Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-01-28
'Petitica &.
Psnaetfsan;a
BY the E1-Committeenan

~e$os hAbht WilCii l1ittOh IAs
ner, of Chambersburg, was unani-
mously selected.
Mr.. Burgner has been active in
Franklin county politics for years
and stands we'll in the Cumberland
valley. He is superintendent of the
Chambersburg. Gas Company. He
was at once sworn in.
The Rev. William ID. Feldman,
pastor. of the Union Lutheran
church, of York, was selected by
speaker Spangler, as chaplain of
the House, to succeed the Rev. s. q.
Zerfass. of Ephrata. Mr.. Feldman
recently lost his son, Private Will
liam ]. Feldman, in the battle of
Chateau Thierry.
Thomas II. Garvin was reelected
fchief clerk, a place he has held
since the session of 1901, which is
going back some. Ira Dale Meals
was reappointed assistant resident
clerk and Frank d. Bowman super
intendent of the store room.
The filling of the places was the
pig tMng last night. The Senate
nlied S3 and the House "a.
considerable interest was arous-
ed by the appearance in the SEN
ate or bill reorganizing the State
department of Agriculture, and Civ
ms the State Board of Agriculture
certain powers. 1t came from SEN
ator III. w. Schantz, Lehigh. and is
supposed to be the bill favored by
the State Board members. It is said
not to be in accord with the ideas
or a centralized department which
are held by Governor Sproul.
Judging from appearances the
hlgh point of liquor legislation is
going to be around return of liquor
licenses to licensees in event that
prohibition comes effective in less
than a year.
-Ginord Pinchot is, said to, be
naroering a boom to run for United
States Senator two years hence.
"A bill providing for two addi-
tional commonplace judges in Allie
gheny county was introduced by
Mr.. Dietrich, Allegheny, chairman
OF the House Judiciary General
Committee. The bill provides that
the Judges should be elected at the
next county or municipal election.
the Governor having authority to
make appointments in the mean
time.
"A series of three bills regulat-
ing return judges in congressional
and other elections was introduced
IN the House last night by Mr.. Fin
ney, of Crawford. One bill fixes
PAGES of meeting, another one ar
ranges for county commissioners to
appoint judges and the third fixes
the tuesday after the official COM
putation OF the vote for the time of
meeting. The pay is fixed at $10I
per day.
-H0nnrn hlxy
sailors and marines are to be given
"a substantial preference" in ap-
pointments and promotions in an
departments and upon public works
OF the state whenever they have
the adequate capacity" under the
provisions of bill introduced in the
House by Mr.. Stadtlander, ALLIE
gheny. The bill carries a penalty
of from 800 to $500 fine or 80 days
in prison or both.
The proposition to repeal the
nonpartisan judicial election law.
winch is now pending in a Senate
committee, is commencing to at
tract much attention from many
people. There is opposition to such
a move and yet many thinking men.
those familiar with politics, favor it.
The Philadelphia Press in urging
that the act be repealed or changed
says: 1T is not only unsatisfactory
put dangerous. The direct primary
law is different matter No good
reason has yet been shown why that
should be repealed. 1t is true that
IL has not proved Revolutionary
either for good or evil. Noting tbe
men who have been nominated and
elected under the direct primary
system no one can say that the same
men would not have been nominated
and elected under the convention
system. An unpopular and very un-
desirable candidate was sometimes
foisted on the party by the -conven
ton system but that cannot well be
done under the direct primary"
Discussing the constitutional
convention movement the PhiladeI-
phia Bulletin says: "At the time
OF the convention which submitted
the present constitution to the peo-
pie, the population of PennsyIyania
numbered less than four millions, to-
day 1t is estimated to be nearly nine
millions, or more than that of all
canada or OF Ireland and Scotland
together, and none of it has known
the year when it was not larger than
1t was before. 1t is larger than
that of the United States when Madi-
son was President, and it will be at
least half million larger before
Senator Sproul will leave the p,1-
bernatorial office. In Philadelpbia
there has been an enormous growth
of population in the era covered bv
the. present constitution. AT the
time of the convention it was NOT
more than about seven hundred
thousand; to-day it is probably not
less than one million eight hundred
thousand-a commonwealth in itself
rather than a municipality in tho
old sense of that term. This Greater
Philadelphia has been .paralle!ed in
kind by the Greater Pittsburgh ana
both these cities are now more nonu.
lous than all the state was when
Senator Penrose was in his swaddling
clothes. Everywhere in the state
villages have grown into towns and
towns into cities. and Scranton.
Wiikes-Barre, Reading. Bethlehem.
Harrisburg, Lancaster, York. All.
toona and Erie have developed into
notable examples of urban growth
What a transformation, too. has sne.
cially come about in the town of theI
Governor since he first saw IL as a
boy-the quiet little Chester. of ner-
haps ten or eleven thousand inbabi-
tants. with the enterprising Holm
Roach's shipyard as it's chief object
of attention from outsiders!"