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THE SUMTER WATCHMAN", Est CONSOLIDATED AUG. 2, TREATY SECURES PRIVILEGES United States and Japan Reach Satis factory Agreement in Respect to Island of Yap By the Associated Press. Washington, Dec . 12.?The American and Japanese govern % cients have composed their differ ences over the Pacific Island of Tap, and are preparing to sign a treaty by which Japan retains ad ministrative control over the isl and and the United States secures the cable and wireless privileges there for which she has contended since the Paris conference. In the same treaty Japan's League of Nations mandate over Tap and all the other Northern Pacific islands formerly under Ger man sovereignty is given recogni tion by the United States on cer tain stipulated conditions. These conditions include provision for free admission of missionaries and protection of American interests In the mandated territory and re *flxire that Japan shall report to the United States as well as to the league on details of her almims tion of the mandate. The Yap cable and wifeless rights, regarded as highly import ant because of the island's advan tageous position in the center of ithe Pacific group to the south ?. f Japan, are accorded by the treaty to the American and Japanese governments and nationals alike. f\?n terms of absolute equality. In the exercise of these rights Ameri cas nationals are :c be free from taxes, licensing, censorship and ever:* *orm of discriminatory su pervision, and in addition are to be aided by the Japanese govern ment in securing the needed prop erty and facilities. " The immediate value of the ar rangement to the United States lies in the concessions with regard to cable communication becao*>> th'*y ; issure complete American control of the existing cable between Yap j and Guam. Considerable im.>?>rt- j ^nce also is attached by American i officials to. the radio privileges, al . though it is to be agreed in th* j treaty*that no American radio sta- j ?*on will be install so long as the present. Japanese plant is op- j erated without dbcrinunatorv ex- j actionSL Signatur?; of th? convention is ?expected within a fow days, eras ing one of the principal causes for controversy between Washington and Tokio and bringing to an end negotiations which have covered a period of several months. Final "instructions to th?* Japz-r ese delegates to accept the Litest American proposal for a settie ^ment are understood to have been received fr*>m the Tokio f'u ngn office last night. ; FORMAL SIGNATURE OF PACIFIC TREATY TODAY Washington, Dec. 13.?The form al signature of the Pacific treaty by the delegates of the four partici pating powers and meeting of na val committee of the "big three" to continue consultation regarding naval ratio were the principal events on the arms conference pro gram. The American rscervation at ; tached to the treaty contained a provision that domestic questions of the various powers are not to be considered -within the treaty scope, and the treaty shall in no way bo * binding as regards the policy of the United States towards the mandated islands of the Pacific. ? ^ ** Does Not Want Pardon ? Serving Twenty-Five Years -in Penitentiary, Dan Mur phy Makes Request to Stay On Columbia, Dec. 13.?Dan Mur phy, the aged man of the state pen- i itentiary told attorneys interested in getting him a pardon today that ; he did not want a pardon. He stal ed that he had been in the prison for a quarter of a century and ! there* was no reason for his leaving j the prison now. I'm thirty years i behind the world and I'll never j ? catch up he stated. The attorneys presented to the state pardon j board here today a petition for j Dan's pardon, signed by many j prominent Orangeburg citizens, and all of the living jurors who con victed him in 1894. Murphy was convicted of the murder of County Treasurer Rob ert Copes, of Drangeburg. He stat ed today that he did not commit the crime that he was in Georgia at the time. He was convicted on Circumstantial evidence. Murphy has a wife and son with a family living in Georgia. He says Coi. Sanders of the peniten tiary is his friend and he better E stay where he is. Dublin, Dec. 15. ? A iar?e; crowd was assembled outside of the building when the Dail Eireann re sumed its secret session on the agreement with Great Britain. ablished April, 1S50. 1881. AGREEMENT ON WARSHIP RATIO LOOMS Japan Willing to Ac cept the "5-5-3" Naval Proposition if Permitted to Retain the Mustu . Washington, Dec. 13. ? An : nouncement by the Washing-ton i conference of agreement on the "5-5-3" naval ratio between Great Britain, Japan and the United States loomed tonight as probable before the week-end. A plenary session for the purpose is expected I by some delegates. Japan has indicated conditional agreement to the "5-5-3" ratio. Her acceptance was coupled, however, with a request to substitute the new battleship Mutsu for the old twelve-inch gun ship Setsu in the list of ships she would retain under the Hughes proposal. The decision of the Japanese government was communicated in formally to Mr. Hughes and Mr. Ealfour by Admiral Baron Kato and was discussed today by the full American delegation at a confer ence attended by Assistant Secre tary Roosevelt. l*ater the "big three" of the naval powers, Messrs. Hughes, Balfour and Kato, again j met, this time Mr. Roosevelt, Ad r miral Coontz and Rear Admiral i Pratt, of the general board, at tending the session. After this meeting it was said that only "one very small point" remianed un * settled. It was indicated that both the' American and British groups were opposed in a general way to chang ing the list of retained ships of each power as would be neces sitated if Japan retained the Mutsu. This opposition, however, is ex pected in conference circles to give way if the Japanese are insistent. In that case, it was learned, the United States probably would retain the battleships Colorado and Wash ington in place of the Delaware and North Dakota and the ten-year naval holiday would of necessity be j modified to permit Great Britain to construct two additional ships. The Japanese proposal to retain the Mutsu in place of the Setsu is in line?with the contention 'of: Japanese naval experts during the j first u.scussiort of the naval ratio that experts of all nations were agreed that .ships armed with twelve-inch guns couid not lie in the battle line against modern craft armed with 14-inch. 15-inch or 16-inch rifles. Both the Setsu and the Delaware and North Da i kota are twelve-inch gun ships, while the Mutsu and the Colorado and Washington each carry eight sixteen-inch rifles. Great Britain has no battleships of a type as far advanced as the Mutsu and the Colorado and Wash ington. The heaviest British naval guns are 15-inch. Presumably if provision is mode for two ad ditional Britsih battleships to take the place of the two oldest ships of the King George V. class on the present retained list, vessels of the Mutsu type and armament would be added. The four super hoods planned by the British and to be abandoned are more than 4?, ?O0 tons in displacement and be yond the 35,000 ton mavjmum limit proposed in the American plan. It has been indicated that Great Britain did not desire to carry out any building program at this time, i Prompt Briiish acceptance of the American ratio proposal has been represented to some extent as due to this attitude. There was some I reason to believe tonight that British opinion in the sessions of the "big three" was being exerted against any modification of the original American plan that would rearrange the list of retained ships in such a way as to make it ex pedient for Great Britain to pro ceed with capital ship construc tion. j So far as the United States is concerned, substitution cf the Col orado and Washington for the North Dakota and Delaware is re garded in the American group as having certain economic advan tages. It would defer replacement i bulding for these two ships until j ten years after the na val holiday ' ended, it would also give the fleet i three modern, ?6-inch gun ships I which have a very much in j creased degree of security against i submarine attuck duo to bull con jstruction. for the Maryland, now ; with the fleet, is a sister shin to [ the Colorado and Washington. The I fourth ship of the class, the West i Virignia. was launched just after ! the conference began. She is des tined for the scran heap in any case apparenlty. If the plan of substitution to re tain the Mutsu. suggested by the j Japanese, is followed, the result would be to change the aggregate tonnage en capital ship retained by each power, but not the number of ships each retained, it would also, ir is assumed, provide for substan tial adherence to the theory of the "5-3-3" ratio which is understood! to be the only basis upon which j an agreement for retention of the | Mutsu could be reached in the [.American and Britsih view. Paris. Dec. 1 \. -France is willing! to temporarily forego cash repar- 1 atipns payments from Germany, a high official told the Associated Press. "Be .Tust and Fear : CONFERENCE NEAR ONE AGREEMENT jBut New Difficulties Have Been Encount I ered in Discussions ! of Far East Question ?Japanese to Re tain Mutsu i Washington, Deo. 14 (By the As sociated Press).?The arms con ference delegates have reached an agreement on all the major issues of the naval ratio but are encoun tering new difficulties in their dis cussions on the Far East. The American 5-3-3 ratio forms the basis of the naval'settlement, but there are to be readjustments I in the original American plan to permit Japan to retain her new bat | tleship Mutsu. The United States ; and Great Britain will be given a ; compensative quota of additional j ships not yet determined in detail. In the Far Eastern negotiations the latest clement of controversy i is a request by China for abroga tion of the treaties resulting from [ Japan's famous "twenty-one de mands." When the request was presented to fhe Far Eastern com ; mittee of the whole today the Jap anese promptly objected and the f committee adjourned. Coming at a j time when the Shantung negotia tions are at a critical stage, the i Chinese abrogation proposal has somewhat beclouded the prospects for a Far Eastern agreement but j most of the delegates remain con fident of an ultimate solution. I Another meeting of the "big three" late today advanced the na val question nearer to the point of a final and detailed settlement but left some minor points still to be determined. In all quarters an nouncement of a complete record was regarded only as a question of hours. As an offset to Japanese reten tion of the Mutsu, the United States is to retain the superdreadnaughts Washington and Colorado, and an equivalent increase in British cap ital tonnage is to be provided. The details of this^British increase con stitute the Only point still to be de cided. Coupled with the naval agree ment in the proposed treaty will be a "status quo" understanding on Pacific fortifications and naval ba ses, exclusive of Hawaii and the islands off the Japanese, Australian and Xew Zealand coasts. The plan means abandonment of the Amer ican island of Guam as a potential j naval base. Temporarily the na-' val question is receiving majority attention from the arms'delegates, but there were indications today that the increasing seriousness of the Far Eastern dfierences might soon require the potential figures of the conference to turn their ef forts to that direction. China's request for abrogation of the "twenty-one demands" treaties was coupled with a suggestion that tixe powers also take some definite and formal step toward abolition 01 existing "spheres of influence" Jn the Far East. There was no dis cussion in the committee but it was evident tonight that the Japanese would not stand alone in opposing the abrogation proposal. In the Shantung conversations, the present point of controversy is the compensation that China is to give for Japanese? improvements on the Kiaochok railroad. The Jap anese have asked for instructions from Tokyo, but subject to a favor able response from their govern ment offered today to withdraw from the railroad in the. event of a satisfactory compensation ar rangement. In the view of some of the Chi nese delegates the financial guar antees desired by Japan as a con dition of her withdrawal amount to virtual perpetuation of Japanese control over the road. The sug gestion has been made in some quarters that a new "big four" composed of heads of the Ameri can, British, Japanese and Chinese delegations be asked to take the question under advisement. France will ask for an allotment i of 315,000 tons of capital ships and proportionate percentages in small er classes when, the o nest ion of the French and Italian navies is taken up possibly tomorrow or Friday by the recently appointed naval com mittee of 1". This was disclosed authoritatively tonight by a spokes man from the French delegation. The French thesis takes the pro gram, adopted by the French par liament in 1912 which., had it been completed, would have given a fleet now of 450.000 tons. The war caused the program to !><? abandon ed. The present requirements of France it will be represented, are both in the remote Pacific and con tinental, the defense in Europe cov ering two naval fronts, the Atlan tic and the Mediterranean. Com munication with Algeria, it also is j held by the French, would be of vi tal importance in war because of the necessity of transporting troops I and supplies freely. These reasons, it i> expressed, will be developed in I detail by Vice Admiral de Bon and I his Frmch colleagues on the com-I mittee. The French delegates have as sumed, their spokesman said, they > will not encounter o spirit of dic tation respecting what are consid ered to be European requirements in a conference called to deal with Pacific naval proportions. There have been no preliminary studies w>t?Let all the ends Thou Aiins't I Sumtcr, S. C, Saturday, ULSTERITES CONDEMN AGREEMENT "Because Ulster is Loyal, You Think You Can Kick Her as You Like/' Says Lord Carson in Opening Debate By t*e Assoe^ted Press. London, Dec. 14.?In a scene which is likely to prove a land mark in England history, the Irish treaty was today presented in the imperial Parliament for ratifica tion, while the Dail Eireann at Dublin indulged in heated debate, turning on Eamon De Valera's charge that the Irish puenipotenti aries exceeded their powers in sign- j ing the treaty without further ref- | erence to Dublin. Neither the Commons nor the Dail Eireann, however, has yet j come to grips on the actual deci sion respecting ratification, which has been postponed until tomor row. A feature of the debates in Westminster was a bitter attack on the government by Lord Curzon in the House of Lords and Capt. Charles Craig. Irish Unionist, in the ? House of Commons. Lord Curzon ' especially showed not the slight est diminution in his old-trme de nunciation of any accommodation with Nationalist Ireland. He dar ed the government to do anything to stir Ulster against the empire, and exclaimed: "Because Ulster is loyal, you think you can kick her as you like." "I promise you," he continued, "that she will keep out of this j agreement. You have tried to make I her position impossible. I believe j you told the Sinn Fein delegates to j do so. Why has the Sinn Fein in this treaty been given an army, it ! not to invade Ulster? Was it to i invade America, or the channel : islands?" j The tone of his whole speech was j one of unrelenting hostility to a settlement. Premier Lloyd George's speech in the Commons was less of an ora- i torical display in defense of the treaty, which had been expected, than a careful exposition of the agreement ana its implications, with a view to putting the house in J possesson of the complete mind of the government on the settle ment. He forestalled attacks by , the argument that the treaty had received unstinted praise from the king and the British dominions, and could not be regarded as in- | imical to the country's interests. ; Ulster's official reply has also been delayed until tomorrow, but it is known that it rejects the invi tation ti enter the Irish Free State, j -? *> ? GAS USED TO DRIVE MEN OUT OF CAVE Jackson. Ky.. Dec. 15.?Three members of the band which raided the Breathitt jail on Monday, kill- j ing one man and fatally wounding! a woman, have been surrounded j by state troops in cave on a creek, i State forces planned to uso gas to j drive them out. ; KILLED IN ACCIDENT Columbus, (la., Dec. 15.? Mrs. Katherine Endirott. wife of Lieut, j Endicott, was killed when the au tomobile in which she was riding \ struck a telephone pole. DRAFT RULE BEFORE | ADVISORY COUNCILj New York. Dec. L">.?Restoration j of the draft rule under satisfactory j conditions to all concerned wi'.i come before the national advisory I council of baseball which went into ' an executive session with Commis- 1 sioncr Laridis presiding. i by this conference, it was pointed ; out. of European problems, dis- j cussions having been confined to I the Far East. The disposition of ! the French delegates, which is de- ? scribed as one of "cairn tenacity," j is taken as an indication by many that the meetings of the naval sub- j committee may be more interesting! than has been supposed by most ob-; servers. Some suggestion has been ma.de in French Quarters that France's! naval ratio was a subject for direct ' negotiations between France and! Great Britain and it is considered i 3s not unlikely that Premiers Briand and Lloyd George may dis cuss the question at their approach ing meeting in London. Senator Schanzer, the head of! the Italian delegation, in talkmg of Italy's naval needs to newspa-i P? r correspondents at the Italian embassy today. said the Italians will go into the committee with two principles. j "The first is." he said, "that we I shall have the same ratio as France; the second that the ratio be a 1<>\\ one because we do not de sire to build up to a lari;" one." Senator Schanzer alluded to the' length <>!" Italy's coasts, her de-j pendenc? on sea communicationsj for a large part of her food and. her enclosed position in the Med-1 iterranean. He added that Prance ([iii;.- agreed to Italy's having the same ratio as the French. I it be thy Con .try's. Tliy God's and , December 17, 1921 SINN FEIN ! DEBATE OVER THE ISSUE j . ?i Collins and Griffith Resent Statement by De Valera Re garding Their Au thority i_ I Dublin, Dec. 14.?The question of j ratification or rejection of the j I agreement arrived tit in London ? between the representatives of the: i British government and the pleni ; potentiaries of the Dail Eireann | i to settle the discord which for-; ! centuries has existed between 1 Great Britain and Ireland was de-! I bated today at a public meeting; j of the Dail and later at two secret 'sessions. Another secret session/is ! to be held tomorrow, j At the public meeting today I Earner. De Valera. the president, j l and Arthur Griffith, Michael Col-| ! lins and other Dail deputies, ex pressed their views as to wether the Irish delegation to London had ! exceeded its powers in signing the agreement with the British cab- ! inet for a settlement of the Irish i problem. De Valera and the members of ! the delegation were sharply di- ] I vided on the question at issue. De J ; Valera contended that the treaty [should not have been signed with ! out its having first been referred ; [ to the Dublin parliament. Dele- j I gates Griffith and Collins insisted that :hey and their colleagues had : the power invested in them to sign I an agreement, but not the author ity to conclude it. Mr. Griffith as- j ! serted that the representatives of ! the Dail Eireann and of the British j cabinet in this respect were in j identical positions, as each was obliged to refer the treaty to their [respective legislatures for ratifica tion. j Both Mr. Collins and Griffith j during the discussion resented a j statement of President Do Valera i ! th*t the delegation to London' had i not obeyed the instructions of the i Dublin cabinet. "I have been called a traitor." j exclaimed Mr. Collins at one point. "Let the Irish people decide ; whether I am or not." i The speculation of the day over1 ' the possibility of a serious rift in the two factions 'entered in the secret sessions h- id after the open j meeting. The fir^t of f he secret; conferences lasted from 1 o'clock ' in the afternoon until 2 o'clock. (Then after a long recess the depu-j ties reassembled at 4:30 o'clock; [and the meeting continued until a; late hour this evening. I The meeting of the members of j ! parliament behind closed doors: j was confined to animated discus-1 I sion of the question as to how j I far the plenipotentiaries to Lon don were justified by their in I struct ions in signing a treaty with j Great Britain in the early hours! ! of Tuesday morning a week ago, j ,without submitting the treaty to: '['resident Do Valera and his cab | biet ; Mr. Griffith, quietly, and Mr.; ! Collins, with some heat, in the pub i lie session resented any sugges tions that they had failed to carry: i out their instructions or that they, [had exceeded them in any degree. ! It took a longer rime than had been anticipated to clear up the : points in dispute, and as Mr. De j i Valera had made it plain his dis satisfaction of the method .adopted ! I by the plenipotentiaries a secret, ' debate was decided upon. The opinion among the members of the Dail tonight on the question I j of acceptance or rejection seemed j more evenly divided than had been j expected. All apparently were in agreement that ultimate respon sibility would rest with the coun- j try. It is considered possible that ; the members of the Dail. after., having expressed their individual opinions would refer final decision of the question to the electors, ! among whom all indications seem I to point there is a large majority' in favor of the treaty. Except for a Sinn Fein flag draped with crepe and hung from] a telephone pole, tile only evidence ; of propaganda against ratification ! of the treaty outside University College, where the sessions of th< j Dail were held, were members oil the Communist party in Ireland, who endeavored to distributei pamphlets urging rejection of the treaty. Members of the Irish Re-1 publican army dispersed the Com-i omnists and confiscated their lit- i eraturc. METHODISTS CONSID ER RECOMMENDATIONS Memphis. I>ec. 1.".?The South-] orn Methodist Educational Associa tion is considering the recommen dations for the next general con ference, i GUARDSMEN ENTER COAL FIELDS Pittsburg, Karts.. Dec. 15.?Nat- : tonal Guardsmen have entered the: coal fields to prof.-et union miners who have been prevented from working by activities of militant women. Memphis. Dec. 15.?The freight rate reduction and the forestry leg islation were discussed at a special meeting of the Southern Yellow Pine manufacturers here. REDUCE \ TAXES ! _ Conference Held in Columbia Proposes Ways Which it Be lieves Will Reduce Property Levy in; South Carolina ! Columbia, Doc. 3 5.?Adoption of a resolution or platform seeking to reduce the property tax and the choosing of. permanent officers to work for a better tax system in South Carolina were the 'main ac tions of a conference of ciitzens here yesterday morning. They | were called together to discuss tax j problems. j As finally adopted the platform of the conference suggests as means for remedying the present prcper yt tax the following new taxes: A tax on gasoline, the amount to bo fixed by the legislature; an occu- , pation tax. an inheritance tax. an increase in the corporation license tax. passage of the constitutional 1 amendments proposed at the last1 session of the legislature that would give the legislature leewey in de terming the tax system, a luxury tax and an income tax based on the federal government returns not ex ceeding 10 per cent, of that paid to the federal government. Prac- | tically all details of this program! were left in the hands of the legis Iature. the conference merely sug- 1 gesting the above changes as pos- ! sible remedies. j After the adoption of the pro- i gram, a resolution calling for rigid J economy in the state government - and in the appropriation bill next ! session was adopted. This resolu- j tion was introduced by L. A. Man ning of Latta. Several features of the program ! came in for considerable discussion, i especially the income tax. After a j warm debate the income tax was placed in the suggestions by a ma- j jority of one vote, B. P. McLeod of ; Charleston having offered this as i an added item. The original pro- \ gram as offered by Mayor H. C. j Ilarveley of Greenville did not1 i include the income and luxury i ! taxes. W. Bratton DeLoach of Cam- j den introduced the luxury' tax clause. Elect Hartsville Man. Following the adoption of the j program C. W. Coker of Hartsville j was unanimously elected perma-! n -at chairman of the conference. ! Mr. Coker was not present, but is; deeply interested in the work and I no doubt will give much of his timo j to carrying out che program. He j left his home yesterday morning j for Columbia, but due to automo- | bile troubles, had not arrived when ! the meeting adjourned at 2 o'clock. ? Mrs. F. S. Munsell of Columbia was < hosen vice chairman, she having been nominated by E. W. Dabbs of j Mayesville. Mr. Dabbs was nomi- j natcd by Mayor Harveley. but he i declined and insisted upon the election of Mrs. Munsell. An ex.- - J cutive committee, one member! from each congressional district,,' was chosen as follows: B. F. Mc- j Lend. First district; .1. D. Prothro, ! Second: C. C. Wharton. Third; | Mayor II. C. Harveley, Fourth; W. j Ii. DeLoach, Fifth; C P. Hodges., Sixth; E. V?\ Dabbs. Seventh. This i committee will choose a secretary. Following the general conference, the committee met and began tho work of carrying out tho program. The chairman and vice chairman ! were made members of the execu- j tivc committee. B. W. Crouch, of Saluda wanted j the conference to adopt a resolu-j tion calling on the general assem- j bly not to appropriate over $3.- j (JOO.000 next year, but the resolu- j tion was never put and died a nat- j ural death. August Kohn of Columbia was, asked to preside as temporary chairman and he opened the con-; ference with an explanation of the : purpose of the meeting. He em-j phasized that the meeting was to! suggest to the legislature some j remedial meat a and not to legis- J late its -if. "We have burdens and I everyl ody wants to see changes in ' the tax system and our purpose to day is to tell the legislature that there are some ways in which it r-.'.-A remedy the present system." Smith Makes Talk. Dr. Deed Smith of the university made the main address of the oc- j casion. dwelling largely upon two I phases <>f taxation, the individual I taxpayer crying for relief and the I ne< essity for the carrying on in the j state government and its allied! work, such ai education, good j roads, care for the feebleminded, j etc. Dr. Su:ith quoted figures; showing that South Carolina has a: lower per capita expenditure than any of its neighboring states and '1 has an expenditure above only one ' or two other states. A motion to ask the legislature! to give the tax commission and ? county authorities the power t"i; stay tax executions was los' but i tins same question was referred to the executive committee for ac tion. I.. A. Manning of Latta of fered the resolut ion. J. C. Thomas of Manning spoke of the inability to*>ay taxes at ,:res- i ent and of the large number of ex."; utions now outstanding. Maybe the two parties starting ; for the North Pole are hunting a j place to practice on saxophones. 1 THE TRUE 8017 FORECAST OF YEAR'S COTTON CROP Department of Agri culture Explains How and Why First Forecast Was S o Far Wrong Washington. Dec. 12:?Lack of travel funds prevented personal checking of acreage planted and forced accepta::' 3 of "growers' re ports of acreage reductions which were biased by propaganda and generally believed," the crop report ing board of the department of ag riculture declared in a statement today-in announcing the final fore cast for this year's cotton crop of 8,340.000 hales, an increase of 1, 800.000 bales over the last forecast. Favorable weather conditions since the last condition report on Septem ber 25 permitted maturing of late cotton, the board said, while re duction of fertilizer reported earlier in tho season was offset by residue remaining in the ground from last year. Boll weevil and other in sect damage, the statement said, was not so great as expected and the hot dry weather of the early fall hastened the maturity of the crop and prevented much, of the darrage whieh otherwise would have resulted. Data on which the acreage in cul tivation was estimated on June 25 was correct, the statement declar ed, when checked against data sub mitted by the groweis at the time, "but it now appears that the data upon which the estimate was bas ed was misleading, the acreage was underestimated." Reports from statisticians of the department, who were able to travel after July 1, indicated that reports of acreage reductions on June 25, "exaggerated the reduc tion in acreage," the statement said, adding that "while many growers actually reduced their acreage, others took advantage of the propaganda sentiment and proceeded to increase their own acreages." "This is still the smallest crop grown in the United States since 1895," the statement assorted. The average weight per running bale is estimated at 4 97.8 pounds. The price paid producers De cember 1 was 16.2 cents per pound. Tho estimated production by states, in equivalent 500 pound bales, is: Virginia, 16,000; North Carolina, 800,000; South Carolina, 760.000; Georgia, 840.000; Florida, 13,000; Alabama, 635,000; Mis issippi, 870,000; Louisiana., 295,000; Texas, 2,200,000; Arkansas, 860,000; Tennessee, 340,000; Missouri, 78, 00 0; Oklahoma. 530,000; California. 74,000; Arizona, 40,000; all other states, 13,000. The crop reporting board, the de partment of agriculture announced, "was forced to accept growers' re ports of acreage reductions, which were biased by propaganda and generally believed." In a aV* .ement issued with the government's estimate today, the department of agriculture said: "The December cotton report, forecasting a total crop of 8,340, 000 bales, is much in excess of earl ier estimates during the growing season. It may be well, therefore,j to explain the principal factors j which account forthe difference j between the early promise and the last estimate. "Acreage: (1) Persistent and widespread propaganda at planting j time for a reduction in cotton acre- I age of from 33 to 50 per cent, as compared with 1920. (.2) Propa ganda supported by large carry- j over from previous season, low prices below cost of production in 1 1920, reduced foreign consump tion and demand with great finan cial loss to growers in 3 9-0, and lack of credit at planting time. (3) Acreage reduction reported at planting time by growers affected by propaganda. (4) Lack of travel funds prevented statisticians of the bureau from personally inspecting and chocking acreage in their states In 1.919. 193-0 and first half of 1-921. (5) Crop reporting board forced to accept growers' report of acre age reductions, which were biased by propaganda and generally be lieved. (6) Since July 1 field statisticians have been able to trav el and their reports indicate that ] the growers' reports on June 25 j exaggerated the reduction in acre age. It appears that while many j grower^ actually reduced their j acregae. others took advantage of the propaganda sentiment f^or re duction and proceeded to increase their own acreages. (7) The esti mate of the acreage in cultivation on June was correct when checked against data submitted by growers at that time, but it now appears that the data upon which the estimate was based were mis leading, the acreage was underesti mated, and the crop reporting board was deprived of the check afforded by personal travel and in- i spection of field statisticians until j the last half of the crop year. Yield per acre: (1) Weather conditions were re ported generally unfavorable during the growing season over large V?r tions of the cotton belt up until the last condition report as of Septem ber 2T>. Since that date the weath er has been better than the aver age for maturing Mid picking the crop, A large percentage of the crop has been picked and ginned riTROX, Established June 1, 1S6?. _ VOL. LH. . NO. 36 BLACK aO?l LOOM UP jNDUSTRY Three Great Strikes Threaten to Develop in Great Industrial Fields New York, Dec. 13.?The indus trial horizon here assumed a pessi mistic outlook when three great strikes that would involve a hun dred thousand men appeared against the background of three labor disputes already in progress. Rumblings of wage disputes came from anthracite coal miners, rail road maintenance of way and shop craftsmen and the building trades. ? ? c Resignation Requested Republican Pie-Seekers Are Growing Hungry Washington. Dec. 12.?A con spicuous evidence of the growing hunger of Republican pie-seeker.s is the fact that the depaKment of justice has requested the resigna tion of the Federal Marshal for the Western District of South Carolina, C. J. Lyon, of Abbeville. The original understanding was that such officers were to be allowed tc serve out their terms. . ?e? o ^ - Appeal to U. 3. Supreme Court Carlos Corbett, Orangeburg Man Killer, Goes to Highest Tribunal Columbia. Dec. 13.?Carlos Cor bett. who 'was acquitted of the murder of Bryan Salley, but is un der indictment for the murder of Hugh Fanning and Julian Cooper, men of the town of Salley, who were killed by Corbett in March, 1920, today appealed to the United . States supreme court, the appeal being forwarded by the clerk of the state supreme court, on author ity of a writ of certiorari. signed by Chief Justice Gary. Corbett raised the point of forme.- acquittal in connection with the two Indict- * merits pending against him. The state supreme court dis:.aa.-.jd th ? contention. ? ? ? Pacific Treaty Formally 3:gried Washington, Dec. 13.?The new quadruple treaty to preserve pea ze in the Pacific was formally signed today by plenipotentiar. js of the United States, Great Britain, France and Japan. RESOLUTING ABOUT COTTON ACREAGE Memphis, Dec. 13.?Resolution? proposing the restriction of the cot ton acreage next year to the basis of this year before the convention of the southern farmers and bank ers here. Harlem, Ga., Dec. 13.?A less of forty thousand dollars is estimated as the result from a fire which practically wiped out the old busi ness section of the town today.. for December 1 than average. C2) A reduction of one-third in the amount of fertilizer used this sea son as compared with last was re ported. This was interpreted as forecasting lower yields per acre. Field statisticians now report that the residue of fertilizers remaining to the soil from last year tended to offset the shortage in quantities j used this year. (3) Boll weevil J and other insect damage was not as great as expected. Weevils w re present in greater numbers over a wider extent of territory during the growing season than ever before. However, the hot. dry weather of the early fall hastened the matur ity of the crop and prevented much of the damage which otherwise I would have resulted. C4) Production: ! The combination of the two fac tors, acreage and yield per acre, 1 gives total production. For the r a sons stated acreage was underesti mated and yield per acre has turn ed outvbetter than it v as possible to forecast on the date of the last condition report. October 3. Ir may be noted that, although the October 3 report forecast a production much below the Deeembe ' estimate, it was higher than the average of trade estimates of that Ji.no. Acre age and yield per acre figures cor rected on the basis of data avail able December 1 indicate a totnl crop of 8.340,000 bales of 500 pounds gross w< ight. This is still the smallest cotton crop grown in the United States since l*:^. '?The yield per acre'for the Unit ed States is estimated to be 120.0 pounds, which compared with 118 pounds forecast on October 3. Tb<? acreage picked is estimated at 31,- ' 427.000 and abandonment 2.S per cent. In July the acreage in culti vation was estimated at 20,319.000 acres. The harvested acreage last year was estimated at 3^,685,000."