The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, March 17, 1920, Image 4
Established 1S44.
The Press and Banner
Abbeville, S. C.
The Press and Banner Company
Published Tri-Weekly
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Telephone Xo. 10.
Entered as second-class matter ai
post office in Abbeville, S. C.
Terms of Subscription:
One year $2.0(
Six months 1.0(
Three months .5<
Wednesday, March 17, 1920.
?
THE CLEMSON TROUBLE
i
The conclusions reached by th
Board of Trustees of Clemson Co]
lege, which has been investigating
the recent rebellion there as well a
many charges made by members o
the student body, will comment
themselves to the public as just am
well founded, not only because it i
evident from the statement given ou
that the decision reached was afte
the fullest investigation, but becaus
it is also evident from a reading o
the statement that the trustees wen
about the investigation with an opei
mind and approached the question
to be settled with a desire to be jus
to all.
One cannot read the statement giv
en out by the Board in connectioi
with the letters and from statement
which have beert published, withou
^ reaching the conclusion that ther<
was very little cause for the exodu:
of the Sophomores and Freshmen las
week. Their zeal in undertaking t<
enlist the sympathy of the public ii
their actions was evidence that thej
did not regard their position secure
The acts of the representatives o:
the Junior and Senior Classes left a'
Clemson to represent these bodies, ir
undertaking to change the form o1
'the ultimatum presented to the Trus
tees was in itself an acknowledge
ment of wrong.
The people of the state will sympa
thize with the position t of the Boar;
in demanding a strict surrender t<
the constituted autnorities, and al
the ^anie time there will bo concur
rence in the decision not to make th<
penalty too heavy. The Board doe:
well to find that in so far as the
Freshmen and Sophomores are con
cerned their acts were due in large
part to ignorance of just what the\
wprp rlnino'. thonjrh it will be a little
difficult for a Sophomore to acknowledge
that he is ignorant.
CONFESSIONS AND HEARSAY
> >
Last Sunday a heinous offense was
committed in Abbeville. Two mer
were arrested, and the facts in the
case cast suspicion on them. Bui
they had not been identified as the
perpetrators of the crime. Peopk
jumped to the conclusion that thej
were the guilty men from a fact picked
up here and there, insufficient
though the facts were to plnce the
crime on them. They were taken tc
Columbia to prevent violence.
It was currently stated on the
streets yesterday that one of these
men had "practically" admitted his
guilt, and that he had approached or
spoken to one of the officers
that an effort be made to settle the
case. A probing of the facts eliciterl
the information that he had said to
the officer, "You have known me long
enough to help me out of this trouble,"
or words of similar import. The
words were sufficient to cause the
officer to believe the man was guilty.
He called it a confession. But when
you come to look and think of what
he said, his words were entirely consistent
with his innocence. There
could be nothing wrong, we take it,
in an innocent man asking a friend
to help him out of trouble in which
he found himself. But it was being
construed otherv -e.
Had the cause gone to trial, and no
more convincing evidence had beer
offered, and there had been no facts
to disprove the guilt of the men in
charge of the officer, the statement
would have been offered as a confession,
By the time it had gone tht
rounds of thr> npnnlp who tnllr tVir,
streets, and been added to, it would
haVe been sufficient to make tht
public believe that the man had in
fact confessed to the crime. A jury
would have been at court impressed
with the belief that the man had ad
I mitted his guilt. !c
I
Bu the parties who are in position I '
Mo know say that neither of the men j r
(arrested was/ a party to the crime, land
there ends the confession.
The facts of this case and the
! statements about "practically conIfessing,"
with the proof that there
I could haw been no confession, and .
" that none was intended, should im- j
^ press on people the importance ^ of ]
j sifting to the bottom these extra- ,
1 i r V.i
judicial coniessions. -Not nan ui imuiu i
) are ever made. The officer may be en- 1
) tirely honest, and he may be diligent c
) in peeking out the truth, but if he is !
jimpressed with the guilt of a man '
under arrest, he is apt to construe i
(statements as confessions which were
j never intended to be such. The (
jchange of a word, the change of the ^
i emphasis on a word used by a man ,
'under arrest, the recasting of a ,
^statement when repeated in court, ]
-!may be of the most serious conse- .<
sequence to a man on trial. <
gl We never attend a term of court <
f (where officers of the law appear in 1
j j practically all criminal cases as wit- !
* i
rjjnesses to confessions that we do not
s feel, and know, that often there has '
t been in fact no confession. The hon]
r est officer should be careful of the
e words spokn by a man under arrest, J
f and he should be sure that a man j
t has really confessed before he says |
a o. The courts cannot be too particus
lar in admitting testimony of this f
t kind, though in some cases the j
courts are more particular about se- 1
curing convictions than about pro- 1
1 tecting the rights of persons charged f
, with crime.
^ i
<
a f
We have read with genuine sorrow
s \
h the death of Miss Cochran of Abbe- .
f c
? ville. We had known her and her sis- {
! ter for sometime. Both of them work;
ed in the printing offices at Abbeville ^
the one in the Press and Banner and t
f the other in the Medium. They were 1
b experts in the business and always *
l pleasant and courteous. The last '
f ;time we were in Abbeville Miss Car
rie at the Press and Banner office was
-| operating the linotype, making up Ithe
forms and mailing the papers|c
and doing anything that came along 1
I r
in the office and always so bright and r
t cheerful and with interest in !
" the business that was a delight ?
it.
to see. To the finite mind it is a
. i Strang and mysterious working of
-jdivine providence that would take one
' so useful and so young from the activities
of life. Editor Greene pays a
i beautiful and deserved tribute to the
"i i
'young lady and we know that he will
miss her useful and valuable services
from his office. We shall miss her
.pleasant greeting when we visit Ab-i
o
tibeville and the print shops of that s
|town.?Nowberry Herald and News. c
i 11
ifi
A SCHOM DISCUSSION j?
! ii
While we do not believe that many f<
parents in Abbeville will seriously
r<
object to the teachers teaching a .
) c
greater number of hours during the e
school days of next session, yet there si
may be some who. from 3 one sided
1 ,in..v.i. : ?
j yic? wi nir nuuuit UHV, Wllljjy
' arrive at the conclusion that some- si
body higher up is trying to put
^something over them. AVe wish to ^
j quote from a letter recently appear- p
J ing in "The Open Forum" column of fi
'j the Charlotte Observer. Charlotte
;| evidently is divided upon the ques-h,
. tion of adopting the double session io
I day in the city school and Mr. En- P
, !oe whose article we are quoting j
seems to have a great deal more sym-jsl
j patliy for the "poor mother" than for j 1<
the "poor teacher." j
"Really, Mr. Editor. I do not|jf
1 think we will ever pay our teachers j 1<
| much more for the cost of existence!15
"will have reached its zenith and re-i*
1. 1
i verted downward long before any re-:a
'[numerable steps are taken for the "
' underpaid instructors, and they can;^
I
again breathe as a rescued man from:
' water. [ G
i "This one thing I know, Mr. Edi-j^
;: tor. A change in teaching must be)(1
V |ll
i undergone, and that pretty soon. Forjti
! the children do not studvifi
-I I p
. I in school any more. They merely j,(
,! recite there and get their next (lay | (j
(j assignment. Their studying must be g
11 mine ai nuiiie. aiiu pour iiiiuiitM : |
I She (oi ley) needs the strongest
> P
sympathy, and most earnest prayers ?i
'! of the "effectual fervent righteous" 01
r j of all who do not have any lambs in ''
11 fc
1 schools. j C1
"Her husband earns so much. Her n<
ook's husband ' earns so much on ' ^
;c "v..:.vj il:e ret::cs. She
lot enly retires herself -1-0 li~r '
laUni?:.vr-uu:'Av. .-.nJ i w??i:?vr \
, Vniv vnil ' *V
l'om ilie iifiu ui nci > i"h- , .....
enow that a wife must be "some j ^
vil'e" these days to keep some other, ^
'go-goo eyes" from vamping her be-;
overt. As a mother her duties and i ^
-esponsibilities increase like rent. <
\Tid that is mildly put. Tlio added. ,
perplexities of doing her own house-,
vork. the cooking of throe meals a '
lav with enough for '.ier growing (in <
>'ze and appetite) iambs between' ,
reals, and attending the children are!
rell nigh unto the rebelling point.' ^
But the family washing must be done <
m* else the board of health investi- .
?ates. By the time that is done the
lambs are getting sleepy and "dad" >
llreadv has his shoes off. his collar <
i.nbuttoned and begins yawning. But
iiow about mother? At this tiresome ^
=t<ige she must undertake the task <
3f teaching her children their next
lay's lessons. (And often times those "
underpaid teachers are out having '
y good time.) The worse part of <
that is mother or anyone else who /
ms been out of school three years or
more cannot teach these new fanglo
nethods. There is talk among them
already to go on a strike with the
teaching business. And who, after
living in a home of that state, can
dame them?
"If the school hours are made longer
at school with an hour for lunch,
>o they will not have to run their
egs off and swallow their eats
ivhole, and let them in study in
;chool, it will prove a blessing to the
>verworked mother. And I am more
n sympathy with an underpaid
eacher. Do more work in school
md less at home and the teachers
vill not have so much paper work to
lo at home after school hours. So
hey will fare better, too.
"Then the mother and father, too.
vill bo far more favorably inclined
o pay a icw mure emus whuui m;.
know what I am talking about Mr. p
Dditor. for I have been in nearly 200 1
ionics in the rural districts and over ^
1,000 in the city of Charlottee." ^
Cologne, March 16.?The >
esignation of Dr. Kapp, chan- <i
:ellor of the new government
n Berlin, is considered immiient,
it was declared today in \
eports received here. Field /
Marshal Von Hindenburg has
vrittcn to Dr. Kapp advising ^
lirn to withdraw. \
(.'ermany's two governments? >i
the new in Berlin and flic old in ^
Sfutlirsirt? are still locked in a <1
strucvle for supremacy. While reports
through I'aris today reltcr- \
ate that negotiations arc in prog- ,
rcss for a compromise the Kbert ^
government in Stuttirart is equally /
positive (hat no compromise can
he considered. <j
On I lie face of the announce*
mcnts by the rival governments to- \
day promised to witness the be- .
ginning of a determined contest \
for control. ,
Chancellor Kapp. backed by the bay- \l
nets of the troops that made it pos- a
ible for him to oust the Ebert gov- )j
rnment, is sitting tight in the Ger- SI
urn capital. but already feels the ef- y]
erts of the strong power tlm socialists ^
ave used to combat him?the general <(]
trike. Against this he declares that a
lost drastic measures will be taken Nl
mned lately. <1
Tn Stujtgart President Ebert and his
jllowers denied the report current \)
esterday that an agreement had been a
eached with the Kapp forces but de ^
lared there could be no negotiations <3
xcept upon the basis of unconditional A
urrender by Dr. Kapp. \I
The national assembly, called to- a
ether by the Ebert government, will ^
ieet at Stuttgart tomorrow to conider
tlie situation.
Field .Marshal Von Hindenburg, who \J
, s been mentioned as the choice of *
le Kapp faction for the German
residency, has eliminated himself <^J
om ine summon, n is siuieu ijv nauver
newspapers. He is reported to <3
ave made a public declaration iliat *
e is not connected with the Kapp rev
lution and, on the contrary disap- </|
roves, of it.
Strikers Threatened With Death. <]
Berlin is in the grip of a general .
trike called by socialists and labor \]
jaders as a counterstroke to the as- a
umption of power by the government ^
snded by Dr. Wolfgang Kapp. who has <j
isued a decree threatening all strike
jaders and pickets with death if there <]
> interference with vital public ser- *
ices. Extreme measures will be tak- N
n under the decree from 4 o'clock this A
fternoon and it is possible the crisis
f the new revolution will quickly <(]
jllow. I
Details Are Obscure.
Details of the situation throughout! *
erinany are somewhat obscure but ^
lere seems to be reason to believe the <^j
Ibert government is still holding con ol
in the southern and western sec- \)
(jiis, wiine uie regime is liuner v?
rmly intrenched in Northeastern nI
russia and in Silesia where many /i
nvns and cities are reported to have
eclared their adherence to the new <]
overnment.
Fighting Reported.
Fighting is reported at various s%
oints throughout Germany and it is
lid there was bloodshed in suburbs
f Berlin yesterday, but it would seem ^
le clashes so far reported have been
)rces of tne two governments have ^
rowds. So far as is known arnud /I
of come into collision. ^
>
>
Rosei
>
> DEF
FOUR
STORES
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New A
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fashiona
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appeal t<
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invitatioi
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Merc
iters Merai
'ARTMENT STORES
Abbeville, S. C.
Y GOOt
STORE [
arrivals in L
sacy-to-Wea
Sport Coats, Suits
just received are e
ittractive.
new Spring|B; color
ble materials,1! | ta:
ty and service, si
0 the ladies of Abb
;xtend to all a c
1 to visit this store.
ligation to buy. ,
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