Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

f^Oliiihe? Wednesday and Saturday ?BY? ?STEEN PUBLISHING COMPANY SUMT&K, S. O. Terms: 51.59 p?r ?Bunm?in advance. Advertisements. On* Squars first insertion .. ..$l.9? Every subsequent insertion.50 Contract* for three months,, sr longer will bo made at reduced rates. All. communications which sub torvo private intorests will be charged for as advertisements. . Obituaiies aac; tributes of respect #111 bo charged for. The Suinter Watchman was found tsx 1869 and tke Truo Southron m 2366. T?e Watchman and Soutferon j now has the combined circulation and {Bfiuence of both of the old papers, sad is Manifestly the best advertisiKj ^ediu^|B[is^^mter. NATAL ARMAMENT. There is more friendliness in con- j gress toward the big nav-j plan than j might have been expected. The House j naval committee has reported with] its unanimous approval the three-year construction plan providing for the spending of $730,000,000 a year on new warships. The measure seems likely to pass the House. It is winning public approval, too.] as its . purpose becomes better under-j stood. It is seen not as a contradic- j tion of the American peace policy, but! as a. measure meant to strengthen j ?world-peace; not as a threat against! Great Britain, but as a program of) self-respecting preparation for bearing! an equal part with Great Britain in! guaranteeing the freedom of the seasj: and mating effective the mandates of j< the world peace league. It* costs money. But the additional ' . year of war that everybody expected;^ would have cost far more. Any war! hereafter would cost far more. Wej( can well afford the money. And inji the end we r ay save billions by it. j * The measure is not committing the I1 11 country to a permanent policy of bigj* naval armament. It is expected that it when the League o~ Nations has be gun to function smoothly, as it may 1 s within a few years, such big arma-1 ! V ments will no longer be needed, even : I for policing purposes. THE "THANKSGIVING LOAN.' Carter Glass, secretary of the treas- j r ury, says that the forthcoming Victory j t Loan might well be termed the)r ?Thanksgiving Loan," because if everjp a people had cause ror thanksgiving, j t wenre the people. . . U It is a happy thought. And while]? it would hardly profit to change itsj} official designation, the loan mayjc well be undertaken in a genuine spir-j it of national thanksgiving. j? The v.ar is over, far sooner thanjj any reasonable American could have-!.: expected. The cost in men and moneyjj is far smaller than could have been j l 1 < 7 1 expected. Congress is now, as the secretary says, 'writing off the books the fifteen billions of dollars* expen diture which had been authorized, and. which would have had to be spent, with billions more, if the war;, had- gone on another year. In the? new loan the government will only i ask for about one-third of that saved fifteen billions. We have more capital available now, whether for public or private] purposes, than ever before. In every I f way we are in far better shape than j any of cur allies, and of course in j immeasurably better shape than thej enemies whose criminal aims we have! foiled. The war has ended in complete vie tory, and the victory is now being j consummated at Paris in a Constitu-1 tion of Peace and a League of Xa- j tions that, may bf expected to prevent any recurrence of the tragedy. It ought to be easy to raise the next I loan. It will be, if our people are! not hopelessly ungrateful for their; blessings and blind to their opportun" ties. I AUSTRIA JOINS GERMANY Onf of the curious results of tho j war is that Germany, though com- j pletely vanquished, is realizing one of j her gr tatest ambitions in the an- j nexation of German Austria. The German-Austrians have voted to join their fortunes with Germany's. There was really nothing else left for them to do. The rest of the Austro Hungarian Empire had fallen away, leaving them, a inert- 10.000,000. with their once glorious capital of Vienna an empty shell Hungary is inde pendent. The other odds and ends of the empire so long ruled by tin Hapsbargs have gone to build the new republics of Czecho-Slovakia. Jngo-Slavia and Poland, and to round out the racial boundaries of Rouman ia and Italy. It may be a ^ood thin? -for those strande I Austrians. It is undoubted ly a good thing ior the Germans. I. means '.hat Germany emerges from the war stronger numerically than she entered it. Th<> Austrians will more than make up the numbers lost along with Prussian Poland. Alsace Lorraine and Schleswig. The nev Germany, if the peace treaty is mad*, along the lines now indicated, wil I j still have, after all her war losses, j.over t.'j. 000,000 people. She will ; possess the advantage, too. of having her population more homogeneous than before. * On The other hand. Germany has | lost her ablest ally. There is no more a powerful Hapsburg monarchy to j kelp with schemes of world-empire. J Those 10.000,000 Austrians will not compensate for the other 40,000.000 Austro-Hungarian subjects who were j formerly at the service of Prussia, j Germany has to go it alone. More | over, henceforth she will find her j progress to the east and south block - j ed by a chain of strong, independent I and democratic states, j The new situation is therefore not so menacing as it might seem. There is enough menace in it, however, to demand that Germany shall be sharp ly watched and guarded for at least half a century, lest that sal id group of 70,000.000 Teutons?who will soon be.j 100.000,000?break out again in the j old mania of conquest CONGRESS AND BOLSHEVISM. Speaking of the United States sen ate resolution to investigate Russian 'Bolshevism, the New York World says: ?Nothing is more certain to breed Bolshevism than unemployment, with its attendant hunger and suffering; j yet hundreds of thousands of men are out of work in this country partly be cause congress has broken down as aj legislative body in the work of recon- ' struction. By its failure to pass a revenue bill it has left every industry in~~a state of doubt and uncertainty. By its failure^ to devise means of vali dating war contracts to the value of $1,500,000,000. it is keeping hundreds^ of factories from resuming work on j, a peace basis. By its failure to take." ?? i up Secretary Lane's iand program for -eturning soldiers it is blocking a re construction measure of the highest j( mportance. By allowing three eon-;< 'er^es, Sims, Ferris and Haugen. to"i lold up the water power bill it isL meveniing the development of eco- j mmio measures of colossal propor- j1 ions. And so the record runs. "The whole country might be rush-fl ng into Bolshevism while congress! r its and twiddles it tuhmbs and talks ?artisan nonsense." This is a drastic arraignment, but . candid and impartial critic must ad ait that there is much provocation. Tie World will hardly be accused of >artisanship in this matter; it is a )emocratic newspaper condemning a )emocratic congress. Other critics nay differ with the World in its des iring verdict that nothing better is o be expected of the next congress, j vhich shifts to Republican control. If| hat proves to be true, the public will!1 lave to agree that congress has m-.j Iced broken down. Possibly it is not yet necessary toj1 rive up hope. The present congress las still a little time to redeem it-] ;elf. if it sets about its work in earnest, f it fails, .he public, regardless of partisan affiliation, will enter:ain some lope of the next congress. If it con :inues the long demonstration of in capacity observed during the past few nonths. respectable citizens may feel ike calling for a Bolshevist dictator ship. e Ja i 'DISGRACE AND DISHONOR.'* "We warn our opponents not to ?rive us to the. uttermost," says Chan cellor Ebert. "Hunger is preferable lo disgrace, and deep privation is to be preferred to dishonor." Our first impulse on reading these fine words is to hurrah for Germany. If the Germans are really getting into a frame of mind that will impel them to prefer hunger to disgrace and pri vation to dishonor, there is surely j' some hope for the soul of Germany. J lint alas! A moment's reflection i dispels the hope.. It is perfectly evi-1 dent from the speech quoted from,) and from all contemporary German j utterances, that when the Germans | speak of "disgrace" and ? dishonor" | today they do not mean what the rest I of the world does, -any more thanj' they did when they were slaughtering j Belgian women and children and sink-J ing tin- Lusitania. They are not! thinking in terms of morals at all. j jThey are thinking only of the mater-j iial glory and grandeur of Germany, j ; By "disgrace" and "dishonor" they; j mean making amends for the crimes j j Germany his committed. They would I think it highlv honorable" to evade all their moral obligations to the! i world. WHAT THE FARMERS WANT i Representative farmers throughout i i the State of Maine were recently ask-i ed o till in answers to questionnaires] iseat out by the Maine Agricultural [and Industrial League. This was parti jof a survey of agricultural conditions' ;in that state. The replies summariz ed Conditions in various vicinities. 'l'h.- need emphasized by the great - est number of farmers as most urgent of all was the need for good roads. Eighty-live farmers put themselves on record an convirced that successful farming and good roads are insepar able. Less than half as many want jed bettei schools. Forty-nine asked ?: for more farm laborers without . commenting on the means for secur [:ing and holding help. .Better market j jinsr and transportation facilities wer?? [urgred. us weil as utilization of watt-: ? power. Twenty-three farmers sug gested more co-operation amour j farmers themselves, and 44 others {advocated co-operative buying and ?selling. A comparatively few voiced ? a need for cheaper and better Cer i tilizers. cheaper grain, better seed land better orcharding. Twenty-on* jthougnt then- should be a greater ?willingness cn the part of banks to ex j tend credit to farmers. J It is interesting to read over this summary. Although only a few ask-; ed for co-operation among farmers '< themselves, a close scrutiny of the list indicates that a good many of the; other needs could be met by just such J cooperation. Farmers in the past have been too individualistic if not actual ly selfish. A cordial spirit of mutual beneht and a common interest in the I success of every farmer in the com- i inanity would help to eliminate a lot i I ot present troubles. When farmers are more willing to j help themselves and each other, ev- j erybody e!se will be more willing to < help them. When every farmer real-; izes that he cannot succeed on his] I own farm unless there are good roads ! good schools, easy communication with other farms and neighboring cities? I then he will begin to get those things and to work with his neighbors to get j them. GETTING TOGETHER. An industrial association is being , tried out in Cleveland. The member ship includes employers and em ployees both. They have an equal [ ^oice in the management of the as-, "ociation, each group having 25 repre- j p utatives on the governing board. I One of the chief ideas back of the j organization is the elimination ofj ilass distinctions. Employers who] vere inclined to regard their cm- I Dloye.es as mere cogs in the business*), nachine will find out that they arej: mman beings with feelings and am-! ritions rnd troubles like evervbodv? t ''so. Employers, too, have something j 0 learn about the "boss" in this re :nrd. lie is not a remote being whe ?xperienoes no hard work or disap pointment or trouble of any sort. He s human, too, when prejudice, fear { nd injustice are eliminated. This winter the association is car ving out an educational program, "embers get together on Tuesday venings and listen to short talks on ill kinds of subjects. They range from business man of today, labor-sav ng methods, mechanical problems,! t :ost systems, etc.. on through dis ::piine, labor problems and how tc ncrease production. The lectures are 'followed by brier ?pen discussion in which honestly >pen-minded men whether employers >r employees, can really get at the ither fellow's viewpoint and may ven occasionally get new ideas and ight on the difficult situations that) onfront industry today, if it brings j Lbcut th?> desired results, that sort of j industrial club should become popu-! ar. ?OFT OF WORK AS FSFAL.' A city which has about 75.ft.00 men memployed repcrts that one-third of .hem are building workers "usually )ttt of work at this time of year." Her?' is a fact which is not sped- | Scally responsible for the big unem ployment problem now confronting me nation, but which serves to com plicate a bad situation. It is a fact perfectly familiar to everybody, and yet one which nobody ever seems to do anything about. Surely it is net inevitable that men in the building trades and other "seasonal" trades should be employed? only avpart of the year. Surely itj would be possible to work out a sys tem whereby painters, plasterers, 'car- |j penters, etc.. would be able to en- j gage in productive and remunerative j, effort throughout the whole twelve! months. I They might ot: enabled to work at j their own trades through the winter I i by means of industries purposely adapted to them in their own com n unities; they might be transported j to other sections of the country where their labor is needed: they j might vary their occupations during! the "oh" mouths and make a living j by some adaptation of their skill to other lines of work. These arc eft hand suggestions, but surely not voH of merit. Other* might readily oc-j <"U?- to ; nyone. ii seems strange that neither the: labor unions most directly concerned. \ nor the employers next concerned. I nor the economists who are so full ofj clever ideas about theoretical mat ters, do anything to solve this ever recurring practical problem of season-, a! unemployment. (trcliard Spraying. The time for spraying fruit trees ? for San Jose seal*' is rapidly passing, rt :s throwing away money to put out [fruit trees and then neglect to spray ? for scale for it is doubtful if you will ever' cat any real good fruit unless you spray with lime sulphur solution. A great many people ask me to help them with the pruning of their or If you have cotton to sell, see us, it will pay you. If you have fertilizer or fertilizer materials to buy it will pay you to see us before you buy, Cash or approved collateral. 9 West Liberty Street chards and then neglect to spraV Enough concentrated lime sulphur solution is in stock . with the mer chants to supply the farmers. The price is higher than it has been in the past but the price of everything: is higher. I suppose by this time ev erybody is accustomed to higher prices. There are some spray pumps in stock with the merchants and it is up to every farmer who has an or chard to see that it is sprayed. Spray ing is much more important than the pruning. ? The pruning of the trees before snraying saves solution, and it thins the fruit so that the trees will not break ail to pieces when they are approaching the ripening season. The fruit in the county has improv ed in quality materially in the past few years, but there is still room for vast improvement. J. Frank Williams. County Agent. Nitrate (if Soda. To the Farmers of Sumter County: Hon. Charles J. Brand. Chief of the Bureau of Markets. United Stales Department of Agriculture, wired the Sumter County Chamber of Com merce yesterday that Saturday. Feb ruary 15th will be fmal date for farm ers to tile applications for govern ment nitrate of soda under the rule extending the time to make applica tions. The farmers who have not applied, ind those who have applied and who clesire to increase their amounts of; soda may do so by applying to .7. Frank Williams, county agent, or E, ; 1. Reardon, Federal Nitrate Dis-1 tributor. Sumter Chamber of Com-! nerce. second Moor Citv National Bank i building. The price of government \ soda is $81.01 F. O. H. the cars, j Charleston. f*t. C. plus the freight. i There is plenty of government soda ! va hand to fill all applications and j ?he government agents are pushing us' :o forward orders, and already hun-1 3reds of tons have been shipped to' j this county. There is more soda on ihand than has been applied for. and I that is one reason for extending the ?time to make applications, although "fact that such short time was granted ? before, only fifteen days, and which caused many farmers not to get in ? their applications is one reason why the time has been extended to Satur day, February 15th, inclusive. J. Frank Williams. County Agent. KEEP EYE OX COTTON SEE1X Washington, Feb. li.?Continuation of the food admmistratiou catro; over the cotton s^ed products indus try until the present crop i* marketed was agreed upon, today at the close of a two day conference of cotton grow ers, ginners, retiners and manufac turers of lard substitutes with officials of the administration. Statistics com piled hy the census bureau which were submitted i<> the conference, showed that the generai ?.??>:??! :ti<.n cf the cotton seed industry was normal and indicated that the crop would be marketed. without fluctuation of prices. Tito meeting unanimously agreed with the food administration that the stabilization should be continued. The producers agreed to use their best efforts in maintaining the stabilr ized price. Dealers and gin hers agree t" pur chase at the stabilized price and to abide by the regulations of the food administr: lion in the purchase of the seed from producer and the sale o? ;i to the crushers. Crude mills agreed to purchase lhe| seed from planters, dealers and gin- j ners at the stabilized price and to buy , their seed when possible in the con gested districts. They further agreed j to market their products at the sta- j biiized prices. Tin- refiners and lard substitute' manufacturers agree to purchase tie j crude oil from the crushers at the stabilized priee and as far as possible | in the congested districts. They fur ther agree to market the refined oil and lard substitutes on the same basis as- heretofore and in the case of ex port sales of lard substitute they agree to manufacture such products solely out of domestic cottonseed oil. The wholesale distributors agreed to distribute tho cotton seed products according to the regulations of th . :'<-<> d admin istra t i o n. The food administration will con tinue to open up the wider foreign market for cotton seed products. It I will maintain organizations at Vv'ash ; ington and in the several States to carry out tin* stabilization program. Fathers and Sons, j The National event of Father and I Son Week will be observed by the S-Suhiter V. M. C A. on Sunday. -The [association was fortunate in securing as the sneaker for the occasion, Dr. j Henry X. Snyder, president of W?f ! ford College, one who is well known , to a Sumter audience. Dr. Snyder is ? probably one of the most eloquent j orators in the South today. He is a forceful and inspired speaker, gifted , with the proverbial eloquence of the Soutli. Dr. Snyder is a widely known ; educator and lecturer. Ex-Governor Manning will preside jat the meeting. It is a genuine pleas lure 10 have the ex-governor partici j pate in the service, since he has been absent from the city for some time. , The committee in charge were very fortunate in securing the Academy of .Music for this service on Sunday af ternoon. On account of the mothers, the meeting is scheduled to begin at 3.20 p. m. rather than at 3 p. m., the regular hour of men's meeting. The musical program is in charge of Mr. Moore, who is giving consider able time and attention to this ser vice. The place of this meeting is the Academy of Music. The time is Sunday. February 10th. at 3.30 p. m. All fa;hers, mothers and sons ifP^ i'ited. Admission free. The Bostonian line is one of the best medium priced shoes known. And remember we guarantee every pair that we sell. Give us your shoe business once, and you will give it to us always. THE I I 1 M ? UilUIiUlUl Fi Co Home of Hart Schaffner and Marx Clothes.