Middletown transcript., 1914-03-07

CHANGE IN TIME OF CHAPEL EXERCISES
Owing to the fact that the holding Of
chapel exercises at 8. 35 a. m. made il
impossible for many committing stu.
dents to be present, the faculty, at E
meeting held on March 2, decided tc
hold the exercises in the future at 10. 81
a. m. This new arrangement'will make
it possible for both students and in
structors to attend. Attendance will
be compulsory for all students, and
members Of the faculty will be expect
ed to be present. The exercises in ad-
dition to the readings from the Bible,
will consist of selections by the college
orchestra and short addresses by mem
bers Of the faculty, and by men not
connected with the College.
CONTROL OF PLANT DISEASES
DIR. ]. J. Taubenhaus, of the Della
ware College Experiment Station, is
the author of an article in the Febru-
ary number of the Gardeners Chronicle
of America on the why's in Plant Dis
ease Control" In this article DR.. Tau
benhaus deals chiefly with the problems
of the gardener after reviewing briefly
the damage done by the most destruc-
tive forms of plant diseases, he sug-
gests the following methods of control
and explains the relative advantages of
each: ~ spraying, ~ treatment of
seed, (3) treatment of soils, (4 tree
surgery, (5) sanitation, (6) the planting
of varieties of both vegetables and
fruits that have high powers of resis-
tance to disease. The purpose of the
article was to point out how plant dis
eases may be controlled intelligently by
the average farmer or gardener.
THE CAUCUS AND PARTY GOVERNMENT
The third lecture Of the historical
series, given under the supervision of
the department of history of Delaware
College, was delivered in the college
oratory on the afternoon of February
26, by DR.. w. w. Willoughby, head Of
the department of political science of
John Hopkins University. His subject
was, ''The Legislative Caucus in Its
Relation to Party Government.
DIR. Willoughby first called attention
to the Importance of the carcus in the
work Of the present congress. He then
showed that political parties are not
not essential to popular government,
and said that throughout Europe al
though political parties do exist, they
have no perfect machinery. An exam
ination OF the early federal and state
papers reveals the fact that there was
no thought Of the use of political par
ties, and that the idea of popular gov
eminent then held supposed merely the
selection of men of judgment and prob
ity to carry out the wishes of the peo-
pie. But political parties soon arose.
and for time carried on the govern
ment unrestrained by any check. As
a result certain methods were invented
to enable the voters of a parto to limit
to some extent the control of party
machinery; for instance, the Australian
ballot system, civil service reforms,
etc.
The party caucus is aimed to expedi-
ate business and do away with flibus-
tering. All the members of the party
meet in secret session and by a major
ity vote decide what action shall be
taken on measures pending in Congress.
Each member is bound to support the
decision of majority of his party.
The power of the minority is thus re-
duced to a minimum. The speaker
pointed out some of the defects in the
system, especially as applied to Ma
tional conventions, and showed what
President Wilson has done to remedy
these defects. In conclusion, DR.. Will
loughby said that the Initiative, the
Referendum, and the Recall were an
outward sign Of the efforts to>fncrease
the control over party government and
to make parties directly responsible to
the people. Personally. he said, he
favored centralized authority having
much power and directly responsible
for the people. =
GOOD ROADS AND THE FARMER
On the evening of March 5, Professor
c. A. Short gavean illustrated lecture
under the auspices of the agricultural
club of Delaware College, in the College
Oratory, on the subject of Good Roads
and the Farmer. +" Professor Short
first stated that the improvement of
roads is problem of vital Importance
to the farmer and to the student of
agriculture. Good roads, he said are
advocated by four classes of people; by
the automobilist, to increase his pleas
ure; by the politician, to promote his
political prestige, and furnish a source
of graft; Oy the engineer, sometimes
for the pnrpose of providing himself
with a good job at large salary; and
by the farmer when once he realizes
how much they will mean to him in a