FAOB FOUR.
FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1914.
THE OBSERVER'
rusuiat r thi '
riTITTITIUI OMIITII COM Pi NT
I, J, I1U, rSIMDIXT.
OMKVll FOl'NDID 1817.
WEDNESpAY, DECEMBER 23, 1914.
Subscription Prlct: The Dally by
nail $4.00 per annum, payable In ad'
?nce; delivered In the City of Fay
etteville by our own carrier!, at $5.00
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The Weekly fl.00 per annum, paya
ble in advance.
Entered at the poetofflce in Fayette
vtlle as second-clasi mail matter.
New York office: No. 219 East 23rd
Street, where the Observer It kept on
(Tie, and Information furnished free of
eharge . to our patrons traveling
through New York.
"AN ACT OF HOSTILITY."
30 bushels.- -
Think of it 95 1-2 bushels of corn
to one acre! ', And raised by a boy
at that! North Carolina baa made
strides in farming, as in almost ev
erything else. It has not, been so
many years, ago when 10 bushels to
the acre in Cumberland County was
considered a fair yield. As for 25
bushels, oh my! And then one darky
did the plowing, several others the
sowing, and several others the grass
chopping and cleaning out. Now one
lad, with a mind and determination
to work and with method in his work,
gets 95 1-2 bushels! Talk about and
ridicule scientific farming and farm
demonstration methods as you may,
but their work, as shown in the boys'
corn club contests, is bringing big
results.
So It has been with the vast majority
of the leaders of the north.
. Villa Rave- his first allegiance to
Madero, fighting by his side through
out the liie of the martyred presi
dent, and has never swerved since.
The last two years of his life have
been passed iu arms against the men
who were responsible for Madero's
downfall and death. -
NORTH CAROLINA SAND HILLS.
Not many years ago the sand hills
of North Carolina were considered as
productive of practically nothing save
tar, pitch, turpentine, wire grass and
pine lumber. These having become
Our Associated Press dispatches otaDout exhausted, a person who own-
Monday announced that General Car-,ed and fronl which they were taken
ranza has notified the United States
that if force is used to prevent furth
er firing by Mexican troops across the
border, and the consequent killing of
American citizens, he (Carranza)
would consider it an "act of hostility,
however well disposed the govern
ment may be." In other words. Gen
eral Carranza says in effect that while
he regrets the killing or wounding of
Americans by Mexican bullets, Ameri
can citizens must "go way back and
sit down," neglecting their daily du
ties and business pursuits while he
and General Maytorena continue their
mimic warfare.
We had an idea at one time that
General Carranza was a patriot and
a man of good common sense, but his
present course leads to the belief that
he is neither. The Mexican peace
conference met and elected Gutierrez
provisional president. He has the
reputation of being a safe and wise
leader, and Carranza should have
gone to his support for the sake of
peace and harmony. The trouble
seems to be that he has "the presi-
dential bee in his bonnet" and that he
loves Carranza more than he does
Mexico.
As to Carranza's announcement
about "an act of hostility," he dis-
was considered "land poor." as there
was nothing left for him to do but
to pay taxes on it. We believe there
are some stretches of this laud here
and there which would not pay for
cultivation, but a large part of it Is
being converted into productive
farms, on which are grown cotton,
corn, tobacco, apples, peaches, dew
berries and truck. The land is easy
to cultivate, the soil being light and
holding moisture well, while the rain
fall is good and very seasonable.
Moore, Hoke and Cumberland Coun
ties contain great stretches of this
sand hill land, which twenty-five years
ago could be bought for a song, while
now it commands the price of good
farming land. At Aberdeen in Moore
Countv there will be held Wednes-
I day, 16th inst., a great meeting of
; the farmers of the county to take
steps to set before tne worm me
great agricultural possibilities of the
North Carolina sand hills. Secretary
of Agriculture David F. Houston will
address the meeting, and we expect
: to see valuable results follow tne
i movement set on foot.
! The cause of this development is
1 twofold; First, the fact that scien
I tific farming has been introduced and
followed: second, the character of the
nlaro o arr f f nrimmnn curiae that tc
i ... , r. i people who dwell on the land, bnai
amazing, considering that he sets vK"i lc " . .,. . , -
CONCRETE FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS.
Edison, the inventor, is a wonderful
man, and so great have been bis
achievements in science that the
world is ready to believe that he can
do almost anything which he sets his
head and hands to. Fire, that ele
ment which has been so destructive
to man's greatest fire-proof structures,
swept away fourteen buildings for Mr.
Edison last week with a loss of mil
lions of dollars. But the concrete
walls are left standing, ready, Mr.
Edison says, for other buildings.
If these concrete walls have not
been injured by fire and are ready
for the erection of other buildings,
th'e fact is demonstrated that con
crete is the material that should be
used in building in the future, as
the great Item of economy is given
in the Edison fire. Mr. Edison pro
poses to make his new buildings as
near fire-proof as buildings can be
made, and builders and contractors
will watch with interest the progress
and process of his work.
The Charlotte Observer says:
As was to have been expected, some
valuable lessons in fire-building are
coming out of the burning of the Edi
son plant. The value of concrete con
struction has been demonstrated, ac
cording to the idea of Mr. Edison, for
the walls are there, ready for refit
tin?. In this refitting Edison will
use what he admits he should have
used in the first place wired glass
and steel window sashes, trimmings
and doors. It was a two-million-dollar
lesson to Edison and he is going
to profit by it. His new plant will be
about as near fire-proof as structures
can be made.
BELGIUM'S WAR TAXES.
The Observer carried in Tuesday's
dispatches the following:
Paris, Dec. 15. A Havre dispatch
to the Matin says: "According to
news reaching the Belgian govern
ment, the German governor general
who occupies Belgian territory has
ordered the provincial councils to
meet December 17 and take the nec
essary measures for the payment of
a war tax of 350,000,000 francs."
A franc is about 19 cents in Afnerl-
! . .,in..-tnc i;.tVi, fcrtili-riTi cr and the' .u rll - Anlfn
himself up as a leader of men. The' lu" i""'"6. "6- iww...-...H -!Can monej, HO lue odg.aua a.c
idea that the United States should I !d desultory farm methods that pre- 0Q t0 pay Germany about $66,500,000
tamely allow its citizens to be shot vailed "before the war" have been in the shape 0f war taxes. Could any
for fear that Carranza "might not like left behind, and farming, fruit M thing be more cruelly unjust? Ger-
, .., .!, ine and stock raising are conducted, ma v entered Belgium, a neutral
! ,,. , , . , a intelluentlv and on as scienunc
is ridiculous and not worthy of no-! ds 1"!",tlu
. .i.. . I nrinciules as anywhere iu the united
tice by this Government. lt"luC!' 3
-u .,, vj States. The results are being shown
tween the United States, the South
American countries and Mexico was
held at Niagara Carranza acted in a
strange and stubborn manner, and
seemed always ready to put obstacles
in the way of negotiations by inter
posing objections. It is altogether
likely that he was planning then for
his own ascendancy as chief execu
in splendid, well-kept farms, which
are making their owners not only in
dependent, but prosperous.
The people who dwell on the sand
hills of North Carolina are, as a class,
among the best people on earth. They
country, a country which had no part
in the war, and destroyed its cities,
towns and villages, laid waste its
farms, and turned out on the world
its old men, women and children. To
day the people of the United States
and other countries are sending food
to the starving Belgians.
And now Germany, after bombard-
ine and nartiallv destroying some of
hostilities until warriors can get rest
ed to begin again the strife with re
newed vigor. . . . ..
The Richmond Times-Dispatch and
the Greensboro News have the right
Ideas about the truce, in our opinion.
The Times-Dispatch says:
Perhaps it is as well that the armis
tice could not be arranged. It would
only have been a pretense., The time
would have been used to sharpen wea
pons and to prepare for more effec
tive slaughter. In a way, it is better
that those who control the strife
should show a disregard for Christ
mas and what Christmas signifies
than that they should use it for pur
poses which mock- the Prince of
Peace. .
The Greensboro News says:
In the final analysis, indeed, there
is little to recommend it. Had the na
tions been following the spirit of the
teachings of Christ there would have
been no war. The Nazarene issued
no command to observe bis birthday;
but he did say "thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself." It would be a
fine manifestation of the Christian
spirit to lay especial stress upon the
eelebration of the birthday and imme
diately thereafter proceed with the
business of killing ojjr neighbors. Up
on what grounds shall a truce be urg
ed uDon Turkey and Japan? Shall
the Christian nations say to the heath
en, See how the Christian spirit has
permeated us,' we love our gentle
Master so much that we violate His
commandments only 364 days in the
year!
A resolution has been introduced In
Congress to have this country use its
best efforts to bring about a cessa
tion of hostilities for a few days. If
that armistice should have peace as
its aim, it might be well to urge it,
but a truce during the Christmas sea
son would be simply a mockery and
an opportunity for preparedness to re
new the warfare.
TRADE BALANCE SWINGING
AROUND.
JARVIS COUNTY.
are of sturdy Scotch and Scotch-Irish
descent, noted for their energy and. Belgium's cities, has taken possession
thrift. They are splendid citizens anUjof tnenit and for the privilege of being
tive of Mexico. At least subsequent public-spirited to a marKea aegree.j conquerea and made to suffer, (or
events would lead to that supposi-! North Carolina has taken its rightful j rather because Germany has the pow
tion. ! p'ace in the front ranks of the States! er tQ enforce ts demands) the strick-
However, the United States Gov-jof the Union, and the sand hills arejen ueopie are called on to pay an
ernment is apprehending no serious playing an important pari in iue, indemnity ef more than smy-six mil
trouble from a disregard of Carranza's, State's progress.
announcement about "an act of hos-
tility," and will be apt to soon bring j VILLA IS CONSISTENT,
to a close the firing of Mexican bul-; .
lion dollars. This levying of war taxes
may be in accordance with the rules
and usages of war, but that does not
make it right, for war is wrong In
Francisco Villa, one-time bandit but j itself and is a curse to the nations
lets across the border. A dispatch
from Washington, under date of De-now t)e dominant figure in Mexico.! of the earth.
aemher 14, says: j is a remarkable man and one of the How lone will the people of Eu-
Admin'stration officials attached no;kind who make history. A little more! rope be called on to endure the suf
TZL eifSthan three years ago he came fromlferings and cruel Injustice put upon
Mexican territory it would be "an act! his bandit stronghold in the Chihua- them by effete royalty? How long
of hostility." In view of the urgent j hua hills to cast his fortunes with j are they going to stand them? We
tone of the message from provisional j 1Iadero and fight in that leader's ; believe the day is coming when the
rlS'- Within that short space of! people of the kingdoms and princl
would remove his troops and avoid time he has risen from a robber with I palit es of the world will rise up and
complications. Should one of the fac-j a price on his head to the leader of
tions heed the warning of the United
States, the need for defensive fire
would be removed.
D. A. TOMPKINS AS A WRITER.
We reproduce today from the Char
lotte Observer a chapter from "The
History of Mecklenburg County and
the City of Charlotte," by D. A. Tomp
kins. This chapter is entitled "Life
in the Old South," and displays a
thorough knowledge of life and condi
tions in the South in ante-bellum days.
Mr. Tompkins' description of the
character of the old-time negro is very
true to life, and gives his virtues and
faults, in a short paragraph, more
clearly and truly than we .have ever
before seen done.
If Mr. Tompkins had never written
anything but this one chapter on
"Life in the Old South," that alone
tould' suffice to mark him as a fine
wrfttV,. HaV Who, knowing his subject,
writes with a purpose to edify, as
well as to entertain. His style is ele
gant and easy, but free from affecta
tlon; simple, plain and easy to fol
low, it Is still scholarly and virile
nd holds the reader's attention.
D. A. Tompkins was a remarkable
man. Skilled In mechanics, learned
In science,, a master of finance, a lit
erary man' of rare parts, be wrought
well in bta versatility of gifts and
acquirements.' and .North Carolina lost
. one of its toremost'men when be died.
BOYS' CORN CLUBS.
We published on Monday an ac
count of the awarding; of prizes to
-nwr ln-thlyi'f-onh.ub-eon-test
tn this county. . The contest wis
for the largest yield of corn on one
acre. U Eleven ',' prises were awarded.
hut there jrere numbers of contest
ants besides the winners. The yield
per acre ran from IS 1-2 bushels-, to
Gutierrez's army. He is loved, lear
ed and hated, but is utterly imper
vious to the shafts of public opinion
and keeps straight on in the rocky
tenor of his way.
The proof that Villa is a man of
intelligence and decided character
(however cruel and vindictive he may
be) lies in the fact that he is con
sistent, and is today fighting for the
principles that be advocated when he
enlisted under Madero. There is no
doubt that this consistency, this bull
dog tenacity with which he follows
what he considers a righteous cause,
has had much to do with his success
and the prominence which he now
occupies. The stable, decided char
acter of Villa Is in strong contrast to
that of most of the Mexican leaders,
and bears the impress of true patriot
ism.
The New York Herald says
The metamorphosis of Francisco
Villa from a bandit of the mountains
of Northern Mexico to the dominant
figure in his country has been accom
plished in a little more than four
years. It was in the Autumn of 1910
that Villa emerged from the fastness
of the Chihuahua hills, his refuge
during the years that Porflrio Diaz
kept a price on his bead, to loin Fran
co Madero. whose revolution had
just been proclaimed at San Luis Po
tosi. Since that time he has been
constantly in the saddle, fighting at
times with a mere handful of men be
hind him, at other times with a large
and well-equipped army.
Ttirnnriiniit It all Villa, In his par-
ti.amhin him remained consistent,
something that cannot be said of a
.iri nna of the other revolutionary
leaders. Pasqual Orosco, Villas com
panion In anna In tne rejora.wra pi
uirr nr-i9ii,- fought;, Jp11
tie Madero government.- which he
hvuA otJLhlfah.. -.Ties Balazar did
the ame thing. Vlctorbwo HuerU
fought against Madert and Villa, then
fought with them, and finally, follow-..-
nnntr fif .Madero. found
himself again fa nn against , VUla
declare that there shall be no more
war, and woe be to crowned heads
when that day shall come. The
French revolution was born of the
disregard by royalty for the people,
and those awful times may be re
enacted in Europe at no distant day.
It may be the duty of the people
of the United States to help feed the
starving Belgians, but the question
arises, are we not prolonging the war
by so doing? If they are fed by oth
er countries are they not that much
better enabled to raise a vast sum
for Germany to prosecute the war?
A TRUCE DURING CHRISTMAS.
The Pope of Rome has originated a
scheme to have the warring nations
in Europe observe a truce of some lit
tle time during the Christmas season
The proposition was not agreed to
by one nation at least, said to be Rus
sia. We think it well that no truce
should be observed. - The quickest
way to bring the war to a close is to
keep the belligerent nations busy
fighting. The pretended keeping of
Christmas would be but a hollow
mockery, and the time would be spent
in preparing for a more desperate
struggle. There is no spirit of Chris
tianity actuating the leaders in the
strife, and for them to "cease firing"
for a brief space on account of re
ligious sentiment would be rank hy
pocrisy. There would be no sincere
repentance for the awful sin of war
which is slaughtering thousands and
bringing untold misery and suffering.
Repentance means a turning from
wrong-doing, with a determination to
abandoTTTtorOTeTrndiwtended
worship , of the Prince of Peace by na
tions with war in their hearts, and
with a determination to pursue war,
would be a mockery. What the world
wants is peace not a cessation of
"It is an ill wind that does not blow
somebody some good." However
much we may regret the suffering, de
struction of property and demoraliza
tion of business in Europe caused by
the war, it were foolish for the Unit
ed States not to take advantage of
the opportunities for business in
crease afforded by that war. The cot
ton mills of England, Germany and
Russia are most of them standing
Idle, the machinery is rusting and
the skilled operatives are being slain
in battle. The rich farming lands of
Belgium and other countries are laid
waste. Not only the cotton mills, but
most manufacturing Interests have
largely curtailed operations. The mer
chant sh!ps of England and Germany,
which but recently sailed to the four
corners of the earth and did by far j
the largest part of the merchant ma
rine business, are lying Idle In port.
The trade of the Latin-American coun
tries and the far East is waiting for
United States ships and United States
merchants. ''
So much has the European war
done for this country. But it has
done more: the trade of Europe is
already coming to tnis country
through sheer force of circumstances,
and our export business to European
ports is growing rapidly, and the bal
ance of trade will ere long be in our
favor.
The Baltimore Sun says:
As an indication of how rapidly the
financial and commercial tide Is
changing in our favor, it is now an
nounced from Washington that the
conferences which were initiated in
October by Sir George Paish and B.
B. Blachett, the English economic ex
perts, have been called off by mutual
consent. The situation, from the Brit
ish standpoint, seemed so urgent then
that these gentlemen were sent to
the United States to arrange, If pos
sible, for the adjustment of some of
)ur large foreign balance, and as a
result our officials at Washington
made a number of proposals for re-
iev'ng the tension. Our indebted
ness to Great Britain last September
was estimated at between $200,000,000
and $300,000,000, and there was some
cause for the polite reminder of Sir
George and his colleague that it would
not be amiss to soothe the feelings of
our foreign creditors by at least a
small remittance on account. The rep
resentatives of both governments have
now come to the conclusion that it
is unnecessary to take any further
steps in this direction, and that the
current of trade is running so strong
ly toward this country that interna
tional obligations can be left to ad
just themselves. If the war contin
ues six months longer, the balance
may be wholly wiped out; and If it
continues for a year, we may have to
send financial agents to England to
dun our British customers. It is a
very ill wind that is blowing over
Europe, but we cannot be blamed if
it blows some good to us.
It only remains for Congress to car
ry out President Wilson's plans for
a big merchant marine, and for our
business men to Inaugurate vigorous
movements for the capture of the Lat
in-American and European trade
Then indeed will the United States
become the greatest and richest coun
try In the world greatest in com
merce, in manufacturing, in fanning,
in science, in art, in culture, and in
the ways of peace, happiness and
prosperity. There Is a great day com
ing "if we but make the proper use
of those means which the God of na
ture has placed in our hands." Let
us be equal to our opportunities and
build wisely and well.
A movement is on toot to petition
the Legislature v to pass an act for
the creation of a new county to be
formed from Cumberland, Harnett,
Johnston and Sampson. Mr. John C.
Clifford of Dunn has the matter in
charge. The new county, if created,
is to be called JarviB County.
The, Dunn correspondent of the
Greensboro News say8
John C. Clifford, upon whose should
ers has fal'en a large part of the
burden in the lght for the forma
tion of JarviB County, believes that
the project's chances for success are
brighter now than at any time Bince
the idea, gained a grip upon the
minds of the people of this locality.
The recent election placed Harnett
in Republican hands for the first time
in the present century; in Johnston
the Democrats had the fight of their
lives to retain control, and Cumber
land developed surprising Republican
strength. Jarvis County would take
from Harnett, Averasboro and por
tions of other townships in which the
Republicans hav their greatest
strength, and leave it safe for Democ
racy forever; from Johnston Banner,
Its strongest Republican township,
would be taken, and it, too, would
be left safely Democratic; Sampson
would lose Mingo and, perhaps, por
tions of its other western townships
whose vote is almost solidly Republi
can, and the race over there will be
appreciably tightened; and about the
only Republican territory In Cumber
land would be taken from it.
Because of the foregoing, Mr. Clif
ford believes that a Democratic gen
eral assembly will do well by the
party If it will gather all these Re
publican strongholds together and
fence them off, so to speak. He says
that the new county would be con
tent to plod along without represen
tation in the general assembly, until
such time as a new Senatorial district
could be formed; the new district, be
it understood, to be one in which Jar
vis' Republican strength would not
affect the Democratic personnel of
either branch of the State's Legisla
ture. Would the creation of a new county
out of Republican portions of the
four counties named above be wise?
In the first place would it be any
compliment to Governor Jarvis, an old
Democratic war horse, to name a Re
publican county for him? In the next
place, would it he good politics? Cum
berland and Johnston are both al
ready Democratic, and by proper work
on the part of the Democrats can be
kept so, while Harnett can be redeem
ed without any trouble. The reason
why Cumberland and Johnston were
close and Harnett was lost in the
last election was simply because the
Democrats did not vote, deeming it
unnecessary. We do not believe it
would take much to bring Sampson
back into the Democratic column if
the proper effort were made. Ac
cording to statements, Jarvis County
would of course be Republican, so
nothing would be gained in any event
by its creation, while the Democrats
would gain by getting Harnett back
in line and letting drop the Jarvis
County project.
Would it be good business for Cum
berland to surrender Black River
Township and thus lose that much
taxes to help defray the county ex
penses? We do not 'know what it
contributes to the school fund, but it
strikes us that after having already
lost Quewhiffle and Little River and
a part of Black River Townships, we
can ill afford to part with any more
territory.
To say the least, it looks like cow
ardly action for the Democrats to
call for the making of a new county
in order to keep in power. If they
cannot do so on their merits, perhaps
they deserve to lose. Let them get
down to work and let the newly elect
ed officials of Cumberland and John
ston, especially the county commis
sioners, administer affairs so well that
the people will be perfectly willing to
retain Democracy in power.
However, it is for the people to
decide. If they want a new county all
they will have to do is to say so.
If, on the contrary, they do not wish
one, they had best "get a move on."
It
IT IS OUR AIM TO MAKE
SECURE THOSE
WHO INSURE WITH US.
Wallace-Ellington Co.,
General Insurance
THOMAS H. SUTTON, Secretary,
201 Hay Street. Phone 6.
Fayetteville, N. C.
vvv
Vv Ml
the Associated Press about the Eng
lish towns bombarded Wednesday:
Scarborough is a seaport and fash
ionable resort in the northern part
of Yorkshire on a headland extend
ing into the North Sea. It is 37 miles
northeast of the important English
city of York. It is a little more than
200 miles from London.
Scarborough has been popularly
styled "the queen of watering places."
The town has a large spa, an Inter
esting aquarium, a museum and a fine
drive and promenade pier. The per
manent population is more than 40
000. Hartlepool is a seaport of Munici
pal borough, in the southeast portion
of the county of Durham. It is about
40 miles northwest of Scarborough on
a promontory that extends into the
North Sea. Its population is about
25,000.
Adjoining Hartlepool is West Har
tlepool, a city of more than 63,000 in
habitants. The Hartlepools, which
are provided with a vast system of
docks, before the war had an active
trade with the Baltic ports, and with
Hamburg, Antwerp and Rotterdam.
The chief industries are shipbuilding,
iron founding and the construction
of marine engines.
Hartlepool was the place where the
Comte De Bar landed from his fleet
In 1171 to assist William the Lion in
invading England. From that time the
harbor's importance seems to have
been appreciated, and it was the only
ancient port of the Palatinate. Here
Bishop Pudsey prepared the galley,
fitted with silver and containing a
silver throne, seated on which he in
tended to accompany Richard !I, to
the crusades.
Hartlepool formerly was a perfect
specimen of a fortified town. In the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, the - town
fell into such decay that it was spok
en of as "an ancient, decayed 'coast
town, once a brave, stately, and well
fortified town, now only a sea land
habitation for fishermen." It contin
ued to go down until 1913 when a law
was passed for improving the port.
It then began to improve until it now
Is an important port for the exporta
tion of coal and the importation of
lumber.
Mrs. McClaln's Experience With
v Croup.
"When my boy, Ray, was small he
was subject to croup, and I was al
ways alarmed at such times. Cham
berlain's Cough Remedy . jprored far
better-thanrtnjr- other- for- this-trou
ble. It always relieved him Quickly.
f am never-without It in the bouse
for I know it is a positive cure for
croup,' writes Mrs. W. R. McClain,
BlalrsYffle, Pa, Tot sal by all deal
ers. ,-
THE BOMBARDMENT OF ENG
LAND. It has been centuries since a for
eign foe set foot on England's soil,
but the Germans came dangerously
near doing so Wednesday when a
squadron of their cruisers bombarded
several towns on the Yorkshire (east
ern) coast. The excitement In Lon
don was intense when the news be
came known, and a wave of indigna
tlon swept over England at the bom
bardment of the unprotected towns of
Scarborough and Whitby. Hartlepool
Is to some extent fortified. It Is the
belief in London that this incident
will give an Impetus to recruiting,
and that Great Britain will get down
to fighting in real earnest.
The Germans are formidable foes
indeed, and the trouble Is that the
opposing forces never know where
they will strike next. A squadron of
their fleetest cruisers on Tuesday
crept through a dense fog, created a
world-wide sensation and almost a
panic along the coast by their bom
bardments, and were safely away be
fore England was fairly awake Wed
nesday morning.
Perhaps It is best that naval en
gagements should become frequent, as
the more fighting there is, both on
land and sea, the greater is the prob
ability of the war coming to an early
close. The expenses of the land op
erations have been enormous, and
witb, naval operations added, debts
and obligations will pile up so fast
that , a limit to credit will very likely
soon be reached, when an end "of
bloodshed may be looked for.
the examination of outsiders would
simply mean useless expense to the
government.
ENGLAND'S PROTECTORATE
OVER EGYPT.
According to The Observer's dis
patches of Friday, England has es
tablished ' a protectorate over Egypt,
and in doing so will of course share
in the government of that ancient
country. Turkey has heretofore been
exercising suzerainty over Egypt, but
with England's action Turkey's doml
aatlon ceases and the last bit of its
authority over any country in Africa
ceases, 'England having also annexed
Sudan and Italy having taken Tripoli
a few years ago. England's action
has deprived the Sultan of 14,000,000
subjects and 1,300,000 square miles.
This is a big loss, considering the
property of Turkey and its apparent
decadence.
We have no doubt that the Sultan
now sees the handwriting on the
wall. His union in the war with Ger
many has turned against him Eng
land and Russia, which are glad of
the opportunity to make war on the
Ottoman empire. Should the Allies
defeat Germany and Austria, Turkey
may look to be annexed or placed un
der a protectorate, which is its prop
er place among the nations until its
rulers have learned to govern wisely
and well.
THE RAILROAD FREIGHT ADVANCE.
The decision of the Interstate Com
merce Commission allowing an ad
vance in freight rates by the East
ern railroads of five per cent, will
add to their revenue about $30,000,-
000 The f nmmiflairtn allnwo fMa
Whitby is in the North Riding ofl . V" "" " . , I
Yorkshire, on the coast, and about ul mcreaseu
half wav between Scarborough and expense in operating the roads and
Hartlepool. It Is a town of about
12,000 people and also is a sea side
resort. It has a group of hotels along
the cliffs and the town itself is situ
ated on both banks of the Esk, at its
junction with the sea. The extensive
ruins of, the celebrated Abbey of St.
Hilda at Whitby upon the summit oi
the cliff, and the ancient church close
ly adjoining are the most notaDie
buildings of the town and are prom
inent from the sea. Whitby harbor
s protected at its entrance by stone
piers running out for 350 yards. On
one of these extensipns is a hand
some stone light tower elevated 83
feet above the sea. The trade of Whit
by is still of considerable importance,
though it has declined of recent
years.
ROOSEVELT NOT NEEDED.
Representative Richmond Pearson
Hobson has proposed to tne House
Naval Committee that Colonel Theo
dore Roosevelt be asked to testify be
fore the committee on the prepared
ness of the United States navy to de
fend the Panama Canal. We have
never had a high opinion of Mr. Hob-
son's wisdom, and we have less now,
and we are surprised that the commit
tee eyen went so far as to say that
they would consider the matter,
To begin with, Colonel Roosevelt is
an enemy to the Administration, and
as he has heretofore taken every op
portunity to disparage its work, it is
fair to presume that he will continue
to do so. Then again the Colonel is
a jingo of the Jingoes and a military
genius of exceedingly large ideas. If
the United States had a navy much
larger than England's, he would not
consider it large enough by half. If
he were President now he would be
fighting Mexico, and it would n be
long before he would take a hand in
the great war in Europe provided
Congress should give him half a
chance.
There are numbers of level-headed,
conservative men with much more
knowledge of armament and naval af
fairs than the Colonel, whom the com
mittee can call as witnesses, and the
Colonel's "opinion" can be very well
dispensed with, for his testimony
would be simply an opinion, as he is
not connected with the nary and is
not supposed to know anything about
its preparedness or unpreparedness
WhylihouTd Tnebofnmitee-xll as -wtt
nesses any persons except govern
ment officials and army and navy offi
cers T They, and they alone, are the
the depression in business caused by
the European war.
Chairman Harlan and Commission
er Clements dissented vigorously to
the decision. Chairman Harlan, in his
dissenting opinion, held that sufficient
aid had been given the roads by the
August decision and. that the findings
of the majority were "morally wrong."
Commissioner Clements based his
dissent upon what he regarded as the
inability, in law, of the Commission
to take cognizance of anything in,
the making of rates other than their
justice and reasonableness.
There is no doubt about the fact
that the railroads have been hard hit
by the general business depression
and badly needed relief. But now
that the roads east of the Mississippi
are to have an increase in revenue
of $30,000,000, we trust that no more
employees will be laid off.
COTTON GIN REPORT.
We give below some information by proper persons to be examined, and
The Director of the Census, De
partment of Commerce, at Washing
ton, has issued a preliminary com
parative statement of the cotton gin
ned in North Carolina of the 1913 and
1914 crops, prior to December K We
give as follows the number of bales
ginned in the counties tributary to
Fayetteville:
1914
Bladen 8,013
Cumberland 20,328
Harnett 20,461
Hoke 13,499
Robeson 55,636
Sampson 20,693
Scotland 30,130
1913
6,879
17,491
17,677
13,343
47,283
17,582
24,884
CHRISTMAS EDITION.
The Maxton Scottish Chief has is
sued a Xmas edition It Is a hand
some sheet of eighteen pages, filled
with good reading matter and attrac
tive and well displayed advertisements.
Editor Harker issues an honest, virile
paper, which is doing good work for
the development and progress of
Robeson, the county with the great
est possibilities of any in the State
excepting Cumberland, of course.'
Children Ory
FOR FLETCHER'S
CASTOR! A