University of South Carolina Libraries
j Mr. Jennings Re plies to Mr. Dabbs Plain Spoken and Somewhat Caustic Discusion of the Road Bond Issue - Editor The Daily Item: I notice in your issue of the 9th inst, a communication by Mr. E. W. Dabbs, making .comments on the meeting held on Thursday afternoon. May 5th. Mr. Dabbs says he had hoped that I the meeting would present some con structive plan on which everyone could agree. Knowing Mr. Dabbs' disposition to oppose practicaly ev erything, I am confident that no hu man mind could have devised any - plan upon which we all could have figreed if Mr. Dabbs were a part of the audience. Mr. Dabbs states that he was dis appointed because out of it all no plan "was offered except that presented by me. This, at least, 1 take as a com pliment, to be at least able to present come feasible plan at the meeting v.'hereby something could be done, even though Mr. Dabbs thinks the method of bringing it up was un tactful,N which he terms an effort to .. browbeat nay fellow members of the , Hard Surface Road Commission. When the Legislature passed the Act authorizing the people to vote upon the question of selling bonds to build hard surfaced roads and at the same time created the Commis sion to build these roads in case the people authorized the issuing of the ?bonds, the Legislature never intend ed that the Commission was to decide the question of whether it was wise or unwise to build hard surfaced roads, but that question was left to ' tie people to. determine, and they did determine this question by three and a(half to one to build the roads. It was only left to the Commission to handle the money in a proper manner and see that the roads were properly built and that we got value received for the money. If I ? employ a contractor to erect a house for me, I do not transfer to him the advisabilty of building the house;^ that question I determine for myself, but I only employ him to build the house which I had deter mined to build. Just so in the case of the hard surfaced roads. The people,, by their vote determined to build these roads and simply ap pointed the Commission, through their representatives, to build the roads-^not to say whether it was wise or unwise to build the roads; this was never transferred to the Commission, and, I assume, never will be under a Democratic government. It was not my purpose to browbeat the Commission in the slightest de gree, but I panted the Commission to know the sentiment of the people as far as possible in reference to going ahead and having these roads con structed. It was not my fault that the resolution was not taken up be fore some of the people who attend ed the meeting had left. I had to wait until the Chairman permitted me to bring up the resolution. Mr. Dabbs also states that if I were really sincere in wanting an ex pression of the people why did I re fuse his sugestion of a referendum when the County Court it> voted on. We have already had a referendum on this question and the people have decided the issue by three and a half to one; and even though it were within my province to have this re ference made, I would deem it unnec essary to do so, and especially to gratify the wishes of a would-be ob structionist of every progressive plan that is proposed. Mr. Dabbs says we air want good roads, but the difference between Mr. Dabbs and myself, as I see it, is he wants good roads and I want good roads, but he seems to es pect to get th-'m without expending any mov.*ey ard I am willing to go ahead and ex pend money in order to get the roads, as to my mind this is the only way to get them, as I do not ex pect them to be presented to us by some one else or handed down some nbj.ht from heaven. Mr. Dabb3 further states he is sure the Commission would give more weight to a referendum vote than to the expression of a few citizens who were largely influenced by the pleadings of myself and Mr. Reiser. The Commission has already had an expression of the people on this question, and Mr. Belsar and myself made the same kind or* plea before the people before the bonds were voted upon, and we convinced them we could build these roads without a c< nt of cost and in addition to that accumulate a large fund out of the use ess and unnecessary expenditures of money in keeping up automobiles, truckes, wagons, buggies and all kinds of vehicles, and in the excessive use of gasoline over the abominable roads we now have, and ail the county wou'd have to do in order to do this would be simply to use its credit in selling bonds; and whenever the peo- j pie get the real facts and proper in- j formation their vote will always be like it was in the meeting on last Thursday, of course, we do not ex pect to convince Mr. Dabbs of the wisdom of this proposition because this is in line of progress and pro gress is usually what an obstruction ist always opposes. I understand that Mr. Dabbs originally was opposed to the bond issue and became converted to the proposition very shortly before the election was held, but I am sorry to see that it now appears Mr. Dabbs has fallen from grace and has re turned to his original way of thinking about this bond issue. Mr. Dabijs furtner states: "But I am sure I voice the sentiment of ma jority of the voters of Sumter coun ty when 1 say that In any matter of business and sound public policy I will take every time without question the united judgment et Messrs. J. P. Boctn, G. A. i/'mmon, I. M. Truluck. j J. F. Bland, Stanyarno Burrows, E. j E. Retnbert. S. A. Marvin, and J. B. Britten in preference t<> that of Mr. | J? D: Jennings'. Having been voted i down by his cwh Commission it was; in exceedingly bad taste for him to | tise the occasion of a meeting called j for other purposes to try and create | sentiment that would enable him to , override his colleagues.'* \ jhe question-of whether we should i build hard surface roads or not was not left with the Commission to de termine, but that was left with the sovereign people of the county to de cide, and they did so in unmistakable temib. Mr. Dabbs further states: "When Mr. Jennings wants to carry his poin. he never considers the consequences, in his zeal to whip his colleagues to his way of thinking he was willing to kill all the good of tire meeting up to the time he took the floor. "He made a million dollars of bor- 1 rowed money overshadow every sug gestion of self help and better sys tem of farming and marketing thai had gone before." I admit the meeting was a good meeting, even though no definiU steps were taken for any immediau relief, but good results are hound tt follow from the getting together ot the leading citizens of the county an< discussing cooperation and variou things of interest to the people; bu I cannot conceive how bringing uj one of the most important questions that is, good roads, at a meeting o: this kind would destroy any othe: good which had been done, but to m> mind the question brought up wa: very pertinent at a meeting of thb kind, and judging from the way thos< who were there endorsed the resolu tion they thought me same way. The argument of Mr. Dabbs agains building good roads at this time i the same kind of argument that ha been used for the past 25 to 30 yea*, and is hampering the good roads, bu I am now satisfied that the peopl? now reaHze the mistakes that have been made and are now ready anc willing and desirious of getting out of the old roads and keeping abreast of the people of other states. Thk is what I consider self-help?goim ahead and doing something?but it i not . the kind of self-help Mr. Dabbs refers to. The kind he refers to, a far as I am able to see, has* neve; gotten us anywhere. Mr. Dabbs also refers to the Priva teer road and the Turbeville Shor Cut, and he states they can be buil without adding to the tax burden o the county. I would like to knov how any road that can bo ca.lled i road can be built without cost, but i Mr. Dabbs' opposition to buildin, hard surface roads had any weight j then I would be sorry that all of thes> hard surface roads did not run eithc on the edge, through or around Mi | Dabbs* plantations in order that h I might withdraw his opposition, bu. ' as I am confident that his oppositior j in reference to this read matter wil not be felt any more than the weigh: j of a boat only sufficiently large to car ry a canary bird on bosom of th' Pacific ocean would be felt by thesi mighty waters. | There is a great difference be tween discussing a system of road: that would benefit the entire count> j and in discussing a short cut roac in Mr. Dabbs' neighborhood, or th i short cut road in the Privateer neigh borhood, because these two short cut roads would benefit practically onl> those within the neighborhood anc not the entire county, whereas th? j hard surface roads is a matter foi j the whole county. Don't understane j rue to oppose these two short cm roads, because I made a motion at some meeting that was held that th< j County Board build these roads, ai I believe this to be to some exten- < along the line of progress, but 1 die not think the Board could buik them without any cost. Mr. Dabbs ha: not suggested in his communication how this can be done. Mr. Dabbs aiso refers to numbei of taxpayers who do not own auto- j mobiles er trueks. I assume they own some kind of vehicles, or at least a great majority of them do, and they would use the roads with whatevei kind of vehicles they had, and would save in proportion to those who own automobiles and trucks, and thos?. who do not own anything of this kind J am satisfied do not pay any axes and would not be affected se :ar as taxes are eoncerned. but would ikev.ibe ;--et the benefit of the roads even though they^did nothing but walk over them, because it would bt much more pleasant to walk over hard sarface reads than it would be o' walk over a sand bed or mud hole. Mr. D&bbs states when these bonds were voted cotton was bringing from 41c to $1.10 a pound, and now* it is worth 5c to 15c Yes. and, if Mr. Dabbs would investigate he would find the material out of which these roads will be constructed and also the abor is about proportionately lower now than it was at the time cotton was lie to $1.10 a pound as cotton is today, and we can build the roads much cheaper now than we could have then. Therefore, the same fi nancial principle obtains. Mr. Dabbs also speaks about the burdensome taxes. Well, if this should dominate the minds of a ma jority of the people we would never have any of the modern conveniences, because we cannot have them with out money; we cannot have public modern conveniences without paying taxes, but in this instance of good roads any one who will stop and think and investigate will find out we can have these roads without a dollars cost an dsave at least the cost ae.a!n. How this can he done has been so often discussed before the people that it is useless to mention it here except to say that what we will save on the wear and tear of our automobiles, trucks and vehicles, the time in tak-j ing our produce to market and things of this kind, which will not only pay the entire cost of the roads but with- j in the same period of time we will j save in addition to this more than the I cost again, and certainly a majority of the people of Sumter county would i not refuse to have a system of 123 miles of hard surface roads when they! can fret them without a cent of cost and the only thing that is necessary j is for the county t<? use its credit toi obtain the money with which 10 em-j Struct them, and I am sorry Mr. Dabbs] is not willing even to accept the roads ! as a .uift and in addition thereto a; ??onus <>f ;;t least the cost of the roads. I see Mr. Dabs a'so takes a left- I handed sling a? the new county court' rreposition. J expected Mr. Dabbs *o; be opposed to the county court be-; rnuso. 'his is a progressive idea. When a case is now brought, by reason of] the congested condition of our dock-, ets. it is from two to three years be- ! fore ft can be reached. The Circuit! ! Court has in attendance 36 jurors at; i cost of $3.00 a day each, whereas he county court will only have IS lurors at the same cost. Therefore, ?ach day the county court is in ses sion trying cases thafthe Circuit court would have to try there wili be a ?aving between the cost of keeping he jurors at the county court and at the Circuit court of $4S.OO per day. This saving will go a long way to wards paying the cost of the county court. However. this cpjestion of 'ounty court will later be discussed before the people, and I feel confi lent when they understand the ques ion that Mr. Dabbs will again be lopelessly in the minority in refer nce to this progressive matter; at east, I hope so. Mr. Dabbs says: "But I am sure 1 o.'ce the sentiment of a majority of he voters of Sumter County when J ay that in any matter of business and ound public policy I would take every j ime without question the united judg nent of Messrs. J. P. Booth. G. A jcmmon. I. M. Truluck. J. F. Bland, 3. Rembcrt, S. A. Harvin, Stan arne Burrows and J. B. Britton in ^reference to that of Mr. L. D. Jen lings." The Legislature passed an act at ts session of 1916, which Act was ap >roved by the Governor Feb. 17, 1916. authorizing the building of a new ounty jail for Sumtci county, and uthcri'/ing and directing the county upervisor and county commissioners or Sumter county to borrow on the redit of Sumter county, to be rrpaid "rom the funds to be raised by tax avy, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, as the same should be need d to meet the payments which should ^ecome due to the archtccts and con tractors constructing the said new ail, or in such manner as they should nd most advantageous, the same to e borrowed at a rate of interest as >w as possible and not to exceed 5 )er cent. The same Act created a building commission for said Jail, 'onsisting of the supervisor and lessrs. C. G. Rowland. J. P. Booth ;nd J. F. Glenn. Shortly after the assage of said act Mr. Glenn was aken sick and has not been able since o be an active member of said com mission, and more than two years ?.go the lecislature practically abolish ed the office of supervisor, and I un terstand no new members have been idded to said commission. There ore, the building of the jail for ail uactieal purposes is in charge of Messrs. J. P. Booth and C. G. Row .and. After the passage of said act, on March 7, 1916, the county board call ed for bids for this $25,000. and among .he bidders was the National Bank of Sumter, and their bid, addressed to :he Sumter county board of commis ioners. was as follows: "Referring to your circular pro )osal of March 3. 1916. we beg to ad vise we will make the loan of $25, 000. bearing interest payable annual ly as follows: (1) $25.000 payable in four years, or (2) $5,<>00 payable in one year; 55.00 0 payable in two years: $7.000 payable in three years; ?8,000 payable in four years. In either case we will make the ate of interest 4 3-4 percent . and in iddition thereto will pay a premium ;f $40. In either case also we will, f successful in this bid, expect to re eive the proceeds of the loan on de posit, to be checked out as needed for .he purpose for which the loan is made, and on this deposit we will pay 1 per cent on quarterly balances as oer your circular letter above refer red to. B. Manning, Cashier. * * # "We win agree to loan $25.000 to he county for thirty days dated to day, at 3 1-2 per c?nt interest. B. Manning, cashier." On March 7, 1916 525,000 was bor rowed from the National Bank of Sumter tor 30 days at a rato of 3 1-2 <>er cent interest, and subsequently the county borrow on-the notes of the "ounty the $25,000, the notes to run. 1. 2. 3. and 4 years and paid a rate of i 3-4 per cent interest. All of these notes have been paid by a tax levy. That National Bank of Sumter re ceived this money on deposit, as I am informed by the then Clerk of the Board, and was to pay 4 per cent in terest for the same, and the mony was to remain in said bank until it was 1 used for the purpose of building a new jail. The money is still there on de rposit and new jail #:as never been started, and the county has borrowed money sinee that time and has bor rowed this year more than the $25, 000 and has paid from 7 to 3 per cent interest, yet this money has been in the bank on deposit at 4 per cent, when the money the people pay by way of taxes to pay these notes was worth at least 8 per cent to them, and it has been on deposit in the bank for more than six years at a loss to the people of $1J!00 per year, the dif frence in 4 per cent interest and S per cent interest, aggregating SCO00, not to consider if this $1.000 had beer, paid ?annually that it would be worth ?S0 j a year. As a. matter of fact. Hie j people have lost around $65.'>o by way of interest, yet the first step has not j been taken to build the new jail. But of course, this is :h',- kind of public policy that Mr. Dabbs ap proves and endorses. This money was borrowed in March 1916. before we went into the war, I and before prices had gone up so I lvgh. yet they did n<>t start the ."ail. Building material has son? down this year to almost half what r: was last year, yet the jail has aot boon started, although the Grand Jury at almost every term of court sine? 19 iG has recommended the building of a new jail and getting rhe prisoners out of the present Unsanitary pail, yet noth ing has been done. But this is the kind of public policy and judgment Mr. Dabbs thinks so much of. When will the new jail he built and bow long will the topic's mcney; remain in the National back of Sum ter at 4 per cent interest when the county is borrowing money and pay ins from 7 to 8 per cent, which the people have to repay by payrn*: raxes w hen there has already been collected-: [ from the people this $25,000 in taxes. and still the money is on deposit and we have no new jail. Mr. Dabbs may agree with Mr. Booth's public policies in ma'.ers of this kind, but I certainly do not. and I do not believe major ity of the people do. The Commis sion should have notified the County board of commissioners that they did not intend to build the jail before the county went ahead and borrowed this ?25,000, but after the money was bor rowed and people were assessed to repay it. then the jail shouid either have been built or the county should have had the benefit of this money and not have to borrow $25,000 in its; place and pay from 7 to 8 per cent in terest and the same remain in a pri vate bank at only 1 per cent interest. Of course, the bank could lend this money out and got S per cent, but the people of the county have lost within six years around $G500 by reason of the difference in the rate of j interest. But Mr. Dabbs says he is sure he voices the sentiment of a ma jority of the people of Sumtcr coun ty when he says in a matter of busi ness and. sound public policy they would every time take without ques tion the judgment of Mr. Booth. Mr. Dabbs further states he con gratulates Mr. Booth and Mr. Harvin for standing up for their position in the face of the audience that was against them. 1 wonder if Mir. Dabbs would congratuate Mr. Booth on the I handling of the jail proposition;? money in bank only bearing one half the interest that money is worth, no new jail and the unfortunate prisoners still kept in the old jail which has been condemned by the Grand Jury at almost every term of court. I also notice another communica tion in your last night's paper from Mr. Dabbs in reference to the Garn er's Ferry Bridge. It seems as if Mr. Dabbs feels that he has been ap pointed as a special agent by Provi dence to regulate the universe, but I feel satisfied a majority of the people think he is mistaken in thinking that he has been so appointed. L. D. JENNINGS. ' South Carolina Interscholastic Rec oixls. (University Weekly News). The effort is being made to revise and correct the South Carolina Inter scholastic Track records. The appar ent records are given below. Anyone who has further or more accurate in formation is asked to communicate promptly with the extension de partment. 100 yard dash?Thomas of Lib erty; Mann of Six-Mile; D. Stackhouse of Clio; Seahorn of Pickens; and Chandler of Sumter.10 2-5 220-yard dash?W. M. Huestess, Clio; Earle Laurey, Porter Military Academy; Chandler of Sumter. 23 120-yard dash, low hurdles?Mil ! ler. Greenville.15 2-5 440-yard da3h ? Chandler of Sumter. 54 4-5 Half-mile ? DeLorme, Sumter .2 min. 11 3-5 Running Broad Jump?Wade Stackhouse, Clio; Carl Crane, Liberty. 21.1 Running High Jump?McQueen, Clio.6 ft. 1 3-S Pole Vault?Wm. Poole, Green ville; Seaborn, Pickens .. 10 ft. 9 Shot Put?Odell of Pickens 42 ft. 1 Discus throw?Arthur Hall, of Pendleton.153 ft. 4 Methodist Bodies to Meet iu Columbia Columbia. May 13.?Dates for the two Methodist conferences in South Carolian are being announced today to the Methodists of the state thraugh the Southern Christian Adovcate. published in Columbia. The "Up per" South Carolina Conference will be- held at Lancaster, November 2. The South Carolina Conference, known as the "lower'' conference, will be held at St. Geor.r.e on November 30. These dates have just been an nounced by the College of Bishops. Bishop U. V. Darlington has been returned to South Carolina for his fourth year of service. He has also been named by the College of Bish ops, at its recent meeting to be as | sociated with other bishops in the j superintendence' of the Methodist j church's work in Europe. Lee County Taxes Well Paid Up (Bishopville Vindicator) In the May 1st report of County Treasurer Perrin! his report shows that $69,020.75 has been paid over to the state as the state's part of the taxes paid in this county for 1920. The total amount due the state, accord ing to this report, was $74,135.65. Thi3 would indicate that the taxes in Lee county are paid up to about 94 per cent and it is estimated that with taxes paid since this report was aiade that not over five per cent of the taxes of this county are unpaid. Peach Crop to be Short Atlanta. May 1-2?Georgia's peach j crop this year will be about H5 per cent of a full crop, according to fig i tires announced today by the crop re j porting service, a combination of the 'United States bureau of crop statis tics and the Georgia Department of Agriculture based on conditions on I May 1. j Campaigns Increase the Use of Milk. Following a milk-utilization cam i paign held in Spokane. Wash., in which specialists of the United States Department of Agriculture coopera ted with State and local authorities, a I survey was made which disclosed the j fact that as a result of the campaign j 6.00" people had increased their con j sumption of milk. During the cam paign it was found that 2.800 school children in Spokane drank no milk, but that during the campaign 2.100 started to drink it daily The special ists of the department have coopera ted with the State extension forces in conducting milk utilization cam paigns in a number of cities, nil of which have resulted in an increase in the consumption of milk. Campaigns! are never conducted in a town un less the supply of milk is known to be absolutely clean and there is a sufficient quantity to take care of in creased consumption. THE BERGDOLL GOLD Congressional Committee Ob tains Little Information About Draft Dodger Washington. May 13.?Not one dol lar of the $105,000 in gold obtained from the treasury was put in a pot for burial in the mountains. Mrs. lEmma C. Bergdoll of Philadelphia testified today before a house com mittee invest gating the escape of G rover Cleveland Bergdoll, her slacker son. Again p'cking up the trail of the treasure the committee found and then lost it. f<>r .Mrs. Bergdoll frank ly dec'ared that she had buried it somewhere around Philadelphia, that nobody else knew the spot, and that it was just where she placed it near ly two years ago. The draft dodger's mother was positive in the statement that she never took it to Hagers town. Md., where it was supposed to be. Bergdoll was released from pris on under a military guard to at tempt the recovery of this gold cache. Intending to clear up some of the kinks in the testimony the investi gators got into others, one of which j concerned the woman's declaration that Lieut. Bruce Campbell, who had taken part by direction of the mil itary authorities in the court mar tial of Bergdoll. had suggested that former Judge John W. Wescott of New Jersey be kept in the back ground as one of the defense law yers. At the same time she testi fied, however, she did not regard the judge as one of Grover's coun sel, who. with doctors and others, had cost, her upwards of $30,000 since his escape. Answering an appeal for help. Mrs. Bergdoll declared that less than a week ago she had sent Grover !who is in Germany. $10,000. '"What is Grover's intention about staying in Germany?" Judge John H. Sherburne, counsel for the commit tee, asked, and Mrs. Bergdoll's eyes sparkled: "As soon as .the armistice is signed he is coming home." and the laugh ter infuriated her. In giving a detailed account of two trips to Washington for the gold and returning with it to Philadelphia while James E. Romig. a former po lice magistrate, drove the car, Mrs. Bergdoil denied that she was act ing for her son. that she had seen any lawyers at Washington, or that she intended burying it in Maryland. "It was mine, to do with as I pleased," she said. "Nobody,can find it, and Grover didn't get any of it? not a nickel." The woman's testimony was not particularly enlightening to the com mittee, except on the point that the gold withdrawal was not for her son's account. Washington, May 13.?James E. Rcmig. confidential adviser of the Eergdoll family in Philadelphia, and awaiting sentence or conviction there of having aided Grover Cleveland Bergdoll to escape the draft, sub mitted to cross examination before the house estigating committee without raising any question as to his legal rights. "Ask what you want to know." he told John H. Sherburne, counsel for the committee, but the examination which followed failed to carry the trail of the $105,000 in gold Romig procured from the treasury for Berg doll beyond the kitchen of the Berg doll home. Romig insisted that he knew nothing of Bergdoll's story, that it had been buried in the moun tains of Maryland, the plea for a chance to recover it having obtained the draft evader's release under guard. . Mr. W. W. Hearon Died Sunday. I The sudden death of Mr. W. W. j Hearon early last Sunday morning came as a distinct shock to his fam ily and friends. He had been in ap parently good health and was on the streets until Saturday afternoon, and the friends who talked to him that day recalled the fact that he seemed unusually well and In excellent spirits. He was taken suddenly ill about midnight and died within a very short time. Mr. Hearon leaves a large family to mourn his death and numbers of friends throughout the state who will be grieved at this sad news. Tae funeral services were held at the home of his son, R. L Hearon, at 11:30 o'clock, Monday morning and was conducted by Rev. W. JT. Dibble of Bethlehem Methodist church, of which T.*r. Hearon was a member. Mr. Dibble was assisted in the services by Rev. R. S. Foun tain', of the Baptist church. After the services his body was tak en to Bethlehem cemetery where it was laid to rest. The Moral tributes were many and beautiful and attested the high re gard and. deep respect in which Mr. Hearon was. held by all who knew him and also the sincere sympathy friends felt for the bereaved family. He is survived by the following children: Mrs. C. C. Beck. Jr., of Sumter; Miss Gladys Hearon, of Florence; Mrs. W. P. Scott, of For eston. Mrs, W. W. Keys, of Cristobal, Canal Zone; Mrs. H. H. Parrott. Miss Mabel Hearon and R. L. Hearon of Bishopville; A. G. Hearon of Golds boro. N. C. and W. G. Hearon cf Marshville. N. C.?Bishopville Leader and Vindicator. Weight of a crowd. Interesting experiments were made some time ago at Harvard university which seen' to demonstrate that engi neers usually under estimate the max imum loading caused by dense crowds on bridges, floors and platforms. Forty men averaging 163 pounds in weight placed in a box six feet square caused an average pressure of 1Sl pounds to the square foot on the floor. An engineer has estimated the weight per square foot of the densest crowds on the New York elevated rail ways at only 4"> pounds but since the] Harvard experiments the opinion has! been expressed that the maximumj loading on the elevated cars and plat forms may be nearer IS I than 45 pounds. This applies to other close packed crowds.?New Yoork- Herald. REGULATING J COMMERZ The Section of tine U. S. G?ns? tution that Has Been Produel tive of Most Litigation m Washington, May 13?The old slxA iom ihat "Commerce is the Life-blood1 of a Nation" could be amended to read?"and of its courts," according; to attorneys of many years experience before the United States Supreme Court. Inquiry of a number of experts on constitutional law as to the section which has been productive of most* litigation, brought the unanimous re sponse: ' Section ii, paragraph 3." This section, one of the shortest in the immortal document, declares that Congress shall have the power to "regulate Commerce with foreign na tions and between the several states." [ From that brief clause, has arisen ! all the rate cas?s, those involving j public utilities, the Interstate Com jmerce Commission, child labor, Fed eral Employers' Liability Act, the lot tery laws, the White Slave Act and, more recently, the numerous prohibi tion statutes preceding' the amend ment itself. Chief Justice Marshall asserted in a judicial opinion that "commerce" must be interpreted to mean "inter course" and. lawyers say his wide in terpretation was the progenitor* of. the whole family of legal battles turning upon the commence section. "Washington showed his foresight cdness immediately after the Revolu tionary War," said one constitutional law expert recently, "and placed hia finger on the most glaring weakness of the Articles of Confederation, when he called the 'Annapolis Convention* to discuss commerce between Mary ! land, Virginia and Delaware." This convention, forerunner of that held in Philadelphia shortly afterward agreed that no restriction of any.sort should be placed o?\ the commerce of the three states. Realizing that the agreement was worthless unless supported by the ad joining states. Washington, and. his conferees determined, it is said, to make the question of commerce*, a. feature of the Philadelphia meeting. It is the contention of some author ities that the section written into-the Constitution was the outcome of ado liberae effort to take away all regu latory powers over commerce from., the states. Others maintain ihat the school of thought headed by Ham ilton and Marshah was decisively beaten in this endeavor as in several others fostered to establish a strong central government and that congres sional regulation of commerce was intended to cover only the movements of goods over the state lines without, hindrance of tolls and tariffs. ?. Be that as it may. under . recent decisions of the Supreme Court, "commerce" has been interpreted to cover not only the movement of gdods but of men and women?as in . the White Slave Act. In the Peterson case, the court held that a man hand ling bolts intended for use in a bridge over which Washington-New York trains passed must be considered, to be "engaged in interstate commerce." Within the last few weeks, no less than a dozen cases involving in some way the commerce section, have been docketed in the Supreme Court. The Wisconsin and New York Rates Case will determine whether the Inter state Commerce Commission has the right to fix purely intra-state rail road rates. A case from Texas will decide whether the Commission can authorize the abandonment of a rail road's lines. Other suits turn upon obscure points in the Federal Em ployer's Liability Act Why the British Aristocracy Sur vives. Ei itish aristocracy is said to be shocked because the grandson of the Duke of Buckingham, himself the ?bearer of an independent title, is .'to marry the daughter -of a village blacksmith. However, the aristocracy probably will bear up, for it is well aware that the thing which distin- ' guishc3 it from all other aristocra cies, and to which it chiefly owes its strength and permanence, is the faof that it is replenished in the man ner here revealed. It is the only aristocracy in Eu rope that is thus replenished, and it is the only one?speaking largely? . that has endured. t Lord Chesterfield, who was of its I finest flower, thoug.. chiefly remem ! bered today as a resdy letter writer, j was a Stanhope, and proud enough of it as we know. But among the por traits of the Standhopes in his hall he hung the pictures of an old man and an old woman, and under them he wrote "Adam Stanhope" and "Eve Standhope." He was wiser than that French aristocrat who said that God would think twice before condemning., a man of his quality. . ? % . The British aristocracy . of birth i perished in the war of York and Lan- 1 caster, and the aristocracy that suc ceeded it?which is the one we.know today?is increasingly an aristocracy of worth?at least of success. Its roots are of middle class origin. It is constantly re-enforced from that class. The roster of the house of lords is largely the roster of British business and industry, fortified by j solid additions from the big prize I winners in the learned professions 'and from the realm of letters. This process began early enough to save the British aristocracy front the fate that overtook that of Fiance. It ! was going on as far back to the time when Louis XV refused to invite the I French men of letters to his table. ! When Mme. Pompadour tried to 1 found a salon at Versailles the king made the only successful fight he ever put up against that high-handed lady. The French aristocracy would have nothing to do with brains and nothing to do with* business. The result was that when the deluge came brains and business were ar rayed on the other side. If they had been given a stake in the state, as happened in Engl- d, they might have saved that ore tr that went to the guillotine, or even more ignobly passed from French history as emi gres crouching hidden under loa.ds of straw.?Kansas City Star* ? I