The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, February 12, 1919, Image 4
??kI&he? 'Wednesday nnd Saturday
, ?BY?
?ffTE?g? PUBLISHING COMPANY
SUMTKR, & G.
Terms:
#1.5* p&r annum?In advance.
Advertisemeats.
Qfie Scsu&rs first insertion .. ..$1.00
VBrery subsequent insertion.SO
Contracts for three months, or
"longer wilL fes made at reduced rates.
All communications which sub.
*erv*. private interests will be charged
for .as advertisements.
. Obituaries and tributes of respect
be charged for.
Tlie Snmter Watchman was found
18&? and the True Southron m
IS?4. The Watchman and Soutiro?.;
jttdw has the Combined circ?Jation and
influence of both of the old papers
sad is manifestly the best advert**::-.,
medium ia Sun ter._
ICE TO ORBER.
The Shamokin, Pa., Dispatch is,
authority for the statement that the \
outlook for ice in its community is'.
very gloomy, and unless Old Kingj
^"Winter gets back on to his throne the j
world will not be safe for the butter^
/and egg democracy next summer. Ap-j
parohtly some kings have their uses,
though they treat their subjects cold
;iy- '
^ The condition of affairs in Shamo- j
. kin is a fair example of a large part;
of this country, for the mild weath- j
" er' ha? prevailed very generally.
Unless the situation is relieved *by
weather of cons;derable severity the
only resource will be the establish
ment of artificial ice factories. With'
the prevailing- .urgency that public
' work be started promptly everywhere i
so that soldiers may find emplov
nieut, there may be a wide-spread
demand for municipal ice-plants.
. ?toce the millpond will not freeze,
; the* owner may harness the falling j
Stream and manufacture his ice. Cor
porations may build electrical power
plants which can furnish electricity
cheaply to the c:tiezns, and make a
snflBeient market for the small refrig
eration machines so that they may]
be reduced in price to meet the com
ibo> purse.
The stoppage of the brewing indus
try should release for the market
quantities of chemicals necessary co
the manufacture of ice and freezing
compounds.
-.Artificial See is much more sanitary
thai the natural product, anyway.
Tile refrigerating room or box is bet*
v$r than either. And necessity doesn't j
need to do her mothering stunt, for
the Inventions are all ready for the
mac who is enterprising enough to
use them.
BOLD N'OW.
IThere is no use in postponing
building projects longer in the hope
that building materials will be cheap- j
er. -This is the verdict of the federal
l?bor and treasury departments and
the opinion likewise of most business
t?eh .conversant with present condi*
fions.
Unquestionably there is going to bej
a; great deal of building this year, r*v \
gStrdless of what the doubters may do. j
la most states ?he building permits al-1
ready issued are far ahead of those |
issued last year or the year before, j
There is a vast amount of construe- j
tion that has to be done, regardless of j
cost. The nation is short about 1,000.- j
009 homes. Public buildings arc need- {
ed in many cities. There are thou- j
sands of miles of roads to be paved, j
There are Almost countless bridges j
to be built and sewers to be dug. A j
great deal of railroad and factory de, j
velopment is necessary, in most castrsj
?the money for the work can now bej
obtained. The demand from all these j
sources :s bound to keep up the prices
of materials for some time to come,
perhaps for years.
;Real estate men say, too, that it is!
sstie to put money into buildings now,
even at prevailing prices, because
realty values which have risen so no
tably during the war are going to stay
up. . Thus the money put into a home
or office building or factory is not like
ly to suffer any ioss?the value will
remain, and in seneral the rvorth of
the improvement may be expected to
increase rather than decrease during
the next few years.
THE HOME LETTEK.
? The boys in the American army o:
occupation are already tired of their
job. The defeated Germans are not
interesting?no defeated German ev
er is?and there is none of the
stimulus of excitement or of victory
unwon to make army life tolerable.
There is no way in which such a
condition can be avoided. Of course
every effort will be made by officers
and relief orgamaztions to keep the
men interested and happy, but th??
home folks are already receiving let
ters full of the soldier's weariness a1
inactivity, his longing to be at home
However much sympathy may bt
felt for the boy who must *tay, ii
must not go into the answering letter:
from home in any weakening terms
At no time since our boys enters
the service has the content of sin
home letter been so vital.
Ther? is a ?ne line between discoa
tent and dishonor. In order that the
boy may stay on the safe side of the
line and perform his dull duty well,
the home letter must be interesting,
must be cheerful, free from cither
mawkish sympathy which shall make
him sorry for himself and from de
tailed accounts of family distresses
which ?lay -tempt him to desert.
PaiSfcg "with" sons and husbands
was agony when they went away to
I the danger of active service; but to
j every one of them the going was made
I easier by the tar.g of adventure. Now,
! to the boy bored with static duty,
[home is a place of infinite variety, ot
i freedom and opportunity. Just a
j word might tempt him to come back
< to it before his time. It will take a
I finer courage to withhold that word
perhaps than it took to speak the
one which sent the soldier on his way,
but it must be withheld. Better death j
than life without honor. Better the
almost intolerable boredom of bar-1
rack life than the truly intolerable!
stigma of desertion or insubordination, j
Such letters only should be written!
as will help a boy to held on, and I
then the public should insist that
these letters have safe pasage and
prompt delivery. Good faith de
mands it.
-LJ-Ll-g- j
i
i\0 nation is being coerced at the
peace conference. All agreements
are to be made net by majorities, but
by unanimous consent. At the same
time, any power or minority group!
of' powers that holds out for selfish
ends against the generous will of the
majority is going to find itself mighty
uncomfortable.
The Allies have stopped talking of
collecting an indemnity of $140,000,
060,000 from Germany, whose entire
assets amount to probably $79.00,000,
009. Many another bunch of credi
tors has decided that you can get
more out of a bankrupt concern by
soing slow and nursing it along.
A RAILROAD PL/ <\
Hardly anybody seems to want gov
ernment ownership of the railroads.
Searly everybody, however, wants aj
arger and more enlightened control
ixercised by the government.
Director General Hines comes pret
:y near the prevailing view in a re
.?ent statement made *o a senate com
mittee. "I believe," he said !*that a
!?rm of radically reconstructed pri
vate ownership, with close govern
nent supervision, including govern
nent representation on the boards of
lirectors will give the public and la
tor all the benefits of government
ownership and at the same time pre
serve the benefits of private owner
ship."
The railroad men themselves have
been thinking and working along the
same line. Perhaps the best plan
yet put forward is that offered by the
Association of Railroad Executives,
representing 92 per cent of American
railroads. The Literary Digest sum
marizes this plan as follows:
Private ownership and operation to
ie maintained.
Regulative power invested solely in
the national government.
Interstate Commerce Commission,
relieved of administrative duties to
act as a quasi-judicial body, passing |
en rates and hearing complaints.
A Secretary of Transportation in
the cabinet to take over the Commis
sion's executive functions, oversee the
country's transportation facilites, look
out for maintenance of service and '
financial credit, distribute vraluc. in
emergencies, and allow building of
now lines and terminals.
Rates to be initi "* .1 by carriers in
accordance with rate-making rule
embodied in statute and subject to ap
proval of Secretary of Transportation
and appeal to Interstate Commerce
Commission.
Commission to establish regional
commissions.
Anti-trust laws to be modified to al
low pooling, rate agreements, joint i
use of facilities, and mergers, as ap- j
proved by Secretary of Transportation.1
Labor questions to be handled by;
Wage Board.
Federal Government to regulate se
curity issues.
Railroads to be federally incorpor
ated.
The plan is not perfect, but it .'s
something1 to work on. From pres
1 eat indications, the ultimate solution
lies in this direction.
LFT GERMAN*Y DO TF.
The American people are genor
! ous and philanthropic and all that.
Nevertheless we advise our foreign
; friends to go a little bit slow witn
that plan of pooling the war expenses
land letting the big powers par etpia!
!
l> Italy and Japan would not enter
j such an agreement, because their ex
panses have beet: much smaller than
: those of Britain, France and America,
and they are so poor comparativelv.
; that they could not afford to mak^
! up the difference.
j As for the three foremost powers.
the expenditures of Britain and
j France have been a good deal mor<*
] than those of the United States.
: owing to their longer period of fight
' ing, and to place all three on an
equality the United States would havf
I to make them a present of many bil
j lions.
That hiighl be done, if sufticien
I reason vver? shown for it. But whilt
'the Americans appreciate the ir-cul
culable services of Britain and France
in holding the fort of civilization be
fore we arrived on the field, few
Americans would consider this a le
| gitimate obligation.
It is Germany's place, not ours, \o
? ease the war burdens of our allies.
Let Britain and France, collect from
Germany ail their war expenses in
excess of ours. America will not ob
ject to the collection of such an in
demnity.
When the war is all over, and the
I peace conference has finished and
jgone home, and the League of Nations
I has settled down to work, and Ger
jmany has reformed, and the bills and
j indemnities are all paid, and peace
j broods over the world like a dove, we
j suppose congress will still be ar
guing about hew the war ought to
[have been fought and settled, in-,
? stead of doing its own work.
* * ? - -
j New York restaurant proprietors
say prohibition will make it neccs-1
sary to raise the price of food, be-,
cause all their profit now is made on j
booze. And seeing that they would J
raise the price anyhow, that will do j
just cs well as any other reason.
* * *
From the New York World's frenzy j
over prohibition, one gathers that
the World is equally concerned with
the right of nations to control their'
own de.*;tiny and the right of individ- j
uals to drink beer.
NO PROHIBITION FOR TOBACCO.
A professor in Syracuse University
is said to hw.ye organized a Tobacco
League of America, not, as the name
might-suggest to make, everybody'
smoke, but to obtain a national pro- |
hibition to stop everybody from smok
ing. The president of the W. C. T. U.
in Cleveland is quoted as saying that
her organization is "planning to con
duct an active antinarcotic campaign
in the county this year."
Buch acts and utterances naturally!
tend to arouse indignation in the j
hearts of smokers. Possibly too much j
is being made of them. Some temper- ]
ance workers charge that this wave of j
anti-tobacco publicity is a deliberate I
attempt op the part of the liquor men
to discredit prohibition.
Dr. Clarence T. Wilson, general sec- j
rotary of the board of5 temperance, j
prohibition and public morale of the j
Methodist -Episcopal Church, takes1,
this view. He condemns "the desper- j
ate effort of the out-awed liquor traf-:
fic to make credulous people believe j
that victorious prohibitionists will now!
demand a constitutional amendment j
against tobacco, not to mention danc
ing and failure to attend Wednesday!
evening prayer meeting."
While ": insisting that the tobacco j
habit is a bad one, particularly, fori
young people, aud that its ev'.; effects),
should be brought home to the!
youth of the nation, he disclaims all]
desire to prohibi? it, because tobacco;
is not so bad in its effects as alcohol,
and 'the tobacco business has notj
corrupted politics, bought journalism,!
tried to remake the country in the
i
image of Germany or allied itself with]
prostitution and gambling as the beer]
business, did." j
It is well that this asurance iai
given. A time may come, and may!
!
even be ardently desired, when tobao-j
co will go the way of booze. But m.tn-1
kind is not .vet evolved to the re- i
quisite stage of enlightenment and?
self-sacrifice.
gggggag gggg?ea
SENATORIAL CONSISTENCY.
United States senators, in their per- j
jsistent efforts to discredit the peace
I
[conference, have made much of the!
!
"secrecy" with which that body is:
I doing its work.
j It may be grafted that the confer-,
fence is not operating with th*-- de-i
jgree of openness and publicity thatj
[most.people expected. But it is cu-;
j rious that th< senators should find
(this fact so shocking and intolerable.!
seeing that the peace conference is
'following precisely the same method
that has been used from time imme
PALACE BUFFET
Atop
i DELORME'S PHARMACY,
Sumter, S. C.
U.YDEB NEW MANAGEMENT
Steaks, Chops. Deviled Crabs. Sal
| ads. Homo Made Pie, Cake and Pud
I dings. Delirious Sandwiches,
j Open Daily 10.00 A. M. to 12 P. M.
I Sunday 12 31. to o P. M. '
j Music AH the Time. Dance if
You Like.
%T 0 fps f~%
rs
If you have cotton to sell, see us, it will pay you.
If you have fertilizer ?r fertilizer materials to buy it will pay
ysu te see us before yeu buy, Cash or approved collateral.
9 West Liberty Street
morial by the American senate itself.
When the peace program is finally
I completed, and is submitted to the
[Tinted States senate for ratification
j the senate will then do just whal
I has always done?go into executive
session and discuss the document T;^
: hind closed doors mull it has come to
agreement and is ready to submit its
.-exclusions to the worlds This is ex
actly whal the peace conference h
'";en doing; except that it has beer:
discussing the eaty more publicly
than the so ' ? .
Of course, if th.- peace delegates
undertook to thresh out r dif
ferences of opinion and ?dju ? ii
their conflicting claims r an open
forum in the hearine- of all the
world, they would take ?? ars tor the
job, and end in a hopeless row. The
senators know this. Let them b<
honest about it. even if they cannol
give due .credit to an international as
sembly of statesmen handling a big
ger job, and handling it more h( r. t
ly and efficiently, than any ether dip
lomatic body ha3 ever dor..- in human
history.
Call to Fanners
Quick and Decided Action Is
Needed to Save Situation.
At the request of Gov'ernoi Rohi. A
Cooper, I am issuing a call :<> all
counties to send a strong delegation
of farmers, bankers, business a. -:: and
county demonstrating agen s repre
senting the various counties to n: -
at the county court house in Co um
bia on Thursday. February 13th t ?
At., to map out and adopi .-? practical
method to reduce the produ Lie-n
'cotton in IMS at least r>:j 1-3 per
cent.
With a large part of the spindles of
the world standing idle, a vast ma
jority ?>f them working on short time.
it is absolutely essential that the pro
duction of cotton l>e. fully reduced in
proportion to the spindles standing
idle in order that a fair price to the
: aluccr of cotton car: he had ! or the
residue of the ISIS .err.;,, and' nioro
es?>eci?lly for the crc-p of It):!'.
:? or ?0 years the product of South
ern farms has maintain - d the lapce '?
? - .' r.-'dc i r i'r '.' . isG State;?, a::J for
forty years the cotton crop has been
[marketed regardless of the cost of
. production. F< r the first time in f *r
. tv years; due entirely ta four short
crops of cotton (and not on ac :cuiit of
f-t'ie war) the ba~<ks Oi the Sc ?: a and
the cotton fanner are in a position :??
determine what the price of cotton
? shall be if we elect to take such
measures as are necessary to bring it
; about. While world conditions are
[disturbed as at present it is necessary
{that no overproduction of cotton be
; allowed if we propose to maintain a
living wage scale for cotton producers.
'< The wage scale obamed throughout
? the cotton producing districts has
. lo -ei heretofore the lowest in exis
tence in the Tailed States, being only
[equalled ^y Chinese "coolie*' labor,
i On account of war conditions :.h
' price f labor has advanced and in
[order that this advance be maintain
j ed and the S' urh secure its due
{ Proportion of the prosperity of tb<
j nation, it is necessary that our cotton
i crop should bring at least ."?3 cents
.' per pound
! We cannot . xpect good roads, good
?churches and school houses and an
'educated pe'ople on the wage scale
: that has formerly existed throughout
(he cotton belt, ther< fore, ret a Ji pub
tlii spirited men from every wo-!'-:
tllfe make it il: ir business :<> aavanco
: : eve'rv way possible the plans being
r j educe production of cotton r\ at
The me'.'tint; called in Columbia on
the 13th is to devise ways and meaas
this end. Let every county in the
State be fully represented at this
e< ting that they may present their
Eocal conditions and help in an in
telligible s ! t-tion <>r the situation.
Gov Bickett, o;' North- Caro
lina, has Iss ted a call through Messrs.
C] >.-.<?: and O. J. McConnell, to
be hold at Raleigh, on February 11th
to ..(.::: = ;: :? plan of action in that
state on coti >n acreage reduction.
Li. I: GUION.
Camden, S: C. Feb. 10 :013.
? tton .i again in price Fri
ty. v buyers were paying
enly twenty-two cents for middling
cotton. The pinch is beginning to be
felt 5>y those who are holding cot
ton end some of them weakening-or
are veins forced to sell to raise mon
. y to pay pressing debt. There was
more cotton so'i. on the local mar?'
ket today than during the past week
altogether.
TAX RETURN NOTICE.
I will appear in person or by deputy
at the following named places, and
on the dates given below, for the pur-,
pese of receiving tax returns for yestr"
1019. Return should be made en per
sonal property, poll, road and dogs:-.'
Privateer Station?Wednesday, Jan,
S.
I vi Siding?Thursday, Jan. 3. .
Widgetield?Friday, Jan. Id.
Clu rei acn:?Wednesday, Jan. 15.
?agoed-?Thursday, Jan. 16.
R< rt?Friday, Jan. 17.
: : '??/.?? [I- -Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Erogdon?Thursday, Jan. 23.
;:i?Friday, Jan. 24.
Pleasant Grove?Tuesday, Jan. 21.'
Shilch -Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Norwood Cross Roads?T^?rsdayT'
Jan. 30.
R. E. WILDER,..
Auditor: l?
vom
MM
f $
??s-- er iss
# %
The new Hats are here, ail kinds, all
colors, all styles. A hat to suit every
person and every pocket.
1
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