The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, February 20, 1920, Image 4
= 1 ESTABLISHED
1S44.
The Press and Banner
1, ABBEVILLE, S. C.
The Press and Banner Company
PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
CjiS.. .
Telpnhone No. 10.
* ?I
Entered as second-class mail matter at post office
in Abbeville, S. C.
Terms of Subscription:
One year ^ $2.00
cix months 1.00
Three months \i .50
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1920.
IIK - AN ENGINEERING JOB.
e||' We have been reading for .-several weeks that Mr.
Herbert Hoover was an ideal man to be made present
All the time we have been impressed with
the fact, as it is alleged, that Mr. Hoover did not
H want the office, did not want to think about it, and
would not accept it unless the American people
ran him down and forced it on him.
;; But Mr. Hoover was in New York Tuesday evenly
ing. He was there Tuesday morning and was electK/
ed president of the American Institute of Mining
IK and Metallurgical Engineers. Tuesday evening he
fc.; - was the principal speaker at the annual dinner of
I' his association.
What Mr. Hoover had to say on that occasion
s" does not sound so much to us like "mining and metallurgical
talk," unless perhaps he was mining for
u ' a nomination and undertaking to blend the political
i elements into Hoover support. His talk impressed
most people th?f. he /as stating a platform on
which he hoped cw secure the nomination for president,
if not from the democratic party, then from
the republican party, and if from neither, then
f , from somV, independent party which might be induced
to nominate him. So far from it appearing
that Mr. Hoover does not want the office, it would
seem that he is in the running and is ready for the
lightning to strike him.
Mr. Hoover's views on most questions seem to
Bjgy be sound, at least that is the opinion of the p le
who claim to know. The salient points of his speech,
(and which may be said to constitute his platform)
are these:
. ''We are swamped with debt and burdened with
taxation. Credit is wofully inflated; speculation
. and waste are rampant.
B "On Government operation of railroads: No
1 scheme of political appointment has ever yet been
devised that will replace competition in its selection
of ability and character.
B "If the Government continues in the shipping
BT (the merchant marine) business, we shall be disap5
pointed from the point of view of profits.
E "The lack of a Federal budget system is a further
I testimony that it is always a far cry of our citizens
from the efficiency in their business to interest in
the efficiency of their Government.
"The attitude of refusal to participate in collective
bargaining with representatives of employees'
own choosing ig the negation to the bridge to better
relationship,
; "There is little danger of radicalism ever controlling
a country with so large a farmer popula*
One reaches the conclusion after reading the
platform, or the speech, which ever you choose, that
Mr. Hoover does not run from the popular side of
any question. Being a friend of the "poor man"
he is. of course, opposed to high taxes, and the
Irrible waste and extravagance that is "rampant"
the country. He likes the farmers and thinks
at they are the balance wheel of the country and
at they will save it from anarchy. He talks about
e co-operation between employer and employee,
it thinks that this dan only be brought about
rough organized labor and its representation by
ents of its own choosing, et,c. In fact Mr. Hoover
ies to please all, and are not platforms made to
Of course this is not what we have been told
iNjt Mr. Hoover. He has been pictured as an
gin^r who ran into his mine every time anybody
ked about making him president. The more his
lany friends" urged him to "come out," the fursr
ip he went. Only as a sacrifice for his country
>uld Mr. Cooper consider being crucified on the
esidential cross, but then the Mr. Hoover as pic
I'mRrfg vuicu uu ud id wu guuu LU UC uue.
W-e find ourselves in agreement with Senator
W Kenyon on Mr. Hoover. In Washington the Hoover
boomery have been going the rounds getting a line
% on the "mining and metallurgical" speech of their
faVorite. After stating that he is not interested in
Mr. Hoover's views, Senator Kenyon asks, "If he
l wants to be president, why doesn't he come out and
BeV|j|.
say so." And so say we all.
I V vvuvwvvvvvvvvvvv V
||! V THE OPINION OF OTHERS. V
V V V V V K V VV V V V VV V VV V V V
|. WHEN THE RAILROAD PAYROLL GRAFTERS
I ARE LOPPED OFF.
[ Mr. B. M. Jewell, acting president of the railway
I employees department of the American Federation
of Labor, is broken hearted over what will happen
Sp;' to the public when the railroads go back to private
ps* operation at the end of next week. Without the
"colossal savings, economics and efficiency" which
Mr. Jewell's wild imagination has discovered under
'Federal operation he fears an increase in freight
HEjtP'
Bag
' t"
H
ft.'- Hr*"..
~ . ..... .
!
rates which of course would be passed along to the
j public.
The railway workers have been so tender of the
public's pocket that under Government operation
they have slapped a round billion more of wages
! upon the payrolls. Director-General McAdoo took
j care of it and the rest of the increased costs under
Government operation by shooting up traffic rates
to such dizzy heights that the American people are
now paying two billions of dollars a year more of
! transportation bills than they were paying only
about three years ago.
The railway workers are still so tender of the
i public's pocket that they have been trying to bludgeon
Director-General Hines into slapping someI
| where between half a billion and a billion dollars
more upon the payrolls, to be taken care of with
further traffic charges against the public.
And the worst of it?the economic montrosity
and the financial crime of it?is that neither the
j railroads nor the people have been getting returns
I for the increased wages paid to the railway workers
and the increased transportation bills paid to the
roads by the public to the tune of some two billions
of dollars a year more. The men get more money;
they do less work. The roads haul less freight; it
costs them more to haul it.
Maybe it is true, as semi-official reports state,
that no fewer than 300,000 railway wage earners
j now drawing good pay without their services beingeither
needed or of any use to the carriers could be
j be dispensed, with and, when the roads go back to
their owners, will be dispensed with. Maybe the
number is not quite so multitudinous. Maybe there
are no more than 275,000 of such slackers. Maybe
there are only a quarter of a million.
But suppose the private management can lop off
250,000 useless men now carried on the railroad
j payrolls. And, because such men are not the day
laborers but the labor union aristocrats, suppose
the money they are now pulling down without earn{
ing it averages $2,000 a year each. That would be
for all of them put together half a billion dollars a
year. Other things being equal, that amount o$
revenue saved from such waste to become net income
would make the railroads as a whole solvent
j again. . I . V, VT.5-^
Put it another way. If from the present number
of about 1,800,000 rank and file railroad workers
were amputated 300,000 that are not earning their
salt?if the whole number were thus brought down
to a working basis of 1,500,000, all delivering a
square day's work for a square day's pay, the half
billion of dollars saved by lopping off-the payroll
grafters could be made to provide for the 1,500,000
real workers a wage increase averaging $333 a year
throughout the whole force of 1,500,000 men.
What would Mr. Jewell, who thinks he lies awake
nights worrying his head off about the burdens of ;
the public, say to a sound business proposition like
that??The Sun . i New YorK neraia.
|
V'KY WE WENT TO WAR.
r *
Vice-President Marshall apoligized some time ago
for nqt having realized quickly enough that the United
States couldn't hope to keep out of the great
war. Before April, 1917, he opposed participation.
Now the Vice-President goes still further and 1
shows how radically his views have changed by saying
in his recent letter: "'We were in the war from
the very moment of its European beginning, because
it affected our internal affairs."
I
In this statement?true, though soruewnat exag- j
gerated for rhetorical effect?Mr. Marshall ignores
the Administration :h(-ory or American pavticipa- 1
tion in the war. He seems to roject the idea that j
the United Statse went to war primarily to make the !
world safe for democracy, to establish 2 league of (
nations, to restore the freedom of the seas or to crusade
in general in behalf of humanity.
The Vic(!-Pre&ident is right?so far as formal rec- I
ord is concerned. The United States made war on j
i Germany for self-protection?in order to maintain I
national rights and interests which Germany had j
j challenged. And it was obvious from the day the
Lusitania was sunk that the German challenge could I
not be dodged or evaded.
President Wilson frequently set forth what he
called the war aims of the United States. But the
President hadn't the power to declare war. Con- j
gress alone^had that power, and it alone was com- :
petent to state why America took up arms against I
Germany. It did do this in the resolution deciar- i
ing war, passed on April 6, 1917. This resolution
read:
"Whereas, the Imperial German government has j
committed repeated acts of war against the govern- j
ment and people of the United States o$ Amreica; j
therefore be it
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, that the state of war between the j
United States and the Imperial German government i
which has thus been thrust on the United States is
hereby formally declared." I
Addressing Congress on April 2, 1917, the President
himself opposed a declaration of war against
Germany's allies on the ground they had not at
tacked us. "I have said nothing1 of the governments
allied with the imperial government of Germany
because they have not made war upon us or
challenged us to defend our rights and our honor."
That is the record. It has been obscured by multifarious
expressions of the President's personal
views and war aims. But Mr. Marshall's view is
i historically sound. The United States went to war
with Germany to defend its own national rights and
j interests; but, having gpne in to achieve a particular
end, it, of course, had the right when making
i np*f>p tr> nek fnr friiflranties that, would safeguard
r *""-w vw ? - o ?? o
against not only the recurrence of particular evils
but evils cognate them.?New York Tribune.
/
THE NATION'S SHAME. : I,
|nv
v Of all the war and after-^ar blun- a
ders of an ungrateful democracy 1
nothing that we have seen compares v
c
with our tragic failure to care for w
j disabled soldiers, the record of which 8
1 The Evening Post is now uncovering. s
There are more than 300,000 of
' these disabled men. More than 200,- a
, 000 registered for training under the c
I government's much advertised provi-.*
i sion for maknig these cripples and 1
j stricken men self-respecting and ef- ^
| ficient members of society. Of these a
! it is estimated that at least 110,000 0
| are eligible for training. Yet nine-; '
teen months after the organization of. s
the responsible body?the Federal 3
Board for Vocational Education?! s
I 1'
! only 24,000 have been put into train-'
i f
j ing and xonly 217 have been trained;
I and placed in gainful employments;'0
j that is, 217 for the whole country, it | c
j should be made clear. For the three1 ^
i states of New York, New Jersey and; 1
Connecticut the number of forty-!
three. Last December the board'
paid out $386,807 in salaries to 3,-j
: 242 employees; it paid only $139,335j
j for tuition for 21.537 disablpd sol-j
j diers. |0
These last figures apparently give^tl
J a vivid notion of the spirit in which p
| the work is conducted. The disabled v
i soldier is not treated as a charge of | fi
! honor upon the nation, entitled to! o
j every/consideration and assistance;! a
1 he is obliged to prove his right to j it
j treatment through an endless period si
1 of technical opposition and bureau-! si
I cratic red tape. No wonder men be- ii
j come disheartened and disgusted and si
; quit! Of the men approved for' w
: training 30 per cent drop out and|
; throw up their chances. The circum-1 ci
I
111 |jlll|
1B
11 ^4 new
I Seen i
@11 TTS a car very
I fort in thosi
I;' Besides,thisr
^ At the radiator t
From the cov
Ik r? n ltAii f Urt
Ifrjft CLo yuu OIL JULl LJL1C. ?
HI Once in moti<
? s you cling to the
[ HSi that the car is hi:
j| ?j|| Particularly is
j[ Bps ease of the engin*
l! |||i when you turn It
[ ppl You tacitly p;
| for they have Fie
j | * power that natur
! = c! Anrl TT/-?n orlrr
|tj 'EEELii. x U1U / vu auu
I flf to its beauty of c
I gI refreshing to a de
I I ELI
11
IfiSBSSaEgT mmmmi
\
Dcution office vents its months of,
i/eary questionings and applications!
nd forwardings and filings and;
nitialings, and at the end thej
/ounded soldier is often beaten.:
>mall wonder. The lahvrint.hs nf f.Viis
;overnment bureau would drive a!
I
trong man to despair.
The whole revelation should stir,
n instant Wrath in every iAmeri-|
an's heart and a prompt investiga-i
ion by Congress. Probably muchj
rrevocable harm already has been:
lone. But surely something can be j
ccomplished for the future. The;
obligation of the nation toward i
hese men is of the profoundest and!
olemnest description. It was so:
acred and the corresponding need I
o pathetic and noble that the pub-;
ic assumed that it must be m*t
aithfully and well. Little did wej
omprehend the workings of bureau-!
racy, which sees in a crippled solied
only another opportunity forj
ed tape, jobs and new acres of
ling cases!?New York Tribune.
THE SUGAR TRAGEDY.
j
Representative Tinkham h&u re
i J ? v.. --
jjciicu uiu vyuuiiuo uy ins autauis. uii
lif Administration for bungling the^
roblem of sugar prices. The house-!
rife who has to pay twice as much
or sugar as she paid a year ago can !
nly have her feelings lacerated by
fresh recital of the government's
idifference to the. interest of the1
agar consumer. She may be glad to
ee those who consented to the boost- j
lg of sugar pilloried. But how is,
lie going to get back the money j
rhich that indifference has cost her?j
Thanks to a happy chain oi' cirumstances
the government was able
I
t ! <>
inn
Elegance Oj
m this Chal
easy to look at: and there's a \
z new type seat cushions of
lew elegance has in no way penal
he lines are high. At the rear t]
A back the cop line of the coai
car you have a feeling this line i
Dn this position becomes eve. v,
seat, note the absence of side
igging the road closely.
vnnr pnf mieiacm cfirrpH wrhpn \j
is effort, its intense silence, the
Dose the power stream.
ay a compliment to Hot Spot ai
tcherized the raw gas, utilized t
e stored away.
lire a Chalmers the more for it,
iction, it is arrayed in new gai
gree.
JS LESLIE (
IMilyh iii f iV7,^Ti, ...
t? - dm s
\
to plug sugar prices during the war.
That was the one success of the
campaign of price regulation. Since
the Cuban crop could be bought up
wholesale, it was comparatively easy
to deliver refined sugar to the American
household at a moderate price.
, Yet in a way, perhaps, the very
success of sugar regulation became
a thorn in the flesh to the food control
authorities. They couldn't hold
down the prices of other necessaries.
And the abnormally low sugar price
was always an awkward reminder
to the public of the inefficacy of
control in other fields.
Attorney General Palmer's policy
has been to talk earnestly about reducing
the cost of living and to rely
on talk to restrain profiteers.
Talk doesn't restrain anybody. It
wasn't talk but forehanded business
sagacity which kept sugar prices
down in 1918 and 1919. And when
the Administration refused last summer
to buy up another Cuban crop
the era of 11-cent sugar came to a
tragic end.
The alleviation in sugar had been
artificial. Possibly every government
alleviation of the present high
cost of living must be artificial?a
temporary blocking of the operation
of economic forces. At any rate the
government is no longer chargeable
with inconsistency in applying a
brake to sugar costs, but failing to
apply it to other food costs. It can
still talk about reducing prices by '
moral and legal pressure. 3ut every
body knows what that means. Perhaps
the housekeeper who to-day
pays 20 cents or more for sugar will *
be the more easily reconciled to the
inevitability of the inflated cost of
other things.?New York Tribune.
.1 III!
HP H
Si! IS
f Line j||
mers jjjS
vcalth of com' SIS ;S
this Chalmers. - 1||1|!
lized roominess. ;r^! 18
hey are low. fiJBia
C !
ch is low, but
is high. .Is? IB I
.lore alluring as t [l|jj j
sway, and feel |lj I
rou observe the jjj|| |
Quick response
id RamVhorn, ; ||B[
he last drop of p
ior in addition jjpl
rmentsthat are jp|
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I