1 4
IHARRISBURG TELEGRAPH
\A. A NEWBPAPER FOR THE HOME
Founded 1831
Published evenings except Sunday by
THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING CO.
Telegraph RulldlnK, Federal Square
E. J. STACKPOLE
President and Editor-in-Chief
S*.*R. OYSTER, Business Manager
GCS. M. STEINMETZ, Managing Editor
(A. R. MICHENER, Circulation Manager
Executive Board
r JJP." McCULLOUGH,
n BOYD M. OGLESBY,
F. R. OYSTER,
GUS. M. STEINMKTZ.
I
Jlsmbers 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
fiaper and also the local news pub
ished herein.
(All rights of republication of special
dispatches herein are also reserved.
i ,
t Member American
Newspaper Pub-
Assocm-
Bureau of Circu
lation and Penn
sylvania Associa
ated Dallies.
Building,
Western office',
Story, Brooks A
I Chicago, 111! ' K '
Entered at the Post Office in Harris
burg, Pa., as second class matter.
.jjgJSHESfr. By carrier, ten cents a
4> week; by mail, $3.00 a
year in advance.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2s, 1919
The man of pleasure docs not know
Hrhat pleasure maws. —Savage.
SAME OLD STORY
BEWARE of a petty woman with
a smile and a scheme to raise
money.
It ought not to be necessary to
warn businessmen against the wiles
of this type, but recent occurrences
In Harrisburg would indicate that
■while such women continue to be
very efficient as collectors they are
by no means reliable when it copies |
to turning over the cash. They are I
not in business for sweet charity's
sake, but for their own, and their
victims go down in their note book
as "easy marks."
The Chamber of Commerce should
be consulted every time a collector
for charity solicits a subscription.
If he or she has not received the
endorsement of that organization it
would be well to postpone contribut
ing at least until a card is presented
guaranteeing that the money will not
go for the payment of expensive
dresses, hotel bills, garage hire and
the like.
PROPER MOVE
L a CTION of the Harrisburg Ro-
I tary Clu.b, in pledging not only
| ita moral support, but in offer-
Sng the services of its members in
•ny way the authorities may need
Yn the campaign now being waged
t# free the country from dangerous
radicals, should inspire other or
ganizations to similar action.
Mere passing of resolutions is not
always helpful, but where they ex
press forcefully the rising tide of
public opinion and especially where
they are accompanied by promises
of material assistance, they are well
worthy of more than passing atten
tion.
The Rotarians express the belief
that at least 95 per cent, of the peo
ple of the country are opposed to!
radicalism in any form, and in this 1
they display the faith that all good j
Americans have in American citizen
ship—a faith that has never been ■
put to shame and never will be. |
BLOW AT RADICALISM j
NOW that the full results of the
French elections have become
known and it is evident that
France has elected the most con
servative Chamber of Deputies since !
1871, isn't it about time for ultra
radicals to take a lesson from
events ?
France, It would seem, to use a
•poker term, has seen Massachusetts
and has gone her one better.
France was to Europe what the Bay
State was to this country —the prov
ing ground for democracy under
fire—and, as in Massachusetts, law
and order have won hands down.
The people want no "red" revolution
nor any other kind of a revolution
save only the variety we always have
with us, the slow turning over of
Old institutions and customs by the !
orderly and lawful means of the
ballot box, which, in countries like
;France or our own. really does ex
press public opinion, much as some
folks with their own little dull axes
l*o grind would like to have us be
tjieve otherwise.
The French not only turned their
ftiacks on the radiculs, but even the
|9nild Socialists, who were gaining
(Strength in France before the war,
Received a slap in the face wher
ever they showed their heads. The
■Silent voter went to the polls and re
jbuked the noisy fellows who had
ibeen making so much racket that
dUmld folks believed there really
might be danger of a turn over of
the government. They silenced
Bolshevism for all time in France
f*nd registered their unshaken belief
>ln law and order wherever the
Pssue was raised.
Indeed, there is no indication any
fSrhere that any considerable portion
$Df the populace of any nation out
|side Russia has been contaminated
Iby "red" doctrines. The I. W. W.,
•the Bolshevists, the radical Socialists
gnd others of their ilk have been
making a lot of noise. They have
beea-loud in their threats and they
MONDAY EVENING,
have exploded a few bombs. They
have well laid plans by which they
expect to stampede the people or to
guin the upper hand over the people,
but Americans are not terrorised
nor are thpy fooled by the doctrines
that have ruined Russia. Wher
ever the "reds" have been put to the
test they have fulled. Everywhere
the people have turned them down
and turned them down hard. Tf
they do not desist in their activities
in the United States, they may find
themselves subject to treatment be
side which the American Legion's
vengeance at Centralia would be
mild indeed. The American people
are long-suffering and patient, but
they are a hard-hating, hard-hitting
lot when aroused.
NEWS FROM RUSSIA
| TTTK SUSPECT that the corres
-IA/ pondent who sent out the
dispatches from Ohio follow
ing the recent elections has trans
ferred his base of operations to Mos
cow. Instead of telling us one day
that the "wets" had carried the
State and on the next that the
"drys" had won a big victory, he is
now cabling his papers back home
that the Bolsheviki are sweeping
everything before them and again
that the anti-Bolshevik forces have
"won a great victory." Just as we
imagine he used to do in Columbus,
getting his news one morning from
the Brewers' Association and the
next from the Anti-Saloon League,
he is now spending one day with
General Lenine and the next with
the armies opposing him, and he
appears to be very impartial in his
judgments. The news from Russia
may mean anything or nothing, the
way it is coining out just now.
Truth to tell, we should take it
all with more than the proverbial
grain of salt. We might throw in a
whole bag of salt and still have a
balance against the facts.
Both sides—or all sides—in Russia
are "prone to the drawing of the long
bow when they get possession of the
cables and some times we suspect
that not a little of the "news" that
does leak out may be tinctured with
the feelings and sentiments of some,
of our recent —we almost said late —
allies in Europe. It is impossible
not to believe that somewhere Rus
sia is beginning to feel the effects of
European diplomatic tinkering. All
the great powers have their eyes on
Russia's depleted markets and not
a few merchants would be able to
silence their conscientious scruples
if the way were opened for trade
with the Bolshevik or any other
Russian faction that could guaran
tee payment in gold or marketable
securities.
Wc must not fear too much or
hope too much of Russia. This
much only we know—that Bol
shevism has tailed there as ail or
derly governing force, that blood
shed is an everyday occurrence,
that the people are worse off than
when the Czar ruled them and that
years will be required to re-establish
the nation on a decent, law-abiding
basis. Past that all is darkness, and
not even the League of Nations, if
it becomes a fact, will be able to
stop the lighting there. The "dark
est Russia" of the old days was mild
twilight as compared to the Russia
of to-day.
THEY COME IN FORDS
What has become of the country
folks,
The- farmers we used to see?
Who came to Billtown on
Saturday morn
And hitched to a friendly tree?
Hitched to a rack on Market
Square.
Hitched to a lamppost or any
where;
With never a sign that read
"Not here;" i
In the days that used to be.
So questions the bard of the
Williamsport Gazette and Bulletin.
Dear bard, we think we know.
Most of them are still coming to
town, but they are driving Fords,
and the rest are being driven in
once a week. In winter they ride in
closed cars; in summer they hit the
landscape with tops down and
whiskers blowing free.
But they are not the furmers we
used to know; not the fellows the
city lads used to advise to "take the
hayseed out of their hair." That
type of farmer has gone along with
the liitehing posts and the one-horse
buggies. "Court week" means noth
ing to the farmer of the newer gen
eration, for he comes to town any
day he likes and makes the trip in
an hour or two, where his father,
who drove the sorrel nag in the one
hoss shuy required a whole duy for
the journey.
The old-time farmer used to sell
his butter for twenty-five cents a
pound and eggs for eighteen cents a
dozen. If he got more he seemed
ashamed to take the money. Gaso
line and other tilings make a lot of
difference. The farmer of s to-day
gets to town so often he has learned
the shifty ways of city folks and he
drives just us hard a bargain as the
merchant to whom he sells his faint
produce. The merchant used to buy
cheap from the farmer and sell
dear; nowadays the operation ap
pears to be reversed. At least that's
what the merchants say. Of course,
money is more plentiful than it used
to he, but as for us we would fain
go back to the good old days of the
hitching post on Market Square;
when a dollar bought a whole bas
ketful of marketing and food was
not so expensive as to make us
choke every time we think of the
price while swallowing a bite.
Of course, the farmer is better
off, and he ought to be. Every time
farm life is made more beuruble,
every time some device is put 011 Ihe
market to make the farmer's work
lighter and his crops bigger, just so
often are city people benefited, for
we all depend upon the furmer and
we would be 111 a bad way Indeed
If he made 110 more trips to (own.
And so, however they come, we
arc glud to see the furmers, for they
are "hayseeds" no more, but city
folks who have sense enough to live
In the country, coming to town only
once in a while and, as our friend
of the Guzette and Bulletin con
cludes—
hat has become of the country
folks?
,„bn. It's nil quite plain to see.
chey ve all been changed Into
city folks.
_J P even as you and me.
<>ld Dobbin's gone from the
hitchraek bar.
Once wearying miles now are
miles not far
And the y smell of the smoke of a
motor car—
The rustics that used to he.
FOUTICO U
By the Ex-Committeeman
The wide difference between the
| lotal in the official count of the vote
for superior court judge this month
and that cast at the September pri
mary is being studied with interest
by officials at the Capitol. There is
a difference of over 150.000, which
is considered here to be due to the
fact that there was no opposition to
"Judge William H. Keller, many
people not going (o the trouble to
mark in the nonpartisan column
because there was no opposi
tion and also many who marked
straight tickets did not mark in
other columns. The official count
shows only 527,777 votes east in the
whole State at the superior court
election, which is a quarter of a mil
lion less than at other judicial elec
tions.
The scattering vole against Judge
Keller was one of the smallest
known in recent years. Generally
there are a couple of hundreds of
such votes at State-wide elections.
This year there were only 114 and
they were cast in sixteen counties.
Jefferson county had eight and four
counties, including Allegheny, had
seven each. Philadelphia did not
return any scattering votes. There
were only 126 scattering votes at the
primary.
The time for filing' election ex
pense accounts at the State Capitol
will expire next week. There will
he few accounts to fllo here.
The forms for the 1920 primary
petitions have been sent to the State
printer by the elections bureau of
the State department. They can
not be circulated before February,
but there are many inquiries being
made about tlieni.
—Chester people fully expect
Governor William C. Sprout to be a
receptive candidate lor ttie presi
dency. The Governor has been like
a clam on the subject, but his friends
have been enthused by the splendid
things being said about him in the
\\ est as the result of the Governors'
Conference at Ball 1 ,ake City and in
New England because of his
speeches for Coolidge. The return
of the Governor to Chester yester
day was occasion of much attention
to the presidential possibilities,
which was renewed when Attorney
General A. Mitchell Rainier ap
peared us his week-end guest. The
visit of ex-President William How
ard Taft to the Governor here is be
ing made much of in Philadelphia,
although it was said by both lo be
purely social and not political.
—Another interesting develop
ment in the Sunday newspapers is
the boom for Highway Commis
sioner Lewis S. Sadler for Governor.
Mr. Sadler, however, says he is con
concerned with building roads anil
nothing else just at present.
—Schuylkill county Republicans,
like Luzerne men, have started to
clean house and the election fraud
charges have already resulted in ar
rests. One judge of election was
arrested on a bench warrant.
—A Chester dispatch says:
"Governor Sproul is said to be look
ing for a man to represent Delaware
county in the State Senate. Two
men have been mentioned for the
office. Gen. William G. Price, Jr.,
and Mayor W. S. McDowell. It is
more than likely (hat Mayor Mc-
Dowell will be the man chosen by
Mr. Sproul to go before the voters
for the Senate seat.
Allentown newspapers are look
ing for a "sane" administration, ac
cording to what a review says. The
determination in caucus to elect
Claude T. Reno city solicitor lo suc
ceed Mr. Gross meets with universal
approval. Mr. Reno, who several
years ago was the Allentown assem
blyman, is now president of the
State P. O. S. of A. A high class
young lawyer, Mr. Reno has had
experience not only as a member of
the Pennsylvania Legislature, but he
has also to his credit a term as
county solicitor. The new adminis
tration intends to make the most of
the work of the City Planning Com
mission, of which Gen. Harry C.
Trexlor is chairman. This commis
sion did excellent work for several
years, but for a year or two has been
dormant.
—District Attorney liotan, of
Philadelphia, says he will make
known his position concerning the
action of Magistrate Pennock in
granting bail to Dr. Charles H.
Brieker, Jr., charged with perform
ing an illegal operation, when the
physician's case comes up for a
hearing next Friday. "The facts in
tliis case speak for themselves." said
the district attorney yesterday. "I
will not' make any statement until
the case comes up for hearing, at
which time llie position of this office
In regard to the magistrate's action
will he clearly defined.
—Philadelphia newspapers gen
erally commend .\luyor-clecl. Moore
for his stand in insisting that the
problems of the city, transit includ
ed. be fuccd and his declaration tliul
he will not. be hamstrung in finances
h.v the budget of an unfriendly
council.
—Pittsburgh people are com
mencing to Ht?urf upon u population
of 600,000 in 1920, which will mean
that there will l>e a renewal or the
opposition to Pittsburgh and Scrnn
ton being in the sunte class. Head
ing is figuring 011 getting out of the
third class next year.
—An interesting comparison is
being formed between lite now char
ters of Philadelphia and Norfolk.
Norfolk is to have a council of five
and to get a city manager. The
councllnien of the big Virginia port
are to receive $1,200 a year. The
manager will get much more and
will he the mayor and pretty nearly
everything else.
Students at Swarthmore, where
Rproul and Palmer graduated, have
formed a Palmer flub to boost the
Attorney General for President.
—Nathan G. Nutter, recently ap
pointed a select councilman in
Philadelphia, is the first, colored
man to be n member of that body.
—-It is not probable that the may
oralty election In Altoona will he
reopened. The contests are not
meeting with favor. This means
that the present city manager plan
will be continued.
—Appointment of a district at
torney to succeed Judge-elect G. W.
Muxey, in Lnckawanna, is attracting
much attention and it looks as
though Muxey would secure the pro
motion of his first assistant.
HXRJRIBBURG TELEGRXPH
WHEN A FELLER NEEDS A FRIEND by BRIGGS
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- i i -
I A HOME ROOM IN THE "Y".
THERE were 2,823 women secre
taries of the Y. M. C. A. in the
European war work. There
were 215 women secretaries of
Ine Y. M. C. A. in the camps and
naval stations of the Department of
the East. Since the beginning of the
war the total number of women sec
retaries who have been selected,
trained and inducted into service is
3.058, three-fifths the number of all
secretaries listed as employed of
ficers of the Y. M. C. A. in the
I'nited States previous to the war.
These women have rendered a new
type of secretarial service. The well
nigh universal testimony of all
those familiar with their work is a
testimony of appreciation and high
est praise.
General Pershing writes to Mr.
Carter in his letter of last April:
"Another service of great value
has been the creation of and the
work in leave areas, where the prob
lem of giving the men occasional
respites from the routine of army
life lius been solved. The facts
which made this possible have been
the recreational facilities in the
leave areas, and especially the pres
ence and splendid assistance of the
American women with the Y. M. C.
A.
Generul Wahl. the Commanding
Officer of the Tth Division, has just
lately written to Mr. Kindley, the
secretary at Camp Funston:
"In France the great value of
these fine young women was proved
beyond doubt. Their loyalty to the
organization with which they served
and devoted service to the men con
tributed greatly not only to the mo
rale of the command but also to the
morale of the men. You must be
well aware of the fact that the life
of the soldier in cantonment is such
us to require all the assistance that
can he given to maintain the high
standards we so earnestly desire for
our soldiers. * * * "These girls
supply a need which cannot he ex
pected of men secretaries. They are
constant reminders of home, of the
mothers, sisters and sweethearts of
the men. They receive their confi
dences and give their sympathy.
The inevitable result is that men
become loyal and devoted to them."
Colonel Sweeney, of the Staff of
the 28th Division, says:
"1 speak for the entire 28th Di
vision when 1 say that the service
of the American girls with whom we
have been fortunate enough to be
associated hus been invaluable." In
the opinion of Lieut. Colonel Lyon, |
Chief Welfare Officer of the entire
A. K. F., women in the welfare or
ganizations can be reckoned as a
military asset.
Such distinguished service as this
challenges the thinking and the prac
tice of the Association throughout
the Cnlted States to adopt and adapt
this great new asset in the exten
sion of the character-forming work
with men nnd boys.
In establishing a Home Room at
the West Side Branch, Mr. Wilson
has demonstrated a simple and prac
tical way of adapting this service to
the needs of our city men, soldiers
still In uniform and those trying to
adjust themselves to city life.
The Home Boom was developed
in the only available place in the
already crowded building, a large
corner of the lobby divided off by
high screens. This Home Room is
different from all the rest of the
building, intentlonully so. It has
different furniture, different decora
tions andv a different atmosphere.
There is a llreplace which makes the
room congenial for cold nights and
a -refreshment table with cooling
drinks for summer days. It has a
woman's touch about it. There are
rending tables with magazines and
shady lamps and howls of flowers.
The room Impresses one with its so
ciability and refinement. There is
a sense of friendliness about it the
moment one comes to the door. It
is a place of friendly counsel, just
whut its name Implies, a Home
Room. In this Home Room the
woman secretary welcomes the men
and boys who care to come to her.
She mends for them, plays the piano
for songs, hymns, starts games,
serves lemonade or tea and helps
them in many ways, but best of all
she is simply there as their friend,
ready to talk over their problems,
to cheer, to scold or to encourage,
always upholding the highest ideals
of American womanhood. It has
been astonishing to us how quickly
lonely men, far from their own
homes, have come to these friendly
women, telling them of their trou
bles and trials, talking over their
problems and relying on the com
fort and inspiration that the woman
secretary can give. An average of
over fifty (50) West Side men a day
have sought the privilege of these
quiet talks, beside the men who stop
in for a friendly greeting or to join
in the singing or sit and read maga
zines in the restfulness of the Home
Room.
The woman secretary is in uni
form. She has been trained for her
work. Her presence in the build
ing means no change in the organi
zation of association activities. She j
classifies as a special secretary, do- j
ing a special piece of work. She is
the soul of the Home Room and
whether she deals with visitors, one
by one, or is the center of the group
of dormitory men who gather there
in the evening, she manifests the
leadership which gives to the best
American homes their attractiveness
und power. She does in the Asso
ciation the same thing that she has
done so well in her work overseas
and in the camps of the Department
of the East. She adds the great
new force to the secretary equip
ment of any association in its work
'for young men. William Kings
ley has written: "I consider the
Home Room the most important and
successful development of the West
Side for many years."
What is the heart of the matter
so far as the Home work is con
cerned? What is the idea? Let's
be very clear about it. It does not
imply structural changes in the or
gan zation of the Association. It
does not imply that women shall go
on boards of directors. It does not
imply that an Association shall in
troduce groups of volunteer women
workers into the lobby or other
parts of.the building.
This idea is that there be added
to the staff of any Association one
uniformed woman secretary, (or
I possibly two), a woman with un
usual qualifications, selected with
the greatest care, specifically trained
for this difficult and important work.
The right women rightly trained—
these and these alone can do this I
work successfully.
Of course, opportunities will vary 1
according to local conditions und ac
cording to the secretary in charge.
As a rule the service of the woman
secretary will be strictly confined to
the Home Room, though at the re
quest of the secretary in charge, she
would gladly assist in other activi
ties of the building either with men
I or boys.
Though it does not lead to Y. M.
I ('. A. work for women, it may lead
in some instances and probably
ought to lead to a co-operative work
under the joint auspices of the Y.
M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. aiding
the Association In the developing of
j a fuller social program for young
j men and women, living in the ab
j normal conditions of city life, and
| aiding them in the development of
■ a social life surrounded by whole
j some, Christian influence. But it
I need not lead even this far unless
I those in charge so desire. It may
remain Just a Home Room for men
in the Y. M C. A.
■ The question will be at once
I asked: Is it not a depurture from
Y. M. C. A. troditlons? Possibly so,
'but not from any fundamental tra
ditions. It is In line with Y. M. C.
A. traditions in putting at a maxi
mum the power of personal religious
work in friendly counsel, in chur
" t "V
NOVEMBER (24, 1919.
acter-building efforts, and is on the
basis of thoroughly tested experience
and clearly defined principles.
Perhaps the strongest tradition of
the Y. M. C. A. is to render the larg
est possible service in the character
formation of men and boys. This
idea is in line with that tradition.
Does it not involve the dangers
of women "mixing in" on the man
agement of the "Y"? if the wrong
women are employed, or if volunteer
women are selected locally and put
to work untrained, "Yes." Frankly,
here is a danger, but it can easily be
avoided if the right women are se
lected with care, duly qualified,
thoroughly trained, preferably em
ployed from without the community,
not related by ties of kinship to any
secretary of the staff. Such women
have proven their ability to do this
work. There are many of them re
turned from overseas, ready to un
dertake this work if the brotherhood
be prophetic enough in its vision of
its own largest usefulness to engage
them before they are scattered into
other forms of service.
What is necessary to incorporate
the Home Room in any Association?
Very little! Procure the furniture
and decorations. Vote the small
sum necessary for incidental ex
penses. Get a trained woman secre
tary with overseas experience from
the Women's Division of the War
Personnel Board, War Work Coun
cil. In a limited number of Asso
ciation Buildings her salary will be
paid by the War Work Council a.s
part of their demobilization work,
so long as that work continues.
In connection with this whole
matter, it will be interesting to look
over the letters from the secretaries
in charge of the associations in the
camps. They are from William F.
Hirsch, Guy V. Aldrlch. J. I>. Suth
erland of the Dengue Island Navy
Yard, Philadelphia, Thomas R. Jor
dan of Camp Dee, O. C. Post of the
Casino Hut, Newport News, Glen I.
Folsom of Camp Stuart, Va., Olaf
Gates of Camp Dix, W. H. Cox of
the Naval Training Station, Charles
W. Gulick of Camp Mills and Her
mon Kldredge of Camp Upton.
To these are added the letters re
garding the work of Miss Watts (of
Harrisburgl and Miss Daurie (of
Bellefonte) of the 67th Street
Branch, by Walter Dyack, William
Kingsley and Graham Wilson.
"Going South"
Group upon group do the soft birds
cluster
Over the fields where the seeds |
drop down.
Then, in a hurry of sudden flurry.
Sweep away in a flare of brown.
Silently slip through the leaves fast
thinning.
Never a chirp of the cheery spring
When mates are wooing and gently
cooing,
Making a nest where they brcod
and sing.
Irregular lines of the wild duck
flying.
Seek a harbor in southern streams.
All through the night the gray
geese hying,
"Honk" and "honk" till the dull
dawji gleams.
| O'er ruddy hollows a blue Jay
winging,
i Talks to his friends of a new
freehold.
Where shining live oak and gray
moss clinging.
Breathe of a summer that ne'er
grows old.
'Would T might follow the dear birds
along,
Down where the clear green rivers
run,
Where fishes leap under jasmine
blowing,
And winter's cold is forever done.
—T,. C. Wood In the Philadelphia
ledger.
Washing 'Em in a Glass Now
lFrom the Dallas News.l
What hus become of the ohl-fash
ioned belle who used to manicure
her teeth with u snuffstick'f
] New Industrial Conference
tFrom the Public Ledger]
No one can doubt the individual
professional or business ability of
the inen who have just been ap
pointed by the President as mem
bers of the new industrial confer
ence which he lias called for De
cember t. Their personal qualillca
tions as men of affairs and as think
ers and publicists will also not be
questioned by any one. Hut, despite
all the qualifications of the new con
ferees as able men and as sound
Americans, it would seem as if the
coming conference were doomed to
a more immediate failure than the
tirst one. If the President In his
new selections has tried to avoid the
difficulties find the differences grow
ing out of the make-up of the first
conference as an irreconcilable
"group conference." composed of
organized labor and capital and
"representatives of the public," he
hus apparently fallen info a much
greater error ol thinking that a sup
posedly dispassionate groupless con
ference will get anywhere.
ft is true that each individual
composing the coming conference is
probably in a position, as are hun
dreds and thousands of other Ameri
cans prominent in finance, in busi
ness and in public and educational
life, to utter sage counsel that it
might profit the country to follow
on any issue. Hut this is hardly the
occasion for this kind of soothing
individual or collective wisdom. For
the first conference, it will be re
membered, was criticised not be
cause it was a group conference, but
because those who were supposed to
represent each of the three groups
were viewed as not altogether typi
cal of their groups, and, also, be
cause large groups of people, such
as the farmers and the small busi
ness man, and the unorganized
worker generally, were either not
represented at all or were repre
sented so indirectly as to arouse
their criticism and suspicion.
In other words, the first confer
ence was considered too little repre
sentative, though it was composed of
many practical men, to solve really
the broader, national issues, even if
it had been able to secure some com
mon labor action from the industrial
groups. Hut the new conferees are
even more unrepresentative of the
actual industrial groups which do
exist in the country and whose dif
ferences are to he adjusted. And it
is difficult to see how these conferees
are to reconcile these great groups
and l.ow they are to say anything
more to the country than has been
said by all sorts of publicists ever
since the question of a better under
standing between labor, organized
and unorganized, and capital came
up for discussion. No one will desire
to see the conference come to
naught; but when what the country
wants is an immediate practical so
lution of a condition, not a theory,
it hardly will view the new con
ferees, considered collectively, with
any degree of enthusiasm.
Reading an American City
[Williamsport Gazette and Bulletin. I
Evidently there is a considerable
portion of the population of Read
ing, Pa., which is determined to
counteract the impression held in
some quarters that the Berks county
capital is not a strictly American
city.
As might be expected, the Ameri
can Legion is at the forefront of the
movement to remove whatever taint
of un-Americanism may have ad
hered to the municipality through
rampant radicalism in the past. At
least the Legion is opposed to having
it go forth that Reading is in sym
pathy with the movement to create
sympathy in favor of the release of
Eugene V. Debs, conscientious ob
jectors and others held for obstruc
tion of the enforcement of the selec
tive draft law during the war, and
at the solicitation of the Leglon
aires the proprietors of the thea
ters have agreed to refuse the use
of their places for un-American
meetings and the mayor has can
celled a request for a permit to hold
a Debs sympathy meeting.
But that is not all. The executive
committee of the Patriotic Order
Sons of America, which has 12,000
members in Reading, has petitioned
President Wilson td invite James 11.
Maurer, one of the most radical of
radicals, to "get out of America and
betake himself to Russia."
The P. O. S. of A. indictment
against Maurer is not stated in the
dispatch telling of this action, but it
may have been based on the charges
made in the National Labor Journal,
official organ of the Central Labor
Union of Pittsburgh, which has made
the following accusation:
"In 1917, during America's parti
cipation in the World War, Maurer
was a member of the executive com
mittee of the People's Council of
Democracy and Peace. This was a
radical organization opposed to
America's participation in the w "
and opposed to military service. Mau
rer made speeches for this 'Red' or
ganization. He was to have been
one of the speakers at the convention
scheduled in Minneapolis, which the
Government prohibited."
There is more of the same kind in
the Labor Journal's editorial, which
asserts that Maurer "was particular
ly enraged over editorials protesting
against the activities of scheming
radicals to capture the labor move
ment," but the passages quoted give
an idea of the charges.
The sympathizers with the draft
dodgers and conscientious objectors
evidently will get cold comfort in
Reading or any other place where
Americanism is dominant.
Other People's Money
[Girard in Public Ledger]
"Operators offer miners $1.50 a
day increase in wages," says a
newspaper headline.
"Ha, ha," laughs the haughty
miner ffom his auto, "no such
chicken feed for me. I want $3 or
nothing."
Of course, the three dollars he de
mands is yours, because you know
very well it will not be the oper
ators, but the public, who must foot
the bill for every rise in coal at tlio
mines.
An engineer who wore a colonel's
eagle upon his shoulder in Franco
said to me one day this week:
"A year's absence from the Fnited
States will convince any returning
American that our chief national
[fault is that we are willing to let
things slide."
Being extravagant with other
! folks' money would not be so fash
tionable if the folks resented it more
vigorously.
Healing H. C. L.
fFrom the Philadelphia Record]
The sailor who crept under a
bungalow at Norfolk and slept for
51 days has discovered the real
remedy for '#c high cost of living.
Instead of endeavoring to wake him
up and keep him awake, the medical
commission which is studying his
case should devote its attention to
discovering how the rest of us can
follow his example. If we could all
sleep for a couple of months we
would be relieved of all expenses.ex
cept the rent, or the interest on the
mortgage, and accomplish some roul
conservation. Nobody ever heard a
beur complain of the high cost of
I lfving. It is because he sleeps all
through the winter.
iEtmttttg (Eljat
The Sproul administration plana
to make the study of the Constitu
tion of 1873 by the Commission of
Twenty-five announced by the Gov
ernor last night one of the monu-
mental achievements of the Dela
ware countian's term and it is the
plan to have the work of the body
which will be called to meet in Har
risburg within a month or so go
before the people the November fol
lowing the inauguration of the
Sproul successor. Two Legislatures
will be called upon to vote, upon tlio
proposition for revision or omission
before they are submitted to tlio
electorate. Voters of Pennsylvania
have ratified changes to the Consti- 5>
tutiou at six elections held in us
many years, the Legislature of 19 19
having agreed to submit a couple of
propositions as well as advancing •
others. The Constitution of 1873 is
the fourth under which Pennsyl
vania has been governed. The first
was the document of 1776, adopted
in Philadelphia under the presi
dency of Franklin; the second was
adopted in Philadelphia in 1790, im
mediately following the adoption of
the Federal Constitution, and was
presided over by Mifflin; (lie third
was adopted in Philadelphia in 1838,
the convention moving from Harris- ,i
burg where it met in 1837 with John
Sergeant, of Philadelphia, as presi
dent, and the fourth, the present,
adopted in Philadelphia on Novem
ber 3, 1873, the convention having
met here about a year before and
moving to Philadelphia. William
M. Meredith, of Philadelphia, was
chairman, John H. Walker, of Erie,
being chosen to succeed him when
he died. The tirst constitutional
convention was composed of 96, the.
second 69, the. third of 133 and the
last of the same number.
*
The Constitution of 1873 was rati
fied by 253,714 to 108,594. A dozen
years later dissatisfaction with it led ,
to efforts to bring a new convention,
but the only such proposition to go
before the people was defeuted No
vember 3, 1891, by the decisive vote
of 420,598 to 173.813. Since then
there have been efforts to pass bills
for constitutional conventions, the
campaign of 1912 stimulating such
projects. In the last session three
bills for constitutional conventions
appeared, but the administration
sponsored the idea of a commission
to study and recommend revision
rather than hold a convention at this
time, a course which has been ap
proved in many letters coming to
the State Capitol.
The. first amendments to lie rati
fied were those voted upon in 1901,
when the three amendments relative
to voters and their qualifications
were adopted, this theme having
been much discussed in the nineties.
The largest number of amendments
ever made was in 1909. when nine,
with a schedule for operation, were
adopted. One was defeated. These
amendments abolished the spring
elections and changed tenures of of
fice and made other alterations
mainly in public office. Two years
later the Philadelphia debt limit
and courts amendments were adopt
ed, the first having to be changed
by another amendment adopted In
1915. In 1913 there were five
amendments submitted and three,
including the first proposed bond is
sue, went down. Two years later
four more amendments went before
the people on a referendum and one
was defeated. The last change was
the good roads bond issue of 1918,
which was ratified when Governor
Sproul was elected.
In the last session of the Legisla
ture more than a dozen amendments
to the Constitution were proposed in
resolutions submitted and many
more were projected, but did not
get to the legislative stage. The
commission named to study the
Constitution is virtually authorized
to include the whole State govern
ment in its recommendations.
There is nothing inhumane in
reeding garbnge to hogs, such as is
done in Harrisburg and other places
in Pennsylvania coder municipal
contract, hut which has been both
ering officials of the Lehigh County
Humane Society, who wrote to Sec
j rotary of Agriculture Frederick
• Rnrmnssen, asking whether he
| thought it a good thing to do. The
secretary, who has been studying
live stock raising, promptly replied
that feeding garbage to hogs elim
inates waste and really produces
meat of a satisfactory quality, but
he declined to go into the question
of the feeling of the hogs on the
matter, except to note that they
quickly cleared up vegetable refuse.
The Lehigh people were troubled as
to whether the feeding of garbage
to hogs as sole diet did not make it
monotonous and if that was so
whether it could not be construed as
not humane. The secretary replied
that for centuries hogs had been fed
garbage and appeared to thrive
upon it. while there was no question
as to the fact that it eliminated
waste and fattened the animals.
'[ DO YOU KNOW 1
—Francis Newton Thorpe, one of
the commission on constitutional re
vision, is connected with one of the
Pittsburgh colleges and is an author
of works on history.
—Victor C. Mather, prominent
Philadelphian, is active in the for
mation of a remount association to
keep up with needs for the horse in
war.
—General Frank K. McCoy lias
been visiting his old home in the
Juniata valley.
—Councilman A. C. Keeley, of
Philadelphia, is head of the con
fectioners of that city.
—The Rev. Dr. M. L. McPhail, of
Pittsburgh, has accepted a call to
Auburn.
—Judge J. J. Buffington, of the
United States courts, occupied th
pulpit of one of the Pittsburgh
churches yesterday.
—P. L. Craig, of New Castle,
president of the State Sunday School
Association, has been taking an ac
tive part in the discussions against
Sundny games in western counties.
—Col. J. Y. Brinton, prominent
Pb|ladelphian, who was on the Ar
menian mission, has returned home.
| WELL KNOWN PEOPLE "]
—That Hurrishnrg is a big
distributing center for soft
drink manufactures?
HISTORIC HAKKISBUIUi
—John Harris' advertisement in
Philadelphia newspapers announc
ing the sale of lots here called at-,
tention to the fact that it was on the
main highwuv from Philadelphia to
Pittsburgh. It still is.