iif la Miun Mmwmt (1X9 a Year, ha Advance. "FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY AND FOR TRUTH." VOL. XXV, COTTON COMMITTEE HOLD CONFERENCE MEN FROM THE SOUTH DI8CU38 ED PLANS FOR USE OF LOAN FUND. WILL REQUIRE REDUCTION Estimated That $70,000,000 at Least of the $135,000,000 Pool Will Be Applied for by Growers. . Washington. The $135,000,000 cot ton loan fund plan to finance the sur plus cotton crop, was approved unani mously by representatives of commit tee which will aid in handling the fund in Southern States. The repres entatives held an all-day conference with the cotton loan committee, which has final supervision of the fund. Although no definite statements were made at the meeting as to how . snuch cash will be drawn from the - fund to carry the surplus crop, esti mates ranged from $10,000,000 to $70 000,000 and members of the cotton Joan committees were confident hun lreds of applications for loans would . he forthcoming before January Most of those present believed that between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 bales of cotton must be carried over until next year. It as estimated that about $150,000,000 would be needed to take are of this cotton, and it was the general opinion that unless there is a natural expansion of credit through out the South the loan fund will be used to aid cotton producers. There was evidence that many of the state committeemen agreed with the idea advanced by officials here that cotton producers next year must cut their cotton production. The cot ton loan committee will use every means to convince growers of the ne cessity of curtailment. The representatives from 10 states included: Moorhead Wright, Arkansas; R. F. Maddox, Georgia; Sol Wexler, Louisi ana; Z. D. Davis, Mississippi; Joseph 5. Brown, North Carolina ; A. Trumbo, Oklahoma; R. G. Rhett South Carolina; Henry D. Lindsley, Texas; E. L. Rice, Tennessee; and State Senator Milton, Florida. The cotton loan committee was represented by W. P. G. Harding ana Paul M. Warburg, of the Federal Re serve Board; J. P. Forgan of Chica go, Festus J. :Wade of St. Louis, A, H. Wiggin, New York, and Levi Rue Philadelphia. DANIELS FAVORS NORFOLK. Js Place for Dry Dock Recommenda tion to the Committee. Washington. Formal announce ment of successful naval tests of coal from EOvernment-owned fields in Alaska was made by Secretary Dan iels before the naval committee of the bouse. Trials by the cruiser Mary Hand about 10 days ago, Mr. Daniels aid, had demonstrated that the Mat- anuska coal was as good as any to be found. Three recommendations were made by Secretary Daniels. They were: Appointment of all second lieuten ants in the navy hereafter as "act Ing second lieutenants" so that those who do not measure up to require ments after appointment may be droDDed. Graduated system in retired pay of naval officers on the basis of their length of naval service and the extent of their disabilities. Authority for using part of a $40, 000 contingent fund to protect the navy's rights and property on its oil land reserves. . . . ' "The secretary said the navy was trying to put its yards on a business basis with industrial managers, trying the plan at New York, Norfolk and perhaps some other plants. "The Philadelphia navy yard is in excellent shape," he added, "and has not as many evils card systems and other paper work as they have in some of the other yards. We are go ing to put a construction officer in charge at the Norfolk yard." Mr. Daniels has spent his last day before the investigating committee. French Gain New Advance. Paris. The following official com munication was issued by the war of fice: ."In Belgium several attacks by the French troops have resulted In progress along the Ypres canal and west of Hollebecke. Several violent counter-atacks have been repulsed by our troops. The railway station of Commercy (Department of Meuse) was bombarded by batteries firing from a great distance. Insignificant damage was done. In Alsace an of fensive movement resumed by the enemy has been repulsed. . CARRANZA ANSWERS WITH VEILED THREAT SAYS HE WILL CONSIDER ACTION AT NACO UNFRIENDLY RE GARLESS OF MOTIVE. DISPATCHES REPLY TO NOTE Repudiates Blame For Firing Across Border. Expresses Hope of "Good Friendship." Vara Cruz. "If the United State employs force to stop the firing ty Mexicans across the ! international boundary line at Naco, it: will be con sidered an unfriendly act, notwitb standing the friendly motives cloak in 4.1 -A , mo act, In this manner Carranza made an Bwer in a statement to the Associated Press to the formal notice Served by the United States on both Provisional President Gutierrez and " Gen. Car ranza that unless such firing ceased force would be employed to protect American territory. ' Carranza's reply to the American note, repudiated responsibility for shots that have crossed the line ana clearly set forth that he and his gov- eminent will regard Intervention at Naco as a hostile act. At no time since the receipt of Secretary Bryan's note calling attention to the repeatea wounding and killing or residents ol teh American town has Gen. Carranza appeared perturbed but he has had long conferences with those close to him, and, in framing his reply it Is said he has been careful not to let himself stand in any uncertain light. Gen. Hill, constitutionalist com mander of the troops at Naco, 13 on the defensive," continued Gen. Car ranza, "and, since his back was to the line, it is difficult to see how he could be responsible for the firing, The fact is that Maytorena's men have been attacking and therefore it ap pears reasonablely clear that they, and only they, could have been to blame. , "As a matter of fact I do not know hat the rights of American citizens have' been violated. It seems to me that it would be well for the state department to investigate the ques tion in order to flex the responsibility, "I remember similar instances at El Paso, when the Madero forces were attacking there. In that case those shots were for the most part the 1m prudent and curious individuals who (locked to witness the fighting as If It had been a spectacular show staged for their benefit. SERVIAN ARMY VICTORIOUS. French Cut German Line of Communl cations Nears St. Mihiel. London. Both the German and official reports contain evidence that the Allies offensive movement is be ginning to gather Impetus and is meeting with stobborn resistance, The French have been particularly active in the Woevre region. At several points the Germans have made counter attacks which the French clai mhave been repulsed. The German report shows that Gen eral jonres men nave reacnea a point midway between St. Mihiel and Point-a-Mousson which would indi cate that they had crossed the Ger man line of communications. In these operations the French lost heavily. The battles in Poland continue al most without intermission and, while both Russians and Germans announce success, apparently no decisive result has been reached. The Germans still are delivering heavy blows at the Russian center, where they assert they took 11,000 prisoners and 40 ma chine guns. South of Cracow the Russians claim the capture of 4,000 prisoners, four guns , and seven ma chine guns. Another Russian force is holding the passes of the Carpathians pre venting the Austrians from sending relief to their Galician army. There is no news of the German troops ad vancing south of Mlawa, with the ob ject of attempting to turn , the Rus sian right. The rehabilitated Servian arnjy continues, victorious in the Bal kan area of the -war. That the former German : cruiser Goeben, now owned by Turkey, was not so seriously damaged as was re ported In her brush with Russian cruisers, i3 shown by the fact that she took part in the recent attack on Datum, the Russian Black Sea port. According to a Russian statement the bombardment did little damage. Bulgaria, according to a Paris re- port, has expressed to the Powes ot the Triple Entente her desire to re main neutral. Th.d is taken to mean that Roumania, if she so wished, coultf join the Allies without fear of being attacked by Bulgaria. PLYMOUTH, N. 0.; FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1914 MRS. WINSTON CHURCHILL S New; photograph of Mrs. Winston Churchill, wife of the first lord of ; the British admiralty, who is herself actively engaged in aiding the Brit ish soldiers at the front. DANIELS TELLS HIS PLAN IOWA REPRESENTATIVE SAYS SQUIRREL SHOOTERS' CORPS COULD PROTECT COAST. ; Daniels Favors Four Fighting Ships Annually Instead of Two Auxiliary Predicts World Conference. Washington. Military preparedness of the nation was again the dominant subject of Congressional attentipn. Secretary Daniels, before, the House Naval Committee, defended his two oattleship-a-year construction pro gram and declared the sentiment of the people of the United States oppos ed turning the country into a great military, power. . Meantime a free-for- all national defense debate occupied the house itself. Mr. Daniels, during an all-day exam ination, said this country already had a powerful navy and that while "with abundant revenues',' he might favor the general board's four-battleship plan he thought the two-battleship pro gram adequate. Pressed for. an op in ion as to the world military situation at the close of the European war the Secretary predicted an international conference on armament. "When the war is over,", he said, "those countries will be so exhausted in their resources and' burdened with debt that there will be a: great revul sion against war. I expect the revul sion will be so great that we will have an international conference on armament more possible" now than ever before and that we will get some action by which ' the navies of the World Powers will be used only to carry Into execution the agreements the countries reach." Representative Gardner precipitated the military discussion on the house floor ..with a speech -, criticising the administration for "laying , the cold hand of death" on his proposal for special investigation of military and naval conditions. He assailed the Rules Committee for refusal-to grant him a hearing and the Naval and Military Committee for failure to sum mon before them former Cabinet offi cials and other witnesses he wanted examined. . If war were to break out today," said Mr. Gardner, "it would be found our coast defenses have not sufficient ammunition for an hour's fighting." Repjesentatlve Fitzgerald of New York replied briefly and promised to make a complete statement later which would make "notoriety-seeking ex-Secretaries" less anxious to dis cuss the national defense. Represen tative Dies of Texas ridiculed the thought of impending danger of at tack. ( Representative Sisson of Mis sissippi charged the "war propagan da to the manufacturers of war mater ial." Representative Pouty of Iowa pleaded for international disarma ment, arbitration and an internation al police, declared a force of trained qulrrel-shooters could ' prevent the landing of a hosti'e force on Ameri can soil." FINAL COTTON ESTIMATE. Record Crop of All Previous Time Is . : Grown. f : Washington. The United States this year has produced the greatest crop of cotton in its history - More than sixteen million bales ,or 15,966,- 000 bales of lint cotton' and. linter cot ton, - unofficially estimated at from 600,000 to 650,0000 bales constitute the crop. . ' ' ' J lgljlcl DISREGARD FDR THE CANAL ZONE LAWS COLONEL GOETHALS WANTS TOR PEDO BOAT DESTROYERS FOR. PATROL DUTY. COLLIERS AND OTHER CRAFT These Vessels Leave Without Clear ance Papers. Few Have Health " Certificates. Mt '" - ....Panama. Col. George, W. Goethals, governor of the Panama Canal zone, announced that his request that two swift American torpedo boat destroy ers be stationed at the entrances of the canal was prompted by recent ac tivity of warships and colliers of the belligerent European nations In the vicinity of the waterway. The action of the Australian collier Mallina in leaving Balboa without clearance papers and the fact . that other colliers have shown a disposi tion ot disregard canal, zone shipping laws convinced Colonel Goethals that decisive measures should be, taken to preserve the neutrality of the canal. Nearly all the colliers in canal wa ters arrived without health certificates and in several instances sailed with out clearance papers. It is presumed the steamers met and ooaled the Aus tralian and English fleet which con centrated recently in the vicinity of the Peral Islands, which lie 60 miles southeast of Panama City. The torpedo boat destroyers re quested by the governor are expected to do patrol duty and overhaul bellig erent craft attempting to disregard the canal regulations. Alleged violations of the Canal shipping laws are said to have been the subject of complaint to Sir Claude C. Mallett, British minister to Pana ma and also having resulted in orders the fortifications prevent unneutral colliers remaining in .ports on the zone, in disregard of the orders of canal authorities. In the case of the collier Mallina it is stated that she arrived without clearance papers or a health certifi cate and with no coal or supplies. She attempted to buy 130,000 worth of sup plies, consisting largely of articles in tended for . Christmas dinner tor ; a large force. She was refused the sup -Hies and was ordered to depart be cause she refused to state her desti nation, as required by the Canal Zone laws.' The collier Protesilau is point ed to as a similar case. It is stated that there has been much wireless interference in canal waters on the part of eight colliers which were recently in the vicinity of the canal and also by large warships fleets, reported to be within 25 miles of both ends of the canal. . CONGRESS PUSHES WORK. No Extra Session for Next Summer Is Spur. Washington. Congress continues work of the winter session determined to complete its tasks March 4 so that no extra session will be necessary next summer. '- . Democratic leaders of both houses agree with President Wilson that the country should. have a rest from na tional legislation. Right of way will be given appropriation bills with con servation measures, the Philippine bill and the government's purchase bill following. While no special investigation of military preparedness seems in pros pect, much attention will center about investigations before reguar house committees. The naval com mittee will resume consideration of the appropriation bill at once with Secretary Daniels again on the stand. The immigration bill, with its lit eracy test for aliens will again be under debate In the senate while that body waits for the appropriation bills to come from . the house. Its sup porters insist that it will be passed although it was not included in the President's outline of legislation. Conservation measures the jwater- power site and the mineral leasing bills probably will be reported from the senate committee on public land3 early in January. Mines Were German. Stockholm, via London. The Swed ish forign minister in a statement regarding the sinking of the three Swedish steamers by mines in the Gulf of Bothnia said: "The Germans declares the mines were Russian, as no German mine-laying had been done up to the time of the disaster. Offi cial investigations by Finland disclose that several groups of anchored mines were German and not Russian and that they had been laid during the war in the Gulf of Bothnia. No float ing mines had been found." CAPT. H. GIBSON 4 WW"' 14'-?. J f t$'i:ty Captain Gibson is the commander of the submarine K-5, one of the latest ' additions to the United States navy. WATERWAYS CONVENTION ADVOCATES OF BIG APPROPRIA TION MEASURE GATHERED IN WASHINGTON. Senator Ransdell Says Charges Were Made That South Was to Unduly Profit by Bill. Washington. Advocates of. wa terway improvement from all parts of the country met in the eleventh an nual convention of the National Riv ers and Harbor Congress. Secretary Bryan welcomed the delegates, pre dicting a large percentage of the country's traffic would be drawn to waterways soon because of cheap ness of transportation. "Vigorous replies were made to criti cism of the last river and harbor bill as a "pork barrel" measure. Senator Ransdell, president of the congress, made this attack the theme of his an nual address. Albert Rettinger of Cincinnati, defended the measure against the same criticisms and Rep resentative J. Hampton Moore com pared the small appropriation of the last 40 years for waterways" improve ment with the large sums spent for the army, the navy and for pensions. Sen ator Fletcher of Florida expained the claims of the Oklawaha River for at tention in reply to criticism of the Oklawaha item in the bill. Senator Ransdell said that attacks on river and harbor legislation "were unfounded practically without merit and many of them devoid of even a vestige of truth." He vigorously de nounced attacks on the bill in the last session , of congress and the filibuster that resulted in the practical defeat of the measure's purposes. Critics of the legislation, he added, had been unable to suggest a better system than the one they criticise. Senator Ransdell said that under the present method of waterway legis lation the nation's waterways had been greatly Improved, commerce fos tered, freight movements facilitated, and transportation rates cheapened In competition with railways. "Attacks were made on the last river and harbor bill," declared Sena tor Ransdell, "during the debates in congress and particularly during the recent campaigns on sectional and political grounds and it was freely charged that favoritism had been shown to the South. These attacks are. unworthy of their authors." U. S. CAN MATCH NAVIES. Admial Fletcher Says Only England Has a Better Nav Washington. The ability' of the American navy to successfully meet the war fleet of any nation except Great Britain was asserted by Rear Admiral Fletcher, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet, before the house naval affairs committee. The dossI- , bility of conflict with Great Britain was so remote, the admiral said, that he did not believe in a navl policy designed to control the oceans a3 against that country. - German Cruisers Destroyed. London. The victory off the Faulk land Islands where the British squad ron sank the German cruisers Scharn- horst, Gnelsenau and Leipzig, and the success of the Indian troops on the Gulf of Persia, where they compelled j surrender of a Turkish army, have for the moment overshadowed so far as England is concerned, the larger events which hrve taken ulae. f V :" v.. . 5 3 NO. 25. HCOHX REPORT S MADE PUBLIC FORTY-FOUR PEOPLE WITH NET ANNUAL INCOMES OF MIL LION OR MORE. THE 1G WEALTH CENTERS New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Bo ton, Detroit, Wealthiest Cities of The Nation. Washington. The first complete compilation of returns under the in come tax law was made public in the annual report of commissioner of in ternal revenue. It showed returns for the collection year of 1913 by 357.59S Individuals as follows: Net Number income returns. $1,000,000 and over 44 500,000 to $1,000,000 91 400,000 to ' 500,000 44 . 300,000 to 400,000 84 250,000 to 300,000 94 200,000 to 250,000 - 14S 150,000 to 200,000 311 . 100,000 to 150,000 785 75,000 to 100,000 - 998 50,000 to 75,000 2,618 40,000 to 50,000 2,427 30,000 to 40,000 4,553 25,000 to 30,000 . 4,164 20,000 to. 25,000 6,817 15,000 to 20,000 11,977 10,000 to 15,000 26,818 5.000 to 10,000 101,718 3,333 to 5,000 114,484 2,500 to 3,333 " 79,426 Returns were made by 278,835 mar ried persons, 55,212 single men and 25,651 single women. The normal tax of 1 per cent on all taxable in comes produced $12,728,038. Incomes of more than $20,000 a year and subject to sur-tax produced $15,525, 497. The figures show that most of the individuals with large net. incomes Jive in districts near the cities of New York .Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit. More single women, as well as more single men paying the tax were found in New York than any where else. Married "women made separate returns in every colleotion, district except in the Fifth North Carolina. THAW ENTERS COURT AGAIN. Attorneys Fight Extradition on the Grounds That Insanity Was Proved. Washlngtoni. The request of the state of New York for extradition of Harry K. Thaw from New Hampshire to answer an indictment charging conspiracy to obstruct Justice by es caping from Mattewan Asylum was taken under consideration by the Uni ted States Supreme Court after oral arguments. Members of the court asked Thaw's attorneys many questions about va rious points in their contentions. They did not interrupt Williams Travers Je rome, however, during his argument that Thaw was a fugitive from justice nor challenge the argument of Franklin Kennedy. Deputy Attorney General of New York that the law under which Thaw was committed to Mattewan after the killing of Sanford White was constitutional. 1 Germans Close to Warsaw. London. Of the five Austro-German columns which for some days appear ed to be making steady progress in their invasion of Poland, three have suffered checks, according to official report from Russian headquarters. The column making a downward stroke from Mlawa on the East Prus sian frontier, reported in one dispatch from Petrograd to be within 15 miles of Warsaw, was repulsed after an energetic offensive and under counter-attacks from the Russians was compelled to retire at some points. The attacks of the main German column which had its front on the line between Lodz and Lowicz and which came down diagonally from Thorn, were delivered with great force, but according to the Russian account were repulsed witn neavy losses to the Invaders. Carnegie Visits White House. Washington. Andrew Carnegie,- a White House caller expressed decid ed opposition to a Christmas truce in the European war. If. would be unchristian-like and immoral he said to stop fighting and then resume it He added he did not believe any nation which adopted such a suggestion was doing it sincerely. Mr. Carnegie gave it as his opinion that the military caste in Germany was responsible for the war and that at the time hostili ties broke out the Kaiser was ill and1 c-BDosed to the war. '