16
HARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
A. VEWBPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1831
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE. TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
' Telegraph Building, Federal Sqaare
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
F. R. OYSTER, Business Manager
GUS. M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor
A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
J. P. McCULLOUGH,
BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMETZ.
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Associated Press is exclusively en
titled to the use for republication
of all news dispatches credited to
It or not otherwise credited in this
fiaper and also the local news pub
ished herein,
rights of republication of special
dispatches herein are also reserved.
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Entered at the Post Office In Harris
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By carrier, ten cents a
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year In advance.
FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1919
Think of your forefathers I Think
of .your prosperity! John ©uincy
Adams.
HAS A NEW MEANING
FOR thousands of young men and
women who formerly thought
of Memorial Day merely as a
holiday, the anniversary will have
a new meaning this year. Vast num
bers of the sturdiest and best of
American youth, who last year were
enjoying health and had high hopes
for the future, are lying this spring
beneath the flowering sod of France.
The poppies blow in Flanders fields
over their graves and their friends
will never see the places where they
lie asleep, much less lay a wreath
of mourning and remembrance each
spring upon their lowly tombs. But
if far away in fact they are very
near in thought and the coming of
Memorial Day will add to the ranks
of those faithful guardians of the
graves of our soldier dead, the Grand
Army of the Republic, throngs of
men and women who will see in the
occasion a significance and a solem
nity they never knew before. Hence
forth Memorial Day will be more
fittingly observed.
People are still wondering how
Harrisburg ever got along without
the Penn-Harris Hotel. Thousands of
people have passed through its hos
pitable doors since the opening day,
and it has developed as a great so
cial center. All of which is most
gratifying to the public-spirited men
and women who made possible this
hotel as a community enterprise.
WASHINGTON PROMISES
NOW that President Wilson and
his handyman, Postmaster
General Burleson, have decid
ed to let go of the hot end of the
telephone and telegraph poker, it
is interesting to hark back to the
halcyon days of last winter when
David I. Lewis, the Postmaster Gen
eral's wire director, was emitting
all sorts of promises about the cheap
telephone rates and super-service
which were to follow Government
operation of the telephone systems.
We were told that under Govern
ment control the possibility of a
one-cent automatic telephone system
throughout the country loomed up
strong. Competitive lines were to
be wiped out as In the case of the
railroads and there were to be great
savings in operating costs. Post
masters were to be the local man
agers of the telegraph and telephone
system and In every town and ham
let the people were assured that
the cost of local messages would
fall to one cent; that the huge over
head charge carried by the com
panies would be cut by consolida
tion and the public would benefit
directly from it; that using telephone
wires for telegraph message and vice
versa would result in enormous suv
ir.g.
There was much mystery in those
early days of 1919 concerning the
operation of the telephone lines,
but the Washington promise of one
cent telephone messages and all
sorts of cheaper service on the wire
systems almost clogged the wires
while Mr. Lewis and his chief talk
ed of the wonderful future of gov
ernment operation and ownership.
Then the curtain fell on the first
act and promptly went up for the
sedond. Instead of Lewis bringing
about a millennium in the operation
of the telephones he was soon re
tired as the right-hand man of Bur
leson on account of ill health. In
stead of reduced rates the alleged
reduction schedules which became
effective last January turned out to
be increases. The so-called sweep
ing redactions affected a few people
during the middle of the night on
the station to station basis and the
little Joker of oije-cent tolls under
government control was soon recog
nized by everybody.
An Idaho contemporary discuss
: lng the Burleson fiasco In the hand
i ling of the telephone and wire sys
tem dmlares that "even the old-
I fashioned game of draw a man
. ' *• % J *
FRIDAY EVENING, HAIUUSBWRG TELEGRAPH MAY 23, 1919.
j some chance of an even break."
And now a deceived public will
J watch with Interest the unfolding of
| the third act in the Burleson comedy
| of errors which has to do with the
j untangling of the mess by Congress
and the return of the wire com
panies to their owners.
Another Federal commission is to
te created with the President's sanc
tion to throw a life line to the many
'street railway companies threatened
j with bankruptcy. It's an open ques-
I tton whether the owners of the street
! railway systems will welcome any
j aid of this sort from Washington in
! view of the unfortunate experience
of the railroad, cable, telegraph and
telephone systems under Government
operation.
DOWN BUT NOT OUT'
THE Journal of Prison Discipline
agrees with the Salvation Army
in its dictum that a '"man may
be down, but never is out." It
quotes a long list of instances to
prove that "once a crook always a
crook" is as false as the other is
j true. Note some of the examples:
The other day we met "A" on
Market street. Accompanied by
his little son. he was speeding
away in his "flivver." He stop
ped to give us a greeting, and
indicated that happiness and
prosperity were his portion.
"B" is a spick and span police
man in a neighboring city.
! Though you may say "Set a thief
| to catch a thief," this particular
guardian of the public peace is
j discharging his duty to the com
munity.
"C" seemed particularly pleased
to meet us the other day uptown.
He had joined the church, and
had attained to the dignity of
usher.
"D," who was once an accom
plished burglar, having served
at least two terms in prison, has
built up a manufacturing indus
try and is quite prosperous.
"E" is foreman in the jewelry
department of a large depart
ment store somewhere in
America."
"F," a one-armed piece of ebon
jollity, is one of the handiest men
employed on a certain prosperous
truck farm.
"G," who began cooking for
Blank Firm at $lO weekly wages,
now reports with a grin that
he is getting $65 a month with
board and lodging.
"H" is one of the most popular
clerks in the office of a mam
moth establishment. That he
once fell from grace is known,
but it is no longer reckoned
against htm.
"I" one year ago began as a
solicitor and now his business
has so enlarged that he has taken
a suite of rooms for his office.
We could easily exhaust the
alphabet with such cases. There
are failures, but we. try to dis
count our disappointments when
we take account of those who are
"making good." The Parole Of
ficers have informed us that sev
enty-five per cent, are becoming
satisfactory citizens. By far the
larger part of those whom we
willingly assist, in a short time
are beyond our ken. They take
with them our hopes and our
fears—our fears that they may
again yield to the manifold
temptations on every hand; our
hopes that they have learned
their lesson, and with courage
and by the help of divine grace
are performing their duty to the
community.
This is the class of men the Sal
vation Army meets in civil life and
helps; helps just as wholeheartedly
and as generously as it helped our
soldiers over hard spots in France.
All men look alike to the Salvation
Army. "There is so much good in
the worst of us, and so much bad in
the best of us, it hardly behooves
any of us to talk about the rest of
us," is one of the Army's mottoes.
It goes out into the highways and
byways, picking up the fallen, put
ting them back on their feet, teach
ing them to walk alone, saving the
hopeless from the river or the ranks
of anarchy and teaching them the
love of God and the humanity of
man toward men. The Army is aik
ing for money. "Give as the Lord
hath prospered thee."
We do not recollect reading any of
the announcements of the War De
partment that it will court a full in
vestigation of its contracts and ex
penditures. but the inquiries should be
conducted just the same.
ANOTHER SERVICE
SERVICE is the watchword of
the Y. M. C. A. everywhere and
it is particularly emphasized at
the Harrisburg headquarters. Few
persons not in direct touch with the
local ajsociation can appreciate the
extent and importance of the service
which is being rendered to the com
munity by this active institution.
It is probably not realized that
among other things the physical di
rector has been granted leave by
the association management to spend
certain days or parts of days in su
pervising the play of the school chil
dren at the various school buildings.
His efforts are greatly appreciated
by the teachers, all of whom are co
operating with him in giving the
girls and boys real physical instruc
tion in a methodical way. The
pupils are enthusiastic over what
has already been accomplished and
Physical Director Miller Is having
every evidence of appreciation of his
work at the different school build
ings.
This is only one of the extra ac
tivities of the Y. M. C. A. Its in
fluence is widespread in every sec
tion of Harrisburg and the soldiers
on their way to the front and re
turning home have found the facili
ties placed at their disposal by the
Harrisburg association all that could
be desired.
The Wilson administration learned
the art of camouflage during the war,
and it knows how to practice the art
ir times of peace. Note its pictures
of present conditions in Brest as an
answer to the exposure of deplorable
conditions while thousands of sol
diers were camped there a few months
back.
The doughnut is the most con
spicuous emblem in Harrisburg this
week. It Is seen everywhere and as
the herald of sympathy and support
of the Salvation Army la proving its
worth.
J- LK
'PeKKO^CtfaKta
By the Kx-Committeeman
. - ■
Upon the manner In which the
Philadelphia people who are toidis
cuss with Attorney General William
I. Schaffer the proposed amendments
to the Philadelphia charter bills
handle the proposition will depend
the serenity of the remainder of this
legislative session. The committee
is to meet in the next few days and
will have the amendments ready for
the municipal corporations commit
tee of the House next Tuesday.
Members of the House are not
any too well pleased that the Legis
lature was not represented on the
committee and if the amendments
brought here do not compose the
differences, there will be some plain
spenking by up-State legislators who
are inclined to be very restive over
the continued loss of time. Gov
ernor William C. Sproul's remark
yesterday before leaving for Phila
delphia that he was "sick and tired"
of the protracted controversy has
found an echo among members re
maining here and any more delays
will bring resentment to a head.
The members of the House, at
least, look for the Philadelphia dif
ferences to be composed next week,
for a revenue program to be worked
out and for a start to be made on
appropriation bills.
—Even newspapers are com
mencing to declare that too much
time has been wasted on the Phila
delphia bills and to protest against
holding up everything until they are
out of the way. The Pittsburgh Post
has been calling upon the Legisla
ture to do something else and the
Altoona Tribune has been critclsing
the inaction. Even the Philadelphia
Bulletin objects to the continued
loss of time, saying; "A lot of time
has been wasted in fiddle-faddling
over non-essential modifications and
amendments, and the public is be
coming tired of it. More charter
action and less charter talk is
in order. The members of the
Legislature may be assured that,
outside of factional lines, the pre
ponderant opinion in Philadelphia is
decidedly in favor of most of the
proposed legislation. It has come to
be pretty well threshed out, and
with such change as the friends of
the Woodward bills have endorsed,
these measures should be promptly
put on the way to passage. If they
are not all that the city should have,
they are at least an important step
in the right direction."
—Governor William C. Sproul
may take the whole period allowed
him to consider the Willson bill re
pealing the nonpartisan election
feature of the third class city code
because of the numerous letters and
telegrams being sent to him trom
people in the municipalities inter
ested regarding disposal of the bill.
What seems like a concerted effort
on the part of men opposed to the
measure to pour in protests became
apparent yesterday, demands for
vetoes coming from city officials,
chambers of commerce and other or
ganizations. Advocates of the bill,
on the other hand, are urging that
it be signed. When the Governor
left the city he gave no intimation
as to what he would do, but there
are many people about the Capitol
who believe that he will approve the
bill. If he does there will be elec
tions on party lines this fall in over
thirty third class cities.
—Members of the Legislative Com
mittee of the Third Class City
League, headed by Chairman Ira W.
Stratton, of Reading, and R. Nelson
Bennett, of Wilkes-Barre, the secre
tary, discussed the bill with the
Governor. The Governor was also
visited by Mayor Miles B. Kitts, of
Erie, vice chairman of the commit
tee. All asked him to veto the bill.
Governor Sproul said that it was a
pleasant meeting and Mayor Stratton
said that the committee had "big
hopes of success". Advocates of the
bill feel the same way and remark
upon the fact that the Governor
has never spoken against the re
pealer. Mr. Stratton said that he
cause of the rush of business at the
Governor's office' no hearing was
asked. He said that protests have
been filed from a score of cities that
would be affected and that civic or
ganizations had been adopting reso
lutions against a change.
Viewed by an Expert
[From Forbes Magazine.]
A trip to Middle Western points
and talks with all sorts and condi
tions of people yields the following
impressions and conclusions:
First —In most districts, including
even the larger cities, work is avail
able for every man who wants a Job.
Indeed, the almost universal com
plaint- is that capable, steady work
ers cannot be had.
Second —There is a veritable hous
ing famine in nearly every city, in
cluding such diverse centers as Chi
cago and Indianapolis, ft famine as
acute as in New York City.
Third— Active preparations are
under way to launch what promises
to prove an unprecedented building
boom, the conclusion having been
reached by architects, builders and
otherS that the cost of materials is
not likely to drop drastically in the
near future.
Fourth—Retail business Is report
ed as quite active, although most
manufacturers find that buyers are
holding off wherever possible.
Fifth —The country's supply of
food animals is the largest in its his
tory and farmers are waxing rich
from the unparalleled prices they
are receiving for hogs and cattle, as
well as for their wheat and other
grains Everywhere the agricultural
community are evidencing signs of
their great prosperity.
Sixth—Whatever fears may have
been felt concerning the danger of
widespread appearance of Bolshev
ism, I. W. W. ism and suchlike revo
lutionary developments, have subsid
ed. The general theory is that there
will be no extensive unemployment
and that this will deprive agitators
of effective ammunition.
TRADE BRIEFS
Diamonds to the total value of
$866,000,000 have been mined in
South Africa.
De Beers contemplate the estab
lishment of a diamond cutting fac
tory at Kimberley, South Africa.
The total exports of crude rubber
from Para and Manaos, Brazil, dur
ing January, 1919, amounted to 6,-.
624,916 pounds, compared with 6,-
4'10,613 pounds for the same month
in 1918.
The karakul Is claimed to be the
hardiest sheep in South Africa, and
as a mutton sheep is said to be far
superior to the Afrikander.
Consul Horace Dee Washington at
Liverpool, England, has transmitted
a list of importers, of raw cotton in
that copies of which can be ob
tained from the Bureau of Foreign
and Domestic Commerce or its dis
trict or co-operative offices by re-1
ferrlng to Ftle\pfo. 114524. ' J
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PLACES
Places I love come back to me like
music,
Hush me and healme when 1 am
very tired;
I see the oak woods at Saxton's
flaming
In a flare of crimson by the frost
newly fired,
And I am thirsty for the spring in
the valley
As for a kiss ungiven and long
desired.
I know a white world of snowy hills
at Boonton,
A blue and white dazzling light on
everything one sees.
The larches and hemlocks and
maples sparkle,
Their ice-sheathed branches tink
le in the sharp thin breeze,
And iridescent crystals fall and
crackle on the snow-crust
With the winter sun drawing cold
blue shadows from the trees.
Violet now, in veil on veil of eve
ning.
The hills across from Cromwell
grow dreamy and far;
A wood-thrush is singing soft as a
viol
In the heart of the hollow where
the dark pools are;
The primrose has opened her pale
vellow flowers
And heaven is lighting star after
star. i 1
Places I love come back to me like
music—
Mid-ocean, midnight, the waves
buzz drowsily:
In the ship's deep churning the eerie
phosphorescence
Seems like souls of people who
were drowned at sea;
And I can hear a man's voice, speak
ing, hushed, insistent.
At midnight, in mid-ocean, hour
on hour to me.
—By Sara Teasdale, in the June
Scribner.
Mr. Burleson's Real Status
[From the New York Sun.]
Senator Calder speaks the truth
and nothing but the truth when he
says of the bitter attacks now being
made on Postmaster General Burler
son by many leading Democrats:
"When Democrats demand the re
moval of Burleson they are demand
ing of the President the removal of
a man who has merely obeyed the
President's orders —nothing more,
nothing less.
"Probably Burleson has come as
near wrecking everything he has had
the management of as any one could.
"No one man can entirely wreck
the ITnited States Government, but
an official in high position can go
some way in wrecking it, and that is
what Burleson has done with every
thing he has touched.
"And every major official action
was at the direction of President
Wilson."
As Postmaster General. Albert S.
Burleson is the creation of President
Wilson. Mr. Wilson selected him
for the job he holds, and Mr. Wil
son has kept him in that job. Mr.
Wilson can put him out of that job
at any moment. To relieve Mr. Bur
leson of his obligations as Postmas
ter General has been within Mr.
Wilson's power every minute of every
day since March 4, 1913, when Mr.
Wilson became President. The pol
itical resonsibility for Mr. Burleson
belongs to President Wilson, and to
nobody else.
At the present moment Mr. vßurle
son occupies a position in American
politics practically the same as that
occupied in earlier days and royal
courts by the prince's whipping boy.
The royal person was relieved from
the corrective application of the lash;
the whipping boy endured the pun
ishment princely dereliction earned.
Every criticism aimed at Mr. Bur
leson as Postmaster General is a
criticism aimed at Mr. Wilson as
President. Alas, that Democrats
should thus assail the man for the
deeds of his master!
Undue Haste
The cables from Paris seem to in
timate <hat President Wilson has al
ready appointed America's first
member of the Council of the League
of Nations. Rnd that he has select
ed Colonel House. And it is further
stated that Mr. House will begin
upon his duties at once and that his
headquarters will be in London as
soon as the Peace Conference fin
ishes its labors. This is decidedly
prompt work on the part of the
President. It is also assuming that
Congress will have nothing to say as
to how the representative of the
United States in the Council of the
League shall be selected providing
that the League plan is accepted by
the Senate, which has not yet tyeen
dqne.—From the Philadelphia, Press.
Foster Parents Of Our Children
[From the Literary Digest.]
WE WISH to bespeak, with
whatever power and author
ity we may have and with
such words as may be granted to us,
some measure of consideration for
the foster-fathers and mothers of
our children —the school teachers of
the United States of America.
There is no class of workers of
which we demand so much. We
commit into their keeping the minds,
the bodies and the very souls of
our children in the tender and for
mative years of their lives, and they,
receiving these children, can indeed
be said to hold in the hollow of their
hands the future of America. We
expect these devoted men and wo
men to watch over and care for our
sons and daughters as though 1 lies'
were their very own, to drill them
in the arts' and sciences, to train
them for business and for citizen
ship, to instruct them in manners
and in morals, to do for th,em those
things which we would do had we
the training and the leisure.
No class has assumed so heavy, so
trj'ing a burden and a responsibility
with such willingness as these con
secrated men anil women. No class
has performed their increasingly
heavy tasks more devotedly, more
conscientiously, and with less
thought of self. No class served
their country more whole-heartedly,
more loyally, during the trying and
tempestuous times of war, day by
day pursuing their round of duty,
dav by day helping the young peo
ple, and through the children the
parents, to see the struggle in its
true light, thus securing the co
operation of the community in every
measure undertaken by the Govern
ment to win the war.
What, then, have the teachers re
ceived at our hinds in return? They
have received little of honor and
somewhat less ol pay. Other classes
have prospered-. other classes
through powerful organizations have
secured generous wages. The teach
ers have no spokesman, however, to
demand even the simple justice of
a living wage, so to them we give
their petty pre-war pittance so
meager, so pitifully inadequate, that
it places a binning brand of shame
and disgrace upon the Nation.
Want to Come Home
Discontent is seething among
American soldiers held in Europe.
The went over to lick Germany;
they have licked Germany; now they
demand that they be returned home.
They're through. They don't give
a snap of their fingers whether
Poland gets Danzig, whether Italy
gets Flume, whether Japan stays
in Kiao-Chau a month or a year, or
whether the Jugo-Slavs get all they
want or nothing they want. These
strong, upstanding, energetic, am
bitious full-of-action young Ameri
cans threw themselves with glow
ing fervor into the task of taming
Germany. .That was a mission
worthy of this manhood, worthy,
if need be, of their lives. But
now that their object has been
attained, they feel that, so far as
concerns them it is about time, as
one of them expressed it, that "the
Watch on the Rhine was wound up."
In viewing critically some of the
compromises acceded to by Presi
dent Wilson it wilt be well for us
to take into consideration the atti
tude our troops in Europe are adopt
ing.—Forbes Magazine.
Cleverest German of Them All
Dr. Maurice Francis Egan, who
tells in "Ten Years Near the German
Frontier" (Doran) of his intimacy
with Count von Brockdorff-Kantzau,
who heads the German mission to
the Peace Conference, says that H.
C. von Brockdorff is the cleverest
diplomat he ever met. "He will
rake out of the ashes the best terms
he can for Germany,*' said Dr. Egad
at the University of Pennsylvania,
"but in the end he must accept con
ditions set down by the Allies, be
cause there is no other choice."
Dr. Egan and the German minis
ter spent five years in Copenhagen
together during the decade when Dr.
Egan was American minister to
Denmark.
A Missouri Instance
Llndsey Varner is suffering from a
badly mashed toe, caused by the
piano falling on it in the school
auditorium, whore he was practicing
for the play, "Safety First."-gpdessa
The men and women who are
making the Americans of to-morrow
are being treated with less consid
eration than the janitors who sweep
out the buildings in which they are
employed; they are earning, on the
average, less than the wages given
to the scrubwomen employed in the
public buildings of the United States
Government. Normal school grad
uates receive less salary than street
sweepers; high school principals
less than section foremen; country
school teachers less for instructing
the farmer's children titan he pays
his hired man to feed his hogs.
No wonder there are 50,000 va
cancies in the teaching forces of the
schools. No wonder the ranks are
being Tfilled with weak men and
with immature women who merely
use the profession as a stepping-stone
to something better. No wonder
there are 30,000 teachers in the
United States who have had no
schooling beyond the eighth gram
mar' grade. Small wonder, indeed,
that 7,000,000 of our school chil
dren are being trained by teachers,
mere boys and girls themselves, who
have had no professional education
whatever.
When we consider that the 740,-
j 000 teachers of America are paid
! an average salary of $630 a year;
j when, moreover, we consider the
! fact that living costs have actually
advanced 103 per cent, since the be
ginning of the war, thereby cutting
the buying power of these insignifi
cant salaries in half, we can easily
determine that only a fool or a
martyr would choose teaching as a
profession, or would long remain
I in it unless these terrible conditions
were swiftly remedied.
The peace and security of the
I world of the future will be in the
! safe keeping of the generation now
lin our schools. The teachers ask
j no largess at the hands of fortune.
They enter their profession for ierv-
Loe not riches Hut they invest
! a ears and money in preparation for
i their life work and the knowledge
I they gaift is shared with others who
I themselves use it to their own yrefit.
Teachers, then, by eveiy rislu and
i in lib justice expect a loturn that wtl.
I permit them and their dependants to
ilive decently an.l in comfort.
iSong For England in the. East
' From Egypt into China they have
builded them a wall;
| They have held the front of Eden
from the Teuton and his thrall;
.On the snowy stairs of Elburz you
J may hear their bugles call,
"Ye are safe! Be at ease! it
are safe!"
: There are garden in the southland
where the Tartar may not go;
| There is dewy corn in Babel where
i the desert used to blow;
I In the vineyards over Gaza you may
j see the grapes aglow;
' "Ye are safe! Be at ease! Ye
are safe!"
| You shall watch the ships adrtfting
with the tigris underkeel;
lln the crooked streets of Bagdad
I you shall see the camels kneel
I with the good things out of Persia
that the robber could not steal:
"Ye are safe! Be at ease! Ye
are safe!"
In the brain of wounded England lay
the silence for a span;
Then she rose and wrought a mar
vel by the steppes of Turklstan:
Oh, ye women-folk of Irak! Oh, ye
children t>f Iran!
, "Ye are safe! Be at ease! Ye
are safe!"
—By Rhys Carpenter, in the June
1 1 Scrtbner.
I
Massachusetts Experiment
i (From the Nebraska State Journal)
.! The experiment of doing away
i with the annual elections in Mass
-1 achusetts is proving so satisfactory
I] that it is now proposed to extend
j the terms of the Legislature to six
j years. This is carrying a good
I thing too far. The object of fre
quent legislative elections is to bring
to the parliamentary bodies a fresh
mandate from the people at fairly
i' frequent intervals. The 'object of
i long terms for executive officers is
! to avoid erratic and ignorant admin
istration and to keep in office the
experience that can only be gained
j in operating the public machinery.
; Short terms for legislators and long
l terms for administrative officials,
| with proper recall provisions to pro
i vide against accident, ought to prove
the best argument—From the Ne
braska State Journal.
JUST PLAIN PIFFLE
[Clarksburg, W. Va. Telegram]
A. Mitchell Palmer, newly appoint
ed Attorney General of the United
States, has figured it out that Amer
ica's success in the war was due in
large measure to the achievements
of the Democratic party in the four
years preceding the entry of the
United States into the conflict. He
got this off his chest in an address
before the National Democratic Club
at its celebration of the one-hundred
and seventy-sixth anniversary of the
birth of Thomas Jefferson.
Mr. Palmer very carefully and
cautiously sidestepped all reference
to Democratic, management during
the war, so far as can be learned In
the telegraphic report of his outgiv
ings received by the Telegram. There
was good reason for that. The Demo
cratic party has nothing to point to
with pride on that score. According
to Mr. Palmer the whole thing was
virtually done during the four years
before this country got into the war.
How? That is easy. Men rushed to
arms to fight Germany and uphold
American principles because of
Democratic legislation, including, as
Mr. Palmer alleged, "the income tax,
the nonpartisan tariff commission
act, the child labor law, the Federal
workingmen's compensation law, the
Federal farm loan system and the
Federal reserve system." All of this
of course, according to Mr. Palmer,
was the exclusive product of Demo
cratic brains and the exclusive pos
session of the Democratic party.
The Telegram wonders whether
anybody will believe any such rot as
that. These so-called Democratic
achievements, Mr. Palmer asserted,
constituted an almost inspired stroke
of preparation for war, without
which "the magnificient courage of
2,000.000 men on the battle field
would have led to disaster." That is
to say, unless the American soldiers
who fought in France had not the
knowledge that an income tax law
had been enacted they would have
been defeated! Piffle.
Mr. Palmer's attempt to find any
I war preparation whatever in the
Democratic camp during the four
I years prior to this country's entrance
| into the war finds poor proof in the
I terrible plight in which the country
! found itself when it actually got into
: war. It was as miserably and utter
| ly unprepared for military effort as
any country ever was, considering
what came to pass in Europe. So
unprepared were we that we had to
begin from the very bottom and
build anew. So great was that task
that, for example, not a single Amer
ican airplane ever brought down an
I enemy machine; nor was any Amer
| ican ammunition fired, nor any
| American ordnance put into action:
and in a thousand and one other
things this country fell far short
of its hopes and aims. Preparation
j because of Democratic legislation?
Bosh!
FRANKNESS
[From Forbes Magazine.!
E. H. Gary, head of the world's
largest industrial enterprise, declares
that If there had been frankness in
stead of secrecy and underground
wire pulling in 1914, the war could
j and would have been avoided.
Nations are emerging from the
i "dark ages" of secret, stealthy plot
! ting and scheming.
If nations are finding it prudent to
drop their old-time secrecy, if busi
ness concerns nre now adopting a
frank attittide toward their stock
holders and the public, does it not
; behoove the young man of ambition
to ponder the advantage of frank
| ness and the disadvantages of se
cretive ways?
Frankness pays—ask the ex-Kals
er what the wages are of secrecy and
| intrigue and double-dealing.
Also, the person who possesses the
habit of being entirely frank enjoys
life Infinitely more than the one who
j has to think twice before opening his
i mouth lest he contradict some prev-
I lous misstatement or give a clue to
I something going on. of a question
able nature, under the surface.
! The frank person treads a Arm
bridge crossing a river; the secretive
I person charily steps from stone to
' stone.
I By being frank yourself, you in
! spire frankness in others.
! And frankness will assuredly eom
• mend us to others and thereby make
easier and pleasanter the climb to-
I ward the hilltops of success.—
Forbes Magazine.
But Why Limit It?
Beer drinkers now think they
know what Mr. Wilson meant when
he said recently that "a great tide is
running in the hearts of n*rv"—
New York Sua,
■MH
Ebenittg (fllfat
What was termed by lawyers "an
application" and regarded by most
people who knew of it as a purely
routine proceeding, occurred yester
day before Public Service Commis
sioner Samuel to. Clement, Jr., at
the State Capitol, but it was an ac
tion in accordance with State law
filled with historic interest and of
more or less sentiment in the world
of transportation and finance. It
meant the disappearance as a cor
poration of one of the oldest rail
roads in Pennsylvania, a line which
has contributed immensely to the
prosperity of Harrisburg and which
| was among the earliest to carry out
iin terms of modern transportation
what the Indians saw long, lons
years ago. John Harris located his
ferry here because it was a place
where valleys crossed and Indians
traveled for centuries. The railroads
came here for much the same reason,
a town having grown up. Harris
burg and its railroads afford one of
the best examples of the way nature
makes cities the center of a web of
roads and railroads. But to return
to the seemingly dry proceedings
yesterday before Commissioner Clem
ent, who by the way, was impressed
with the historic significance of the
so-called "application." It was the
proposition of the Pennsylvania rail
road company to take over the Cum
berland Valley railroad. The Cum
berland Valley has been in fact a
part of the great railroad system for
years, but it preserved its corporate
identity long after other railroads,
famous in their time, had been
merged into the Pennsylvania. The
cars and locomotives with the name
Cumberland Valley in gilt letters
have been looked at by many persons
who have traveled on the Pennsyl
vania and they have asked how it
came that the line, an integral part
of a marvelous system, was separate.
But now, or rather when the Com
mission issues its formal approval of
the "application," the Cumberland
Valley name will commence to dis
appear. Federal control of railroads
did much to wipe out distinctions
between systems, but Harrisburg got
a foretaste of what was coming when
a short time ago Cumberland Valley
engines said farewell to the round
house at White Hill, in use for so
many years, and made their home at.
the Pennsylvania round houses up
town. The process which marked
the disappearance of the Northern
Central some years ago has begun.
J I-ike the Northern Central, which
l.fbr years had its main offices here
land under J. Donald Cameron was
one of the noted railroads of the
country, the Cumberland Valley has
played a large part in making Har
rishurg. It dates back to the thirties.
Harrishurg capital helped establish
it and Harrishurg has been on its
t list of stockholders and generally on
'its directorate ever since. It has
I been a part of Harrishurg and we
| have stood at the northern door of
j the valley from which it takes its
name and received daily scores of
cars of people and of goods. The
Cumberland Valley railroad was
chartered by a special act of Assem
bly dated April 2, 1831. There have
been numerous supplements, but
that is the start of the railroad which
is soon to disappear from the list of
names, but not from memory for
many years. Tn time it took over the
Franklin railroad, the Cumberland
Valley annd Martinsburg, the Shen
andoah Valley and others until it
was a system of its own. The Penn
sylvania is a younger railroad, as its
incorporation is given on the papers
as April' 13, IS4R. It was tn 1839
that the Cumberland Valley com
pleted its bridge across the Susque
hanna and came to Harrishurg. com
jmencing a career in transportation
filled with service to the Nation in
time of need, upbuilding the re
sources of one of the fairest portions
of the Keystone State and enhancing
;importance and welfare of the capi
tal of the Commonwealth.
• * *
The way the river sand and coal
fleet has been scurrying around the.
last two days because of the rise of
the Susquehanna furnishes an inter
esting study to the man who likes to
think about what the stream would
he like if it normally contained
enough water to make it of value
as a commerce carrier. The coal
fleet men had to get out and make
fast their dredges and flats which
were threatened by one of those fast
and furious increases in water and
speeding up of current that come
with freshets on the Susquehanna,
especially when the Juniata and the
i two branches unite in pouring in
the result of hard rains. The coal
men say that the river is erratic
this year, probably due to the
weather, they declare, and they have
lost a lot of sleep making sure that
theit* charges did not go down
stream. In any event there are more
boats to he seen moving about now
than known for a long time.
•* * *
Some of the conductors on the
Harrishurg Railyways lines have col
lections of money which they carry
around with them and say things
about. Once in a while they can be
induced to comment upon them and
the remarks are always interesting.
These collections are made up of
coins with which the conductors
have been "stuck." One man yes
terday showed plugged money, cut I
money, had money and questionable j
money of American make, Serbian,
Japanese, Canadian, Cuban. French
and Spanish money. "Kvrry time I
get a crowded day I add to the col
lection," said he.
| WELL KNOWN PEOPIg 1
—Dr. Talcott Williams, formerly
of the Philadelphia Press, has re
tired from the Pulitzer College of
Journalism at Columbia University.
—Governor Sproul, who spoke at
the Penn Mutual dinner in Philadel
phia last, night, is one of the trus
tees of its funds. ■ ,
—Major J. Clyde Miller, selected
to be Allegheny county poor direc
tor, is an old National Guardsman.
—Senator W. C. .McConnell, of
Shamokin, is interested In numerous
enterprises in his county and is an
attorney.
—Representative John R. K. Scott
Is an ardent fox hunter and head of
a club near Philadelphia.
I DO YOU KNOW ]
—That Harrisburg used to be a
center of cattle shipping, but the
industry shifted to Lancaster county?
HISTORIC HARRISBURG
Harrishurg was one of the first up
state towns to take up cotton man
ufacture.
A Road to Wealth
We've often thought what a pity
it tft that a man can't dtspoae of his<
experience for as much a* it coat
him. —Eskridge Independent