Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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EBB SOVXER WATCHMAN, Estitt? Consolidated Aug. 2,1 LABOR DEMANDS ROAD OWNERSHIP i 1 i Council for Railroad Brother- j hoods Presents Plans to Federation I GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP i WOULD REDUCE EXPENSES j _ Qcganized : Labor Favors Im mediate Acquisition of All Railroads. - _ Atlantic City, X. J., June 10.?A .proposal that organized labor insist on public ownership of the railroads of the country was submitted' today to the delegates attending the, recon struction convention of the American Federation of Labor by Glenn E. Phunb, counsel for the raflroad broth erhoods. Representatives of the rail road workers received unanimous con sent from the convention for Mr. Plumb to explain the plan, the salient principles of which have received their indosement. The speaker's statement that the ownership of the system should be acquired imme diately was greeted with prolonged applause. The cheering was renewed when Mr. Plumb said that with the government substituting government bonds for outstanding securities the railroads would be "removed from the dictatorship of Wall Street." Government ownership of the rail transportation /systems, said the speaker, would mean an annual sav ing in' interest costs of from $400,-. 600,000 to $600,000,000 annually, and | probably would permit a reduction of 29 per cent in current transportation rates. The plan as detailed by Mr. Plumb proposes the operation of the. roads by a single corporation regu lated by and accountable to the gov ernment for all its acts and expendi tures.:' "Such a corporation," said the spokesman for the brotherhoods, "would require no capital." "It should be organized under fed eral.laws. It should he authorized to take and hold and operate these prop rerties . oadjar the ;%ft^^T?^latory powers of the government. It should be required to meet all costs of op eration and fixed charges upon the capital employed, which had been guaranteecLrfcy; the government.. A cer tain, agreed percentage of the net re sults of operation, should belong to it. The stock. of this corporation should he held in trust for the- benefit of the employees. The earnings should con stitute a trust fund to be declared as a dividend'on the amounts paid to the! labor -which: it employs, every em- j ployee receiving that participation of { this fund which his annual wage bore i t to the annual compensation of all em- j ployees. "The affairs of the corporation I should be administered by a board of directors which tentatively, it is sug gested, should be selected in the fol lowing manner: "One-third of the directors to be elected by the classified employees below the grade of appointed officials, one-third by the appointed officers and employees; the final third being appointed , by the president of the i United States. "This board of directors should havo^power to appoint all officers from president down to the point where employment begins by classi fication. of all other employees." . The socalled Plumb plan already has been presented to the executive cotmcil *of the federation. The coun cil, in its report, now before the con ference, recommends that the con vention indorse government owner ship of the railroads. ^ Almost 100 resolutions were sub mitted today but were not made pub lic owing to ,delay in having them tabulated and printed. As an indica tion of the* feeling of the convention toward- extremists and advocates of violence, virtually all the delegates are Wearing red,- white and blue buttons in their lapels with the buttons ?'American Citizens?Loyal to Consti tutional Government." Harry Boland, a special envoy of the "Irish Republic," arrived today to explain the aims of Sinn Feiners. As he was unable to obtain passports he made his way to the Cnited States as a stocker on a freighter. While routing business was basing transacted crowds of. delegates gathered about him; and-listened to his exposition of the objects of his party. Big Transport Wrecked Graf Valdersee Rammed by Steamer and Later Beached on Long Island Xew York, June 12.?The transport Graf Valdersee, formerly a crack pas senger steamer of the Hamburg-Amer ican line, which was rammed last night by the steamer Redondo about forty miles off Sandy Hook was beached shortly before noon today off Long Beach, Long Island. Several members of the ship's crew were in jured in the accident but there were no fatalities. Turkish Delegation Arrives. Paris, June 12.?'Hie Turkish peace delegation arrived this morning. febed April, 1SS0. "Be Jos* i 881._ SiffWlLSON GROWING BOLDER Republican Majority in Senate Playing Into Hands of Germans KNOX THREATENS TO DEFEAT TREATY Resolution Introduced to Notify Peace Conference That Treaty In Present Form is Not Ac ceptable. Washington, June 10.?The senate fight over the league of nations was brought to a more direct issue today with the introduction of a resolution by Senator ' Knox, Republican, of Pennsylvania, proposing that the sen ate give formal notice to the peace conference of opposition to be expect ed should the peace treaty be submit ted for ratification in its present form. Senator Knox, a member of the for eign relations committee and a form er secretary of state, drafted the resolution after conference with oth er league opponents and presented it with the apparent support of those who have led in criticism of the league covenant. He expected to crystalize opposition sentiment, as did Senator Lodge, chairman of the foreign relations committee, with the circulation of the round robin in the closing hou*-?? of the last senate. While declaring for immediate con clusion of a treaty dealing with di rect issues of the war only, the reso lution contains a far reaching propos al which would lay it down as a pol icy of the American government that whenever the freedom and peace of Europe is threatened the United States will consider it obligatory to again cooperate in removal of that menace. Decision as to acceptance of mem bership in the league of nations should be left without prejudice to each nation, the. resolution declares, for future separate consideration. It also asserts the lack of authority by the treaty making power of the gov ernment" to'-make a treaty which in eifect amends the American constitu tion. At Mr. Knox's request, the resolu tion was referred without debate to the foreign relations committee. He will attempt to get the committee ac tion tomorow or Thursday and hopes to bring it up in the senate for con sideration by the end of the week, the resolution is due to open a new chapter in the league of nations fight and to develop a debate which may be even more bitter than that over the publication of the treaty text. Except for the reading of the Knox ; resolution, the treaty controversy j came to the surface only once during I the day in the senate. That was when ! Senator Pittman, Democrat, of Xe j vada asked unanimous consent to ? p:Vnt in the record without reading a \ speech by Former President Taft ad jvocating the league. Senator Smoot, j Republican, of Utah, interposed an ob ! jection and Senator Pittman then put j in the speech by reading it. I Meantime, however, there were ! many conferences among senators j over provisions of the treaty publish j ed in full in today's Congressional i Record, and foreign relations commit : tee made plans to resume tomorrow lits investigation of how treaty copies I reached private hands in New York, j Of the six financiers the committee ! had summoned, three, J. P. Morgan, j Henry P. Davison and Frank A. V:w j derlip. sent word they would be ready ; to appear tomorrow, j The committee arranged for a larg ! er room for the hearing, which is to I be open to the public. The commit I tee is expected to agree tomorrow on j other witnesses to be called later in jthe week. j Thomas W. Lamont, one of the i financiers summoned, is said to be in I France, and it is considered unlikely j that the committee will make a fur ? ther effort at this time to have him j come to Washington. Another, Jacob ! Schiff, asked to be excused because of i ill health, and Paul Warburg had left New York for Detroit when the sum mons arrived and had not replied to ; night. J In comment on the treaty text, put ? into the record after a long fight yes terday by Senator Borah, Republican, I of Idaho, there were three topics : about which interest centered. They were the provisions affecting Shan I tung and the Saar Valley and the sec tion providing for an international la ?bor control. Several senators oppos ing the treaty said the text revealed Jthat the right of self determination in Shantung and the Saar had been ; more closely curtailed than had been j apparent heretofore, and that the in j ternational labor section went much j further than they had expected. All of these sections are expected to be discussed in the senate in the near future. Senator Walsh. Demo crat, of Montana, a league of nations supporter, gave notice during the day of his intention to speak on that sub ject tomorrow, and his address may bring on another debate involving other treaty provisions. i Mexico City. May 19.?The war de partment is constructing a "tank" on original lines with the announced purpose of using this engine of war fare, new to Mexico, in campaigns ' against rebels. ind Fear not?Set ?n the ends Thou Ai SUMTER, S. C, SATU COUNCIL OF FOUR IS SUPREME ?May Send Reply to Germany Without Reference to the Other Nations j PLENARY SESSION MAY j BE CALLED HOWEVER j Procedure of Conference Per j mits the Council of Four to j j Take Final Action on Reply. Paris, June 11.?There is some dis cussion in general conference circles whether a plenary session will be called to consider the reply to Ger many's counter proposals or whether the council of four will send it di rectly to Versailles, without reference to the other nations. The procedure permitted the reply to come from the council. The reparations portion of the re ply does not fix the total sum the Ger mans must pay. The text of the treaty itself is not changed, but the reply contains assm-ances to Germany re garding the method . of reparations and the process and explaining it as a workable agreement. Cotton Market Excited Renewal of General Buying Movement at Start Caused By Reports of Showers New York, June 10.?There were extremely violent fluctuations in the cotton market today. October con tracts for instance sold up to 31.30 during the early trading, or 107 points net higher, broke to 30.00, or 130 points from the top and closed at 30.63, with the general list closing firm at a net advance of 15 to 48 points. There was a renewal of yesterday's excited and general buying movement at the start which was evidently stim ulated by the sensational strength of j Liverpool and reports of further rains or showers in the South. The open ing was strong at an advance of 46 to ! 83 points in consequence, and before j the urgent demand had been supplied } active months sold 101 to 107 points above last night's closing figure, whh July touching 32.20 and December 30.9?. In the case of October de liveries this made an advance of 377 points, or of 18.85 per bale from the low level of last Saturday. The buy ing movement then subsided and the market broke even more rapidly than it had advanced during the early af ternoon under realizing or liquidation inspired by reports that domestic mill buyers had withdrawn from the mar ket, talk of rather a disappointing do mestic mill consumption for May, and j rumors that the federal reserve board i was considering measures to discour fage general speculative activity. July I broke to 30.70 and December to 29.60, ? or about 11,5 to 150 points from the I high level of the morning on the ac i tive months, but the market rallied la !! ter on bullish private condition figures, i and renewed covering with the close [showing recoveries of some 60 to 7f points from the lowest. One of the Southern authorities estimated the 1 mid month condition of the crop at M 70 compared with the recent govern I ment report of 76.5 and domestic mill 'consumption for May at 484.000 bales j compared with 576.000 last year. Break in Market }_ ? ? j Cotton Shows Small Loss at . Close of Day - j New York, June 11.?The cotton j market showed continued nervousness jand iregularity today, but the volume j of bbsiness subsided after an early {break of 88 to 92 points and the close j was very steady at a net loss of only 3 to 25 points. October sold off to j 29.75 and closed at 30.46. The market i opened barely steady at a decline of j 7 to 30 points, although the cables j were better than due and was very ; weak during the early trading. A {more favorable weather map and ex i pectations of a favorable weekly re i port from the weather bureau prob ,ably promoted the selling, while the i disposition to liquidate long contracts I was supposed to be increased by the I uncertainties of the wire service owing ? to the strike of telegraph operators. ; July sold off to 20.4$ and December : to 29.47. with October contracts show ing a decline of about 155 points from j the high level of yesterday. Offerings then became smaller, the j weekly weather report was no more bearish than expected and the market j ('turned firmer during the afternoon on covering and reports that trade buy-; I ers had taken part of the contracts j liquidated earlier in the day. Last prices showed rallies of about 67 to 71; points from the lowest. The weather map was considered, .favorable and private reports from the Southwest were rajre hopeful, but [much of the early selling was attrib-! ; uted to liquidation and the appear- j ! ance of trade buying on the decline! was a sustaining factor. It was re-J ported today that a prominent SouUi- J I ern authority made the mid-month , condition only 69, compared with the] : official end-May report of 75.6. mi't at to thy Country'*, Thy God's i RDAY, JUNE U, 1919, LOOKS LIKE PARTY PLOT (Copy of Treaty Circulated Among Republican Leaders Only THOMAS LAMONT BROKE { PLEDGE OF SECRECY Senate Investigation liistead of Discrediting President Wil son Puts = Republicans in a Hole. Washington, June 11.?How the peace treaty reached private hands in New York and thus stirred up a sensation in the senate was establish ed today at a two hours hearing be fore the foreign relations committee. Senator Lodge revealed that the copy he saw was shown him by Elihu Boot, a former secretary of State. Mr. Root told the committee he got it from H. P.: Davison, a member of the Morgan banking house and head of the Red Cross and Davison in turn testified it was given him in Paris by Thomas W. Lamont, another Mor gan partner attached to the American peace mission. J. P. Morgan and Frank A. Vander lip, retiring president of the National City Bank, also before the commit tee, said they never had seen a copy. With that the committee adjourned without setting a date to continue the hearing and with members on both sides of the treaty controversy saying j privately that the investigation ap parently was over. Mr. Davison said he got the copy to clear up the status of the Red Cross under the league of nations and never had used it in a financial way. He had shown it to no one except Mr. Rooot, he continued and had sent it to him because he knew the former secretary was being consulted by the American mission. Mr. Root gave it as his opinion that there was nothing improper in the way the treaty reached him and that he was free to use it as he choos ed. There could, be nothing secret about it, he told the committee, be cause "the German government had made it public. j Under questioning Mr. Root who appeared in the inquiry .voluntarily went on to say that while the senate wa9 within its rights in asking for a copy after the treaty became public in Germany, President Wilson was also within his in withholding if it he chose. All the witnesses said they had heard rumors of other copies in New York but did not know whether they existed. Like statements were made in telegrams to the committee by Jacob Schiff of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., and Paul Warburg, formally a part ner in the same firm. Tonight the inquiry, ordered by the senate last week, seemed to have j reached a standstill because no one i had any further witnesses to suggest, j Senator Lodge and Senator Borah, Re i publican, of Idaho, who made the rev j elations which started the investiga tion, said they considered all their statements in the senate had been proved and Senator Hitchcock, Demo crat, of Nebraska, author of the in vestigation resolution, declared the ir quiry apparently had lapsed without showing any dangerous leak in diplo matic channels. Senator Borah questioned Mr. Davi son at length to support his declara | tion in the senate that the treaty was : in the hands of '"certain interests" which were "peculiarly interested" in it. Asked directly whether he had a "peculiar interest" in the document j the witness replied that he certainly had, though he never had used his knowledge of the text in any financial way. Mr. Morgan and Mr. Vanderlip were not examined at length in re gard to the treaty, but from the latter was secured considerable information i regarding European conditions. Mr. Lamont is still abroad and the j j opinion seemed to be that little would ! be gained by bringing him here to testify. Record for Turpentine ? Spirits Quoted on Savannah, ! Market at 107 3-4 j ? Savannah. Ga.. June 11.?Turpen tine was quoted in the Savannah mar ket today at 107 3-4 which is the highest price ever attained in the local market. Eight years ago, on season-end manipulation, the quo tation was forced up as high as 107. The market closed firm today at 107 3-4, with all offerings taken. The advance is attributed to the re awakening of the foreign demand, after five years of inactivity and that coming on a very heavily reduced rate j of productino. The movement of the} new crop has been light so far and j holders show no great anxiety to re- ' altee. Stocks have been reduced to a I very low ebb. There has recently also [ been a substantial strength in the rosin marker, although rosiu pricos j have not yet returned to the high levels of last winter. t -.-_ Stockholm. June 12.?Part of the! British trooops which recently arriv ed at Murmansk are participating in the operation against Petrograd, ac cording to reports from Archangel. They are now near Petrogravodsk. i u* XNtk'a.? XBXTRUI GERMANS CLASH WITH AMERICANS In One Instance One American .Was Killed and Several i; v.. . Wounded . * mws&$?-^sirTiis FIVE GERMANS 'V "II if1 ARE KILLED Huns Said To Waylay Americans and Attack Them in Superior Numbers. Coblenz, Tuesday, June 10 ((By the Associated Press).?Hostility be tween the American soldiers and the Germin civilians in the occupied re gion, which has been increasing re cently, resulted in several clashes during the last few days. In one in stance an American was killed. and in other encounters in various parts of the occupied zone several Ameri cans were wounded. American army, officials say that so far as their record goes the number of Germans killed by the Americans in fights during the six months of occupation are five. Incidentally the Germans admit that they are keeping a record of, the treatment of civilians by the Ameri cans, paying particular attention to encounters between the civilians and soldiers. In Arzbach soldiers and civilians clashed Monday night, one American being stabbed and a German sustain ing a fractured skull. In other vil lages it was reported there had been fights, with an even number of sol diers and civilians injured. The frequency of encounters has caused General Liggett, the third army commander, to order the mili tary police to take measures for pre venting soldiers from attacking Ger mans. Special measures also have been ordered for dealing with Amer icans caught maltreating prisoners. Reports indicate that the Germanir are insolent and that they seize op portunities to waylay soldiers. There nave been a few cases where a'hand ful of Americans left, as rear.-gnara in a village after the division depart ed for home have been maltreated b\ Germans, who outnumbered them. Germans Reply to Foch Claim They Have Right to With draw Troops Berlin, June 11, via Copenhagen.? fn reply to the demands made by Marshal Foch on May 2S regarding the' maintenance of German forces in Lithuania and Letvia, north ol a cer tain line, Germany has presented a note to the Allied armistice commis sion at Spa asserting that, according to Article XII of the armistice, Ger many has the right to carry out a withdrawal, which has already begun. 1 nthe regions formerly belonging to Russia. The German note says that Germany does not object to abandon ing the territory south of the line marked out. The systematic evacuation of Lithu ania and Letvia, it adds, probably will be finished in six to eight weeks. Gen. von der Goltz, the German command er in that part of Russia, has receiv ed orders not to interfere in the in ternal affairs of Letvia. Regarding j the concentration of troops mention ed by Marshal Foch, the German re ply says it is only a question of units which have since been removed from ihe Baltic provinces. Article XII of the armistice says in part: "All German troops at present in the territories which before the war belonged to Russia shall likewise withdraw within the frontiers of Ger many defined as above as soon as the allies, taking into account the intern al situation of these territories, shail decide that the time for this has come." Hot Fight in Senate Debate to Open Today May Eclipse All the Others in Fury Washington, June 11.?After a short period of comparative quiet Ithe Senate fight over the league of I nations appears certain to be resum ed tomorrow or Friday with a fury that may eclipse all previous strug gles growing out of the controversy. It is around the resolution of Sena tor Knox, Republican, of Pennsyl vania proposing to put the senate > definitely on record regarding: the re- j vised covenant of the leaguev that the j next chapter of the fight is to be \ written. Supporters of the resolution; hope to gather enough strength to j give warning to the Paris conference j that the treaty cannot be ratified' here i in its present form, an eventuality j which the treaty supporters expect to [ fight to a finish. ??- i; Washington. June 12.?Recommen-j' dations for the government to quitj( building and operating commercial ships at the earliest time practicable; wen* presented to the senate com-j; merce committee today by the ship-; < ping board. The sale of all commer cial ships is recommended. I] t SeUTHBOlf, BMMM its*. MM Vol. XLVIII. No. 35. AUSTRIA READY TO RUN AMUCK Communist Government Will Be j Proclaimed Sunday With % Prospect of Success ARMY STRONGLY TAINTED ? WITH BOSHEVISM M v: .- ??^ir^.; .;^ Communists Will Make Cause Common With Hungarian Bolsheviks. London, June 12.?A commnnist government will be proclaimed in : Austria Sunday with the promise of immediate success, according to in formation received in government cir cles here. . The most reliable information indi cates that about forty per cent of the Austrian army is Bolshevik. . The 5 communists are expected to quickly align themselves with the Hungarian i communists. ' The Austro-Hungarian situation as a whole is regarded here as de cidedly serious. ? Seeking Students ? Navy Making Effort to Interest High School Lads' ; Navy officials are waging an--ag gressive campaign for recruita to ffll the places left vacant by men dis charged who were needed at.home and who enlisted for the period' of emergency. The navy desires to enlist the older high school students for the service and believes with the great opportun ity to learn a trade and see the world, S many will enlist Inspector Vand?t beck, however, states in his message that he advises all boys ;wno inteSd to continue their study in college 'tO remain in school but if they do not expect to attend college the navy ':?r anxious to receive them. ' i In consequence of this two \?neu from^the Columbia office :?fere ;press en t at Sumter High Schoooi' an*. Darlington High School last night ^ ; Interest the boys in the navy. Othesr speakers will tour the State to attend commencements of high schools in. an g effort to bring many young men into the service of Uncle Sam. J. A. Herndon, Chief Pharmacist, U. S. Navy, Columbia, S. C, made the: following statement to the Sumter High School boys: While the war is practicaiiy over: we are in dire need of men to man.1 our fighting ships. We are endeavor ing to comply with the wishes, of many young men who came in to'con tribute their help in winninf the world war, and to this end it Is nee-, essary to replace these men. per sonal advice to the High School grad uate is to go to college and complete his education, but if this is not poe**. sible, then I extend to you a cordial invitation to investigate' what the navy has to offer. We have in the navy every trade which you wfll find in civil life, and you are under: very competent instructors and your pay. is liberal while learning; your pay goas on whether you are sick or welL - A j few of the many trades are as follows:. Machinists; boilermakers, . yeoman (which is clerical work), pharmacist and many others. Each year 100 men are selected from the enlisted person nel by competitive examination to go to the Naval Academy where the best education the country provides is of fered. The chances to visit foreign ' countries are good. ? ^ I will be glad to see any of yon young men at headquarters in Colum bia and explain the matter to you thoroughly. To the faculty I desire to express my personal appreciation of their hearty cooperation. > I thank you for your kind atten tion, i < Steamship Yankee Sinks Rammed by Italian Ship Off Fire Island New York, June 12.?The steam ship Yankee, operated by the ship ping board and bound from Newport News to New York sank early today off ?ire Island after a collision with the^alian steamer Argentina'last night. The Yankee's crew were tak^ en aboard the Argentina. More Delay in Paris Reply to Germans Not Ready Before Saturday Night Paris. June 12.?There is growing" belief in peace conference circles to day that the reply to the German counter proposals will not be ready before Saturday night. Five days has been definitely fixed as the limit within which the Germans must de cide upon their course. Can anyone explain why gasoline > is higher in price in Sumter than in Columbia, Florence, Darlington, Ha good and practicaly all other towns, arge and small, in South Carolina?