EARRISBURG TELEGRAPH A XEWSPAPEn FOR THE BOMS Founded JBSI Published evening* except Bund*/ by THE TBLIOItArH PRINTING CO. Telesraph Building, Federal Sgaare E. J. STACKPOLD President and Editor-in' Chief F. R. OYSTER. Busineit Manager OUS M. BTEINMETZ, Managing Editor A. R- MICHENER. Circulation Afanaper Exeeatlve Board J. P. McCULLOUGH, • BOYD M. OGELSBY, P. R. OYSTER, GUS. M. STEINMETZ. Member of the Aeeoclated Press—The Associated Press Is exclusively en titled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to It or not otherwise credited In this paper and also the local published herein. ... All rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. Member American Eastern Avenue Building, Entered at the Post Office In Harris burg. Pa., as eecond class matter. By carrier, ten cents a rfffifeyrofeirs week; by mall, $3.00 a y ear in advance. It's faith in something and en thusiasm for something, that make life worth looking at. —O. U. Holmes SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 11 HURRAH FOR HOOVER SAID Herbert Hoover when he re fused to discuss food conditions in Germany with Dr. Relth and Baron von der Lancken: "You can describe two and one half years of arrogance toward our i selves and cruelty toward Belgians in any language you may select, and tell the pair personally to go to hell, with my compliments. If I do havti to deal with Germans it will not be wiyi this pair." Hurrah for Hoover! This is the most refreshing bit of diplomatic' conversation that has come out of Europe In a decade. Mr. Hoover is a real man and he has the courage of his convictions. A little more of this kind of spirit at Washington early In the war would have given even arrogant Germany pause for thought. it is'the only kind of language a bully understands, and if ordinarily a trifle strong for polite society, it fits so perfectly the occasion that Amerians generally will rejoice in it and glory in Hoover's spunk. President Wilson's greeting In Lon don displays as nothing else could the friendly feelings of the English peo ple for America. SAILING CLOSE THE end of the war finding the United States still a Demo cratic tariff basis, we are re minded of its depressing effect on American production by tftg estimate of Willett & Gray on the beet sugar crop for 1918-19 in the United States, which shows a decrease of seven per cent, compared with 1917- 18, or from 683,000 to 635,000 tons. One of the straws In the winds of trade. German profiteers, a cablegram says, are taking their booty out of the country by airplanes. The air plane hasn't been built that would carry the loot of some American profiteers. y / TOO LATE % rnHE War Department very se- I riously announces that when hostilities ceased the Americar Army was "being prepared and equipped to hurl ten tons of mustard gas into the German forces for every ton the Germans could deliver.". Very accurately stated, no doubt. And it would have been possible to have mentioned other particulars in which when hostilities ceased the army was being prepared for the work it should have been doing be fore the hostilities ceased. If we had put the promised airplanes in action when promised, we should have saved thousands of lives and months of time. The airplanes used in carrying mail will be a sort of living reminder of the inefficiency of the administration In preparing for war. We shall al ways look upon them as part of our program which, "when hostilities ceased," we were preparing to makfc useful in war. WISE BEYOND YEARS THE men who provided some ten or eleven years ago that the revenue received by th e State of Pennsylvania from the registra tion or licensing of motor vehicles should go to the maintenance of highways were wise beyond their years. And the officials who fought to a successful conclusion the po litical scheme to divert the millions to the general fund will some day get a tardy appreciation, f Just what this means can hie real lzod from the fact that In two re l cent weeks the State issued more jA automobile licenses than in the whole of th e year 1908. The reve- L ™ ; "v . "J ' , • \ • SATURDAY EVENING, * HARRISBTTRG TELEGRAPH DECEMBER 28, 1918. 1 nue from automobile registration during 1918 will approximate $4,- i 000,000. That Is the assessed valua tion of a whole ward in Harrisburg, the coat of the construction of the 1 Capitol building without the fjjr ntshinjr or the price of an ocean ' liner. It is an Imperial revenue. And this policy of putting it into ' road maintenance enabled the State ,to spend three-quarters of a mil lion dollars on the Lincoln highway alone last summer and not feel em barrassed by the expenditure which was necessitated by the demands of the Army to move long trains of {rucks. And now we will go Into 1919 with millions to maintain our roads and the Legislature free to provide for ' a construction program that will 1 give us highways to take the palm from some sister states rather more given to advertising natural beau ties and man-made roads than the Sons of Penn. A WORKING CHAMBER •••HE brief outline of the activl- I ties of the Harrisburg Cham ber of Commerce, published else where in this issue of the Telegraph, illustrates the important part that body has in the life of the com munity. The Chamber is a working organization. It spends its money for the benefit of the community. It does things worth while. Last year the Chamber was busy with all sorts of war movements, almost to the exclusion of other forms of work, but nevertheless It found time and opportunity for com munity service'of a very practical and useful character. The headquar. i ters of the Chamber have been the offices of the federal food and fuel administrations, of the war garden committee, of every Liberty Loan campaign and many of the expenses of other patriotic movements were either borne entirely or guaranteed by the Chamber. The members look back with pride on the part they had in the erection of the new Penn-Harris hotel, now so rapidly ncaring com pletion, the plans for which were developed during the administration of J. William Bowman as president, under the guidance of Chairman E. Z. Wallower, and which had the hearty backing of the Chamber from the very inception of the movement. If the organization had done nothing more than this, It would have justi fied its existence. But it has done so Hiuch more that it has become an absolute necessity to the progress and development of the city. So much so, indeed, that one wonders how we managed to get along with a less active organization for so many years. 1 ! GET RID OF REDFIELD FROM Washington comes the re port that President Wilson . , has approved the recent rec • ommendatlons of Secretary Redfleld 1 that business advisers be attached ; to American legations and embas . sles as one of the government's , moves toward aiding American • manufacturers and merchants in their after-the-war campaign for foreign trade. Is this an attempt on i the part of Mr. Redfleld, through t his prolific, tax-supported publicity ■ bureau, to retract his recent utter -1 ances with respect to our foreign ' trade? Only a few days ago he was telling us that we "should not pre sent such fierce competition that the European countries will be - unable to rehabilitate themselves i industrially," and we were told that ' "to further this policy import and 1 export control will be continued for 1 a considerable season." And the Pub f llcity Corporation of Washington, in an authorized interview with the de . moralizing Secretary of Commerce, ) quoted him as saying: 1 We have a great decision to 5 make. It is whether we shall take this opportunity and the im -3 mediate rich profit it offers, or whether we shall restrain our en ergies for a while, giving Prance, i 8 England, Relglum, Italy, even the 1 neutrals and even Germany's re . horn people, a fair and free op -1 portunlty to get on thfir feet. J Wasn't that a fine attempt at plen ary absolution of the Hun on the 1 part of a member of the President's ' Cabinet? It Is apparent that the re -1 born people of Germany are this " very minute plotting to create dis r sension between our European s ' Allies and the United States, and k It is known that they are doing all the mischief they can in Russia and the Baltic provinces. It has been quite impossible to keep up with Brother Redfleld since e his apotheosis to the presidential e cabinet, because he changes his mind as frequently as does his chief a and with less apparent reason. Mr. i Wilson's changes of mind are dic r tated by political expediency, Red t field's by a seeming perversity of . logic, or more probably because he s Is incapable of logic. Like the cel y ebrated sea-gull, he just flits and flits and flits along the shore. But . he sure Is the man who puts the - "trial" in industrial America! We e should get rid of Redfleld. These e are not the days for senility in the - Cabinet. • fotZtZce- tn, feKh^iccuuo, i By the Ex-Committeeman j 1 LeiNa w w The rush for the drafting of bills for the General Assembly of 1919, which will meet in Harrisburg on Tuesday, January 7, is in full swing. At least fifty bills have been drafted at the Stute Legislative Reference Bureau, where such service Is giv en to legislators and at least fifty more measures are awaiting the re writing in legal form. Inquiries which Indicate that more are com ing have been made. Most of these will be drafted at the Bureau, which, however, does not make public the subject or terms of any measures it 1 handles. The Bureau will not submit any codes to the Legislature as it has done for the last three or four ses sions, owing to the fact that the state commission in charge of re vision of the banking, insurance and penal laws will submit either codes or a number of bills for extensive alterations and groupings of laws. Severul other commissions pro vided by the Inst Legislature are also expected to submit bills and with what the new administration may have in the way of changes in the state governments, the outlook is for plenty of legislation. —Plans for the ceremonies attend ing the inauguration of Governor elect William C. Sproul are rapidly taking shape and by the time the Legislature meets the program will be mapped out for the consideration of the inaugural committee of legislators. This committee is to be headed by Senator William E. Crow, who will be the senior sen ator when Senator Sproul becomes governor. The details of the inaug ural parade, which will be probably the most extensive ever seen here, are in charge of Col. Lewis E. Belt ler, who is arranging for a large military representation. Captain Prank H. Hoy, Jr., Is arranging to care for the men who will parade during their stay here. —Studies of the effects of big trucks moved over state highways in Pennsylvania the last two years will probably result in the early.intro duction of a bill in the Legislature to limit the weight and size of trucks. The present act forbids op eration of vehicles which have a gross weight of 24,000 pounds or twelve tons, but it is declared that some roads have been cut to pieces in such a manner as to indicate that much heavier trucks have been em ployed. Notwithstanding the effort to make deeper foundations high ways whirti have much truck traijlc have been cut up and the assertion has been made here that some of the trucks in use weigh over 30,000 pounds. As some of the latest trucks are wider than any seen heretofore the problem of width of roads has also arisen. The trucks passing cause the sides of a road to be damaged and when a wide truck has the road other traffic has to wait. The bill to require lights on ail vehicles at night will also ap pear early. —Pennsylvania's primary election next year, the most important local primary in many counties and mu nicipalities in years will be held the third Thursday of September, ac cording to an announcement by George D. Thorn, of the State De partment. Literally thousands of bfflces will be filled next year and many Inquiries are already being made about the dates and whether any laws to change the laws can be expected. The new state adminis tration has given no intimation as to its election law plans. —Much attention is given in morh ing newspapers of Philadelphia to day to Interviews given yesterday by Governor-elect William C. Sproul in which he says that he is favorable to the adoption of a new charter for Philadelphia, but that he thinks thaf people urging it and opposing it should be 'reasonable." The news papers note'that he says he is for a "suitable" charter and that there should be "no serious differences" as to the essential features. —The Fifth ward trials cost the county of Philadelphia $5,400. —Friends of ex-Governor Edwin , S. Stuart to-day telegraphed him congratulations on his birthday. —David L. Lawrence, Pittsburgh registration commissioner, is back • from the Army as a sergeant major. He rose from a private. —Pittsburgh city planners are ask ing $12,000,000 to improve city streets. —The Philadelphia Record says to-day that Governor-elect Sproul ' yesterday practically placed his stamp of approval upon Represen ; tatlve Robert S. Spangler, of York, for speaker of the General Assem bly. N ' I "There seems to be a great deal t of sentiment for Mr. Spangler," Gov 1' ernor-elec't Sproul said. "Many rep . resentatlves seem -to be in favor of him for the speakership." "Does Mr. Spangler meet the test i you set up shortly alter the eleC . tion?" he was asked. "Mr. Spangler Is In favor of my ' entire platform, and, besides, some thing Is ow'ed to York county. This county went Republican by 2,600, although it is normally Democratic. Mr. Spangter will be a candidate, all right." 1 ~~ BOOKS ANDMAOAZINES "The Silent Watchers." Bennet Copplestone's dramatic narrative of 8 the spirit and the work of the Brit s ish navy, which E. P. Dutton & Com . pany published recently, has gone into a second edition. It gives by 8 far the most readable and iliumlnat - ing account of what the British navy i has done during the war and of the i spirit that animates it and makes It what it is that lias yet appeared in 1 this country. 1 • "One of the London Scottish," says Fullerton L. Waldo in his breezy book about "America - at the b Front," just published by E. P. Dut ■l ton & Company, "was amazed when a a boy from Maine showed him a pic ture of the antlered monarch of the Malpe woods and told him it was a '• moose. "'A moose, mon? A moose? In the de'il's name, hoo_ big air yor . rats"' " Mr. Waldo's book starts on a 8 transport from New York, crosses - the ocean with the several thousand soldiers gathered from all the sec tions of the union, goes with them 1 to England and France, visits them e on the front lines, in the trenches, e in the hospital. In the "Y" huts, and gives many vivid pictures of our boys In khaki, enlivened by endless e anecdotes and incidents. In all man ner of wartime occupations. / 'r' . j THAT GUILTIEST FEELING BybRIGGS TouPii / OH-H- I PUNMO- THOUGHT / I&.* T. ?SS ?! ( GGPV" A / TO MAKE j A "BU3IWEA -TRTP- THROUGH THE <SOUTH AMD THE UJiEE DISCOeRS "fouß GOLP BA<3 WMTH THE REST <3F YBUF* BAGGAGE. <R~22 F~~Y, S-& CR BUT <3HC DOESW'T KWOW, AS YOU DO, THAT JS!CJ/F ' YY^T / WHICH 13. THB REAL P(?A4OJ FOR OOIW6 MOW . THE GREAT DELUSION [From the New York World.] The correspondent of the London Times with the British army of oc cupation on the lthlne reports that agents wllo have lived in England are at work disseminating Bolshe vik doctrines among the troops. The fact may be accepted without at tributing any of the responsibility to the present German government which is battling for its life against Bolshevism at home. It is not nec essary for the Germans to preach Bolshevism to the British troops. There are plenty of British Bolshe viki to do the work willingly and gladly. Bolshevism is the one overshadow ing issue which Europe now con fronts. Everything else Is second ary. German militarism has been destroyed, but it was not destroyed until Europe was exhausted econo mically, and Bolshevism is the di rect product of economic exhaustion. The Central Powers broke down be fore any of the Allies, except Rus sia, went under; but the difference in time was not so great as it might appear. Except for the economic power of the United States, the Al lies would have collapsed first and Germany would have been nominally the victor; but even in that case the Bolshevik problem would have been the same. Civilization cannot destroy all its accumulated wealth and wreck all its resources without paying the price, and Bolshevism threatens to be the price. It will inevitably be the price unless there is enough' statesmanship in Europe to deal! wisely and sanely with a situation J that increases in gravity daily. ' Bolshevism cannot be checked by | impassioned harangues about the j sacredness of property. Millions of men have been engaged for more than four years in destroying both life and property under orders from their governments, and they are no longer impressed with the sacred ness of either. No government any where has as yet presented a re construction program that makes ( any real appeal to them. The one definite thing that they understand is that food is scarce and that some people are much better off than others. It was a desperate German auto cracy which first invoked the spirit of Bolshevism, aided and abetted, to be sure, by the diplomatic stupidity of the Allies in dealing with the Russian revolution; but no German autocracy was needed to spread the fire. The danger has steadily in creased since Junkertum was over thrown, and in resisting the advance of Bolshevism in Germany the Ebert i government is performing as great a 1 service for the British, the French i and the Italinns us it is performing for itself. The problem belongs to . no country. In the broadest, sense ■ it is universal and is making itself the common issue of the war. I There is not e. responsible states • man in Europe who does not realize ■ the gravity of the situation; but '■ neither is there a responsible states man who has yet formulated a defl t nlte program for dealing with it. ■ Moat of them are trying to convince themselves that if they can gain ' enough economic advantages out of • the peace conference the danger > will disappear so far as their own . countries are concerned, and the • rest of the world may safely be left ' to shift for itself. This is likely to prove the great delusion of the pence conference. ( LABOR NOTES The Italian Ministry of Munitions maintains a school for the teaching of women the art of metal turning. The War Labor Board has granted to New York pressmen and feeders an increase of $6 per week over earning 3 wages. . \ An increase of 10,000 a month In membership- is reported by the In ternational Machinists' Union. s The Bethlehem Bteel Company has e two different types of training schools - in operation for new women workers. l Laundry workers In Clarksburg, a (W. Va.) operate a laundry of their x own and are selling stock to build a larger plant. r Women vampers employed in the shoe Industry of this country, who x received $13.73 a week in 1916, now b get $16.24 a week. Portsmouth (N. H.) Navy-yard l workers have entered a protest i against the employment of prison i, labot; in the shops. r Railroad telegraphers will hetre s after work on an eight-hour basis, - with overtime paid for at the rate of time and one-half time. mmm ...v | Price Readjustment By n. M ANDERSON JR., Ph. D. of the National Bank of Commerce in New York 11 ! i PRICE-FIXING in this country has served Its purpose and should be abandoned at the earliest possible date. 4t was a tem porary subversion of principles of free enterprise that only the war emergency justified. But like press censorship and other necessary measures incompatible with the genius of American institutions, it should be done away with. A med icine in war, it would prove a pois on in peace. There may remain, for a few months, good reasons for a continuance of price-fixing in spec ially scarce foods, as normal food conditions must await new harvests in Europe. But permanent price fixing is no more to be desired than is a permanent standing army of four million men. Particularly unsound is the form of price-fixing for which a demand has arisen In some quarters—a de mand for nothing less than price fixing designed to keep prices up against the inevitable drop that will come with the return to conditions of peace. The notion that prices should be kept up is based on the fallacy that a fall In prices is unde sirable. The fact is that a drop in prices to stable levels is exactly | what is desired. Such stable levels j are prerequisite to satisfactory bus • iness conditions. Price-fixing is only one of several plans suggested by those who are apprehensive as to the effects of j falling prices on business. It has been proposed to prevent the fall in prices: (a) by price-fixing; (b) | by continuancce of heavy loans by | the United States Government to ' our Allies, to be used for reeonstruc- j j tion purposes; and (c) by an organ- i i ized policy of liberal lending on the j part of American banks. Fall in Prices Desirable. I Two comments are in order. In I the first place, these policies, while they might for a time retard the fall in prices, could not prevent it. ; In the second place, it is better by j far to have our prices go down in ] natural course, get through with | it, and then undertake long-time plans on a sound price basis. The efficacy of the measure sug gested for preventing a fall in prices : is essentially limited. (a) Price fixing, for example, has not been de ■ vised for holding prices up, but for 1 holding them down. We have de • vised no machinery for holding ■ prices up except in the case of wheat, where the purpose was to make the maximum price also a I minimum price, and where-the Gov ; ernment has created the Grain Cor ■ poratlon with a "revolving fund" of $150,000,000 which may be used In purchasing wheat if the market I I price should fall below the mini •! mum guarantee. But, in general, ■ | our price-fixing mechanism has ] been adjusted to hold prices down, j and the procedure has been essen i i ttally this: As we limited prices > i we have restricted consumption, ra ' j tioning out the ; upplies. We have ' | said to producers: "Produce all i i you possibly can," but we have said I to consumers: "You may buy at i such and such a price, but you may only buy so much," and to some : consumers, we have said, "You may not buy at all." The Government organization concerned with handling this prob lem has been worked out with a view to studying the needs of con , sumbrs, and to rationing the sup , ■ plies In accordance with public pol ! icy it would, of course, be possible to I i reverse the procedure, and to make , ' the presnt maximum pries mini . j mum prices. But in that case, we ' 1 should have also to reverse our in ! structtons to producers and con , sumers. We should then say to con sumers, "Buy all you possibly can," but we should have to say to pro ducers, "Although you may sell at such and such a price, you must restrict production and limit out put. If you sell at a high price you ' ; can only sell such and such I amounts." ; Artificial Price Levels. [ This procedure is, indeed, not un- I I familiar in the hlstorr of American ! business. Wo have had pools and | combinations in the past which, by ' i restricting output, have sought to ' j maintain prices. But such pools ' > have not usually been successfftl. I The temptation to cxpund the mar ! ket by breaking the pool agreement ' cutting prices has always been 'fa great one. Moreover, such ar -1 rangements are clearly contrary to public policy. Whatever else wo may seek to do in the present emor - gency, we must do nothing which > would tend to lessen output. The c world is impoverished, goods and supplies of all kinds are short, and f every effort should be bent toward increasing supplies. We need not give serious consid eration to the idea that a more legal fiat, naming a price at which men shall buy and sell, would be effica cious. Price-fixing, to the extent that it has been successful during the war, has been Successful only by virtue of a control and rationing out of the supplies. Price-fixing as a permanent policy is Indispensable in any case. The magnificent loyalty of the American business man, and the heavy pressure of public opinion under the stimulus of the war, have made businessmen submit to it as a temporary measure. But it would do great harm If long continued." The world has been forced to reckless buying by the emergencies of the war, and whatever was nec essary for carryingytfn the war, the governments have bought. Civili zation itself was at stake, and we did not stop to apply accounting methods. But "reconstruction" is in large degree a business matter, to be carried out by private enter prise, even though aided by govern ment credit. Only a government can afford to make expenditures that will not pay—and governments cannot do it indefinitely. We may expect heavy buying to continue of foodstuffs and things necessary for the life and health of the peoples of Europe, but the buying of materials to be used in construction, manu facturing, railroading, or other op erations of that kind may bo expect ed to proceed on a hand-to-mouth basis until prices have dropped suf ficiently to induce businessmen to feel that a fairly stable Jevel has been reached, i Much of the consumption demand of the American people, repressed by war time prices, will be effective as prices go lower. The past un satisfied demand for food and day by day luxuries, for much clothing and many other things, is water i which has gone under the mill. It j will never affect future prices. Rut j part of that pust demand for cloth- I Ing remains. And there is doubtless a large volume of deferred demand for household furnishings, pianos, automobiles, etc., which only awaits lower prices to become effective With the releuse moreover, of the current production of steel, copper, und other basic raw materials, now so largely devoted to war purposes, and with the relekse of large num bers of laborers now engaged in war work, a substantial amount of tho most urgent construction work will ■ begin, while with the decline in wages and prices of supplies, we may expect a very great volume of construction work to be promptly undertaken, keeping laborers and plants actively employed. Falling Prices Stimulate Demand There is nothing in the argument above to justify the suggestion-that a period of slack industry must in tervene. There is a tremendous vol ume of unsatisfied demand waiting for both labor and goods at lower prices. There is. in fact, a scale of demand prices both for labor and for goods at which supplies will be taken off the market as they come. A given manufacturer will take on ten more men if he can get them at a slight reduction of wages. If he can get them at a lower wage, he will take on twenty. If he can get them at a still lower wage, he will take on thirty. With copper and steel at present prices, he will buy only 'moderate amounts; but with each drop in the prices of these i commodities, he will increase the i amounts which he is ready to pur chase. As prices drop, the more ur i gent demands will be satisfied first, and then as prices drop etill fur ther, less urgent demands will be , satisfied. When levels that are ex ' pected to be reasonably stable are . reached, a very great volume of de : mand will take up all supplies that ; come Into the market. No arbt . trary action should be taken to hus i ten this process, but none should bo , taken to Impede it. In the Interests of active business, it is desirable that this relatively . stable level should be speedily i reached, and it is undesirable that I ! palliative methods should he psed ■ i unless actual unemployment - ap i | pears. i I Summary. In summary: Artificial control of . j business and Vriqes should be dis . j pensed with as rapidly us possible, iI At the earliest possible date, the . | business man should be Tree to i ; make his plans and contracts with i 1 reference to accounting principles . | ruther than under government dt t; rectlon. Neither price-fixing no? a . i forced expansion of credits cun pre l 1 vent the fall in prices which the re . j turn to peace conditions inevitably 0 ] Involves, nor would they be desir able If they could. If prices could Ibe artificially sustained, It would I merely mean a period of hesitation I and increasing strain. As they de ! cline • naturally, however, we shall see the emergence of successive strata of demand which have been submerged by war-time prices, and the transition of peace-time price levels will be relatively painless. This will be particularly true since current stocks of goods are light, and since the of the forced draft under which production has been proceeding will make possible large economies and increasing ef ficiency which will make it unneces sary for either profits or wages to f&U as rapidly as prices fall. There remains, however, a large spheres for governmental action by ordinary commercial methods in the expansion of public expenditure of various kinds, as prices go lower and if unemplo.viiient should ap pear. World's Greatest Pproblem [Mark Sullivan in Collier's Weekly.] Anyone with an open mind who goes deeply into the huge volume of | argument about the League of Na tions comes out with a feeling of diffidence. For one thing, we don't know yet Just what the league is to be. Wo can't tell what things it will include until the debates in the peace conference have thrashed it i out. What is said by a recent cir cular of the National City Bank of New York is a literal fact: 'This de cision that the world must make re garding the future among nations is the most tremendous problem in political economy that the world ever knew." I And that is just where the diffl- I culty lies. Primarily, the League of 1 { Notions is an institution to prevent I j future wars. So far as that aspect I of its goes, as the Betroit Saturday ! Night says, "that the heart and ! mind of humanity aro set on it is | undeniable." But the League of Na ! tions involves also the biggest prob lem of the pence time relations of | the peoples of the earth with each ' other that has ever been brought | before the world. And on this lat > ter aspect of it, anyone who can | take n final position on it In advance i of those peace conference delibcra ! tions which alone can reveal what j the details are, Is more self confi dent than the writer of this article finds it possible to be. The truth is, whether we go in or stay out, America Is bound to be In the new world a figure of unim agined poifrer, moral and material. In any future war the contestants will do exactly as they did in this: They will appeal to our moral Judg f I ment, and in future cases, as in the ' : present case, the side whose moral I position we approve will be known to be the winner from the moment we draw the sword, t And, as to preventing future wars I and bringing in an era of permanent ■ peace, 1 ftnd the last wofd in one of ■ the most obscure but thoughtful pa ' pcrs in the United States, the Vil i' lager, published at Katonali, N Y. f jjpnraphrased somewhat, this preg -1 I nnnt utterance Is: "The league of 31 Nations cannot offer mankind se • I curity; nothing can. It is watchful- I I ness alone which is our strength. If II the League of Nations has not be -3 | bind it Jhe gathering force of cen -3 turios of tendency, and ahead of it t . the complete determination of man -1 kind, then it is a mere device." 1 I i | Make Bells From Hun Guns e I J. Marion Shull, a Washington I artist, writes as follows to the Bos jton Transcript: ! Silent are the church towers of; ' IFlander and Artois, the belfries of: B Douai and Bruges, They have been; . robbed of their treasures, those bells! e i that for hundreds of years have . I pealed forth the hopes and aspira titions of the surtounding country . | side. These bells have suffered . i desecration, their noble metal recast 0 ! for purposes of war and their erst i while melodious tongues constrained 1 ,to speak the raucous tones of battle J in behalf of the barbarian hosts. y i But, now that it is within our t! power, let us give them back to clvl -1 'ligation. From the metal of cap . I tured enemy cannon let there be cast j the most wonderful carillon bells of which the world's best makers f are capable, and let these be dupll . Icatod in sufficient numbers that the .. ] capital city of each of the great e ' Allied nations may be provided with 0 a set of these "Peace Bells." The ! architects of all the world would s ; vie with one another to see. that in -leach of these cities should arise a 1 .magnificent bell tower to house this -jcarillon, a splendid example of lit-! -.ting architecture, worthy of the I H theme commemorated. liming (Mf at Rapid progress In the preliminar ies for the co-operation of the State of Pennsylvania and the City ol Harrlsburg In the construction ol the Commonwealth's Memorial Bridge to the Boldlers and sallore ol Pennsylvania In the great war hai been made this last weelt and the co-operation of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which will pass under twc of the spans of the monumental structure has been assured. Th city authorities have enacted legis lation to make funds available foi changes of two of the botfhdary I streets on the Capitol Park Including the extension and a committee ol * real estate experts is making esti mates of possible damages. The making of the detailed plans for the landscaping and terracing is undet way. One of the flrst of the projects to be undertaken will be the im provement of the western front ol the Capitol for which an early ap propriation will be'asked. This la in the unfinished condition In which It was left In 1906 and It is planned to enlarge the plaza and change the terrace and then construct the for-, mal entrance to the State House, as Arnold W. Brunner, the architect, has styled it. The Memorial bridge, however, will be the big thing, and soon after Governor-elect William C. Sproul takes office the model and plan will be shown him. The Gov ernor is ex-officio chairman of the Board of Public Grounds and Build ings, which will have charge of the state's end of the project. The en actment of an ordinance to submit to the people of Harrlsburg the Question of transferring the loan for the Walnut street bridge to the con struction of approaches to the Me morial bridge Will be taken up by the city councils early in the new year. , . , Trapping of quail and ring-necked pheasant so that they can be fed and cared for during the winter and lib erated in the spring in districts where the birds have become very scarce is to be encouraged by the ! State Game Commission and It is ! likely that a guarantee of cost of feed and possibly something In the way of bonus for care will be al lowed. There has been talk of pay j Ing a stipulated sum for each bird, | but nothing has been announced on ' this subject, and it may not be done. I i However, people interested in wild I I life enough to trap the birds can 1 jbe assured of the cost of feeding ! upon giving notice to the game yrp -1 ;tectors and agreeing to have the ' j birds liberated under supervision of 1 ithe state in the spring. In some coun- N ' ties of the state the quail were al ! Imost wiped out by the severe weath ' ler of last winter, Just as were the " | snows. This fall there have been '!a number of quail taken and the i rabbits which were caught by the ! 'state authorities have shown forms 'I of traps for the birds. A number of ' 'boys have engaged in this work and 1 have shown much interest. The sug ' igestlon Is that wheat, buckwheat or ' cracked corn be fed to the trapped birds. The point Is that game pro tectors should be notified promptly. • • • A movement is growing up In the 1 state to have the National Guard ) regiments which will be erected out f of the Reserve Militia when the Guardsmen of the Keystone Division " come home and many of them re f enter state service, as Is expected, t given their old numbers and loca , tions as far as possible. The state authorities are very carefully main taintng the armories and a bill Is 5 being prepared for an extension of t the Militia until it will include at least three more regiments of in " fantry. This would be enough to f have "a unit in every place where - there Is an armory, owned or leas . Ed, and the state has the money to equip the men without feeling It. This Reserve Militia could be con -1 tinued until the Guardsmen are mus -1! tered out and men from the Key- I stone, Rainbow and National Army i divisions from , Pennsylvania who " ■ would want to enter the state serv f! ice could do so. It Is very evident *' here that instead of the National 1 j Guard of Pennsylvania being wiped out by the war that it Is to be recon -1 ! stituted and that an effort o have s j historic designations, lost when the " ' organizations went Into Federal serv : ice, bestowed on units and regiments ' from their localities will be made. 1 It is also intimated that the new 1 regiments will not only have the : names of the old. but some of the new and have the names of battles I on flags. , , • t The old State Capitol of Pennsyl- I vnnla was burned on Ground Hog day in 1897. There are still some „ „ old Hnrrisburgers who lnvoluntar „ i|y turn at Front and State and Sec ond and State in going by State f street. Do you know the reason. B Next time you see some one do 11 : ask why. | WELL KNOW PEOPLE | —David A. Keed, Jr., who served as chairman of the State Commis sion which drafted the compensation act, is now a major in army service in France. He is a prominent at torney of Pittsburgh. -—James Francis Burke, formei Congressman, is making speechei for the war savings stamp movement in Western counties. —George H. Earie, Jr., the Phil adelphia banker, lias most of hll sons and sons-in-law In the army. —The Rev. Dr. James B. Ely, well known asdn charge of varioui churches in Philadelphia, Is back in that city aftet some tours of th army camps, where he did welfari W - k Col. H. R. Laird, the Williams, port publisher, presided at th Christmas ceremony of the Templari at Williamsport on Wednesday. Eugene H. Fellows, well knowt i here, will bo secretary of the Asso i elated Charities of Lackawanni i county. He has been secretary ol the county council of defense. [ DO YOU KNOW 1 —That some cities far away from Harrlsburg get tiiclr bread from this city? HISTORIC HARRISBURG When the old State Capitol wai dedicated the whole town marchef to the Capitol as escort to the Legl lature. AN INVALUABLE BOOK Every Journalist should be familial with the Old and the New Testament especially with Jeremiah and Jol and with tho Gospels. The Bible it often a wonderful help in an argu !ment, giving you a suggestion or texl Ithat is admirable and effective.— YoungstowA Vindicator. 0
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers