THE SUMTE!! WATCHMAN, Esti CONSOLIDATED AUG? 2,3 LEGISLATURE IS NEARING ADJOURNMENT ?^ House Takes Recess; Until Tuesday t o Permit Senate t o Catch Up Columbia, March 3?The house; of representatives adjourned today j to meet Tuesday nighL There is ] little left for the house to do until j the senate passes the appropria-j rion bilL A resolution adopted j by the senate to adjourn sine die j next Saturday before midnight, was j objected 10 in the house and went j over for consideration^ until next | week. Only local matters were j nsidered in the house today. Columbia. March 3>-The senate j Thursday night passed and sent to the house for concurrence in some j amendments the bill, passed by the J hottse last year, to increase the: powers of the public service com- j mission, so as to give this commis- j sion authority to regulate bothj rates and service of public service j companies, and to include all utili- i ties within the scope of the com mission's jurisdiction. The bill was introduced in the- house last. year j by Representative, now speaker, J. j B. Atkinson, of Spartan burg. I This bill is in line with the new J railroad commission brll. now 1 awaiting the governor's signature, j and enlarging the commission to seven members and giving it also j the work of the public utilities com mission, j The new railroad commission bill I was amended in tn*e conference so as to give tpa commission author ity to regulate rates and service of all utilities* municipal as well as corporation owned. In the senate Thursday an effort was made by some of the senators to recall the act from the governor's otfiee. stat ing that the amendments had pass ed without their knowledge. There was opposition to request the gov ernor to send the act back, the sen ator* in opposition stating that ?he other senators should not have "gone to sleep." It is net likely, however, now that the recall reso lution will be,voted ou^duc.to the, senate's action in passing the utili ties bill. ..In the debate -Thursday ^night Senator Miller, of'fJarlington, spoke for two hours. i A hot debate between Represen tatives Amick and Barfe. of Lex ington Thursday night in the house featured the consideration of two bills aimed at abolition of the ru ral police system in Lexington coun ty, one to repeal the rural police act. the other to put up to the people the question of the abolition of the system. Mr. CTRourke of Charleston took a hand in the de bate, asking many questions and charging that tue rural police sys tem in every county was rotten. Mr. Barre represented the proponents of the rural police system in Lex ington and Mr. Amick spoke for the opponents. Both bills wore intro duced by Mr. Amick, but both were lost. Columbia, March 3?The ways and means committee of |he House has introduced a bill to authorize the state penitentiary to pledge its cotton to the South Carolina Co-operative Marketing association. Representative Jacksou, of Suroter. I is sponsor of the bill on behalf of j the committee. SAFEIN LOUISIANA! Gov. Parker Refuses Requisi tion For Stock {Salesman Bator* Rouge. La., Maich 3.? Governor Parker today refused to honor the requisition of the Gov ernor of South Carolina for the return to that state of J." II. Cov ington, one of the officials of the; Union Pipe Line and Refining Com pany, of Shroveport. Lau on the charge of violating the "blue sky" law at Anderson, S. C. Mr. Covinxton was charged with selling 3.">0 shares r:* stock for $:>, ?00 to S. M. By?-rs, and VV. J. King, of Anderson. Replying to the charges in an affidavit. Mr. Covington declared that they were brought because he refused to buy back the siock at a tremendous profit to the own ers. Governor Parker said in view of that fact and satisfied the transac tion occurred in Shn-veport and not in South Carolina ?nd inas much as the stock was the person al property of Mr. Covington and not company treasury stock, he would not honor the requisiiion. TRADING IN STOCKS REVIVE Business Was Exceptionally Good This Week at New York Exchange Norfolk. March 4?Three per sons were burned to death and two overcome by smoke in a fire in a three story boarding house lure. The dead ale Helen White. South Norfolk. Lena McKensley. Crad dock. and B. M. Hyatt, seaman of the I". S. S. orion. Several were also rescued by fireman. iblislietl Aprii, 1850. 881._ TMDOUS j DECREASE IN FERTILIZERS Sales For Past Seven j Months Seventy Per ! Cent Less Than For; Period Two Years Ago _? New Orleans. March 4?New Or leans cotton exchange figures show i a decrease in fertilizer sales during j the seven months ending with Feb- j ruary of sixteen per cent compared j with the same period a year ago j and a decrease of seventy per cent;' compared with sales two years ago. ? ENGSTRUM BID FOR MUSCLE SHOALS! i -, , ? i i Former Senator Butler of North Carolina Explains Proposal to Senate Com mittee Washington, March 3 (By the; Associated Press). ? George "VV. j Goethals, former major general in j the army and builder of the Pana- j ma canal, will take personal charge j of the development of the govern-j ment-made projects at Muscle j Shoals in the event the offer of | Frederick E. Engstrum of North Caroline, ship builder and engineer, | for lease and completion of the j Alabama properties is accepted by congress, it was announced today, I Mr. Goethals already has agreed, it | was added, to accept the task of j completing the great dam at Mus- \ cle Shoals, and other projects for Mr. Engstrum. The announcement of the agree- ? ment between Mr. Engstrum and> Mr. Goethals was made by Marion j Butler, former senator from North [ Carolina, in testimony given the! house milhary committee on the! proposal which was under eonsid- j oration as a competitor to those < submitted by Henry Ford and the f Alabama Power company. The committee devoted both ses- ! sions today to an investigation of J the Eugstr-um offer, receiving MrJ Engstrum first for a brief intro- j duction of his bid and later exam-j ining Mr. Butler who appeared as i legal adviser for the North Caro- j linian. MV. Butler said nitrate and j fertilizer production, viewed in the sense of their relation to the na tional defense, was the prime ob ject of the offer he spoke for, al-j though hydro-electric development j would not be neglected. While the former senator did not j refer to .the Ford offer by name he ? argued strongly against eongres-! sional action which would permit' the principal water power project! of the South to be controlled by a j private concern. Nitrate and fertilizer production! at the shoals. Mr. Butler said.! could be made a national asset.) permitting cheap soil foods for the} farmers and reduced prices for loodstuffs for the consumer*. In reply to questions by Reprc- | sentative Stoll of South Carolina,! Mr. Butler said the corporation to i be created under the Engstrum j plan would "capitalize itself un til it got to be a "going concern" j and was willing to offer a surety! bond of any size the government ( suggested to assure the proper execution of the offer. Both Mr. Butler and Mr. Engstrum would be directors of the corporation, it was stated, in addition to two others who would be designated by the secretaries of war and agriculture. The witness said the remaining three directors would not be named j at the present time, although he; denied that James B. Duke, of North Carolina was associated eith er directly or indirectly with the corporation. Reports that Mr. Duke was allied with Mr. Eng st rum wen? emphatically denied. The only financial considera-i (ion tin- proposed corporation would _ receive in return for its work of de- j veloping tin- properties, it was ex-! plained, would be Trom the sale of j power not required to operate the] nitrate plants, from the sah- of] [fertilizers and nitrates, and the j j per cent, fee it would receive from! the government on tin- cost of] [completing tin- Wilson dam and; [Other construction jobs, j Mr. Butler showed that ;ill oven-! head expenses, including tin- em-1 I ploy ment of engineers and other! \ operating costs, would i.e paid l?y ! the corporation out of tin* ."? per j i cent, fec und would not be charged! [against the government as part of the cons'ruction costs. U was Chairman Kahn's opin ion that ir would require tin* com j mit tee at least a week, working in executive sessions continually. io draft a report to tin- house on the Muscle Shoals question. HOT TIMES IN ARGENTINA Buenos Aires. March '-. The senate and assembly of Tucuman have been held prisoners for over twenty-four hours by order of the [senate president to force ;i n elec i tion of a federal senator. The I building is surrounded by firemen land armed civilians and the la I test dispatches cay pistol fighting is I going on inside. "?e Just and Fear 2 BRITISH POLITICS UNSETTLED Chamberlain's Pledge; of Solid Cabinet! Support of Premier! Does Not Relieve I Uneasiness in Gov ernment Circles London, March 4?Austen Cham berlain's declaration of the solidify of the cabinet behind Lloyd George had little appreciable effect on the situation which threatens to bring about the resignation of Premier Lloyd George in the opinion of the majority of the political writers in today's papers. CABINET CRISIS POSTPONED Lloyd George's Threat to Re tire From Office London, March :i (P>y the Asso ciated Press). ? Premier Lloyd George's threat to resign hss been suspended at the urgent solicitation of his Unionist colleagues in the cabinet, according to an authori tative statement tonight but no justification for its withdrawal is said to exist as yet. Official denial is made that any exact time limit has been fixed for receiving assurance of loyalty to the premier from the adherents of Sir George Younger, the Unionist load er, although it is added that ob viously the tension can not be ex tended indefinitely'. v Meanwhile there is no indication of any move on the part of the Unionist party to dethrone Young er as its head. No meeting of the whole Unionist, party has been called, and the general opinion is that the only happening will be that the Unionist ministers in the cabinet?Arthur j. Palfour and Austen Chamberlain?may publicly reprove Younger for his tactics as Lord Dirkcnhcad already has don?\ Speaking at Oxford today. Aus ten Chamberlain announced that Unionist ministers had unanimous ly requested the premier to con tinue as-head of the government. Not the slightest repentance lias yet been shown by the "die hard" Conservatives whose opposition to the leadership of the premier is primarily responsible for the pres ent crisis. They 'are cooperating with the Ulsterites in the house of j commons in putting up a stiff fight against the Free State bill by pre senting amendment after amend ment. Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, secretary for war. in a speech at Colchester tonight revealed that tin premier lately offered to retire from the government and support it in carrying out Its Irish program? but all the Conservative members of the government assured him of their support and begged that he continue. In the endless speculation about the crisis there is much insistence on the view that Mr. Lloyd George has arrived at a point in his politi cal career where he must define whether his future path will lead? toward Liberalism or Conserva tism. Since he became leader of: the coalition under the abnormal cir cumstances of war requiring a na tional, not party, policy, his political coloring has been in abeyance. If the coalition now disappears it is argued he must elect to attach him- 1 self to one party or the other. According to some belief his present action is a bid for leader ship of the Unionist party, and that if this fails there are two al ternatives before him. first to form a new Centrist party and second, to try" to go back to leadership of the Liberal or Liberal-Labor party. Oxford. England, March U (By the Associated Press). ? Austen Chamberlain, government leader in the house of commons, in an ad dress here this evening announced that after consulting his colleagues in the cabinet lie had given Prime Minister Lloyd George a unanimous reply that they considered it neces sary in tin- national interest that tin- premier should continue- to car ry on the government. CHALLENGES MONEY POWER IN MICHIGAN Representative Kelly An- j nounces Candidacy For the j Senate - - v- i VYasbirigt^on. March 4.? Dcclar- j trig "it i.s vital to Michigan that ! money shall not be the determining I i factor" in tin- forthcoming election, j Representative Patrick II. Kelley j anounced that hV would be can- j didatc for the senate, seeking Ilm seat now held by Senate]- Tow ri ven.1. 'flie man with money to burn has a hot time. I"im- motto: Watch your step, but don't look do\\ n 1? do it. Lnnuis is suggested as mayor of Chicago. Since he will gi\e ai. his tine- to baseball, he is qualified. \ot?r. Still fiddling with the tariff, the two committees in charge of such legislation in house and senate send acrimonious messages f the eapitol t?> the other, have equally bitter quarrels among themselves. And at the White House it is not differ ent. Tim president and the nat ional chairman. Adams, have been ;>t daggers' point tor weeks over the appointment of ;i successor to j Postmaster General Hays, the mi r inu of the vacancy as secretary of the national committee, and ronage genera Hy. Speaking of Hays retails what Maun said ol him in the house the lothcr day. .His remarks make one it be thy Country's. Thy God's and esday, March 8, 1922 AjHERE HE) ? 'vV> ^5.C. COTTON] FARMER. MILITIA ON i GUARD AT ! PROVIDENCE - Authorities Anticipate Clash With Strikers; in Rhode Island Textile District Providence. R. I.. March 6.? Heavy forces of fli?- National Guard and coast artillerymen guarded the . ifMPc ?"ompany's plant at Hope to day in expectation that textile trikcrs would picket the plant with strikers from other mills against the orders of the authori ties. The expected test of the picketing regulations, however, was not made. I.. I5LACKST0NE MILLS ARE PICKETED Pawtuckct, II. I.. March 6.? Blackstone valley mills were pick eted today, due to rumors of an at tempt to resume work after the close down of two weeks. The sit uation is unchanged. wonder what sort of bargain the Movie Trust got when it agreed to pay Hays $1.50.000 per year as a sort of field marshal. Mann said in tiie course of a debate: "1 It has not been worth a live-cent piece since he has been postmas ter general. He does not know any thing about tin- postoffiee depart ment: ami. for one. I am mighty glad he is getting out of it. His only objeel lias been to be extrava gant in his own personal relations with the government. Long-dis tance telephoning is Iiis main long suit." Tin- bonus nuestion. like the cof fin of Mohammed. remains s,.s j ponded between heaven and earth. When Harding asked congress to adopt bonus legislation and to pro vide a sales tax to pay the bill, he knew Hie agricultural conference which had just been held in Wash ? ington parsed a resolution saying: "We positively and earnestly pro test against any consumption, or sales, or manufacturers' lax. or any other tax which shifts tin- harden onto those I- ist able to pay. onto tin- nccessitiea of life, it has prov ed disappointing financially and unjust socially wherever tried." That resolution passed unanimously iii a farm conference which Hard ing called, then within less than three weeks In- asked congress to pass ;i sales tax. Why*.' Two rea sons: he knew the farm bloc was against tin- tax and that labor was emphatically on record against it, and he could tell the Legion h<- was for t he that In- was blocked by sition: further, everyom capitol knows that ever since it be came apparent that Harding was to be elected the Wall Street dis trict has flooded congress with let ters and arguments of every sort, directly and througl1 the great New Vork newspapers, under con trol of rile financial interests, urg ing the enactmeni of a sales tax. Ui^ business seeks, through land ing's recent action, to briny the sales lax into use iir>t on the plc.-i that it [s necessary to pay the bonus?thai for the entering wed;;--. Their hope and mr<-nti<'n is that it shall he made, within ;i lew years to rake tin- place of ;<-? taken to the courts. This bill is tin' result of the tele phone rate case of last summer, when the railroad commission, af ter many hearings, and much in vestigation, granted the telephone rate increase. The action brought a light on the railroad commission which resulted recently in the pas sage of the act to en large the com msion to seven members, all mem bers to he paid a per diem rather than :i salary, the elTec! of the bill being to abolish Uie commission as it is now couslituted. This act is i now on the governor's desk await ing his signature. Tlie luxury tax bill is 071 tbo senate calendar. It may die there. Tie- ?'bad check" bill is on the calendar. It may die there. 1: is expected that the appropria tion bill will be introduced by the finance c ommittee Monday night, or Tuesday morning. It will likely by passed this week, and adjournment sine die is expected Saturday. The house is marking time, waiting for the senate to dispose of the numer ous important measures on its calendar. The house *vilt not re convene !'?>r the week untli Tues day ni;; lit. Former Governor ''ox. of Ohio, who is on a vacation stay in Aik en. has been invited to address the legislature this week, He has ad vised that he will try to come to Columbia Wednesday or Thursday. -+ m ? London. March G.?The world will know within forty-eight hours definitely whether Lloyd George, the prime minister, will resign. Experts are diametrically opposed in opinion how the crisis stood as the result of the .week-end confer ences. eharge of the advertising propa ganda for Germany after the war began in Europe, the friend of Captain Loy-cd. Dr. Albert and Von ?ernstorff. Great pity the man who sunk the Lusitania can't be found?the president might lind a fat job for him. THE TRUE SOLI NO FINAL VOTEON FOSTER BILL Senate Adjourns Until 8 O'clock Monday Nigh t ?Fight Against Recalling R. R. Commission Act is Abandoned Columbia. March Z.?Just before ! the senate adjourned at 11:10 o'clock to meet again at 8 o'clock Monday night, debate on. the Eos tor telephone rate l>ill which has raged throughout the day, was continued until Tuesday morning without a final vote being taken on the measure. Practically the whole legislative day of the senate was taken up with the Foster bill requiring the Southern Bell Telephone and Tele graph Company to decrease its rntes to the level obtaining before January 1. 1*21, when the present increase authorized by the state railroad commission went into ef fect. Early this morning it was indi cated that the bill would pass when the senate, by a vote of 2Z to 13. refused to stride out the enact ing words. Various amendments were offered by Senator Miller, who led the light for the bill, the most important of which was that to reestablish the free exchange radius or that allowing exchanges without charge between exchanges situated within thirty miles of tach other. This amendment had not been brought to a vote at a iate hour tonight. The senate finance committee announced tonight that it would work on the general appropriation bill tomorrow and have it ready for tnstroduction to the senate by Monday night. The bill providing fo ra tax of one-third of a mill on each kil owatt hour of hydro-electric power manufactured in this state was ad vanced to third reading with no : tice of general amendments and ; debate on third reading, i The tight against the consolt ! dated railroad commission bill to get it back into the senate so that , it could reconsider its concurrent i > in the section providing super visory powers over rates and serv ! ice of public utilities has been ; abandoned. The amendments to the j public service last night cxemtp ; ing existing service contracts and i municipalities removed much of the j objection to the railroad commis sion amendment. ! The senate tonight advanced to I third reading the Cooper bill, pro viding-for amortization of bonds and other securities held by in surance companies and the ways j and means committee bill to in ! crease the license fee of insurance agents to $3 per annum and rc ? quiring insurance companies to j j duplicate lost policies without re-I i quiring ah indemnity bond. The j ; senate at Poth the day and night | : sessions passed a large number of I local measures. CEMETERY DRIVE BEING CLAYED j _, Trustees of Sumter Cemetery Association Hold Meeting I ; A meeting of the trustees of the I Sumter Cemetery Association was i held on Thursday afternoon at i which time the committee on im | i provements of the cemetery report - j ied that they had made a contract! ; with parties, subject to the approv al of the trustees, for the claying [of the drives in the cemetery on a ! basis of l*i L'-3 cents per square j yard, drive ways to b'* paved 12 I feet wide. The trustees approved ? of this and authorized the execu : fion of the contract. Other matters [of importance looking to the im-I provemeut of conditions at the ? cemetery were discussed but it was, ? thought best before acting on these r