Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-12-26
PsGitsco ;a
Penna4esan2

%'A NAhiOSt tfeGy city ana Dor
ough In the State. while compara-
tiVeiy few counties have put up their
mlllase for 1920. The cost of mu-
nlcipal government has been jump
ing In pennsylvania. along with the
| cost of pretty nearly everything else,
anu anu more than one council has been
raced with the alternative of curtail-
ing service or putting up the tax. And
III ss per cent. of the cases the cities
appeaf TO be taking the latter course
increases In rates in both of the
DIE cities have called forth some
shafp comments and it is not i'm
pfooable that early action will be
| 'aken not only in the great munich
pitltles, but in the third-cIass cities
as we'll, for study of the govern
| mental system from q scientific
standpoint before taxpayers organ
| lzations and similar bodies start To
! 1921.
Heading and Erie will present
some interesting studies in the next
year as they are both going into the
ne" year with administrations elect
GU unuer the third class city code.
councllmen being chosen on marty
tickets, while within another wear
they VIII automatically go into the
Iecond-class of cities, owing to the
Iact that both will show more than
iVV,Voo population, according to con-
sefVatNe estimates. The second
class cities are the only ones to re-
tam the nonpartisan system of cleo
tioh or councilmen and there will be
series of merry little mixIIns when
the transition takes place.
The ,bOroughS which 1ota5 +o
become thlrd-class cities at the No
Vemper election will not be able to
uo SO iof a year or more. The off
| clal returns of u couple of these cleo
tiohs nave come to the Capitol and
the next step will be for the Gov
erhof TO issue charter and then for
. new elections. 1t is probable that
several boroughs will move along
the same line at the next opportu-
nity owing to the growth in pop
QIatlon and the desire to take up
propositions which cannot be handled
under the borough code.
Many complim mentary things are
oelng said about the Scranton Times
and It's editor and owner, E. j. Ly-
nett, IN view of the approach of the
golden anniversary of the Times and
the silver anniversary of the Lynett
ownership. They are to be celebrated
at scranton on January and Key
stone state journalism will rejoice
with Mr.. Lynett and his capable
staff. The Times is one of those ex-
ponents of Democracy which knows
| 10 faltering. Bearing the stamp of
its owners personality. which has
made Reso successful and so strong,
IL mas been a fearless party organ,
respected by Republicans and unhesi-
tatingly accepted. by thousands and
thousands of Democratic readers 1t
is party beacon like the Philadel-
phla Record and the Pittsburgh Post
ana may many more years come to
II. The Republican and the Demo-
cratic parties alike need papers like
the Scranton Times.
Governor William c. Sproul is
very much gratified at the manner
in which mention of his name as
presidential possibility has been re-
trcelyed, but from what his. close
friends say he regards it more as an
endorsement of what he has done the
last ten months than anything else.
The Governor insists that he has
plenty of work to do in Harrisburg.
However. there is u lot of yeomen
effort being put forth in behalf of
the Governor, not only in this, but
in other states. The Washington
Star says about him in Pennsyl-
Vania article: There is no question
but what Sprouts speech made much
impression upon the businessmen of
his State, and this will aid materi-
ally in the carrying out of the un-
pledged delegation program. With
| the businessmen of the party rather
ardent in their advocacy of the Gov
| ernor. there will not be many spots
where boom for any other candi-
| date could take root in Pennsylvania,
and thus far the effort to revive the
Fighting Roosevelt organization of
| 1912 has been 4 failure. Most of the
| men who were active in that cam
| paign are inclined toward Sproul or
! for an uninstructed delegation"
! Robert Il. Lamberton, the sher-
| iff-elect of Philadelphia, is Sust now
! giving an interesting exhibition of
fitting with that old war horse of
! Pennsylvania politics. Senator David
Martin, former Secretary of the Com
| monwealth and former State Insur-
ance Commissioner. "Uncle Dave"
as he is known among Capitol Hill
| people, is one of the redoubtable
| lighters of political history of the last
| quarter century and the outcome of
| his collision with the sheriff is
awaited with interest here The
signs of cooling of the old friend
ship between Mayor-eleet j. Hamp-
| ton Moore and the Senator who
backed him are also being noted with
f, attention.
Mayor Thomas b. Smith, of
Philadelphia. has harked back to his
| legislative days in declaring that he
would not stand for appropriations
for the personal enjoyment of Phila-
! delphia councilmen. He said that he
was against councilmen taking city
money for a farewell banquet to the
/ bicameral system and also intimated
| that he would veto a bill to give
each councilman his desk and chair.
| LIN connection with the Philadel-
phia situation, the Evening Ledger
said the night before Christmas:
Senator Ware has lived too long to
believe in the Santa Claus myth. He
evidently holds that if you want
something in your stocking on
Christmas morning you must put it
4 there yourself. What he seems to be
looking for just now is q big chunk
of discord and he is exertfng him.
self to the utmost to get it, If he
can raise ructions in the new city
council he will do it. But it remains
to be seen whether he gets more
THAN he is counting on"
In Pittsburgh some of the school
boards have declined to take the ad-
vice from Capitol Hill to go ahead
and build regardless of high prices.
In two instances boards in Western
PENNSYLVANIA have refused to build
until prices come down and the
Pittsburgh Gazette Times saws that