The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, December 13, 1919, Image 4

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Published Wednesday and Saturday _ ?BY? OSTEEN PTJBLISKING COMPANY SUMTER, S. O. Terms: 81.50 p*r annum?in advance. Advertisements. One Square first insertion .. ..$1.00 Svery subsequent insertion.50 Contracts for three months, or longer will be made at reduced rates. Ail communications which sub serve private interests will be charged \>r tm advertisements. Obituaries and tributes of respect trill be charged for. The Sumter Watchman was found ul in 1S50 and the True Southron m IS66. The Watchman aad Southron now has i_ie combined circulation and influence of both of the old papers, And is maritestly the best advertises medium in Sumter. I I * NATIONALISM. _ Weary" and heartsick over the sac rif.ces and losses of the war; disgust ed with the self-seeking meannesses of European nations, including some of our former allies as well as our wmr-time^ foes, the people of America are undergoing a. spasm of reaction against all international effort. They seek to wash their hands and clear their skirts of all contact with foreign affairs, : Sickened, not to say disil lusioned; as a result of the disclosures of the year since combat ceased, theyj *Vant to* revert to their former idols, j to withdraw into themselves, to Jet! Europe aione. They hear gladly thej gospel of nationalism, and would lock internationalism out as a thing unwise, if not immaral.' /j With America apparently determin ed upon nationalism. Europe finds, it self left to follow its own bent; and! there, ^oo, it is discovered ;that all! the big nations are adopting policies] of self?sh nationalism, which means j simply that every nation is minding! its own business. That trait, com-! v comendable in individuals, becomes an ostrich policy of head-hiding when practiced by nations. Nationalism means one thing in j America, quite another in Europe, j and still a third in Asia. It all de- j pends upon the aspirations of the peo-! pie concerned. The gospel of nationalism, like any | other propaganda, may be a good or! an evif.thing, according to the ends! soughU.the means adopted to achieve them and the identity of the interests which impel its promulgation. To the American nationalism means taking care of our own, both in peo- j pie and resources. It is an elemental j patriotism, wholly subjective; Ameri cans would work for America in America, but they intend no offense to any other nation. The nationalism that in America is a commendable and virtuous patriot ism becomes, across the sea, a vicious junkerism. A world-wide nationalis tic movement means renewed jealous ies and new wars. / It means that Germany, intent up on what it conceives to be the best in-? terests of its people and their future! growth and prosperity, may overrun j the new and struggling ' republic oft Poland; may cement commercial' bonds with successful Bolshevism in j Russia. Nationalism would iet Bolshevism triumph net only in Russia, but throughout Europe. Nationalism may let Armenia starve and permit Turkey to brandish un heeded the dripping sword. Nationalism may mean that Ger many nccl never pay the war indem nity; she never will, of course, unless the allies stand together, and acute nationalism wil circumvent any move in that direction. "Nationalism wil result in new orgy of greed in Europe, of aggrandizement in Asia or in Africa. Nationalism, while it flourishes in small countries, means the throttling of the weak by the strong, tri umph of might over right and res toration of power to the hands ofj kaisers, czars and potentates. For some of these results America, if she be bound to blind nationalism, may be responsible, and in all of them she is certain to be concerned. If Santa Claus wams to make a h? this year, he'll drive a coal wagon. * * ? It certainly does look odd to see the present prices of commodities printed in a '"fair list." LEGION CENSORSHIP. There has been some criticism late ly of the American Legion for its self assumed censorship of public speech and its apparent efforts to enforce its own brand of patriotism on other people. Some of this criticism has doubtless been justified. For instance, the demand made by a committee of war veterans in Kansas City, that the mayor refuse to permit a meeting of the Non-Partisan 1-eague in that city, was surely outside of the legitimate functions of the Legion. Tt must be admitted, too. that in many instances members of the Legion have shown bad judgment or undue intolerance in trying to break up assemblies where the speakers happened to express sen timents not meeting with their ap proval. It requires great discretion on the part of anyone to determine the proper limits of free speech, and especially so when private citizens, presume to assert authority in the matter. J But certainly no exception can be J taken to the action of a group of ! Legionaries in Detroit the other night. ! There was a big I. W. W. meeting, and j 5?0 members of the Legion were there i j in a body. The band played "The| Marseillaise" and some sort of Bel- j shevist anthem, while trie audience: sang and cheered?as it had a legal j right tu do. Then those 000 Legion boys rose as one man and demanded | that the band round things off by j playing "The Star Spangled Banner,'" and the chief of police allowed that it j was a perfectly fair demand. So the : band obeyed, and that howling crowd j of Reds had to stand up and listen) respectfully to the end. I A little more of that sort of thing} i will do no harm at all. j "NEITHER RICHES NOR POV ERTY." ! ?_ A new social order is to come out of the present shake-up, prophesies a thoughtful minister in one of a recent | series of sermons on "The Industrial | Situation." In this new system inordi-1 nate wealth or extreme poverty will; I be alike impossible. j "The new system will be capitalistic j j in form, but socialistic in spirit." he said. "The new industrial world will J take cognizance of the fact that thej earth is big enough to house all its] ; population, comfortably; that there; I is wealth enough to go around; and j that there are people enough in the! t world to do its work easily." j This is a. mos: satisfactory prophe- : cv. It is what evervone wants? ' Capitalists. Laborers and Bolshevists, j 1 So long as there is poverty, the rich- j est man in the world is not secure j from the disease which develops in the slum. Only in safety and com-j fort for alL is/there safety and com fort for the individual. ! But it is the individual who must; produce this great result. He cannot j do it by standing around and talking! about it. He canot do it by sitting; around playing poker while the em-I i plover vainly begs him to come to j work. He is not justified because he has earned enough to live on the rest of the week and would rather play poker. i Work?good, solid, earnest, honest! work?eight hours a day of it for ev- J cry man and woman, is the only i means by which this condition can bei brought about. ? ? i j EUROPE'S FINANCIAL SLUMP. - !' The newspapers lately have had a ? good deal to say about the deprecia-J tion of foreign currency. Many a reader doubtless ignores this subject, insisting that the rate of foreign ex change is nothing to him. As a matter of act. it is something! to him, and may have more to do j with him than he likes before the j present movement stops. Why is European currency depre-j ciating in comparison with American! currency? Because Europe owes! America a tremendous lot of money j which at present she is unable to pay. and the amount is not decreasing, but rather increasing. The United States lent the Allies about 510,000,000.000 for war pur poses. That amount is being added ro now by the natural purchase of comodities from this country. It grows because Europe cannot pay even its current bills in money, and is not paying in goods fast enough to ^rrset what it is buying from us. That ? o say, we. are still exporting more} than we are importing, and so becom- j ing more of a creditor than ever. "Well/' asks the indifferent reader, "isn't Europe good for it?" j Perhaps. It depends on circum stances. Th * European nations are so j j deeply in debt that their net resources j are greatly reduced. The deprccia-1 tion of their money represents, in aj j general way, their prospect of being j I able to pay. Take that $10.000.000.000 of war I money we lent our allies. There are.! say. 20.000.000 families in the Unit ed States. The average American fam ily- therefore, has a $500 interest in (that debt. Europe owes every Amer ! ican family about that much. If Eu-i I j rope's money drops to half its normal i value, it means that the chances of collecting that debt in total arc about fifty-fifty, or that there is a reason-; ab!?* prospect of getting half of it. Even if we count that money as gone, the matter decs not end there.; Depreciated currency, or an unfavor able rate of exchange, means thafj ! England, France. Italy. Germany and! j other countries canot buy from us ex-1 J cept at ruinous prices. That pre vents their economic recovery, jf they] cannot buy. neither can they sell, [f continued, it means bad limes fori j Europe indefinitely. And bad limes' j for Europe mean, sooner or later, bad times for America. Nations prosper by trading with each other, and any thing1 which prevents our selling to Europe and buying from Europe iS bad for us. T^us it is easy to see that Europe's financial condition is every body's concern. What is to be done about it? The first remedy, advocated on all sides, is j giving Europe immediately large ex tensions of credit to enable her to get on her feet industrially and commer cially. That might seem like throw ing good money after bad. but it ap pears to bo the only- hope. The sec ond remedy is to lessen the debt by] buying more from Europe?which, however, pro-supposes a business re- j viva! over there, such as would be stimulated by the now credits. hi ir_j? n?i in ..in m .? u i i?,n_.,. i VOLUNTARY DEPORTATION. j Emma Goldman's lawyer says she "has no objection to leaving the coun- J try. providing the authorities will let ! her go of her own volition and pay her own way." Surely that can easily be arranged, ; not only for the anarchistic Emma j hut "^r all the other Reds now be devilling tills country. Let them have their own way about it. .lust let them go "voluntarily*' a' their own expense, with the under standing that if they ever return they'll be put where they can't make any more speeches for the rest of their lives. Argentina is Afflicted with Trusts. (Correspondence of Associated Press) Duenos Aires, Nov. 10,?A commit tee of the Chamber of Deputies has discovered after more than a year's investigation that Argentina is af flicted with "trusts." Wine, Hour, lime, potatoes, meat, and oil and naptha are described in a recent re port of the committee as under the control of "trusts" which have been able to flourish and maintain high prices chiefly because of high pro tective tariffs or favorable rates, it is charged. The committee finds that the "most typical' 'trust'" in Argentina (the word "trust" is put in quotation marks throughout the report) is the "wine trust in the great grape growing province of Mendoza on the slopes of the Andes. It is charged that thisv combination of wine pro dulers is an "official trust organized by the law of the province" which is able to pay the cost of the greater part of its administration out of "the local privilege created by the mo- j no poly of wine." Destruction of grapes and wine, ex- ; portation of wine ax a low price and maintenance of a high price in Ar gentina arc alleged. The "trust" is able to exist, the report says, by vir tue of high customs duties which dis courage the importation of ordinary wines and by the aid of the national banks. Reform in the administra tion of the banks and in the tariff '.aws is demanded. The committee ' names the Stan dard Oil Company, of the United States, as the "trust' 'which con- 1 trols kerosene and naptha in Ar gentina. The report sets forth that this " 'truest' norteamericano del pe troloe" has in Argentina a "power ful subsidiary company, divided in its legal aspect into one section ot production, another of marketing j and transport." ,<j "The commercial practices of this 'trust' ". says the report, "are those j of a monopoly -which wishes to ex- j tend even more and consolidate. 1 There is no proof that the 'trust' has j determined upon, increasing the price ! of kerosene and naptha in the coun- j try, but it is certain that its prices j represent a relative increase, that is to say. with relation to the cost of production.*' Argentina's defense against "this j International and almost world-wide monopoly" the committee says, con- | sists of encouraging commerce in and producelon of all other materials capable of producing light and heat and developing the production of pe troleum as a government enterprise "since every private enterprise will be annihilated or absorbed by the 'trust.' " Dealing with meat, the report says that the exportation of this commod ity is "in the hands of great compa nies which are subsidiary to still more powerful foreign companies tending toward capitalistic monopoly." The committee r< commends that Ar gentina organize its own meat in dustry with municipal and regional storage plants and enter into direct relation with the great foriegn mar kets of consumption. Finding that a milling trusi exists, the committee declares that the laws against extor tionate capitalistic combinations are necessary and that "we should ed ucate ourselves economically and po litically for the socialization of this country." Life in Rheims. (Correspondence of Associated Press) Paris, Nov. 22.?Despite extraordi nary difficulties in the matter of la bor and transportation, the Rheims champagne shippers are carrying on their business. Five freight cars <?f champagne were shipped last week to South America, and a similar quan tity went t<> Alsace-Lorraine. A Rheims correspondent writes that life in the city, to which 65.000 of its former inhabitants have now returned, remains very difficult. Peo ple are still herding together in in sanitary cellars and basements, sparsely lit with oil lamps. .Much envied are those whose old homes have wuUs standing .-is far as the first Hour. Having rigged up sonic sort of a ceiling, they are the proud possessors of a "ground floor house." As for wooden barracks, the price is prohibitive; they cost nOjOOO francs i<? erect, and only "the rich" can af ford them. Public lighting is all l?u! non-ex istenl and after dark men and wo men carry revolvers.' The American committee formed for the reconstruction of Rheims has a big task. COAL MINERS' STRIKE ENDED 'Minors' Union Officials Accept; President Wilson's Plan For Settlement ! ? i ; _ ? ATTORNEY GENERAL PALMER IS GRATIFIED; Mine Officials Acted Wisely and] ?Patriotically Says the Attor-i ney General - Indianpolis, Dee .in.?The coal min-j ers' .strike is ended. With but <>ne dissenting vote thei general committee of the United Minej Workers of America in session here! this afternoon voted to accept Presi-i dent Wilson's proposal for immediate, return to work pending final settle ment of their wage controversy with j operators by a commission to be ap-j pointed by him. Telegrams mere sent out tonight to j the four thousand locals of the union] by international officials of the mine workers instructing the men to return j to mork immediately. Full instruc-! t tiohs with regard to the agreement j will be sent out tomorrow morning. Operators tonight predicted full re- j sumption of operations Friday and J shipment of coal from the mines be-j ginning .Monday morning. Miners, operators and government j officials alike were highly gratified j lover the settlement tonight and all | sides appeared confident of a final sat isfactory settlement of the light by the commission. The action today ends a tieup of j the coal industry of more than five j weeks duration and one which was more far reaching in its effects than any other in the bist? >ry of the coun try. As a result of the strike the country was fast approaching a com plete shutdown of industry and wide spread suffering among its ion.000. "00 inhabitants. The decision of the miners came af ter many hours of debate, in which the radical element in the general committee made incendiary speeches against operators and others inter ested! in settlement of the strike and for a time threatened to defeat ef forts to settle the strike at this time. The conservative (dement, led by Acting President John L. Lewis and Secretary-Treasurer William flreen. gained control of the situation this morning and succeeded in putting J down practically all opposition by the time the question came to a vote. One concession was made to . the radicals. The convention agree.] to the calling of a general convention of the miners at a future date, at which time the action of. and reasons for the general committee will be fully ex plained. The opponents of accept ance of the president's plan made their fight principally on the theory that only a general co vent ion of the mine workers had power to call off the strike.* Members of the general committee tonight steadfastly refused to make public the name of the delegate who cast the one dissenting vote. Two statements were given out fol lowing adjournment <>f the conference by Attorney General A. .Mitchell Pal mer, who first submitted the presi dent's proposal to Acting President Lewis and Secretary-Treasurer Green at a conference in Washington last Saturday and came to Indianpolis Monday to await the outcome of con sideration of tbe plan by the miners* general committee. Mr. Palmer's first slat<-ment,ex pressed his gratification at the de cision of the United Mine Workers and commended Mr. Lewis and Mr. Green for "their wise and patriotic action." Tim statement follows: 'The coal strike is settled as the government wanted it settled. When Messrs. Lewis and Green came to see me Saturday. I restated what the gov ernment's position had-been from the beginning and insisted on their ac quiescence. "They finally agreed to it. They have now persuaded the officers of their organization that the situation calls for compliance with the court's order and the government's wishes, and I am certain that all the miners in the country will cheerfully ac quiesce in the decision of their lead el's. 1 desire 1.1 publicly commend tin wise and patriotic action of Mr. Lew is.- Mr. Green and their associates. I am. of course, gratified at the out come, which is one the entire country will approve. Mining will be fully re amed at once, the danger of distress and suffering during the winter is passed, the authority of the govern nent has been recognized and upheld. the supremacy of the law has been established and precedent of incalcul able value has been set for the peace ful, orderly and lawful adjustment of industrial disputes." A supplemental statement issued this evening follows: ?'The miners at their meeting this afternoon accepted the president's j proposal exactly as written and i un derstand the operators' ocmmitteej have announced their acceptance of it. Jt provides for the immediate gen-j eral resumption of operations in a? i districts upon the basis which ob- j tained mi October 31. 101 J), except as I to wages, which are to iK. t ; per cent. ' derstand that at that date. This means.I that the men shall be taken back to work in nil mines in the positions and j upon the terms of their contracts of employment then existing, and it j confidently expected that the mine! owners will acede to the government's ' earnest request. ? I "The status quo of October 21 i-:'m\ be promptly reestablished in order I that peaceful relations between em- j plovers and employees in all parts of the mining fields may be immediately j resumed. 1 am asking the governor* of all coal mining states to cooperate in the effort to bring this about. Expressing gratification that the strike was ended, a statement was! given oui here tonight by local opera tors with the announcement thai it had been obtained by long disiae.ee j telephone from the executive commit- j tee of the national Bituminous Opera-! tors' association in Washington. The | statement follows: "We are pleased that the miner? ! have voted to return to work and that tie- public will be promptly supplied with coal. Realizing the imperativ* public need of co>] in large quantities! the operators st.. 1 ready now. as in the past to bend all their energies to wards a maximum production begin ning at once." j Two statements were given out by international officials of the miners, one of them having been prepared during the meeting this afternoon to announce the decision. The other statement was dictated to newspaper men by Acting President Lewis. Mr. Lewis' statement declared thru the action of the general committee was takeri with consciousness of the responsibilities of the miners to the nation, during "this acute industrial) crisis and firm in the conviction that word of the president of the United States will secure for the miners just consideration of their merited claims." He stated that the international convention of the miners would be reconvened in Indianpolis and a sup plemental explanation given tin- dele gates from all of the 4.f>no locals. Mr. Lewis declared that the action taken today should demonstrate to the people of our country that tin United Mine Workers of America arc loyal to our country, and believe in the perpetuity of our democratic in stitutions. Xo greater demonstration of such facts could he crivon than our action in accepting the proposal of the president of the United States. The statement given out at adjourn ment of the conference announced the decision reached and stated that it ! was based on the definite and con crete provision in the president's plan It brought out that the commission to be appointed to fix upon a just wage scale and prices for coal will have power to settle internal question: peculiar to each and declared this fea ture "of very great importance to the workers." It was explained that dif ferentials in wages in some districts has been a subject of controversy for many years. The statement also brings out that "neither the oporator. nor the miners will be allowed to change the basis and no eliscriminatior by the coal operators will be permit ted." The miners' Statement follows: "The United Mine Workers' repre sentatives agreed to accept the pr si dent's proposal ?s a basis of settle ment of the coal strike. They diel si because it provides a definite, con crete and practical method, by whicr adequate consideration a:\d a prope" adjustment of their claim for an in crease in wages and improved condi tion^ "f employment may be brough about. The United Mine Worker, have full "confidence in the president of the United States and a profoune" regard for his will and judgment. "The president's proposal differs from any proposal heretofore propos ed in that, it leaves nothing in doubt so far as a plan of adjustment and the details thereof is concerned. The scheme proposed by Dr. Garfield lefi no hope for the mine workers other than the acceptance of an increase iu mining prices of 1-! pel* cent. The pres ident's proposal provides that this amount of advance is preliminary and that the tribunal which he will so: up will have full authority to con sider further questions of wages and working conditions as -veil as profits of operators and proper prices for coal, readjusting both wages ami \ profits if it shall so decide. It fur : ther provides that the commission will ! have authority to settle internal ques '? tions- peculiar to each district, all of which arc of very great importance to the mine workers. I ' ? ? ?? -;? ? . .. . ; "The commission will make its-re ] port within 60 days unfless someUn* ! surmountable"" Qtffit?Utttes-rarise -which I prevent it from doing, so and the , commission will have authority to fix I the date when any award it makes j will become effective, j ?'The president's plan further pro j vides that upon a general resumption [of operations the status quo will be I maintained, that is. that all mine j workers will return to work with an [increase in wages amounting to 1-i ; per cent, upon the same basis which obtained on October 31. l?iy. Neither operators nor miners will be allowed j to change the basis end no discrimina tion by the coal operators will be per \ mitted. j "It was these specific features of I the president's proposition which i made it acceptable to the internatioh [ al officers of the United Mine Work ' ers when submitted to them through Attorney General Palmer and Secre tary Tumulty in Washington .on Sat i urday. I December ?'. "We are accepting the president at j his word, feeling confident that he j will appoint a tribunal composed of fair minded men who wlil give full mil complete recognition of the justice of the mine workers" claim. Besides, it is fair to assume that the. public will not only insist that full justiec be accorded the mine workers but also will accept the finding of the tribunal appointed by the president of the United States as a fair and equitable determination of all the issues in volved." Attorney.-* Gen era! Palmer, who came to Indianapolis primarily to advise at torneys for the government in their j handling of the contempt proceedings against S4 officials of the mine work ers who form the general committee, will leave Indianpolis tomorrow morning. He expects to spend a day at French hick Springs. Ind., and then return to Washington*. It was indicated tonight that the charges of contempt. hearing of which was postponed until December ifi. when it came up in federal court Tuesday morning." will not be pushed. The government already had intimat ed that acceptance of the president's plan by the general committee would Se considered compliance with the ! court's injunction against furtherance [ of the strike. j Witness subpoenaed to appear be j fore the federal grand jury called for last Monday to investigate charges of. violation of the Lever act and anti trust laws by both miners and opera^ tors wore discharged today. It was stated that this did not mean that the ? investigation would-' be dropped, but ;hat the grand jury session which was postponed until next Wednesday j would be held as schedule''' and wit nesses recalled. After adjournment of the confer j ence telegrams were sent to all local j unions ^instructing the miners to re j turn to work immediately. The tele j rrarri follows: j "Conference of all district represen j "atives United Mine Workers of i America decided today to accept pro j position submitted by President Wil i son providing for immediate increase of 14 (per cent on mining prices, day . work and dead work and appointment >f commission to decide upon our de mands for further increase in wages i.nd settlement of other questions in dispute. In view of this decision all Jnited Mine Workers are instructed and directed to resume work imme liately. Circular containing full ex- x da nation and further instructions fol low. '?John L. Lewis, "Acting President." Brazilians Want the Body of Former Emperor. Dio de Janeiro, Xov. 15.?A bill has - been presented to the Chamber of Deputies proposing that the Brazil ian government bring back to this country the bodies of the former Emperor Pedro I and Pedro II. and he former Empress Leopoldina. now in Portugal. Similar measures have been pre sented to earlier congresses, but aone received favorable action. In the report, of the city council meeting on yesterday, an error was made- in the statement of the City Manager showing the loss on the .'arm operation. The loss should have been $201.11. Also the city council decided to fix a license of $200 on cotton exchanges on a business or in come basis of $.",000 and an addition al $."> for each additional $1.000 bus iness or income basis above $?.000. Garden City for London. London. Xov. 14.?Proposals for the purchase of a big tract of land in the eastern part of the county of London, and for the development of a garden city of 120.000 people have been ap proved by the London County Council. The plan provides for the erection of 24.000 houses. UCB SALE?Some of the best regis tered Guernsey bulls of various ages. From a prize winning family. C. M. Boykin. Mayesviiro. S. C, R. F. D. Xo HARBY & CO., Inc. Sumter, S. C. We are now prepared to book orders for spring shipment on Ammoniated Goods, any analysis you desire. It will pay you to sec us at once, as our tonnage this season will be limited. 9 West LibertyJStreet