Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Abbeville Press and Banner Established 1844. $2.00 the Year. Tri-Weekly. Abbeville, S. C., Wednesday, Feb. 9, 1921 Single Copies, Five Cents. 77th Year. LABOR HEARING IMS A RECESS CONSIDERATION TO BE RE SUMED THURSDAY. EMPLOY EES TO ANSWER ATTERBURY WHO ASKS ABROGATION OF NATIONAL AGREEMENT. RE PLY TO REQUEST Chicago, Feb. 8.?The railroad la bor boprd, hearing the controversy between the railroads and their em-' ployees over national agreement recessed today until Thursday. At that time it is expected representa tives of the employees will appear with a reply to the request for im mediate abrogation of the agree ment made by W. W. Atterbury, chairman of the labor committee of the American Association of Rail way Exeputives. Representatives of seven inde pendent employees' organizations completed their testimony today. , They asked for certain rules bene fiting their members and maintain^ pH their rieht to negotiate agree ments with the roads for members of their organizations. It was their contention that heretofore the b.o ; i therhoods had undertaken to repre sent all employees. With the completion of the inde pendents testimony, ttie board was prepared to hear the .general pre sentation of evidence by the bro therhoods. B. M. Jewell, chairman of the employees, was in New York however, and the committee said it was not ready to proceed until his Teturn. It was reported that the employees would ask a month's re cess to prepare rebuttal to the four) weeks of evidence presented by the railroads but the board declared it had had no such request. Philadelphia, Feb. 8.?W. W. At terbury, vice president of the Penn sylvania railroad ahd chairman of the labor committee 01 ^ne Ameri can Association of Railway Execu tives, managements had s refused to confer with representatives of the employees of the various companies involved. In a statement, he said: "To be specific, we have' confer red and negotiated with organized! representatives of the employees of the Pennsylvania railroad. Other Tnilrnads are doine the same. "For the railroads as a whole to , attempt to deal with the nationali zed organization leaders with a" view to agreeing upon wages and working conditions to apply to all the railroads is, to attempt what ex perience has shown to be wasteful and self destructive. Wages and working conditions can not fairly be the same on all railroads. "We believe that there can be no restriction of effective esprit de corps, no re-establishment of eco nomical service, on the railroads of this country, until each company is in a position to negotiate directly with its own men, to appeal to their loyalty and by enlightened policies j +a ovAiioa onfVmci ttllU Attn ucaiui^o, WW uivuuv astic efficiency of its own mpn. "In our insistence that repre sentatives of employees confer with the officers of their respective rail roads rather than with the repre sentatives of the railroads as a whole, we feel, therefore that we refuse to meet with our employees. It is that we desire to meet with them." OUR SICK FOLKS Mrs. Mary Taggart returned Tues day from Baltimore where she went for medical treatment. She and the m M i.1.- 11*% no f A tamiiy are greauy tuccicu up <?o her condition. Mrs. Hamilton, who has been quite sick of pneumonia, is improving and was able to sit. up Wednesday. Mrs. T. H. Maxwell is still quite sick at the County Hospital and her condition is causing her friends grave concern. NATIONAL EA RECORD FAI] Washington, Feb. 8.?The coun-| try is now in many respects on a sounder basis, economically, than it has been for years, Comptroller of the Currency John Skelton Williams informed congress today in what he described as his "seventh and last annual report." Deflation, obviously inevitable a year ago, has come he said and prices of many basic commodities and raw materials have returned to pre-war levels or ib^low. "It now re mains for the middlemen," the comptroller declared, "to adjust his profits to the new prices before the ultimate consumer will receive the benefit of the reduced cost of liv ing." ^ - Labor, however, Mr. Williams said, must soon determine whether a shut down and idleness is prefer red to a lower wage scale which take into consideration the lower living charges. Mills and factories <^an not afford to operate unless they can turn out commodities at prices the public can afford to pay, he assert- ; ed, and it is better for the manufac turers to operate and produce goods ' at cost or at a very narrow margin of profit than to close down entire ly. Participation by labor with capi tal in the profits he suggested as the only principle i^o restore business. j Tinwiinc fVia rftcpol roor anrlaH .Tilno 30, 1920, the comptroller said ; there were 8^57 national banks in operation, the highest number ever < reported, and despite the difficulties encountered thpy made the best re- i cord in immunity from failure in about forty years. 'The percentage i of the capital of failed banks to the j WITNESS SAYS HE VWAS PUT . OUT OF BUSINESS?REED OF MISSOURI DECLARES PRIMA FACIE CASE OF CONSPIRACY ESTABLISHED. THE HEARING V^'LL GO ON Washington, jFjefo. 8.?Specific charges that a combination exists in!' prices of coal in this city and to shut off the supply of coal to dealers j who. cut rates were put before the j ^senate committee considering the Calder coal regulation bill today by John C. L. Ritter, who said the "combination put him out of busi ness." ? Chairman La Follette ruled that the committee would continue fur ther with the inquiry after Senator Reed, Democrat, Missouri, declared that the witness had "established a prima facie case of conspiracy toj iMAlofa onli.+WKf 1 qtuc nii flio norf T1VIOVV Mil UiJV 1M Vf >J Ult VUW |/M* V of a local association" and moved that department of justice agents be summoned to explain their atti tude in the matter. "The coal men's association had a meeting." Ritter asserted he had been informed by one of his 1919 customers wh'o added: "And they put you right out of business. You Aren't a coalman at all any more. Another man, representing a coal mining company suggested to him, Ritter continued, that he "raise his price 25 cents a ton each week until he got only 10 or 15 cente below the association price" which was a figure fixed during 1919 and 1920, according to the witness by an asso ciation of local coal dealers. He re fused, he said, and after April, 1920 he could not get any coal." "This is a serious thing," Senator Reed interjected. "The penintenti ary doors are open ior tnese men 11 they are guilty of what you say." "They are guilty," Ritter retort ed. "The only reason I am up here is because the poor people have to | buy their coal from these people and pay the price." v ' INKS MADE E IN IMMUNIT LURES IN OV total capital of all banks, he ex plained, was about 2,100,000 of 1 [ per cent or sixteen times better, than the average for the entire fif-j ty-seven years since the inaugura tion of the system. Combined resources of all banks i in the country on June 30, 1920, in- j circling national, state and federal; reserve,, the comptroller said, aggre- j gated $59,153,704,000. Figures showing for the first time the busi ness of the principal borrowers from the national banks were pre sented by the comptroller. Loans and discounts on November 15, 1920, he said, aggregated $13,764, 000,000 of which loans to farmers and live stock raisers amount to $1, 998,000,000 or 14 per cent; loans to manufacturing concerns approxima ted $2,862,000,000 or 21 per cent; to merchants, mercantile concerns, individuals in the jobbing business, and trading wholesale and retails $<3,584,000,000 or 26 per cent. Loans reported to bond fend stock brokers and dealers in investment securities aperee'ated ?664.000.000: to railroads, shipping companies electric light and power companies, $225,000,000 while the loans to pro fessional men, including doctors, lawyers, teachers chemists, en gineers and clergymen amounted to ^375,000^000. {Miscellaneous loans amounted to about $4,000,000 or 30 per cent of the total. Gross earning' of the national banks during the past fiscal year aggregated $1,109, 000,000 while their total expenses tverp S7Sfi.nOO.OnO nf whirh $175. * I 000,000 was for salaries and wages and $287,000,000 was for interest Washington, Feb. 8.?District prohibition directors were instruct ed by Commissioner Kramer tonight to permit wholesale liquor dealers to sell the liquor in their possession to wholesale druggists. Attorney General ' Palmer's re cent opinion prohibits the wholesale dealersf rofn selling liquor, but pro hibition officials declared an excep tion has been made to permit the dealers to dispose of their stocks al reday withdrawn from bond. A change in the regulations was necessitated, officials sa;d as whole salers aren to permitted to sell liquor to wholesale druggists under ordinary circumstances. A SON OF DR. DON WILSON Harold Wilson was in the city from Anderson for a short stay Tues day. This young man is the son of Dr. Don Wilson who moved from Abbeville many years ago to Bain bridge, Ga., and who is well remem Derea Dy tne oiaer innaDitants. uiv Wilson was the uncle of Mrs. John Harris and his son made his visit to her Tuesday. The young man is a cotton buyer in Anderson and is; making his way in the world. ASSOCIATE JUSTICE COTHRAN Associate Justice Thomas P. Coth ran was in Abbeville Tuesday on business. He was the guest of Dr. P. E. Harrison. This is his first visit to Abbeville since his election as As sociate Justice and he received the cordial good wishes of his many friends. ' IN GREENWOOD Major J. D. Fulp Is in Greenwood today visiting the schools and taking part in the big dinner given by the Rotary Club. \ JEST Y FROM ER 40 YEARS on deposits. National banks in the city of New York showed earnings on capital stock of 37 l->2 per cent, Philadelphia national (banks 33 1-2 per cent, Chicago 24 per cent, Bos ton 23 per cent,' Cleveland 24 1-2 per cent Minneapolis 21 1-2 per cent St. ^ouis 17 1-2 per cent, Richmond 20 1-2 per cent, Dallas 30 per cent, Kansas City 17 per cent, and San Francisco 18 per cent. Pueblo, Col., with 55 per cent reported the larg est earnings in any Reserve city, tfirmingnam, Ala., was next witn ay 3-4 per cent and Atlanta third with 38 3-4 per cent. During the*past fiscal year, the comptroller reported three presi dents, eight cashiers of banks ajid thirty assistant cashiers, tellers, bookkeepers and others of national banks were convicted of criminal violations of the banking law and sentenced to terms of imprisonment running up to six year? an^- varying fines. ! Mr. Williams made public a talkie showing the salaries paid the execu tive officers by all national banks in the country whose resources" were in CXUUSS U1 ttliU 2>J1UWCU the largest salary paid any national bank president to be $100,000 a year. Discussing excessive salaries the comptroller declared, "such ine qualities would exist to much less I extent-if the stockholders cf banks were informed of the salaries paid to their executive officers, but un fortunately it is an exception rather than a rule that the majority of th^ stockholders of theb anks are so in formed. PLOT OF GERMANS NOT SUCCESSFUL DEFECTIVE BOLTS FOUND ON MOUNT VERNON?CUTS SKILL FULLY MADE REMAIN HID DEN BY ENGINE FITTINGS UN TIL DISCOVERED RECENTLY? LUCK WITH VESSEL New York, I'eo. a uerman war plot that failed was revealed here to day. Four defective bolts, taken from the machinery of the transport Mount Vernon, told the tale. They were discovered by the engineering forces of Comndr. R. D. Gatwood, di rector of the shipping board's divi.s ion of construction and repairs, and placed on exhibition at his'office. Here is the story. After the Mount Vernon?formerly the Kronprintzes-j sen Cecille, the famous "gold ship"] that raced into Bar Harbor in the early days of the war?had been seized as a troop ship, her German crew cui iwo-uuras 01 ine way through the four six inch bolts that connected the engines with the main crank shaft. The skillfully made cuts remained hidden by the ^fittings of the engin^ and were only discovered re cently, when the engines wera taken apart. t is to be presumed that in certain American detention camps there were trained German engineers who waited eagerly for reports which did not come of "something happening" to the converted troop ship, for it is believed that the bolts were left bare ly holding with the hope that the I craft would just creep out into u boat lanes and then fall prey to the undersea craft when a sudden strain on the engines came with an order for full speed ahead. But the breakdown never came. Luck or toughness of steel permitted the liner to make a dozen round trips through si^marine infested seas car rying on each voyage from 3,000 to 4,000 men. Just to round things out, she encircled the glob& to bring 1 troops home from Russia. WILSON WILL TAKE AN EXTENDED REST Washington, Feb. 8.?President Wilson plans to go into virtual se clusion for rest. Freed from the responsibilities of office which have weighed heavily upon him during his convalescence. Mr. Wilson, his friends say, will shut himself in for a period of in tensive rest and quiet in the new home he has purchased here. He will rlonv liimcolf fa oil pallort: PVPPnf. immediate members of his family, it is said, and a very few intimate friend^ with whom throughout his illness he has kept in contact. / No formal engagements of any character are expected to be made by the president until he shall have thoroughly adjusted himself to pri vate life after scpie ten years in public service. Even the writing which he has planned to do upon his retirement from the White House will be postponed for several months, his friendss ay. Mr. Wilson is understood to have received a number of invitations to spend part of the summer out of Washington, but because of his de light with the pleasant weather here last summer, the first which he had spent in this city, it is regarded as unlikely that he will accept any of these invitations. For possibly six months, friends of President Wilson believe his life will be wholly taken up with recre ation. His chief diversion since his illness has been reading. He is said to have practically exhausted the field of detective stories, of which he has always been especially fond and more recently has taken up novels and light stories. He also has given some time to reading poetry. Since his resumption last week of his old custom of attending the the atre, the president is expected to pnntiniio nc liic VipnlHi imnrnvp? tn find time to avail himself of this form of recreation. He also is ex pected to'continue his daily automo bile rides. THE COTTON MARKET 0 The market after receding about 35 points Monday, and opening yes terday at a further decline of 20 to 25 points, turned strong in the af?fer noon, closing at ^ net advance of 40 to 45 points. The opening this morn ing was some 20 points lower, but the market advanced during the day, being some twenty points up over yesterday's close at one time, but going back to yesterday's dosing fig ures for the close today. Spots in New York were unchang ed, being quoted at 14:05. Telegraph ic reports indicated that there was more demand for spots and this help ed to sustain the market. Prices offered in Abbeville today were somewhat better tlmn the prices paid for the past few days. Good cot ton sold for 14% cents, apd one or two fancy bales brought 15 cents. GOING TO MARKET. Mrs. Jas. S. Cochran leaves today for New YorlT and Baltimore where she will spend two weeks selecting a stock goods which will meet the de mands of the times in both^ price and quality. A DISTINGUISHED PREACHER Rev. Andrew W. Blackwood, D. D., will preach in the Presbyterian church Sunday. Dr. Blackwood has been pastor of the First Presbyteri an church in Columbia for six years and he has just received and accepted a call to the ' Presbyterian church at Columbus, Ohio. He is one of the most distinguished preachers in the Presbyterian Synod. SENATE REQUEST FOR MORE DATA j STATE DEPARTMENT HAS NOT INDICATED COURSE.?COLBY NOW STUDYING REPORT OF MORRIS WHICH IS NOT THE "AGREEMENT" AS WAS SUG GESTED. . 1 Washington, Feb. 8.?What course the state department will take on the request of the senate foreign rela tions committee for a copy of the "agreement" reached between Roland S. Morris, United States ambassador to Japan, and Baron Shidehara, the Japanese ambassador, in their con versations looking to treaty action defining the rights of Japanese na tionals in this country had not been indicated tonight. , The request of the Senate commit tee for the copy, "if not incompatible with the public interests," was re ceived at the state department late ? today, about, the time that Baron '* Shidehara held a conference with Secretary Colby, but no intimation was given of the character of the conference nor of the probable atti tude of the department in the face of the request. Secretary Colby merely pointed out that no "agreement" exists, but only a report from Ambassador Morris on his recent informal conversations with the Japanese ambassador con cerning1 the California anti-alien land legislation, which the latter is under stood to contend is discriminatory against the Japanese as a race. The report is now being studied by Secretary Colby at the same time a similai^ report from Baron Shidehare is being examined by the foreign of fice at Tokyo. The action of the senate Commit tee today was takgn in executive ses sion at the instance of Senator John son, California, who previously had called upon Secretary Colby' to make public the result of Ambassador Mor ris' discussions. The secretary has re fused to accede to the previous de ? J? i?-? ?aw 44- Une manus lur puuuuawun, auu it nao unn ntimated that final action on the sub ject, involving, as it does, probably the amendment of existing treaties or che, drafting of entirely new agree ments, would be left for the Harding administration. Senator Johnson, has attacked the proposed agreement because of his understandipg that it would involve a gentleman's agreement, which ' in practice woulcj not act tp exclude Japanese from this country. FOR TARIFF BILL Charleston, Feb. 8.?At a called meeting here today of the executive committee of the Agricultural So I rietv of South Carolina, reputed to be the oldest agricultural organiza tion in the United States, a resolu tion was adopted asking the sena tors from this state to vote in favor of the emergency tariff bill or any other legislation which would afford protection to American farm pro ducts at the present \lme. The rice and peanut industries in this state were emphasized at the meeting as being especially hard hit by Japanese competition. Unofficial reports made to the meeting also stated that many carloads of turnips on South Carolina truck farms are rotting in the fields owing to a stag nated condition in the markets. STATE INCOME TAX PROPOSED Columbia, Feb. 8.?At the short session of the House tonight an in come tax bill was introduced by the ways and means committee and will come tax bill was introduced by the ways and means committee and will come up for consideration tomor row. It provides for. a tax of 1 per on the first $1,000 of income above certain exemptions and 2'per cent tax on the second thousand. A tax as high as 6 per cent is levied. The bill was read by title only.