Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE SUMXER ^ AT?H??&N, Est&bi Consolidated Aug. 2,1 MR. TAFT STRONG FOR LEAGUE Former President Taft Thinks Senators Will I' . . Change. DIFFERENT ASPECT WILL BE APPARENT Few to Be Found Willing to As sume Responsibility of De creeing That Peace be Post poned While Treaty is Chang ed to Suit Their Desire. New York, March 4.?A league of nations covenant is indispensable to the treaty of peace if "the war is to accomplish the declared purpose of this nation and the world," Former President Taft told audience at the Metropolitan Opera House tonight in ..an exhaustive discussion of the league principles, preceding the ad-, dress of President Wilson. j ?Adherence of the Washingtonian;j policy of avoiding foreign alliance | ? could not be applied to the present] international status, Mr. Taft declar ed, "because the interests of the Unit ed States are inevitably involved in the preservation of European peace." For the United States to withdraw from the project, he asserted, would make the league of nations merely ** a return to the system of alli ances and the 'balance of power* with: a speedy recurrence of war, in which: this country would certs?nly be in volved, as it "was in the present; struggle." Referring to criticism of thej league plan in the senate, the former president stated his belief that if was the duty of the president, as the prime mover in the nation's treaty i making power, to report the eventual, draft of the treaty with the former central powers with the league cove ? naht "as part of the treaty itself, if in his judgment and that of the peace ferenee an agreement formally ter minating the wer would be incompat ible without ii. If the president! made such a recommendation, saMj Mr. Taft, he ventured to doubt ifJ 'thelre. would be a majority of the members willing ,to assume the re sponsibility of decreeing that the; treaty be amended by striking ou:i the constitution of the league and: committing the question to further! discussion at Paris. Mr. Taft stated :his opinion that the problem would have "a somewhat different aspect" for senators upon whom would he laid the blame for "postponing peace." Though he relied upon America's training for hundreds of years in self government to counteract the "hard, cruel, murderous spectre of Bolshev ism" in this country, Mr. Taft assert ed that "if it spreads over and de stroys the existing governments of France and England and Italy and (hretens them and includes the whole of Europe in its poisonous and con tagious influence, we must not min imize its dangers to our own civiliza tion. "We should not ignore the pro found embarrassment that we would have in our relations to a Bol shevist Europe with its present civil isation destroyed," he continued. Looked at from either selfish or a world point of view, no higher duty ever lay upon the United States than now in this critical juncture in the world's affairs to be united with the nations with whom it has won this war in arms and brought German:* to her knees, to keep her in that suppli ant attitude ami saved her and Eu rope from the chaos and despair of further war and the inevitable tri umph of Bolshevism. "If it be slid that the European nations should be united in a league to maintain those independent states and settle the differences arising be tween then and the older states in the sphere of war and in resisting Bol shevism it is sufficient to say that the withdrawal of the United States from the league of nations will weak en it immeasurably." The united forces of a league of nations is necessary to stabilize con ditions among the new nations, said the former president citing armed ??flicts already in progress between **rar-bora powers, ''lacking self re straint acid not comprehending the scope of their powers." Mr. Taft saw no threat against the Monroe Doctrine in the league cove nant under which, he said, America would take the initial steps and pre sumably wouli be in charge of rep ressive action in case of violations on the American continent. European menlbers would attend to Europe and Asiatic members to Asia, unless a conflict of such seriousness devel oped that the peace of the world was endangered. Yet, the Monroe Doctrine itself. he declared, was subject to limitations In some speeches in the senate, he added, "intimations have been made which enlarge this doctrine beyond what can be justified." Mr. Tuft said he would favor a rec ognition of the Monroe Doctrine by specified words in the covenant witlr a further provision that the settle ment of purely American Questions should be remitted primarily to the American nations with machinery like that of the present league and that. European nations should not in tervene' unless requested by the Amer ican nations. "The European nations," the form ft presuteni said, "desire pur. "en fcked April, 1SS0. "Bfl JhM * 881. OPPOSITION TO LEADER CLARK i i I Seventy-five Democrats Are) Wanting New Man to Lead j Partv in House. CLARK IS NOT IN LINE, SAYgWHALEY; Former Speaker's Attitude on j War Measures Objected to by j i Many Democrats. i I Washington, March 5.?Serious jp- \ i position has developed among the! Democratic membership of the Sixty- | ; sixth congress to the selection 6fj ! former Speaker Champ Clark as mi-j I nority leader. j Rumors have it that about seven- j ! ty-fiye members have banded to- j j gether to- make this opposition effec- j Itive and that thirty or forty more are) j inclined at this time against Clark. j (The Democratic membership of the] J coming congress is 193. j j It is by no means to be taken for; [granted that the anti-Clark move-j 'ment will succeed. But it has cer-j ! tainly become formidable and is giv- j ing the speaker's supporters concern. Congressman R. S. Whaley, of Charleston, had no hesitation in an-? swering today when asked why lie j had decided to oppose Mr. Clark for1 the minority leadership. Mr. Wha ley says: 'T am for the Democratic party and not for one man. I believe the j Democratic party should be organiz i ed with different leaders than those i who have been at the head of it for 1 the past six years, who have not been in touch with the Democratic administration. V "I do not believe that Speaker Clark should be the minority -eader, j for I do not "believe his views are! those of the vast majority of the | Democrats of the countryv His atti tude on conscription and other war j measures was completely out of har-1 mony with the sentiment of the na tion and his ideas of reconstruction, from what I am told. I believe are entirely out of touch, with what thej people think should be done. "I om in hearty favor of the league I of nations, and I understand Mr. ! Clark does not look with favor.upon this principle as outlined by the president. I believe that the leader I of the party should express the views. j mhile leader, of the majority of thej Democrats of the house and not commit the party to his own individ- j ual views while acting as such lead- j j er. j j "I believe there should be frequent I consultations and caucuses among' the Democrats aM the leader should' represent the will cf the majority, and if he cannot find himself in accord ! with these views he should voluntar j ily step out. It is impossible, in my j opinion, for the Democrats to be suc j cessful in the presidential election of j 1920 unless the Democrats of the i Sixty-sixth congress uphold and unite I with President Wilson, who is the j titular head of the party. I am sat j isfied the overwhelming majority of Jthe people of the United States desire j that war should be banished or made i so remote that its chances would be j negligible, and therefore they will be j almost solidly behind the constitu tion of the league of nations. [ "I have cheerfully joined a large ; number of Democrats who believe it j j is necessary to have new leadership i with a progressive and constructive i program. Xo man has yet been se i leered and it is not the intention of j i those who have been for months: I working on this plan to make a j i choice for minority leader, but to j j change the'rules and provide for a j j steering committee and to have that! 'committee select a leader from its; j membership who will not have any i other committee assignment and j whose duty it will be to remain on j ; the floor of the house during the sos- i ! si on of congress. ! Poseng, Wednesday, March 5.?The! j inter-allied commission sent here to i j arrange new armisitce terms between j j the Germans and Poles, left today to! j meet the German delegation from j j Berlin to arrange conditions. . trance into this league, not that they j may control America but to secure: ; our aid in controlling Europe, and 1 ; venture to think that they would be: relieved if the primary duty of com pelling peace and policing this west hemisphere was relegated to us and our western colleague. After reminding his audience that no critic had offered "a single con structive suggestion" in the way of a substitute plan. "Vir. Taft entered up on a discussion of the legal aspects' ; of the project. It creates no "super- j sovereignty," he maintained. j 'The first important covenant with reference to peace and war in the: constitution of the league," he con tinued, "is that looking to a reduction of armament by all nations." ..." Each nation agrees to its own limita tion in this matter, he said, and "having so agreed it must keep with in it." The former president declared that the world was in "siyht of a league of peace, of what I have ever re garded as *the promised land.' " He asserted that "our profound sympathy in his purpose and our prayers for his success" should go with President Wilson "in his great mission." I ad Fete not?Det ail the en da Tboo A2mi*t ?t be thy Caimtrr'* Thy God'* I SUMTER, s: C, SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1919. HOOVER CAN SAVE THE COTTON SEED SITUATION FORMER GOVERNOR MANNING WILL PUT MATTER UP TO FOOD ADMINISTRA TOR AS SOON AS HE REACHES PARIS. Former Governor R. I. Manning, who will leave for Paris within the next ten days, where he goes as a delegate of the League to Enforce Peace, to the peace conference, will i ndertake another mission of great importance to the South and to the country at large, indirectly. He will semi-officially confer with Mr. Hoov er in reference to the immediate utilization of the large supplies of cotton seed oil and cotton seed oil products in the country in feeding the destitute peoples of Europe, who are suffering for food of all kinds, es pecially fats. In speaking of this matter today Mr. Manning said: "I will see Mr. Herbert Hoover up on my arrival in Paris and will urge with all my might the purchase by I him and export to Europe ? seed oil. Under the act ol of cotton |. Under the act of congress i he has full power and abundant mon jcy to do this. This would enable the Soil mills in this country to dispose of ! oil and then thev could buy cotton I seed from the farmers and the sit \ uation would he relieved." I "I feel that as the representative of ; our ?0\'ernment he should do this in order to carry out in sood faith the .agreement between the Food Admin istration, farmers and oil mills. ; "By doing this he will also save ; as food cotton seed products and ; conserve for the world a great sup ? ply of food, which, otherwise, would be lost by the farmers putting the j seed in the ground as fertilizer. * I believe Mr. Hoover will see this j and do it. It will save the cotton seed ; situation." The German Guilt Gen. Von Buelow Says German People are Not Responsible For War Crimes. Amsterdam, Feb. 3 7 (Correspond ence of The Associated Press)?"It is the right of our enemies to punish those responsible if there are men on the German side who are to blame for this war," declared Field Marshal von Buelow, retired, in an interview with the Berlin correspondent of the Handelsblade. Von Buelow command ed the Second German army in 1S14, was engaged in the fighting near Maubeuge and was retired in 1915 owing ?. to a paralytic stroke from which he has not yet quite recovered. "As an old soldier T have not learn ed to ask for mercy." continued. the field marshal. "I .only -sk for jus tice for the German people. We sol diers went out to fight by the4 Kais ern orders because the government1 said the country was in danger. It was not our task as soldiers to in vestigate. If we had been told the truth our duty was'merely to obey. If the German peop-e were misled when they were told that they were : assailed by a superior number of enemies,' then may a curse be on thos^e who. by fa?s^ dealings, made three-quarters of mankind the ene mies of a great peace-loving people. If there are wretches who deceived us when they said we were attacked, then they deserve the severest punish-, mm, whoever they may be. . "But to destroy a gr<\at nation be cause it -s misled by a few people is to sin against the spirit of human ; justice." ? The field marshal, who is one of the founders of the society called the German Society for Civic Education, declared that Germany was now in the throes of a moral revolution. The materialistic philosophy, he said, would give way-to a new one which would be crowned by the victory of the social idea. "The one aim of the German Society for Civic Education," he said "is to j bring the German people back to the! religion of human love. We ask all j the intellectual and moral leaders of; the world to join us in forming an j International community. It was the, materialistic an"1 mechanical concep- j tion of the world which ruined Ger-? many. It will also destroy our ene- \ mies if they do net see that it is the; spirit of the citizens which constructs! a State." London, Wednesday. March 5.?The, British delegates to the peace confer- j ence have been instructed to demand 1 full reparation for British losses at; sea during the war. including com- J pensation for relatives of mariners; who ?ost their lives, according to a j statement by Lloyd George to a depu- j tation from the mercantile marines! service today. I Chicago, March 6.?The removal of; the minimum price for hogs by the j food administration last night had i little effect on the hog market at! opening today. The market advanc- j ed fifteen to twenty cents yesterday j and the opening today showed merely! the loss of tills advance. Berlin. Wednesday, March Z.?Con-! siderable artillery fighting has occur-: red in the vicinity of police head quay.' ters, which is held by government forces. Washington. Maroh 6.?Confidence that business conditions are read- > justing themselves "in a fairly satis factory way," although not as fast as many interests wish, was expressed today by the federal reserve board in a review of business reports from throughout the country for February. Saloniki. Wednesday, March 5.? Fighting between peasants and Bul garian forces in Western Thrace and '? Strumnitza. as a result of efforts of the Bulgarians to requisition food j and household articles, is reported. 1 Columbia. March f?.?D. W. Me- - Laurin was today elected pension i commissioner by the new board oS >. pensions at a salary of $2.000 a year. Governor Cooper signed the bill ere-( ating the new beard tfeis morning. Belgian Scores Senator Calder jFranqui Resents "Tissue of Falsehoods." j - j Paris, March 5.?Emil. Granqui, a j member of the Belgian cabinet and i at one time chairman of the Belgian j national relief committee, announc | ed 'today he had sent the following j message to United States Senator J Calder at Washington under date of ! March 4: j "I am shocked by reports that you ! have moved an investigation of the j statement that some American food ! whs sent to " Belgium : and 'Northern 1 France in such'bad condition , that it I poisoned my countrymen. How could isu'ch lies' be received seriously? ! "During four years of the German j occupation J, myself, was head of ?he organization which cooperated v within Belgium with, the American ! relief commission. I have had da:.ly i knowledge of the quality, use and ef jfect of the precious food which saved i my nation and the lives of the people j in the occupied parts of France. I ! bitterly resent and my countrymen : ere filled with sorrow that .responsi ble men should lend their ears to dc j testable slander against Americans ;<who gave us four years of their life, I strength and talents. 1 feel- that it 'would b'elittle their services -to deny [gossip, yet it is impossible to let it ! pass. i i '-Therefore, for myself and for rry: [country. I emphatically protest: I against this tissue of falsehoods, i ! Seven millions of my countrymen; 'and 2,GOO,000 inhabitants of Northern; ! France are alive, which is proof i that none starved and that none w? s j i poisoned. If I should say more it | i would be to cry shame against those j I few Americans who would besmirch! j the noblest thing which came out of ?the war and the noble character! ! brought out by the work of the corn-I ! mission for relief- in ? Belgium j : through its tens of thousands of un- I j selfish workers in America as well as I actually in the war zone." ,; ? Tornado at Eufaula _ i Eufaula, Ala., March 6.?Latest j reports from the district swept by the I tornado iate yesterday afternoon in- J dicate that the loss of life remains j at four persons. The damage in \ Eufaula is still estimated at more! than a million dollars. Heavy dam-! age is reported throughout the dis-1 trict - Secretary Herbert Dead j Tampa. Fla., March 6.?Col. Hillary j A. Herbert, secretary of the navy during President Cleveland's second term, died suddenly here early to-j day. aged Sf>. The body was ship-: pod to Montgomery, Ala., today. Hej was born at Laurens, S. C. He was j colonel in the Confederate army. Washington, March G.?Secretary | Daniels announced today that one of; the newest and finest destroyers would be mimed Herbert in recog nition of the service rendered the navy by Former Secretary Herbert, who died today at Tampa. Labor Conditions Not Critical Columbia, March 5'?Governor.; Cooper returning today from Wash- i ington declared that the governors < during their conference there had j found labor conditions over the t country very good and that all had < taken a most optimistic view of the 1 general situation. The unrest in the ] country was found to be due not to < lack- of worl< or low wages, but to a ; spirit of Bolshevism. All the governors 1 were encouraged by the reports. < New York, March S.?President Wilson sailed today on his second \ voyage to France, determined, as he ( said in his speech here last night, f. not to "come back till its over over j there." The George Washington. ( bearing the presidential party, left t the Hoboken pier at S.15 A. M. s MA Tn?k**.0 TECS TRUI COLUMBIA NEWS IN BRIEF FORM State Tax Commission Planning Drive to Round up More of The Tax Dodgers. LISTEN FOR A HOWL FROM THOSE HIT _ I Opponents of Progress Had a I Compact Organization in the House and Killed Good Roads. - ??? (By Harold Booker.) I Columbia, March, 6-.?The State Tax I Commis-sion is planning a drive to ' pui on the State tax books automo - '? biles that have heretofore escaped j taxation and the property of individ uals that has not been returned at i proper valuation. With an appro j priation twice ds large as it' had last j year the commission is planning ex tensive work for this year. It hopes to get thousands of dollars worth of property on the books that has es caped taxation thus far. Regarding automobiles the commis sion is planning to work in con junction with the State highway com [ mission with a view to properly as ; sessing all of the automobiles of the (State. The'highway commission will [prepare a schedule, listing the va 1 rious makes and models of automo j biles so that taxation can be properly ! fixed from this schedule on every car ? Vn the State. In addition the com i mission plans to go to certain coun i ties where there are lands escaping j taxation and to see that these are [assessed at the proper valuation. The appropriation for the commis sion's work for the year 1919 totals $28,500, double the amount appro priated last year. Of this amount, $13,500 is for salaries of the mem bers, per diem, clerk *nire, office ex ] penses and contingent fund. The j remaining $15,000 was appropriated i to allow the commission to "discover [and., have, assessed for taxation prop ] ertj: heretofore escaping taxation, i for. equalizing property and inciden tal duties of the commission." With j this add-en appropriation the com l mission will do work* throughout the j Sta te that otherwise would have been ! iin possible. j The State Sunday School conven tion which will be held at Florence ] June 3. 4 and 5 will be one of the ? biggest ever held in the State if de i termined work on the part of the of-, ! fleers of the association will make it, '.such. Plans are already being map j ped out for the meeting and the offi I eials of the association will keep it ! before the Sunday school workers I of the State until the meeting is held., j- . j A Columbian who is interested in< j all constructive legislation has ob i served in looking over the journal of I the house of representatives that ! practically every man in the house I who voted against the compulsory ed j ucation bill, as passed, also voted i acrainst the good roads measure. ? There were 33 votes cast against the jcompulsory education bill as it final-, ly passed the house. Of this number' twenty-seven voted against the good roads proposition, three did not vote at all and three voted for the good roads bill. The twenty-seven men who voted against the compulsory education, bill, as it was finally passed by the house, and who also voted against the good roads proposition, were! Representatives Anderson, of Flor ence; Ashley, of Abbeville; R. O. At kinson, of Chester; Beacham, of Greenwood: Cade, of McCormick: Dickson, of Anderson; Dreher, of Lexington; Dukes, of Orangeburg; Faddy, of Williamsburg; E. W. El lis, of Rarnwell; Hall, of Anderson. Hamilton, of Chester; Harmon, of Sa luda: Hutson. of Barnwell: W. W. Johnson, of Clarendon; Kelly, of! Anderson; Lancaster, of Spartanburg; | Langdale, of Colleton; Leopard, ofj Pickens; Miley, of Bamberg; Mishoe, \ of Horry; Moore, of Greenwood; | Owens, of Marlboro; Pegues, ofj Marlboro; Pursley, of York; Rivers, of Chesterfield and Turner of Ches terfield. This same Columbian also dug out of the house journal the fact that Representative Mile*y of Bamberg dif fered with his colleague Representa-j five Riley on at least four import-! ant matters that came before the j general assembly. Representath/e i Miley led the fight against the good roads bill. Representative Riley vot- j ed for the bill. Representative Miley j voted against the compulsory educa-i tion bill, as it finally passed the house. Representative Riley voted for.the;' compulsory education bill, as it was! finally passed by the house. Repre- ? 1 tentative Miley tried to have Repre- j' ??ontative Evans* bill providing for a j ?;tilon-a-month of whiskey instead of i i quart passed. Representative Riley ! 1 opposed it. Representative Miley led ? ; the fight to pay the members of the; ] last house more money and Repre- j: ?entative Riley voted against it. There,;* ire only two members- from Bam-ji ^erg in the house. They seldom vot- < ?d together. . ?? ; i Governor Cooper returned from;", ho conference of governors and may- ? ^rs feeling very optimistic over the '1 fenera] situation. The employment n vroblem was the chief topic discuss ed at the conference and the govern- " >r says that the reports were not at ** ill discouraging'. If there is any unr ? S SOUTHRON, Ett&bifebei J?9B| f<fM VoLXLVIII. No. 7. RAILROADS WILL Government Officials Make Plans to Retain Control and Finance Railroads. MONEY TO BE OBTAINED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES War Finance Corporation Will be Able to Lend Hand While Several Big Loans Will Prob ably Have Been Negotiated From Banks. Washington, March 5.?The gov ernment today determined to retain control of the railroads despite fail ure of congress to provide funds for the railroad administration and to have the roads finance themselves fcr the next few months through, pri vate loans on the open market or through advances by the war finance . corporation. Efforts will' be made to maintphv operations on a normal scale an? to carry on as much of the improvement, program as possible, in order to avoid throwing employes out of work or otherwise distrubing industrial conditions. No attempt will be made to solve the problem by raising rates. Thc^e assurances were given by Di- , rector General Hines in a public statement and in an address to the conference of governors and mayors meeting here. At the same time it developed that the war finance cor poration has about $337,000,000 re sources available and much of this may go to raib'oads to supplement the sums they can borrow until con gress meets again and has opportuni ty to appropriate funds. After protracted coruTerences be-; tween Secretary Glass and other offi-' cials of the treasury and \var finance corporation, it was stated that means i probably would be devised to keep-, the railroads off the money market as much a3 possible and minimize in terference with the forthcoming Vic tory, loan. Although officials appeared opti- . mistic they explained that much-, ma- , nipulating of financial machinery;' would be necessary and a deffl?ite program could not be developed for some time. Their somewhat cheerful attitude was in contrast to the rather pessimistic utterances of Secretary Glass and Director General Hines .before the senate apppropriati?n * committee in executive session last week commenting on the possibility' of the appropriation's failure. ' :" Clocks to Move Up Washington, March *4.?Failure of congress before final adjournment to day to take any action on pending bil]s providing for repeal of the day light saving act made certain that the nation's clocks again would be advanced an hour during the period between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. Will Hold Railroads Washington, March 5'.?The gov ernment has no immediate intention of relinquishing control of the rail roads as the result of the failure of congress to appropriate funds for the railroad administration, Director General Hines said today. He also explained that every effort will be made to continue operations as usual, to avoid laying off employees and to finance the railroads through private loans, or through advances from the war finance corporation. Mr. Hines said the railroads' administration did not contemplate raising rates as a means for dealing with the financial predicament. Copenhagen. Wednesday, Marcia 6. ?Negotiations at Weimar resulted in the German government proposing that the soldiers' and workmens* councils be made an organised part of the governmental system under the new constitution, according to a Ber lin dispatch. Paris, March 6.?The supreme council at this afternoon's session will consider the proposal by the American delegation to invite the various committees to draw up ar ticles embodying their reports with* a view to the formulation of an early peace treaty. rest in the country it is not due to unemployment or low wages but merely to a spirit of Bolshevism, says the governor. Mr. Cooper does not (hink that there is any serious trou ble ahead in South Carolina or.any where else in the country, as for that matter. There may be some agita tion but the safety of the countrry from uprising of any sort is assured. There has been considerable corn ea hit during the past few days in the upper part of the State of the high mice of gasoline. Tn Anderson the Trice has gone to 2S cents and the oil lealers are telling the people that it s because P. Harris, commissioner >f agriculture, has insisted on pre var standards of gasoline. Mr. Har as says f.hat he is insisting on pre v*ar standards of gasoline, but that Jealcrs can sell naptha as such, [?here have been so many complaints ubont the quality of gasoline that it ?? raid the national department of ag Icvlture is ?roing to take the matter n hand and prescribe a standard P*ade. . ?