8 HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH A. NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOME Founded 1831 Published evenings except Sunday by THE. TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO. Telegraph Building, Federal Sgaare E. J. STACKPOLE President and Editor-in-Chief F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager GUS. M. STEINMETZ. Managing Editor A. R. MICHEXER, Circulation Manager Execatlve Beard J. P. McCULLOUGH, BOYD M. OGLESBY, F. R. OYSTER, GUS. M. STEINMETZ. Members of the Associated 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 news pub lished herein. AJI rights of republication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. I Member American Newspaper Pub- Bureau of Circu lation and Penn- Assocla- Eastern office. Story. Brooks A Avenue Butldlnr. Western office' Story, A I Chfcago, !li" Entered at the Post Office in Harris burg, Pa., as second class matter. By carrier, ten cents a GHSj&YSJiSE* week; by mail, $3.00 a ewBA year In advance. The greatest evils are from within us; and from ourselves also we must look for our greatest good.—Jeremy Taylor. MONDAY JANUARY 27, 191* A DEAD ISSUE THE New York World, defender of "booze" and Democracy, at last has gotten its anti-prohl bltion fight off the first page, but it continues to bore its readers with such headlines as "Maine people make whisky in home distilleries" and "Prohibition Bolshewism." The World is whisky's forlorn hope in the newspaper world. It Is a voice from a parched throat cry ing in the great American desert. Its wails of distress only serve to em phasize its loneliness. It is quarrel ing over a dead issue. John Barley corn is a corpse in the sun, deserted even by his former boon companions who are turning their attention to giving another the place in their businesses he so long occupied. Only the World remains to weep over his decomposing remains. The World pretends to fear that if prohibition is allowed to stand it will be only a question of time until the people vote to confiscate the railroads of the country. This is drawing a long bow even for a bar room argument, but the World must choose between the American form of government and one less respon sive or admit that whatever a ma jority of American voters want bad ly enough they will get, be it the railroads or the World itself. Of course, -we do not believe the good thinking people will want what Is not justly theirs. That is the safety of the American plan—the good sense and honesty of the bulk of the voters. They may be depended tipon to do the right thing most of the time and to correct their errors in a reasonable time after discov ering them. They know they can have what they want when they want it and that makes them rea sonable, even careless—so careless indeed that they often postpone for years matters that ought to demand their immediate attention. Then sud denly they come to their senses and at a single election clear the table with one sweep. It has been so with prohibition, but having wrecked the bar-rooms we see no reason to fear that they are going to reach out and grab a few railroads without at least .paying for them. If it had been possible for Dr. Gar field to have had his "heatless days" this year. Instead of last, we wouldn't have minded so much. LET THEM RETURN SOLDIERS having no employ ment are to be permitted to remain in the service beyond their time of discharge until they car. procure employment. And by the same token soldiers who have jobs awaiting them Bhould be dis charged upon request. Thousands of employers have held places for men who volunteered for the war. Many of these positions are being filled unsatisfactorily by substitutes. Business is suffering because of the unwillingness of employers to fill permanently the Jobs of men in uni form. There has been some talk of early discharges for such as these, hut no very definite action has been taken. ■ • For some reason we are not so much interested In Groundhog Day ga we were last year thla time. KILL THEM TIE county commissioners hav ing instructed the constables of the county to kill all unli censed dogs should see that the duty Is performed. The law Is clear on the subject. If the owner does not think enough of his dog to pay the necessary registration fee the ani mal should be put out of the way. Stray dogs or those uncared for by their owners are a menace to the community, dangerous to man and ibeast. Tfyey should be put out of the MONDAY EVENING, HZSIUSBtmG tfißb ITEEGHXPHi JANUARY 27, 1919. • way' if for no othr reason than that they kill sheep. The State dog law was framed with this protec tion for sheep raisers in mind. Re move all dangerous dogs and sheep growing will assume its proper pro portions in Pennsylvania. It is shameful that are farms are bare of sheep in order that a few thousand worthless curs may roam unmo lested. "The Portuguese Cabinet is quit ting," says a news flash. Again, or still? A SUBSTITUTE DR. S. EARLY TAYLOR discuss ing the alma of the Metbodlat church for the reconstruction period, sounds this warning note which churchmen of every denomi nation would do well to consider; This year the churches of America abolished the saloon. We are Jubilant over the victory; but if we do not do something more than Jubilate, our victory Will be a hollow one. This vic tory has brought us face to face with new responsibilities and the churches of America must not be slackers. We must till the place of the saloon in the nation's social life. The churches must be kept open seven days a week. They must attract and inspire and render useful service. More and more, at home and abroad, tl\e great masses of God's children must be shown that it is the function of the Christian Church to serve their needs, not simply to issue holy pronouncements. If We do not answer these human needs at home, the millions who have been deprived of drink may be expected to turn to other forms of vice—and if we do not rise to our present opportunities in the world at large we cannot claim the promise of peace on earth and good will among men. Right, Dr. Taylor, precisely right! There must be some substitute for the saloon. The moving picture the aters are preparing to take in some of the overflow. Why should the churches not do something to get their share? Churchmen, very properly, have fought whisky tooth and nail for years. But the mere abolition of the saloon Is negative progress. The church cannot be merely destructive of evil; It must fight vice constructively by provid ing counter-attractions. We may as well recognize the fact that men and women do not M-ant to be forever the objects of sermons, hoM-ever beneficial sermons may be. They demand recreation, amusement and the society of their fellows. The thousands of com munity houses and neighborhood clubs springing up all over the country, are an admission of this truth and attest to the need. Many a man goes to the saloon because there is no place else to go. Close the door of the saloon and you leave him in a receptive mood for Mhat ever substitute is offered. Dr. Taylor says Methodists realize this, and are going to make an earn est effort to meet the emergency. He adds: The old system of church exten sion in the rural communities will largely be abandoned. In stead of building little meeting houses, to be opened once a M-eek M-hen weather permits and a S3OO a year pastor can be sup plied, there will be in effort to build large institutional churches in the charge of competent and well salaried executives. not merely as places in which to sing hynins and pray, but as all around social centres and general head quarters of community service. These churches M-ill be open con tinousiy, day and evening; will contain modern libraries and modern agricultural* exhibitions, moving pictures, a first-aid hospi tal and dispensary, perhaps, end every possible aid to the sorinl and educational life of the nd jacent territory. Anything, in city or country, M-liich performs so cial service M-ill he considered a legitimate part of Methodist mis sionary M-ork hereafter, and the Methodists are very certain that these services will be welcomed. Churches every where have the biggest opportunity for service in the saloonless days just ahead that ever has been offered, and It will be their own fault if they do not take advange from it to their own benefit and that of society in general. Bolshevisim wanes throughout Ger many," says Von Bernstorff, but It's hard to choose between the Bolshe vikl and the Bernstorffs. ROOSEVELT DAY i FEBRUARY 9 has been set aside aa Roosevelt Day, when the peo ple of the United States will pay tribute to this great American. Even President Wilson, who refused the Colonel opportunity to serve his country during the war, has laid aside personal feelings and has en dorsed the movement for a national memorial service. Men of all poli tical creeds and beliefs acknoM-ledge the patriotism, the honesty and the courage of Theodore Roosevelt and the whole country will join in hon oring his memory. ■* This national observance is the first evidence of the fact now gen erally apparent that Roosevelt dead la even a greater and more potent force in the life and affairs of the nation than Roosevelt alive; which is to say that his tenets and teach ings will have more influence with Americans in the great Reconstruc tion period upon which we are now entering than those of any other American, living or dead. His figure looms larger every hour on the national horizon. His last essays and editorials sound the key note that American statesmen must attune themselves to if they are to make the most of the opportunities with which they are now con fronted. The Rooseveltian democracy Is pure American democracy. It em-' braces the highest and the lowest and would provide a "square deal" for all. and that sums up In two words precisely what Americans will demand In the future to a much greater degree-than In the past. Honesty In government will not be enough. There must also be progress toward the elimination of poverty, greater opportunity for the Individual and better livinr condl- tions for everybody. That la wfiat Roosevelt taught and it is what is in the minds of the people. Further more, that is what they are going to have. And that is why Roosevelt looms larger and larger in the pub lic mind. fUitUi. IK . fuwMAjtcanZa Bjr the T"~r frtnniiiui niasß " Governor Sprout's remark at Philadelphia the other day that he thought the time had arrived to P ace the granting of appropriations y the State of Pennsylvania to hos pitals and similar Institution not wholly under state control on a definite "service rendered" basis is ?II lggest thing in Pennsylvania annorH^ today ' 14 ,8 * r eater than the Legislatmfl! . i °i f places in the nhfht nnn W J? ,ch wi " b to- wb ich seems to be dis- Imnlrt.™?,?' People and it is more aTniftor- appointments which all £ ? others. It may affect Certainlv ?" befor ® this session. I . 1 affordgan oppor thM"nv'° r V s experienced man in i^i-°if rnor " chalr t0 demonstrate """ wh7^. h IPhlladelphlal Phlladelphla Public Ledger, thinJ has crusaded every now and tb ® appropriation system nni. C< L r . v n Democratic news erßwhich raise a howl and then Democratic legislators ar ' B ® „ w ' th appropriation bills in their fists, says that if the new Gov ernor can reform this system "he wui nave performed a service to the 11 -t Incalculable importance morally, financially and politically, other newspapers are more or less guaded in their comments. But it seems to be generally agreed that , J" e "l° r a t l° n to the State Board wht u.l Charities of the powers ?! % was intended to have and Toi?7 waß thou Slht in 1915 and 1917 it was going to get again would be a satisfactory start. „ Tj >eath of Congressman E. E. Rob bins, of the Westmoreland- Butler district, means that a special election will have to be held this spring because eVery congressman . 1l. ed ? d t0 represent Pennsylvania at Washington now. The Governor will issue the writ for .this election u nlke the senatorial elections, which will be announced bv the Lieutenant-Governor. The Greens burg congressman, who Mas a colo nel in the Spanish war, served as State Senator and Mas well knonn here. —The Philadelphia Press in dis cussing the events of the Meek here remarks upon the harmony in poli tical and meteorological matters and expresses gratification at the prog ress in regard to the prohibition amendment and the discussion of election reforms, notably the non partisan Judicial election. in the course of an article by Odell Hauser on the direct primary law he says: "There are several faults. One of the most conspicuous is the "alpha betical" candidate evil. It is well known that voters will not go over their whole list of candidates care fully, but tend to put a cross thoughtlessly opposite the top names of a column when they are unfamil iar with the candidates. Since the names on our ballot are arranged alphabetically, it is evidenbThat the men whose names begin with A or B or one of the first letters of the alphabet have a great advantage. 'We have a fellow over in Chester,' said Governor Sproul once when he was discussing this subject, 'who ought to be a world-beater If he ever gets started running for office.- His name is Aaron Aab.' " Judge John M. Garman, once Democratic state chairman, one of the picturesque figures in Pennsyl vania politics, especially Democratic until he became a Judge, is to run again. The Luzerne judge, whose flaying of the Democratic reorgan ization bosses has been a treat to people in Dauphin and sixty-six other counties every now and then, is declared by tlie Philadelphia In quirer to be preparing to battle with all comers. He made his peace M-lth the Lenahans by endorsing Charles B. Lenahan for Supreme Court, but the Inquirer says the Palmer croM-d headed by the Mc- Leans and Kirkendall will fight him. The Republicans M-ill naturally have a candidate in the field, —Judge Gustave A. Endlich, of Berks, Mhose term, by the May, ex pires this year and M-ho will run for a fourth term, has handed down an opinion in M-hich he gives judgment to the plaintiff in the suit of a form er director of the poor, Charles D. Shirk, against the poor directors and County Controller Rhodes and upholds the act of May, 1917, in creasing the salaries of the poor directors from SI,OOO to $1,500 a year. The suit is of interest to many counties. —lt is not often that a Governor's inaugural address is taken as adver tising matter. Yet the reference in Governor Sproul'a speech to auto mobiles and the needs of the high ways is being run almost entirely by one of the big motor vehicle com panies as something that the people should know about. —The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times remarks, "Hury, Pennsylvania, or New York will beat you to ratifica tion." —According to Philadelphia newspapers there is little doubt of ex-Speaker Richard J. Baldwin suc ceeding Governor Sproul in the Sen ate. And neither is there much about Frank A. Smith in Dauphin. —From all accounts Governor Sproul got a great reception from the Pennsylvania Society at its din ner in New York om Saturday night. He was greeted with heartiness by men from every part of Pennsyl vania. —ln discussing the Sproul mes sage, which seems to grow in favor the more people read it, the Phila delphia Bulletin says: "The message is long, but the major and essential portion of It will repay the reading. Tt seems to sound the keynote of an administration which will be run along the lines of both political and official common sense." D. A. Moore, the new burgess of Beaver, holds the offices of chief of the fire department of the bor ough and is also county auditor. First operation of the, prohib itory legislation will be to material ly reduce the fees of prothonotarles. They are feeling It already In the anthracite region. Altoona dispatches tell that the people of the Mountain City are very well satisfied with the opera tions of the first year under the city manager plan. This is a tribute to H G. Hinkle, the civil engineer made manager. The improvement in handling finances and welfare work as well as a city plan are the chief things which have won com mendation. Lehigh's income during 1918 waa almost SBOO,OOO and it is no wonder that the depository system lis being looked Into by authorities. WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND ByBRICGS He Re You /' ~ / . SWee.TH£ART ' MAIMA ' ' / | / has Beew so .worried 1 / I OVER HER UTTLe OOY - \ f A \ / ;i Are You wARhA Petty I I \ / 1 LAMB ? ARE You J I LAMB/ . \ / ) V HAVING A" Nice TibAE / " \I / ] with Your little ) / —j (3kjT-J \ REAL GOVERNOR AT LAST ! (From the Philadelphia Inquirer.) Pennsylvania has a real Governor at last. For four years the state has been puzzled by the queer mix ture of statesmanship, near-states manship and much that was far re moved from statesmanship of any kind or quality whatever that has controlled the administration at Harrisburg. It would not be true to say that Governor Brumbaugh M-as a dismal failure. Neither n*ould it be true to say tkat he M-as a suc cess. He did some things M-ell. Not many, but some. Nevertheless, the Btate will turn with relief from him to Governor Sproul. For Brumbaugh was a distinct disappointment. It M-as a mistake, of course, to expect genuinely sat isfactory service from one whose training had been the schools. A man may be a good school teacher, which Doctor Brumbaugh unques tionably M-as, but a man whose pro fession is to instruct the young may not have the qualifications de sirable in the executive of a great state. Governor Brumbaugh lacked those qualifications. It M-as not astonishing, therefore, that hq should become the victim of intrig uing politicians. His career at Har risburg M-as of a political nature— of a partisan nature, rather. He called around him men Mhose chief obects Mere to build up a partisan machine. Of course, the state suf fered as a result. Doctor Brum baugh M-as not the Governor of the commonwealth so much as he M'as the tool of cunning political mas ters. Pennsylvania is facing the seri ous problem of finding itself after the upheavals which the war has produced. The situation is such that It cannot be met by a theorist in the grip of designing politicians. There is needed a man in the ex ecutive chair M-ho is thoroughly conversant M-ith all the great ques tions which affect the state, a man who knows what to do and hoM* to do it and who cannot be dominated by partisan motives. The Inquirer was the first journal to advocate the nomination of Sen ator Sproul for the Governorship. Thoroughly believing that he was the one man throughout the com monwealth best fitted for the high position, it entered heartily into the campaign for him. Today, with the first few days of his administration now a matter of record, it is con vinced that it made no error of Judgment. His appointments have been high class. His inaugural ad dress breathed a spirit of sincerity and a desire to serve, not politicians not partisanship, but the people as a whole. He has begun well and the out look is for an administration of ex ceeding force, capability and effici ency. LABOR NOTES Hawaii has over 50 sugar mills. Tailors in Japan are paid at the rate of $1.95 a day. Cleveland firemen are now work ing on an eight-hour-day basis. A great number of Dutch work men who were recently discharged by the Krupp gun works at Essen, Germany, have been re-engaged and have returned to the plant, where they are now busy constructs rail way material. The London Society of Composi tors has granted the sum of $2,500 to the Labor War Memorial of Free dom and Peace in support of the scheme promoted in the Trade Union Congress. In Lancashire, England, the ma jority of workers in the textile trade are women, who also form a major ity of the trade union membership and receive the same rates of pay for the same work as men. In China most of the M-ork of cleaning and tying hog bristles, used In the manufacture of brushes, is done by women, who receive from 5 to 6 cents a day. . MANY CHANGES IN CITY LA WS TO COME BEFORE LEGISLATURE TWO constitutional amendments and t nine or ten bills to change provisions of the Clark third class city code have been prepared by the legislative committee of the league of Third Class Cities for submission to the Legislature. Some of these bills will appear early in the coming week and they are back ed by the legislative committee headed by ex-Mayor Ira W. Stratton. of Reading, and the committee of city solicitors of which James A. Gardner, of New Castle, is chair man. The Pennsylvania League of Boroughs will also co-operate with the third class city advocates of leg islation and will ask hearings early in the session on their bills. First and foremost will be the so-called "home rule"amendment to the constitution which will seek to add to the city incorporation clause these words, among others "cities or cities of any particular class, may be given the right and power to frame and adopt their own charters and to exercise the powers and au thority of local self-government, subject, however, to such restric tions, limitations and regulations as may be imposed by the Legislature." There is a further provision that laws affecting the government of cities and boroughs shall become ef fective "only when submitted to the electors thereof and approved by' a majority of those voting thereon. Mr. Stratton who was here look ing after matters in connection with the'legislation that he felt that this amendment would do away with much of the complaints which have been heard from time to time. Bills having this object have appeared Jrom time to time. In the event that a constitutional commission is pro vided for this matter will be brought to the attention of its members. The other amendment gives the Legislature power to classify coun ties, cities boroughs, school districts "QUELLE CROIX?" I said that the Russian women were all meek in appearance. There was one exception. A woman of sharp, eager face, as a zealot, with a gray shawl over her head, seeing me standing near the door, ap proached me and said in rather sharp voice, speaking in French, "Quelle Croix?" What cross? I did .not at first understand the import of her inquiry, though I realized that she was puting to me an all important question. "Quelle Croix?" "Grecque ou Latine?" (What cross do you make, that of the Greek Church or of the Latin Church? that is, from left to right or from right to left?) My answer was "La Croix Rouge." the Red Cross. And that is the answer which the Croix Rouge, the Red Cross, is to make to people of every race and sect. It is the sign of mercy universal, the sign not of Christian faith, but of human broth erhood. America has given the Red Cross its widest scope of meaning and illustration. And here in Pales tine, of all lands in the world, where religious partisanship is most bitter, where the world's alms have been asked for the sake of Christ, Mo hammed and Abraham —here above all places is the Red Crosd needed to help unite all and to illustrate the best methods of this universal mercy.—From The Red Cross in Pal estine, by John Finley in Asia Mag azine for January. OPPORTUNITY They do me wrong who say I come no more When once I knock and fail to llnd you in; % For every day I stand outside your door And bid you wake and rise to light and win. Wail not for precious chances passed away! Weep not for golden ages on the wane! Each night I burn the records of the day, At sunrise every soul is born again. Waiter Maloye. and townships. Counties, cities and chool districts cannot be divided in to more than seven classes and bor oughs into more than five. There are now three classes of cities, the Supreme Court having years ago refused to approve any more. There are no classifications of counties and four classes of school, districts exist. Classification of boroughs, which range in Pennsylvania from 25,000 lo 250 population, has long been sought in this state. Briefly stated the acts of assem bly to be asked M-ill amend various features of the third class city code of 1913. They include right to provide by ordinance for: Pension of city employes serving tM-enty years or more and reach ing the age of 70. Municipal garbage collection. Optional civil service instead of mandatory in certain lines. . Suits against cities to be started | M ithin ninety days, i Relief from the four mill tax on | municipal bonds (boroughs includ ed), which may be issued for com- I pulsory public improvements, such as streets, sewers, bridges, etc. Return of a share of automobile j licenses to cities where originating, | the funds to be used for street main tenance. Local taxation of public utilities | for fire and police purposes. Authority to issue serial bonds, ! payable in one year instead of five. Authorizing Public Service Com mission to suspend rates M-hen com : plaint is made. j It is probable that the borough i league M-ill have a program of Its ! own, but in some instances it M-ill | co-operate M-ith the third class city | people. It is also the plan of the j municipal authorities, in event that ! a constitutional commission is au- I thorized, to ask representation for the smaller cities and boroughs. , VIRGINIA j The carrying away 'by the Ger | mans of 11,000 young girls from j Lille, 5,000 of them between the ages of 13 and 17. has inspired the following verses, credited to "Mary," I in the New York Evening Sun: J Virginia, Virginia, I see you every where; * Your step is light along the street, your laugh is on the air, A fragrance floats around you, a bright and gentle grace; In you there moves embodied the music of the race. - Virginia. Virginia, my heart is turned to dust, Conjecturing your agony, alone with Hate and Lust; > Too delicate and Innocent for touch of common men, Compelled to be the slave of brutes and kennel in their den! Virginia, Virginia, the time can nev er be When I will take their hands in mine and speak forgivingly! Though famine, sword and pestilence devour them, root and stem. For all their craven whimpering I will not pity them! WILL SHOOT INTO SPACE [From the Scientific American] In a detailed scientific discussion of the German long range gun which bombarded Paris last spring, Major J. Maltland-Addtson, writing in the Journal of the Royal Artillery, takes a peep into the future and considers the possibility of a gun capable of shooting projectiles entirely off the [ earth into space, a la Jules Verne. The requisite velocity of such a gun j is not , he says, so very much higher j than what has already been , achieved; viz., a muzzle velocity of a mile per second. When we are I able to increase this to five miles per the projectile, if fired at a lsuital>le angle, wilt travel around the . earth as a grazing satellite, complet ing Its orbit bctweeen seventeen and i eighteen times daily. With a velocity j of about seven miles a second, it will Amove off into Bpace, never to return. Degeneration of a Noble Race [From the New York Times] Defeat has brought to Germany what her cultural leaders used to tell her people would be the ultimate and deepest infamy, a process of Americanization. In Coblenz the other day German girls were dis covered polishing the boots of Amer ican soldiers, and in many an hon est Rhenish household there were groans of anguish at this degrading enslavement of German womanhood. For German officers, in the days be fore the war, to push women out,of the way as they passed by, for the German paterfamilias to walk before the wife who carries the bundles — i these things were right and proper, j part of time-honored German cul ture. But for Cferman girls to polish the boots of the invader—this was outrage inconceivable. However, it was soon discovered that a thrifty citizen of Coblonz had .discovered the American liking for resplendent footwear, and had open ed up his own shoe-shining parlor with girl help, (perhaps because he could get them at a lower wage,) so it was not American tyranny at all, but German business. Another imitation of American custom must, of course, have been the high-hand ed ineusures adopted to abolißh Lieb knecht and Luxemburg. One of the German comic weeklies only last August got out What might have been called a special lynching num ber, in which practically all the space was devoted to this American pastime. A full-page illustration showed a scaffold erected in. Wall street, with skyscrapers towering all about, and harsh-faced-persons in cowboy costume in the act of lynch ing a mild-mannered German, while silk-hatted plutocrats and ladles of fashion crowded in to applaud. It was notorious in Germany at that time that hundreds. If not thousands, of Germans had been so treated, and the prevalence of lynch law was deemed the worst of the innumer able abominable traits which Ger man observers found in the Ameri can character. If, then, the Ger mans adopt lynching themselves, it can only be in the pathetic effort to win our friendship and In the firm conviction that less strenuous meas ures than imitation are of no avail. One of these weaker measures is chronicled in dispatches from the zone of occupation—the issuance of souvenir watchfobs on which the Stars and Stripes encircle the Iron Cross. This pretty memento does not seem to be having much of a sale. No wonder the Germans are driven to extreme and distasteful methods in order to win our esteem. They have blown up our factories, sunk our ships, drowned our women and children, bombed our hospitals, tried to stir rebellion among our people, lied to our government, reviled ev ery trait of our character, tried to partition our territory, and finally distributed ornaments on which our most sacred emblem is united with theirs; and still we do not love them, if, after all this, they are driven to swallow their feelings and pretend that they like American customs, their motive for trying to win our favor must be an urgent one in deed. THE AMERICAN WAY (Front the Philadelphia Ledger) To European trade unionists and labor leaders accustomed to turning all labor movements into actual po litical parties, forming irreconcilable blocks or groups in the national leg islatures, the objection on the part of Mr. Gompers to that way of do ing things seems inexplicable. But Mr. Gompers, in deciding that the American Federation delegates shall not attend the political labor confer ence arranged for at Berne, Switzer land, at which all sorts of labor and socialistic party groups represent ing the leading countries will be present, is acting according to Btrlct trade union and sound American principles. Just as the early separation of Church and State here has made It un-American as well as Impolitic for church communions to form actual political groups, as they do all over Europe, so the national labor lead ers representing unionism here have wisely refrained from setting up defi nite and open labor parties in the various State Legislatures and in Congress. Tho American theory is that all citizens are entitled to the service of the representatives of all parties and that special interests do not require actual party organiza tions to get redress or gain certain ends. The churches, for instance, can ask proper legislation from any party in the minority; can use the minority as their spokesman, too, and this is true of the labor move ment. The amazing success of the prohi bition campaign, which used all par ties, shows the folly of the Prohibi tion party movement, which was never taken seriously, since the iev olutionary results in favor of the prohibition amendment have come from the two great parties of the country responding almost equally to the wishes of their constituents. In Europe, however, representation is not so free and easy a matter, consequently, both Labor and the; i Church are still convinced over there that they must be specifically rep resented by party groups to achieve anything. This is the view which is back of the HO-called Labor Confer ence at Berne, while the American view, as expressed by Mr. Gompers, who has won the English trade unionist over to his attitude, is that labor should meet Internationally in Paris as sheer labor organizations and not as political organizations, though he recognizes that such a gathering during the Peace Confer ence is the greatest opportunity that organized labor has ever had to de fine its general aims. In the end, the general demands of labor on all countries will receive quicker atten tion if the American methods are followed than if tho European sys tem of small political groups agi tating jn assemblies for special rights be adopted. They'd Like Him Overdone We imagine that Senator LaFol lette would have quite a warm wel come in Europe, too, if he could find time to run across, because of his fixed idea that the foreigner is al ways right and America always wrong.—Grand Rapids Press. No Persistence at All Our idea of an impatient man is one who gets discouraged after fol lowing perfectly good rabbit tracks only ten miles.—From the Bt. Joseph Gazette. TO M. G. L. I can see men Who have lived and dared Knowing the price, Maimed But oh, The sight of a little girl On crutches, Turps my heart sick. ANATOLE FELDMAN. Room 213 Commonwealth Trust Bldg., Harrisburg, Pa. lEopning (Eljat Folks about the Harrisburg Tels graph are accustomed to the re unions which occur every now and then either at the "Family Dinners," when former employes come back to visit the plant ugain and when youngsters come around again after service In the army or navy, but there has Just come to the chairman of the Harrisburg Telegraph branch of the Typographical Union the greetings of a man who was an apprentice over half a century ago. The letter comes from Joseph S. Umberger, a notary public at ChL ■ cago, who is one of the oldest sons of "Our Shop" and his letter well Illustrates the strength of the feel ing that exists among people who have been connected with the Har risburg Telegraph since it began to operate under the name "Telegraph" not so very far from a century ago. Mr. Umberger writes that on Janu ary 14, 1868, ho walked into the plant of the Harrisburg Telegraph, "a mere boy, a few days short of being thirteen years old," and start ed as a copyholder. "I started under the supervision of John Ferguson or 'Fergy' as we all loved to call him, and a good proofreader, too," writes this apprentice of fifty-one years ago in most pleasant reminiscent way, "And the foremanship of Samuel S. Green. 1 recall the following as the line-up of the old Harrisburg Tele graph at that time. George Berg ner, proprietor; James M. Miller, (the beloved 'Squire Miller of our later days) superintendent; General George W. Crabb, political editor; Samuel Barr and Wein Forney, con tributing editors; John Ingram, city editor or local editor, as he was then termed; Louis Weaver, press man; Will Weaver, his son, press feeder; William Stephens, foreman of the job department; Edward Russ, assistant foreman; Mr. Reed, Job compositor; Joseph Bufflngton, Job cylinder pressman; Samuel S. Green, foreman newspaper compos ing room; John Ferguson, assistant foreman and proofreader; Joseph Meek, slug 1; Samuel C. Weistllng, slug 2; Eugene Miller, slug 3; Rob ert Halbert, slug 4; Samuel Miller, slug 6; John Hoffman, chairman of chapel and slug 6; Thomas Jones, slug 7; Adelbcrt (Darby) McWil llams, slug 8; Gus Blacksmith (who is still with the Harrisburg Tele graph and its oldest employe), slug 9, and then there were George W. Bentz, John DellufT, Adolph Scholl, Charles Augustus Miller, known as "Waxy" and later legislator, city clerk and mayor of Harrisburg; Wil liam (Turk) Peters, Albert Neb inger, afterwards teller in the State Bank; Robert McCartney, (old slug 14) and as apprentices Charley Bergner, George Scheible, Jacob Stees, Joseph S. Umberger, John Solin then our old friend, Fred Schaffer, who conducted the Vater land Waechter for Mr. Bergner." He writes that John Zimmer man and his son Luther con ducted the circulation of the paper and he "carried a route" for two years before entering the office. "In fact," he writes, "I sold (he Telegraph at the depot and on the streets first in April, 1865, my first sale being an extra with the ac count of the assassination of Abra ham Lincoln. I was also a carrier of the old State Guard for a few months." History repeats itself. The Tele graph Printing Company is now issuing the Legislative Journal. This is what Mr. Umberger writes: "Dur ing the winter months (the legisla ture then met annually) we also, printed the Legislative Journal and the staff of shorthand reporters con sisted of Henry Mason, of New York, one of the best penmen it has ever been my luck to read after, and Thomas B. Cochran, who wrote hen scratches with a stub pen and was afterwards chief clerk of the Sen ate: both of these gentlemen looked after the Senate end. In the House, the only one I can now recall was my old friend, Col. Henry C. Dem ming, who I believe is still among the living." • * "At that time," continues this in teresting letter to the printers, "The Telegraph was located on Third street near Walnut, across the street from the old Hoffman House, which stood on the southeast corner of Third and Walnut (the site of the Penn-Harris) which was later razed and the Grand Opera House built in its place. Later the site at Third and Mirket was bought by Mr. Berg ner and we moved into the "mas sive" new building about 1873. I tell you we thought we were somo pumpkins when we got into that new building. We boys were not re quired to make lire any more in four big "cannon" stoves, but wo did have bigger rooms to sweep out every morning." Mr Umberger mentions in his let ter some of the men who were prom inent in printing and publishing in the vear when he started as an ap prentice. He recalls "Benjamin Slngerly, of the State Printing of fice; Theodore F. Scheffer and his two sons, George and Carl, I think they were called: William Seig. and then George W. Osier, foreman of the Patriot office, whose cousin, Thomas Osier, was one of my school I teachers: George or Reddy, Work, t John Currand and Benjamin F. Mey ers, the proprietor of the Patriot. In closing he says. "I see around me bovs whose fathers and grandfathers 1 worked with and for,in the old days. The business has been revolution ized, but I feel that I still in the harness. If you know of any o the old boys who are still in the land of the living you might let them read this letter and tell them 1 would appreciate a few lines from them. . . , The letter concludes "with best wishes for the dear, old Telegraph and its present force of To which the chairman of the Har risburg chapel and the n en a " ti women in all the departments re spond with greetings and wishes for more years of usefulness to the vet eran Of 18G8. \ WELL KNOWN PEOPLE "1 Ex-Speaker Richard J. Baldwin, who will likely he a senator soon, first entered the Legislature in 189,>, He used to be recorder of Dela ware county. , _ .. . —Councilman B. rank Ruth, of Reading, is out in opposition to the city manager plan for the Berks capital. , . W. T. Grier has resigned as sec retary of the anthracite committee of the fuel administration. He is one of the authorities on the trade. [ .DO YOU KNOW 1 —That Harrisburg lias grown to be a big provision distributing cen ter since, the war began? Historic Harrisburg The first successful street car line was started here at the close of the sixties.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers