Newspapers / The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, … / May 1, 1917, edition 1 / Page 1
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TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1917. Number 16 CONGRESS PASSES SELECTIVE DRAFT BILL BY OVERWHELMING MAJORITIES In the Senate the Vote Was 81 to 8 and in the House 397 to 24? Many Senators and Representatives Who Had Fought for Volunteer System Answering Roll Call in the Affirmative KILL VOLUNTEER PLAN. Senate Measure Provides Draft of Men Between Ages of 21 to 27 Years, While the House Fixes Age Limits at 21 and 40. Senate Amendment Would Permit Roosevelt to Raise Four Divisions. Pay to be About Doubled. Washington, April 28. ? By overwhelming majorities both the Senate and House passed late tonight the administration bill to raise a war army by se lective draft. The final calls brought into line behind the bill many senators and representa tives who had fought for the volunteer system until routed by decisive defeats of volunteer amendments earlier in the day in both houses. The Senate, which had voted down the volunteer plan 69 to 18, passed the bill by a vote of 81 to 8. In the House the vote against the volunteer plan was 313 to 109 and that by which the bill itself was passed was 397 to 24. . Age Limits Conflict. As passed by the Senate, the measure provides for the draft of men between the ages of 21 and 27 years, while in the House measure the age limits are fixed 21 and 40. This and lesser dis crepancies will be threshed out in conference early next week so that the bill may be in the hands of the President as quick ly as possible. The War Depart ment already has completed plans for carrying it into effect. Those Voting Negatively. Senators who voted against the bill were: Democrats: Gore, Hardwick, Kirby, Thomas and Trammell. Republicans: Borah, Gronna and LaFollette. Senator Vardaman, of Missis sippi, Democrat, was excused from voting at his own request. He did not give a reason. The representatives in the negative were: Republicans: Bacon, King, Hayes, LaFollette, Lundeen, of Minnesota; Mason, Nolan, Pow ers. Democrats: Burnett, Church, Clark, of Florida; Clay, Pool, Crosser, Dill, Dominick, Gordon, Hilliard, Huddleston, Keating, Sears, Sherwood, Sisson. Prohibitionist: Randall. Socialist: London. Would Greatly Increase Pay. Both Senate and House adopt ed an amendment just before the final roll calls which would greatly increase the pay of en listed men during the war. The House provision would make their pay $30 a month, and that approved by the Senate would fix it at $29 a month. The pres ent pay is only $15. In the House at the last mo ment Chairman Fitzgerald, of the appropriations committee objected vigorously to the ap propriation of $3,000,000,000 carried in the bill for the expen ses of the new army, and the section finally was eliminated entirely. Mr. Fitzgerald declared that to place this vast sum in the hands of the Secretary of War would make of Congress a "mere automaton," and promis ed that if the section were voted down the committee would pro vide funds promptly in a sepa rate measures. Among the amendments adopted in the Senate, was one which would permit Colonel Roosevelt to recruit a volunteer force for service in France. A similar proposal had been re jected by the House. Speaker Clark, Democratic Leader Kitchin and Chairman Dent, of the Military committee, who had favored the volunteer system, all voted for the draft on the final roll call. Republican Leader Mann also was recorded in the affirmative, as was Miss Rankin, who previously had vot ed with the volunteer advocates. The roll call in the House on the Kahn amendment, which proposed to eliminate from the bill the authorization for volun teers, showed the following North Carolina representatives voting in the affirmative: God win, Robinson, Stedman, Small, Weaver and Webb. The four remaining North Carolinians voting for the vol unteer system were Doughton, Hood, Kitchin and Pou. ? Wil mington Star. KITCHIN AND DANIELS ENLIST. Take Their Chances Along With Those Without Influence. Sons of Secretary of the Navy and Major ity Leader of House Cast Aside Their "Pull" and Begin at the Bot tom. Washington, April 28. ? North Car olina set the first good "honest to goodness" examples to gain recruits for the Army and Navy today when Josephus Daniels, Jr., son of the Sec retary of the Navy, walked into a re cruiting station and enlisted in the Marine Corps, and at the same time Mills Kitchin, of Scotland Neck, son of Majority Leader Claude Kitchin, went to Fort Myer, Va., and signed up as an enlighted man in the army. This action on the part of the two North Carolina patriots probably sets a precedent for young men enlisting who could have commanded influence to secure a commission as an officer. Nearly every senator and congress man and others high in political life of Washington who have sons of mili tary age have secured commissions for their offsprings. But Kitchin and Daniels have set a most excellent ex ample and one that will do more to secure real sailors and soldiers than any other one thing since the war started, by casting aside the most powerful political influence in Wash ington and taking their chances along with those who have no influence. ? Wilmington Star. Wilson's Mills High School. Wilson's Mills, April 30. ? The mu sic pupils of the High School render ed a delightful recital in the school auditorium last Friday night. The commencement exercises of Wilson's Mills High School begin Friday, May 4th. The following are some of the events: Friday 1:30 P. M. ? Contest in Recita tion and Declamation. Friday 8:00 P. M. ? School Play, "Mrs. Briggs of the Poultry Yard." Saturday 11:00 A. M. ? Graduation Exercise. Address by Mr. T. E. Brown, of Raleigh." Saturday 8:00 P. M. ? Exercise by the primary, intermediate and grammar grades. Sunday 11:00 A. M. ? Sermon, by Rev. C. K. Proctor, of Selma. 17:1,000 COAL MINERS PROFIT. Anthracite Wane Increase S35.000.000 a Year (Joes Into Effect on May 1. Advanced Cost of Living Given as Reason for Concession. (New York Evening Sun.) By an agreement made volunta rily and with the entire absence of any strike threat 173,000 anthracite coal workers have received wage in creases aggregating from $30,000, 000 to $35,000,000. The advances in individual cases range from 11 to 35 per cent of the present scale. The agreement will go into effect on May 1 and will be effective until April 1,' 1918. It was signed last night after a five-day conference at 143 Liberty street between the re presentatives of the United Mine Workers of America and operators. It follows the granting of a volun tary 20 per cent increase to soft coal workers a week ago. A 10 per cent advance on gross earnings, equivalent to 11 per cent, has been granted to contract miners, contract miners' laborers and consid eration miners. The breaker boys and elderly men, slate pickers, water boys, jig hunners and spiral workers get an increase of 30 cents a day. All other classes of mine workers get an increase of 3(5 cents a day. The raise averages 20 per cent. The reason advanced for the agree ment was the advanced cost of liv ing. John P. White, president of the United Mine Workers of America, who negotiated the advance, not only for the hard coal but for the soft coal men as well, made the following statement: "The settlement concluded with the anthracite operators to-night, carry ing with it an increase in wages for the workers in the mines of from 11 to 35 per cent, should be as gratify ing to the executives and populace of the nation as it will be to the men affected. "Like the bituminous settlement negotiated last week, the outcome of the anthracite negotiations most forc ibly emphasizes the wisdom of col lective bargaining in time of peace or war. "Anthracite operators were invit ed to meet representatives of anthra cite mine workers, following the con summation of the bituminous wage increase, which was occasioned sole ly because of the extraordinary high cost of living. To the operators' credit it may be said that they responded promptly, and in a spirit of consider ation of unusual conditions they agreed to reopen every wage provis ion of the anthracite contract. "Representatives of the operators and the miners who were charged with the responsibility of negotiating the 1916 agreement, during the last five days most diligently applied their efforts in an endeavor to solve justi fied wage increases based upon the various classified conditions of em ployment and rates of pay prevalent in the anthracite coal regions. "I feel confident that the agree ment reached will alleviate the sky rocketing cost of food and clothing products sufficiently to tide the an thracite workers over an unprece dented crisis. "The signing of the anthracite agreement to-night, following the bi tuminous settlement, insures indus trial peace in the basic industry of the nation, all of which has been ac complished without threat, suspen sion of work, strikes or interfer ence. "What better recommendation can the opponents of trades unionism seek to convert them to the sane pol icy of collective bargaining than is typified b$r the agreement reached by the anthracite and bituminous c<>al industries during our present crisis?" With a vote of 1,576 for and only 114 against, the school bond election was carried Thursday and $250,000 was thereby voted for the enlarge ment and improvement of the school facilities of Charlotte. Jhe result means that more ample and modern accommodations will await every child of school age in the Queen City when the doors of the public schools of the city are opened next Kail. The result was 214 votes above the necessary "majority of registered voters. The vote as in all similar elections, was against the registra tion. There were 2,723 names upon the books, and the majority was therefore 1,362 and the vote was 1,576. AT TOMB OF WASHINGTON. Flags of Great Britain, France and Fnited States Float Over (irave of American Hero. He neat h Their Waving Folds, Spokesmen of World's Three Greatest Democracies Pay Homage to America's Soldier Statesman and lMedge Them selves Anew to Prosecute Mighty Struggle Against Au tocracy on the Fines "Father of His Country" Followed in Bringing America Into Being. The following extracts from an Associated Press dispatch from Mount Vernon in Monday's papers till the story of the visit of many notables to the tomb of Washington: "The flags of Great Britain, France and the United States floated proudly together today (Sunday) oVer the tomb of George Washington. Beneath them, spokesmen of the thre great democracies paid homage to Ameri ca's soldier and statesman, and pledged themselves, each to the oth er, in the name of the dead, to pros ecute the present mighty struggle against autocracy on the line he him self had followed in bringing Ameri ca into being. "In groups of twos and threes, an eminent gathering, including the members of the French and British war commissions, the President's Cabinet and members of Congress, had strolled up through the sloping grounds from the river bank until perhaps half a hundred people stood with bared heads in a semi-circle be fore the tomb. The day which had been heavy and threatening as the party approached on the Mayflower, suddenly burst into sunlight which played through the trees on the uni forms and faces of those assembled. "Without formality, Secretary Daniels motioned to M. Viviani, Min ister of Justice and former President of France, who advanced slowly into the center. Before the tomb of Wash ington whose efforts towards liberty his own ancestors had gloriously aided, M. Viviani delivered an ad dress, in which the whole force of his emotional power, deepened by the significance of the occasion, fought for expression." ivi. viviani concluded as follows: "While paying this supreme trib ute to the memory of Washington, I do not diminish the effect of my words when I turn my thought to the memory of so many unnamed he roes. I ask you before this tomb to bow in earnest meditation and all the fervor of piety before all the soldiers of the Allied Nations who for nearly three years have been fighting under different flags for the same ideal. "I beg you to address the homage of your hearts and souls to all the heroes, born to live in happiness, in the tranquil pursuit of their labors, in the enjoyment of all human af fections, who went into battle with virile cheerfulness and gav. them selves up not to death alone but to the eternal silence that closes over those whose sacrifice remains un named in the full knowledge that but for those who love them their names would disappear with their bodies. Their monument is in our hearts. Not the living alone greet us here; the ranks of the dead themselves rise to surround the soldiers of liberty. "At this solemn hour in the history of the world, saluting from this sa cred mound the final victory of jus tice, I send to the Republic of the United States the greetings of the French Republic." Then came forward Arthur James Balfour, Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, who stood for a moment in silence, a tall, erect, kindly f.^ure. Overcome with all that the situation meant in the lives of the two great Anglo-Saxon countries, Mr. Balfour abandoned his decision not to speak and gave expresion to a few poign ant sentences, evidently straight from the heart. England had honored Washington as she never had before. "M. Viviani," said Mr. Balfour, "has expressed in most eloquent words the feelings which grip us all here today. He has not only paid a fitting tribute to a great statesman, but he has brought our thoughts most vididly down to the present. The thousands who have given their lives ? French, Russian, Italian, Belgian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Roumanian, Japanese and British were fighting for what they believed to be the cause of liberty. "There is no place in the world where a speech for the cause of lib erty would be better placed than here at the tomb of Washington. But as that work has been so adequately done by a master of oratory, perhaps you will permit me to read a few words prepared by the British Mis sion for the wreath we are to leave here today: "'Dedicated by the British Mission to the immortal memory of (Jeorge Washington, soldier, statesman, pa triot, who would have rejoiced to see the country of which he was by birth a citizen, and the country which his genius called into existence, fighting side by side to save mankind from subjection to a military despotism.' " Governor Stuart of Virginia spoke as the host on Virginian soil. "Washington," he said, "originally belonged to Virginia, but his priceless memory has now become a common heritage of the world. We consecrate here today a struggle bearing the su preme test of the issues for which he lived, fought and died." France's Wreath. Marshal Joffre, victor of the Marne and idol of the French people, next came forward in field marshal's uni form. Simply, but earnestly, he spoke but two brief sentences: "In the French army, all venerate the name and memory of Washington. I respectfully salute here the great soldier and lay upon his tomb the palm we offer our soldiers who have died for their country." Two French officers came forward with the bronze wreath from the French Mission, the humblest and the highest mark of honor which the French Nation can accord the dead. Bending over, the marshal passed through the narrow entrance and sol emnly placed the wreath upon the stone coffin. He then stood silently at salute, the general who is credited with saving France, the general who won the liberty of the United States. As General J off re passed back among the spectators, Mr. Balfour came forward with the British wreath of lilies and oak leaves tied with the colors of the three Allied Nations. He too entered the tomb and placed the British token beside the French, while Lieutenant General Bridges stood aside at salute. There was neither music nor ap plause. Except for the brief words of the speakers, the eternal silence and peace of the place were not bro ken. And as Mr. Balfour withdrew the spectators felt, without being told, that the ceremony was over. The par ty again broke into groups and filed up to the lawn of the Mount Vernon home. THE $1.89 SHOES NOW $4.89. And Manufacturers Tell the Army the Price May Go to $10. Shoe manufacturers, in answering the government's request for army shoes, have told the quartermaster's department that shoes which former ly sold at $1.89 cannot be delivered now at less than $4.89. Manufacturers assert there is a great shortage of leather and hides, and if the war continues the price of these shoes will go to $10. ? Chicago Post. PLACE FLAG ON FIRING LINE. Roosevelt in Speech Declares Ameri can Flag Should be in France, Flan ders or the Balkan Peninsula at the Earliest Possible Moment and Kept There With Constantly Growing Fighting Force to End. Chicago, April 28. ? "Farm and arm!" With tjiis battle cry, Theodore Roosevelt entered Chicago today and in two stirring speeches urged that every energy of the entire nation be directed toward making the potential might of the United States felt in the war against the Germans, and he de manded that not an hour be lost in despatching troops to the trenches. His first speech was made at a luncheon at noon; his second at a mass meeting in the immense amphi theatre at the stock yards. He advocated universal training as a permanent policy; he advocated i "scription, but he pleaded that he should be allowed to recruit a divis ion for immediate service with the Allies. He was roundly applauded when he urged that, during the war, the use of grain for the manufacture of alco holic beverages be prohibited. "I want to get Americans in the trenches of France at the earliest pos sible moment to show our allies that we are as ready as they to shed our blood for the cause of democracy," he said, "I'd go as a second lieutenant. I am also villing to go in the train of any competent officer who may be se lected. To get the division there is the thing." WHEAT STILL A SENSATION. Another New Hi^h Price Record, in Spite of Improved Crop Prospects. One week is very much like another in domestic wheat markets, and many people are wondering when the rise of prices will definitely halt. It was considered a noteworthy achievement when the May option in Chicago re cently went to $2.44 and July to $2.11, hut these figures appear low in comparison with the levels reached this week, when the two deliveries touched $2.70 and $2.25 Vi , respective ly. The movement is all the more striking when it is considered that within the last fortnight crop news has taken a decided turn for the bet ter, and not a little of the winter wheat that was supposed to have been killed seems to be coming to life again. With the prospect of larger future supplies than was thought likely a short time ago, reaction was looked for in some quarters; yet such yielding as has occurred has been quickly followed by renewed advances and quotations have reachd a basis exceeding the expectations of even the most enthusiastic bullish traders. A feature that compels attention is the evidence that the recent extraor dinary rise in prices has been due less to speculation than to legitimate supply and demand conditions, and recognition of this fact leads not a few people to believe that the crest of the markets has not yet been wit nessed. Consumers, both here and abroad, are seriously concerned over the question of supplies and, as hold ers seem reluctant to part with their wheat, the strength of the cash sit uation grows more pronounced. All sorts of reports were circulated as to the magnitude of the foreign buyers of futures, and assertions that millers were paying $3 for wheat at interior points was one of the many influences explaining the great buoyancy of the markets. Primary receipts continue moderate, being smaller than last year's, and further sharp reductions in visible stocks are froeshadowed. ? Dun's Review. Micro (Iraded School Commencement Wednesday Evening 8:00 O'clock. Play ? "Courtship of Miles Standish." Music, Readings and Declamations. Thursday Evening 8:00 O'clock ? Pri mary and Intermediate Exercises. Friday 10:00 A. M. ? Jr. O. U. A. M. Presents Flag and Bible to school. 11:00 A. M. ? Rev. Mr. Johnson, of Selma will deliver Literary ad dress. 12:00 M. ? Basket Dinner. 2:00 P. M.? May Pole Drill. 3:00 to 4:00 P. M. ? Athletics. Friday. 8:00 P. M. ? Play: "Evangeline." Readings, Declamations, Music.
The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, N.C.)
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May 1, 1917, edition 1
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