in this war are under the actual happenings instead of over rated, according to a statement made by Irving Bacheller In a meeting of National Army officers at Camp Dix recently. He stated 'that his information came from English officers and en listed men whom he met on the western front. He said it was com monly believed among the allied lighters in France that the only good German was a dead one. Stor ies of cruelties and inhuman acts which the Germans did to allied prisoners and the inhabitants of the Teuton-invaded countries were noth ing short of blood-curdling. Mr. Bacheller said he believed them and believed also that America's treat ment of German soldiers must be stern and thorough. Because of the fact that the North Country sage returned from Europe a few weeks ago, where he was the guest of the English For eign Office on the western front, the Eastern Department of the Y. M. C. A. Work Council arranged a speaking appointment covering two days at Camp Dix. In the early evening he spoke to the National Army men, many of whom were from Northern New York, giving humorous selections from his books. On the first evening he described some of his war experiences to a group of officers after the enlisted men had left the "Y" building. The group sat about the big stove In Building No. 6 and Mr. Bacheller was presented by H. E. Parker, building secretary. The author of "Eben Holden" settled comfortably down in his chair and told his story. The group resembled nothing so much as an old-fashioned North Country gathering around the country store stove on a winter's evening, wait ing for the 6.10 train to come into the "deypo" with the evening mail. He held the officers spellbound for Coming and Going fFrom the Cleveland Plain Dealer.] A newspaper friend of ours, whose duties keep him up o' nights entered a downtown restaurant at a late hour Tuesday evening. He glanced at the clock, then at the calendar, then at the menu, from which he or dered a frugal repast. Then he wait ed, nervously. At the enrl of ten minutes he suc ceeded In catching his waiter's eye. "Look here, how long am I going to have to wait for that grub I or dered?" he inquired. "Oh, I guess it won't be long, now," yawned the waiter. "In a hurry?" "In a hurry? Say, I ordered a meal without meat because it Is meatless day, and If I have to wait five minutes longer it will be wheat less day and I won't get a darned thing!" Must Be Terrible A patient came into the office with some bad symptoms —a little vagrue, but still bad. "Do you have head noises?" asked the physician. "Yes; what do you mean by head noises?" "Do you hear ringing in your ears?" "Oh, yes—something fierce. I hear It all the time." "Terrible. Why, sometimes I can hear It fifty feet away!"— From the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Wish 'Em Joy of It [From the Chicago News.] After experience with men's work for the period of the war, we doubt whether women will ever go back to washing dishes. The government will have to "take over" dlshwash -1 lng. an hour and a half, while he told them of his experiences under shell fire, in the trenches, at the base hospital and his journey to the front. "I stood at one of the biggest lines of communication one day," said he. "The traffic was heavier than it is on Fifth avenue at 3 o'clock on a sunny afternoon. It seemed as if all the nations of the earth were go ing up to the end of the world. "Frivolous France is no more. When someone sent unclean plays down from Paris for the entertain ment of the poilu near the front, thinking that was the kind of en tertainment they wanted, the poilu sent back word, 'That is not what we want. We are not pigs.' It means a lot to those men to see their dearest friends shattered to bits beside them on the firing line. They have changed. "In England before the war there was a very well-defined degeneracy. But that Is changing now. A friend of mine went to an English home to tea one afternoon. The hostess said,' 'Have you heard of the great honor which has come to this house?' The guest admitted that he had not. 'Our son was killed in France two weeks ago.'" In this connection with the re turn of high ideals to the people engaged in the war because of the sacrifices they are making, Mr. Bacheller spoke in the hiprhest terms of the Y. M. C. A. In the war. He declared It Is the one great "spirit ualizing factor" In this war. "When the war is I think we will all say It was'a good thing. The price we are paying is tre mendous, but I think It will be worth while in world regeneration." "Optlmisi with a capital O and quoted, was the keynote In Mr. Bacheller's talk to the officers. He said there could be no doubt that the ultimate victory would be with the Allies and, despite the suffering, the effect for good on the peoples engaged was evident already, even 'ln America. RIGHTEOUS WRATH There are many kinds of hate, as many kinds of fire; And some are fierce and fatal with murderous desire; And Some are mean and craven, re vengeful, selfish, slow, They hurt the man that holds them more than they hurt his foe. And yet there is a hatred that puri fies the heart, Ihe anger of the better against the baser part. Against the false and wicked, against the tyrant's sword. Against the enemies of love and all that hate the Lord. ' O cleansing indignation, O flame of righteous wrath. Give me a soul to see thee and fol low in thy path! Save me from solflsli virtue, arm me for fearless fight. And give mo strength to carry on a soldier of the Right! —Henry Van Dyke In tho Outlook. Worth the Money Our credits to the Allies have now reached the neat little sum of $4,000,- 000,000. But wo should not feel that we are getting stung by any means. The English fleet alone has earned that much by standing be tween us and Helgoland while we or dered our uniforms and rifles.—Sa vannah News. Proper Folk [From the Providence Journal.] Secretary Daniels recommends Commander Christian Peoples for promotion to the rank of rear admi ral. In this war for the spiritual future of the race a man with name like that belongs at the front. JANUARY 18, 191SL LABOR NOTES The executive board of Chicago Broom and Whisk Manufacturers voluntarily Increased wages fifteen per cent, over the scale of the signed wage agreement with the Broom and Whisk Workers' Union. More than 3,000 men are enrolled In military hospitals' vocational training classes in Canada and more than 900 so disabled that they can not return to their former work are receiving instruction to fit them for new occupations. Brewery Workmen's International reports membership gains during the three years as follows: 1914, 2,933; 1915, 4,820; 1916, 6,004. Total, 13,757. The Russian miner produces from 10,000 to 12,000 puds (a pud is 40 pounds) coal to 28,000 to 30,000 puds produced In the same time by the American miner. Of the more than 450 applicants who took recent examinations for positions in the post office at Wash ington, D. C., over 75 per cent, were women. OUR DAILY LAUGH ▲ VICTIM OF : THE TIMES. ;*\S Please help a Msg? poor man who llPi lost all his jr\// money in de A last six months. 'J How did you yfi lose it? f • übscrlptlon WHERE THE MONTDY IS. "Jones sayw he wanta to go into the country and be a farmer." "Because of his love for nature?* "That's what he says. But I think tt'a Just plain advice." Iffpiiiimit 8/ \ ' N-'-i