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The Public Defender An Account of Six Years Ser vice in Defense of the Poor in Court (By Walter J. Wood, Public De fender of Los Angeles County, Cal., m Review of Reviews for :Jv; March, 1920.) As one steps from the elevator at the eleventh floor of the Hall of Records in Los Angeles he looks at the door to the right, whereon is painted the words "District At torney"; and then on the door across the hall to the left he reads the words "Public Defender." These two offices have thus existed in close proximity for six years, in the first county in the United States to establish* the office of Public Defender. , When the office of* Public De fender was established in . Los Angeles, gn. January, 1914, it at tracted n^uch attention throughout the country.! The Review of Re views, in jts issue of December, 3 914, stated: "The whole country has been interested in the experi ment made by the city of Los Angeles, California, in creating the offlce^of Public Defender, whose function ir is, to employ the same activity in the defense of an accused person as the District Attorney em ploys in his prosecution." Since the establishment of the Public Defender's office in Los Angeles, similar offices have been created in several other cities. Much* interest has been manifested in the movement by legislators, jurists, and thcsa engaged in social welfare work. Inquiries continue to come to us from aK parts of the United States, indeed from foreign coun tries also, asking the results of the ?work of the office. I feel, there fore, that our experience in Los Angeles is a matter of general in terest. Relations with the District Attorney . Cordial and "harmonious relations have been maintained between the District Attorney's office and our own.. Both offices are trying to bring about .the same result; the proper administration of justice. No unfair advantage is taken by one ofiice of the* other, and trials are conducted with, the smallest possible degree of friction. At the same I time both offices diligently and; earnestly represent the interests j of the respective sides of the issues ! involved. ? ' ! Before the establishment of cur office it was thought by some that District Attorney and the Public Defender would necessarily be op posed to each other and that the State should not support two offices the purpose of one of which should be to oppose the work of the other. This; however, "is not 'the true con ception ,cf the purpose of the Public . Defender. He should cooperate i with the District Attorney and the judge, rather than oppose either of them. A fam-minded prosecutor not only does not want innocent men convicted, but he wants the j guilty to receive only a just sent ence. . Before the advent of the Public ^Defen?^r. cases were frequently presenfed to the court in which the District Attorney wanted to know i the side of the accused but, owing to conditions, could not properly learn all the facts. He now knows I that every accused man is receiving fair treatment and that he need not worry that possibly fuU justice is not being done to both sides. The" District Attorney has often called the attention of the Public Defend er to individual cases in which it appeared that a thorough investi gation might develop that the pris oner has a good ?ofense. Tne case of. People vs. John Col lins, a murder case, furnishes an examole of cooperation between the offices cf the District Attorney and the Public Defender. The only Question before the court was whether Collins should suffer the . death penalty.. The only eye-wit ness to the. homicide was a young colored girl living in Arkansas. The defense desired the appearance of this witness but was without means to provide her transportation to ^jj^&os Angeles in time for the trial. A request was made of the District ?Attorney for; assistance in this matter, and the District Attorney in a spirit of fairness secured trans portation for the witness to come to Los Angeles. - She arrived in time for the trial and mainly upon her testimony the jury decided in favor of the lesser penalty. An Experienced Lawyer for the Ac cused. * It was generally understood that the Public Defender should take the place of the youthful attorneys who had been receiving "assign ments" from the judge to represent impecunious defendants. Clearly, it was not fair to place a man upon trial and provAde for the prosecu tion an able, experienced attorney with all the resources of the state at his command while at the same time furnishing for the defense a lawyer just graduated from law school. and without funds to con duct the defense properly. In most cases such attorneys rendered greater service to themselves hv gaining experience than they ren dered to the accused in presenting the defense. The Public Defender has a staff of lawyers who are on the same salary basis as those in the District Attorney's office, and who receive their appointments from the civil service commission. The trials are therefore conducted on an equal basis in Lon Angeles and the danger of convictf-.g ar. in nocent defendant ha?: been reduced to a minimum. Important among the results ob tained by our office, with the co operation of the officials at the jail, is the elimination of the attorneys of low standing who mad a a prac tice of preying upon unfortunates within the prison walls. While we have taken the place of the "as signed" counsel in many cases, a much larger number of our cases are those in which the defendants were formerly represented by a class of attorneys of low standing at the bar who solicited business in the jail. It i??difScuit to find a name which properly fits this class of attorneys. A Chicago lawyer has referred to them as "human harpies;" one of the deputies in the ^District Attorney's office called them "vampires;" a report of the committee of an Eastern bar as sociation refers to lawyers of this class as "legal vermin;" a writer in j Kansas City called them "switch lawyers;" and the public in general knows them as "systers." Tljese lawyers made a habit of keeping close watch, on the jail and of offering their services to anyone who might be arrested. Prisoners without means, and gen erally without friends, were glad to find someone with whom they could talk over' their cases. Very often the accused were "foreigners and unable to talk English, many of them in Los Angeles being INIexir cans. not conversant with laws and having no knowledge of the relative merits of attorneys. Interpreters ! were quick to introduce themselves to those unable to speak our lan i guage, the" object being to extol the j alleged merits of some attorney ! seeking to pick up the few cents '\ that the unfortunates might have I upon their persons at the time of arrest. 1 If the prisoner had no money he might serve the attorney by rec ommending him to some other prisoner who could pay a fee. These attorneys were willing to accept, any fee, no matter how small,, promising to work diligently for j ! the accused, but in most cases fail- j ing to render faithful services. One case came to my attention in ; which an attorney offered to under take the defense..in a murder case for three dollars/ the sum total of the prisoner's resources. Often the attorneys would have one interview | with the defendants and advise them to plead guilty and apply for probation, taking whatever means they might have in return. The turnkeys have told me of cases in which attorneys have obtained promisory notes in large amounts from defendants, thereupon advis ing them to plead guilty: L'pon the release ;of the accused on probation they found themselves without means and with the attorneys try ing to enforce collection of the notes given for services never in fact rendered. A common method for these "harpies" to pursue was to seek in terviews with the prisoners, lauding their own alleged abilities as crim inal lawyers and volunteering to render "services" without remun eration. Their next step was to inform the accused that they would j require names of intimate friends and relatives for the purpose of es tablishing good records to be taken into "consideration by the court. I have known of cases where defend ants have furnished such lists, with instructions to the attorneys that! the lists were not to be used for | any other purpose and by all means funds should not be sought from the persons named therein. /The attorneys, nevertheless, sent out letters, to the. addresses given, ask ing contributions of funds for their fees. ' When. the attorneys found that no funds could be secured, or if the funds, obtained seemed in adequate, they withdrew from the cases, advising the accused to se cure the services of the Public De fender. These attorneys were not equipped, eitl\er in point of integ rity or ability, to represent proper ly the accused. Shortly after our office was es tablished, a man was arrested and taken to the city jail. Soon there after he was removed to the county jail but his clothing arid personal effects still remained at the city jail. He requested his lawyer, one of the type just mentioned, to se cure his clothing for him. "he law yer he'ped himself to the limited wardrobe of the prisoner and ap peared at the county jail wearing one of the prisoner's shirts. Seventy Per Cent. Plead Guilty. ^The Public Defender has demon strated that criminal cases can be conducted upon purely ethical lines with the sole purpose in view to promote justice. Our office has tried to keep uppermost the idea that justice should be done, and that even in criminal cases at torneys should not try to get the defendant "off" regardless of the merits. We have not asked for j unnecessary delays and have not I resorted to technicalities. Xo mo rion has been presented which was not necessary to protect the sub stantial rights of the accused. In j cases where there is no question i of the guilt of the accused, it is the [established rule of the office that I no trial be held but that pleas of guilty be entered. In cases where the services of expert witnesses are necessary, it j is the custom of the District At ! torney and the Public Defender to unite in requesting the court to ap ! point disinterested experts to serve as the only expert witnesses in the j case. This procedure has been fol ? lowed on a number of occasions, j the experts in some cases reporting ; in favor of the District Attorney's j contention and in other cases in j favor of the Public Defender's con ' tention. The court has thus been j spared the spectacle of having so j called experts color their testimony j in favor of the side which pays : them. , The presentation of mitigating i circumstances and of applications j for probation constittfte a very im i portant part of the work of the ; attorney for the defendants. a j work which was sadly neglected un j der the old system. Seventy per _ cent, of our clients plead guilty, and the court is faced with the diffi cult problem of passing a just j sentence. In most cases mitigating j circumstances can be shown if dil i igent effort is made. Aiding hi Parole and Employment. A nineteen-year-old boy entered a butcher shop at Los Angeles har j bor and purloined a ham. He was a sailor and expected to go to sea at the first opportunity. He was without funds and while awaiting j the sailing of a vessel subsisted on the ham in a shanty on the out ' skirts of the city. Upon his arrest for the burglarly he told iho court i he was guilty and did not desire to j disclose the names of his parents ] but wished the court to sentence him immediately. The court ap pointed public defender as his coun sel, and we urged him to tell the court all the circumstances of his life in the belief that lie had a good record and that probation would probably result. At our earnest en treaty he told us his story, giving the names of- his parents in an Eastern city. We wrote to the par ents and learned that he was the eldest of several children, that he ?had left home two or three years earlier in the desire for adventure and that the parents had edvertised for their boy throughout the United States. The father, sent a railroad ticket to his old home and the price of the ham to reimburse the butch er. He wrote us that he would meet his son at the train with a new suit of clothes ready for him and that a warm welcome was waiting if the court would see fit to grant proba tion. The boy's previous record had been good and the court upon learning these facts promptly sent him to his parents. An important part of the work of the Public Defender is the securing of employment for prisoners upon their release from the jail. The judges are loath to release men on probation who are without means of securing a livelihood and who, very probably, would become charges on the community or again resort to crime. Our office has en deavored with considerable success to reclaim men who have fallen and to make them useful citizens. Often the judges order that prison ers be released as soon as the Pub lic Defender secures employment for them. A Saving, Not an Expense. An unexpected result from the establishment of the office of Pub lic Defender is the reduction in expense to the taxpayers. It was conceded that the new office would, of course, add some expense; but that was considered only fair to the accused and to the attorneys who had been formerly called up on to donate their/ services. A care ful calculation has been made of the time actually consumed in handling the cases conducted by the Public Defender's office dur ing the first three years of its ex istence, and those conducted by at torneys in private practise during the same period. The figures show that the cases tried by the Public Defender occupied an aver age of seventy-nine hundredths of a day for each trial, while the cases tried by attorneys in private practise occupied an average of one and sixty-four hundredths days. Pleas of guilty were entered in 69.S per cent, of the cases handled by the Public Defender, and in dnly 46.1 per cent, handled by private counsel. - The saving of the court's time in these two items alonfc has rhore than offset the expense incurred J in maintaining the criminal de- j partment of the .Public Defender's j office. To this should be added the sav- j ings in the time of the courts in ! passing upon demurrers, motions} for new trials, and similar matters, j Although the Public Defender ap peared in approximately one-third bf all the criminal cases handled by the Superior Court, demurrers were held filed in only four cases, while atomeys in private practise filed one hundred and eleven de murrers. The Public Defender ap pealed in four cases, while at torneys in private practise appealed in fifty-four cases. A higher per centage of acquittals resulted in cases tried by the Public Defender than in cases tried by private coun sel. K After the Public Defender's of fice had been in operation in the county courts in Lcs Angeles near ly two years, the chief of police i was elected mayor. In his first message to the city council hel j recomended that an ordinance be j passed providing for a defender in j the police courts. Acting upon this j recommendation the city council created the office of City Police Court Defender. Both offices have received the hearty co-operation and support of all officials of the county and the city. The office of Public Defender is no longer an experiment. THE SUPERIOR COURT Los Angeles, California Gavin W. Craig, Judge Los Angeles, Cab, January 17, 1920. Mr. Albert Shaw. Editor, Review of Reviews New York City. Dear Sir: The office of Public Defender has become an established institu tion in this county . It is fortunate that the first attorney to hold the office was a man of good judgment and a good lawyer. Its establish ment was an experiment. It has passed that stage and is now a rec ognized success. Public Defender Walton J. Wood is entitled to great commendation for his conduct of the office. Very truly yours. GAVIN W. CRAIG. Judge of the Superior Court. -?? o ? COTTON MARKET - NEW YORK COTTON. Ystdys Opon Hltrh Low Close rinse Jan. _ .. 17.47 17.48 17.12 17.12 17.39 j March .. .17.47 17.43 17.10 17.10 17.37 i May .17.17 17.17 16.80 16.80 17.10 ! July ? 16.73 16.73 16.35 16.35 16.63 ? October 16.06 16.07 15.80 15.80 15.95 I December 17.57 17.57 17.25 17.30 17.52 ! Tone easy. Spots 20 down; middling 1 17.60. NEW ORLEANS COTTON. Ystdys Open High bow Close Close Jan. 16.80 16.80 16.44 16.44 16.65 March .. .16.90 16.90 16.56 !6.56 16.76 May !6.70 16.70 16.41 J6.4I 16.61 July .. 16.25 16.27 15.98 15.98 16.17 October . 15.50 15.00 15.43 15.25 15.39 December 18.55 16.00 15.35 16.35 16.59 Spots unchanged; middling ID.7.". LIVEPOOL COTTON. January . 10.65 March . 10.58 May . 10.56 hily . 10.38 October . 9.91 Dceember . ... ?0.70 Tone ?f-wiv : ?*?<?- 6,000. Middling 10.86 : Good middling 11.2G. GreenviDe. Ala., Dec. 2.?The Stabler Hospital was burned early today. Three bodies have been re covered. CoL J. J. Dargan's Platform Outline of His Motives inj Entering Race For the ^ - . I Senate To the Voters of Sumter County: I am a candidate to fill the un- ? expired term of the late J. H. Clif ton. One of the planks of my platform is fully net forth in the Daily Item of this sisue in a copy, verbatim, from the Review of Re views of March, 1920, published in the city of New York at Irving Place, and has a very large and wide circulation, going almost, if not quite, to every part of the civilized world. As I have been ad vocating this change in our courts on the criminal side where I served as solicitor nearly five years and resigned because of this defect in the machinery that caused me such troubles of mind that may health gave way and would never have been restored had I continued to serve under same conditions as I then believed and now believe. Hence I made a long and earnest study of the system with a view of i correcting the bad working of it. I found my many times repeated discussion in the papers, unnoticed and the profession of law, after most earnest appeals in personal interviews and other efforts. When a^. I advanced into three-score years period I had serious illness which usually attends men over sixty and was almost entirely dis abled for any public work for near ly ten years. Now I am quite well for one in his 74th year and am making haste to get this piece of public service completed while I am able to do it effectively. While I was teaching by prefer ence in country schools where the need was the sorest and editing for a time a little newspaper in Sum ter city, I set three big matters be fore our people that I felt ex tremely anxious to see our state lead in?one was woman's enfran chisement and the other universal peace, and last but by no means the least a displacement of de fendant's attorneys employed and paid by people accused of crime by an attorney employed and paid by the state as the prosecuting at torney is now paid, and a provis ion of the law forbidding the use of money from any private sources to any officer of the crirpinal court. Now let the people ot town and country come to the meeting on next Saturday, 10th inst. in our court house, commencing at 12 o'clock noon, and continuing as long, I suppose, as the attendants would like it to do. I shall hope for one hour of the time as I have a new question to discuss. I tried very hard to have some appoint ments in the country, but failed to do so. This, however, can be arranged by attendants of the meet ing next Saturday. I most earnest ly hope men and women will at tend from all parts of the country. Remember I am only asking for the opportunity to introduce a bill to carry out my proposition" to have it discussed by the committee- of house and senate and bring it to the consideration of the whole civilized world. The meeting on Saturday in augurating this movement for such an amendment will certainly be one of gr at "historic interest and I pro pose to have a good picture taken ! of the attendants and carefully pre served for the enjoyment of those who come after us, who will smile to think there was ever any op position to having it made crimi nal to offer money from private i sources to officers of a public court. |-chereby giving criminals of the j blackest hue to own agents of ! highest order of intelligence to de I feat the courts in the application I of its prescribed penalties. JOHN J. DARGAX. - j Excursion Rates To Greenwood ? Greenwood. Dec. 2.?Reduced rates and sufficient equipment to take care of the immense crowds j from all parts of South Carolina j coming to Greenwood on December I 9 to welcome Marshal Ferdinand ! Foch. to South Carolina were prom j ised today by officials of the Sea j board Air Line, Southern. C. & W. j C. and Piedmont & Northern meet ' ing in Greenwood. The exact rate j has not yet been announced but the I railway officials assured a local transportation committee that the rate would be sufficiently low to be satisfactory to the public. The railway officials declared that they expected thousands to come to Greenwood on December 9th to i see Marshai Foch, whose only j stop in South Carolina will be Greenwood. Marshal Foch's train will reach Greenwood at 4 'oclock Friday af ternoon, December 0. from Atlanta. Fred Geissler, traveling passenger agent for the S. A. L.. announced today. According to Mr. Geissler, 1 the special train will have the j right of way over every other train I on the system and even through i trains being required to take a sid j ing 25 minutes ahead of Marshal I Foch's train. Every switch and { frog is inspected ahead of the spe j cial, Mr. Geissler declared. The j hour of arrival in Greenwood has j been changed from 4:25 to 4 o'clock ! and the train will reach h >re j promptly on schedule time, ac I cording to railroad officials. Plans are on foot to make De j cember 0 a carnival day for Green wood. A football game between I Xewberry and Erskine colleges is I practically assured. Hundreds of I college students are expected from I all over the state and a dance will I be given that night in their honor. Chicago. Pec. ;"?.?The packers i in fifteen centers in the middle west are carrying out their plans for the immediate replacement of employes who obey the strike order of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters [and Butcher Workmen's Union. WHY SOUTH CA AN EDUCATIO (By Dr. Robt. P. Pell, Presi* When the Citizens' Educational Association of South Carolina was \ organized in Spartanburg last sum- j mer, the first resolution it adopted j was as follows: "That we con- I ceive it to be within the scope and j purpose of this conference to make j a. thorough examination of the pub- j lie school system, state and other j collegiate institutions, and that we ? attempt to measure the strength of j these educational facilities against j present needs of our people in or- j der that we may provide adequate j means to fit each child of the state j for intelligent citizenship." This was followed by another j resolution: "That this convention memorialize the legislature to ap point a commission of South Car olinains, assisted by such experts as may be necessary to' conduct a j thorough survey of the state in or- ' der to ascertain in a scientific way all conditions pertaining to educa tion in South Carolina, and to''-ap propriate such funds as may be necessary to carry out such pur pose." Before, during and since the for- ' mation of this State Citizens' As- j sociation, three questions have been j frequently asked, to which the fol lowing answers are herewith made. 1. Why Does the State of South Una. Xeed Such a Survey? For the same reason that, at the j close of a fisca. year, the merchant j has to take stock. Before he can ; proceed intelligently to plan for another season's business, he must . know exactly where he stands, what > observation has taught him as to the needs of the trade and experi ence has shown as to the best meth ods of meeting his part of it. Mani fold illustrations might be adduc- j ed from other lines of work. Pop ular education must more and more I be looked at from the business standpoint, and it is impossible to construct any system for carrying ' it forward until we know all the . facts as to our past successes or failures and the actual demands looming up before us in the fu- j ture. These facts and demands can i be ascertained only by taking an J Inventory just an the merchant does. But right here it should be I emphasized that it is our undoubt ed progress in popular educat'on in South Carolina that makes such a survey indispensable. We have steadily advanced along several lines, but these lines of advance ment unless properly coordinated may lead to confusion. Let us measure what improvement we have made in some particulars as compared with our deficiency in others, and see if theres are not ? some exceedingly vital needs that must be met if our educational policy is to be sound and efficient. It is here that the survey will i prove most fruitful. 2. What Lines of Investigation! Will be Carried on in Making;1 Sucli a Survey? I The best answer to this will be ! to present an outline of the work done in our southern states under: the authorities of the commission appointed by the legislature to do ' it. This is tpyical of what would be attempted in Sou^h Carolina. For instance," such a survey was made in the state of Virginia by an i education commission established j and appointed by the legislature of j 191$ for the purpose of using it'as! a basis for report, and recom mendations to the legislature of j 1920. Some of the things studied by this commission were as follows: The School Term in Virginia. School Population, Enrollment and Attendance. The Progress of Pupils in the Schools. The Elementary School Program. The Teaching Force in Virginia, j The Training of Teachers. The Certificates of Teachers. The Supervision of Instruction in Rural Schools. School Organization. School Buildings, Grounds and Equipment. State Organization and Admin- j istration. School Administration in County j and District. City School Administration. Financial Support. These and other educational ac tivities were thoroughly probed by this commission and on the in formation thus gained the commis sion proposed amendments to the constitution and statutes that open ed up the way for all sorts of progressive measures. The topics above quoted are, of course, very general, but in order to see how specific were the mat- j ters handled, the following ques tions standing at the head of the chapter on "Financial Support" would indicate: "Does Virginia in- j vest enough money in her public schools to provide a satisfactory education for her children'.' How much money is needed annually? Does Virginia employ proper meth ods in distributing and expending them? What changes are desir able to secure better results?" Would not the citizens of South Carolina wish to have such ques tions and many others as practi cal along different lines answered? The only way to do it is to join with us in memorializing the legislature to have such a surw-y made. 3. What Has Been the Value of Such a Survey in Oilier States That Have Tried it? In addition to Virginia three or four other southern states have un dertaken surveys, but not all of them have been in the hands of the people long enough to give suffi cient time for estimating results. In Virginia and Alabama, however, the reports of the commissions have been in the hands of the people for two or three years, and, in letters to President Pell the state superin ROLINA NEEDS VAL SURVEY j lent of Converse College) tendents have expressed their es timates of the value of this policy. Dr. Harris Hart, superintendent of education of Virginia, writes: "In answer to your letter of No vember 9th. let me advise that in 1918 the assembly of Virginia was requested to appoint an education al commission under which com mission a survey would be made of the state school system. This was done, for the reason that iL was apparent that certain funda mental changes ought, to be made in our school operation. It did not seem wise to attempt such changes without careful study and investi gation. "The commission procured a sur vey staff, and this staff made about as careful a study of state school conditions as the subject would per mit. "As a basis of the survey, the commission made recommendations to the assembly. I found the work of the survey staff invaluable in support of recommendations be fore committees of the assembly. Indeed, without such full study it would not have been possible for much of our educational program to be adopted." Dr. John W. Abercrombie, su perintendent of education of Ala bama, writes: "I shall indeed be greatly pleas ed if anything I can say of the sur vey of the Alabama school system which was made in 1919 may prove of value in securing to South Car olina benefits similar to those se cured to Alabama by that inves tigation. "For the expenses of the Alabama survey an appropriation of $10, 000.00 made by the state legislature. I believe it would have been diffi cult to have found a way in which as great benefits could have been secured to the state at so small a cost as resulted from the work of the Alabama education commis sion. Some of these were as fol lows: "Closer coordination of the work of the institutions of higher learn ing and the public schools through the creation of a State Council of Education. "Wise counsel and valuable sup port to the state superintendent of education through the creation of a state department of education. "Extension of the opportunities for service of the state depart ment of education through the re organization of the department into ten divisions, with well train ed leaders in charge of each divis ion. "Improvement in school attend ance through the strengthening of the school attendance law and the lengthening of the compulsory at tendance term. "Definition of the duties and re sponsibilities of county and city boards of education and of county and city superintendents-. The new school code, so called, which con tains most of the recommenda tions of the survey, established in this state a county unit organiza tion of the educational system, which has been described as one of the best in the country. '"Encouragement of the construc tion of better rural school buildings through the extensien and im provement of the law providing state aid. "These are a few of the striking improvements in the educational situation in this state which have resulted from the survey of 1919. Equally great improvements might well be expected in the education al situation of any state. At pres ent we have progressed in Alabama almost as far as we can go under the limitations of the present con stitution. To carry out the rec ommendations of the survey com mission which have not yet been adopted must await the constitu tional convention, which it is prob able will come in the next few years." South Carolina can well afford the moderate sum of money neces sary to have as productive a piece of work done for the education of her children. o ? ? Boys' Y. M. C. A. Convention Two Sumter Boys Elected Officers of State Asso ciation Columbia, Dec. 3.?Columbia is crowded with boys from all parts of the state, attending the annual convention of the older boys of the V. M. C. A. throughout the state. The sessions will last through Sun day. At the cl actions of officers Friday aft croon Ocey Butler, of Columbia, was elected president. A. F. Howelton, of Bailey Military Institute. Greenwood, was elected first vice president: Baynard Pitts, of Sumter. was elected second vice president: Francis Kirk of Sumter. was elected secretary, and Har old Patrick, of Chesrer, was elected assistant secretary. The attendance of visiting boys is over three hun dred, the greatest gathering of fu ture citizens the state has ever seen. -c~-o?* There is talk of running a special train to Greenwood on Foch Day, December nth. and if a sufficient number of people who desire to make the trio will communicate with the A. C. L. agent it is prob able that arrangements will be made to op.-rate the train and to put on a low excursion rate. -? o ?? Rub-My-Tism, a pain killer.? Advertisement. ?? <i ? Foch has been given 13 college degrees but will recover. GGfl quickly relieves a cold. - Advertisement. Shantung Issue Hits Conference America and England Step Into the Breach?China and Japan Accept Washington. Nov. 30.?Bringing with it some of the sharpest issues of world diplomacy, the celebrated Shantung controversy took its place today at the arms conference. The result was an offer by the United States and Great Britain, accepted promptly by Japan and China, to assume the role of friend ly advisors in a new attempt to solve the problem and end the long and bitter debate that has swept over three continents. The plan for an exercise of American and British "good of fices" is understood to have orig inated with the American delega tion after it became apparent that China had resolved to raise the ; question in the conference proper. ] Secretary Hughes and Arthur J. Balfour, as respective heads of the American and British groups, will i meet tomorrow with the Japanese and Chinese to lay the basis for i the negotiations. On the eve of the first meeting ! the Chinese delegates announced tonight they would go into the dis cussions prepared to accept noth ing less than unconditional with drawal of the Japanese claims in Shantung. The attitude of Japan was not set forth so explicitly, but it was assumed the Japanese spokesmen would contend for the reservations insisted on in the re cent diplomatic exchange between Tokio and Peking. The advent of the Shantung question at the council table fol lowed on the heels of a debate on the general subject of maintenance of foreign troops within Chinese borders, which in itself had brought the conference to a consid eration of some of the serious fac tors in Chino-Japanese relations. Speaking for Japan, Vice Foreign Minister Hanihara declared with jdrawal of the Japanese troops I from several parts of China out ! side Shantung must await definite assurances that the Chinese au thorities would take more effective steps to maintain order. At Hankow, said the Japanese delegate, repeated disorders had justified Japan in keeping her ! troops where they now are station ; ed. He declared the garrisons in ; North China were remaining un i dor specific authorization of the S Boxer protocol, and that those i along the Chinese Eastern Railway j were acting under the inter-allied j agreement of 1919. The willing I ness of Japan to withdraw her ! troops from Shantung, he asserted, ? was dependent on the establish ? ment of an acceptable Chinese po lice force. As a result of the discussion, the I conference postponed its decision j until its next meeting on Friday, j Among the American delegates j the belief tonight was that some ! general declaration of principle j might be adopted finally, setting ! forth the opinion of the powers j that all foreign troops on Chinese j soil without treaty sanctions should i be withdrawn as soon as conditions ! warrant. ? Along with the general subject j of foreign troops was considered j the problem of foreign telegraph ) and radio facilities which have been ; installed in China without her j specific consent, with the argu i ment apparently tending toward a j reference of that feature of the ne ! gotiations to a more general 'con | ference on Pacific communications ' to be held next year. ? In its approach to the Shantung problem, the conference is said to ! have been influenced by many in tricate considerations. China's } representatives have' indicated they j wanted the question raised openly j for all of the nine nations to de , bate, and one of the Chinese dele j gates, Dr. Wang, declared tonight : that the "good offices" negotations ? by no means meant that subject was I "outside the conference." Japan, j on the other hand, has indicated j reluctance to debating Shantung at the regular conference sessions be cause she accepted the invitation to Washington with the under standing that specific subjects should be considered only by the I nations directly concerned. I Another complicating circum i stance is that Japan bases her j claim to Shantung on a direct grant j contained in the Treaty of Ver ! saiiles, which has been ratified by [ five of the r.-ine nations represented i here, but which China refused to ! accept because of the Shantung sec tion. Great Britain, France and Italy also are parties to the secret treaties by which during the war they promised to support Japan's claim to the Kai-Chow lease. ? Facing this tangled situation, the American delegation is said to have felt that the proper way to deal with the question at the pres ent stage of the Far Eastern ne gotiations would be through the tender of "good ofltcesl" Although ! maintaining liaison with the con ference itself, it is expected that I for the most part the negotiations J will be carried on directly between ! the Chinese and Japanese deegates. At tomorrow's meeting Secretary Hughes and Mr. Balfour are to j make preliminary suggestions, but thereafter they may be represented j by authorized spokesmen at most j of the Japanese-Chinese meetings. I Probably the entire Chinese and i Japanese delegations will take j part in the discussions. Dr. Wang said, although definite plans may i be formulated as far as China is concerned, at a meeting between j Wellington Koo, ambassador to Great Britain: Alfred Sze. minister to Washington, and Dr. Wang, the i Chinese delegates. ! From American quarters came i hopeful expressions: The issues, it was thought, now could be taken up in Washington in an atmos phere more favorable for results. -? ? ?? < GCG cures BMous Fever.?Adver Tobacco Farmers Join Pool More Than One-Third of Mini mum Quota of State Pledged Florence, Dec. 2.?The contract for South Carolina growers to sell their tobacco through the Tri State Tobacco Growers' Coooera tive Marketing association will be closed Wednesday night, Decem ber 21, officers of the South Caro lina Tobacco association announced tonight from headquarters in Flor ence. This announcement marked the termination tonight of four days' campaign, which covered the , entire state belt. It indicates fair ly both the success of the campaign to date and the independent po sition of the Tri-State association ? looking to the future of jts organ ization. A minimum of 5,000,000 pounds was signed during the past four days in the 60 meetings of the campaign. Campaign officers of the associa tion stated tonight they believe the final direct results will show much more, while the indirect result of the four dyas' work will run much larger. The contracts are being compiled now and the results prob ably will be announced tomorrow * night. Cooperative marketing of the bright tobacco of South Carolina. North Carolina and Virginia next * year is positively assured. F. C. Shelton, campaign manager, stated tonight approximately 60 per cent, of the combined production of the three states is under contract, which requires about 50 oer cent, to make it valid and binding. No more meetings will be held in South Carolina for contracts, headquarters announce also, save by personal request. Andrews has" arranged a rally for Georgetown county for Thursday, December 8, which probably will be the last meeting in the county. Clarendon*' county has been mapped out into several districts which will be can vassed now by persons who have already signed contracts. The offi cial announcement tonight that the tri-state organization is assured and is practically independent of further contracts was received with tremendous interest by leading to bacco planters of this territory. The Lexington Murderers j Have Filed No Appeals So Far Columbia, Dec. 2.?Kirby, Pox j and Gappins, the most notable I murder trio the state of South i Carolina has ever known, are far ; ing royally at the state peniten ; tiary's death house, pending the ! disposition of their appeals, judg j ing by the appearance of the men. ; They look fat and healthy and they j seem to have more peace of mind I than when they first entered j death cells. Kirby, the wild man of the trl?T the man who plotted the murder ! of William Brazell, the Columbia I taxi driver, who was stabbed to I death on a lonely highway in th& dead of night, is not as restless as ! he was several months ago. He I does not pace up and down his cell ! as he did when he first entered i the inner prison. At that time he i walked from one end of his cage to ! the other, like an imprisoned I beast, muttering to himself and j wishing for the end. Today he sits I and quietly reads, as do his com j panions in crime in the two other ! cells. They read and smoke and } talk to visitors. Several ministers I have seen the men at stated inter I vals, and interested church people : have called to talk with them. No appeals have been filed. All I three of the men served notice of. ! their intention to appeal, and these ! notices stayed their executions, but ? none of them has perfected his ap ; peal. If the appeals are not per | fected, they will be resentenced at I the next term of court in Lexing [ ton, early in the year. If they do ! perfect their appeals, these will be I heard by the supreme court at the j term starting next April. ! Chicago, Dec. 2.?Mrs. Helen ; Drexler, of Waukegan, 111., is held : by federal authorities on charges' \ of having married twelve husbands, i who served in the army or navy, ' divorced none and received approx ; imately four hundred dollars* ' monthly from the government for I the past three years, -. ? i 666 cures Malarial Fever.?Ad ! vertisement. Nashville, Dec. 3.?Henry Ford and Thomas Edison stopped here today for a few minutes en route to Muscle Shoals, Ala To break a cold take 666.?Ad vertisement. Washington, Dec. 3. ?. Several large American coal companies doing business in Cuba are report ed to be preparing to replace their stocks with British coal. 666 cures Chills and Fever.? Advertisement. A law partnership has been formed between Mr. T. H. Tatum ol Bishopville and Mr. L. E, Wood of. the city. The firm wil; bo forrn^ ed under the name of Tatum and Wood. Mr. Tatum is well known in this city and he has many friends who will be glad to hear that he is to make his home in Sumter and at an early date bring his lamiiy here. To prevent a cold take 666.? Advertisement. The friends in the citv of Judge T. E. Richardson are glad to ln?ar that he is able to leave the hospitat and is now again at his room in the V. M. C. A. They hope to soon see him at work again. -? ? ?- ^ Rub-My-Tism for Rheumatism. Advertisement.