Newspaper Page Text
July, 1914
THE ATLANTIAN
3
The Atlantian
Box 118, Atlanta, Georgia
THE ATLANTIAN will give free space to all Secret Societies ami Labor
Organizations.
On the other hand, we put everybody on notice when TIIE ATLANTIAN
makes a statement "-'ilth we hclicve to be true, and such statement goes
uncontroverted, we shall insist that It Is true.
Published Monthly by The Atlantian Publishing Co.
E. Walter Tripp, Editor.
Vol. 6. JULY No. 63.
Our Motto: “Pull for Atlanta, or Pull Out. ”
Editorial Etchings
Fourth of July
Modern Democracy was born on July 4, 1776, or one
hundred and thirty-eight years ago today, when the Dec
laration of Independence was published to the world.
Thomas Jefferson, who was the principal author of that
great document, was beyond doubt a genuine Democrat;
but many of his colleagues, though giving their adhesion
and their signatures to that great document, were (in fact)
not real Democrats. They believed in independence from
England, but that personal Democracy, which is at the
foundation of any genuinely Democratic Government, was
a long way from their minds. The Federal Constitution,
made eleven years after the Declaration of Independence,
shows very clearly the conception which a majority of the
leaders of that time had of Democracy, for the Federal
Constitution is very far from being a Democratic docu
ment.
But evolution does not stop for statutes, or constitutions,
or declarations. Once a great idea, or a great governing
influence, is gotten into the minds of the people, it does
not matter how many reactions there may be, or how the
conservative may fight, in due time the idea will be work
ed out to serve its purpose, either for weal or woe.
And so Democracy has been on the march. The Dec
laration of Independence was merely the first bugle blast.
From that day down to this great hour, men have contend*
ed over the interpretation of Democracy—Republican and
Democrat; Whig and Democrat; Republican and Demo
crat again; Liberal Democrat and Republican; Populist,
Democrat and Republican; Democrat, Progressive' and
Republican—all these, and others of lesser note, have been
party names which, during our one hundred and twenty-
five years of history under the constitution, have each put
upon Democracy its own brand.
At times, it has looked as if Democracy would lose. Oli
garchy or aristocracy, at one time in the shape of slave
owners, and at another in the form of a money-loving plu
tocracy, weak and corrupt politics, governmental mistakes
and other things too numerous to mention, have conspired
to make the road of Democracy a hard one to travel. The
road has been traveled, however, and despite all the hos
tile or untoward influences it has become wider and a bet
ter beaten track.
Today we see, if not a triumphant Democracy, a Democ
racy well on the march toward triumph. The multiplied
thousands of little school houses, scattered from the At
lantic to the Pacific, from the Great Lakes to the Rio
Grande, are all hatcheries of Democracy, and the time is
not far distant, as time is counted in national life, when
men, enjoying the fruits of that triumphant Democracy,
will look back and say of the men of today: “How dull, how
slow, how uncomprehending,” and say it with truth.
Notwithstanding which truth, it is the often feeble, abor
tive, inconsequental and apparently purposeless efforts of
the men of today which will make it possible for the men
of that day to enjoy the fruits of Democracy; for in this
good year of 1914, we can look back one hundred and twen
ty-five years and see that we have moved toward Democ
racy—very little at a time, it must be owned; inch by inch,
some years a loss, other years a gain—but oh the whole
we have moved; and we see now the cloud, no bigger it
may be than a man’s hand, which stands for the coming
Democracy, and which in due season will cover the face
of the earth; when equal rights and equal privileges will
be every man’s share and not merely an oratorical phrase.
Let us, therefore, take courage in the light of what has been
done and make more earnest efforts to do, each of us, his
own little part in the great work which lies under his hand
for the betterment of the great Republic.
Senator Smith And The Opposition
Up to July 1st., it looked as if Senator Smith would
have no serious opposition for re-election.
On July 1st., former Governor Joseph M. Brown made
his announcement that he would be a candidate for the
term beginning March 1st, which means that he has taken
up his lance to enter the lists against Senator Smith. The
regrettable feature of this action on Mr. Brown’s part is
that it will stir into flame once more the smoldering em
bers of the old political fire which has been raging more
or less actively in Georgia for the last eight years, and
which, for the last two years, has been confined to an oc
casional spark. Many thoughtful men had hoped that this
feud would not be re-opened. But perhaps it is just as
well. The matter might as well be settled now as any
other time. For eight years, these two men have been
conspicuous in the public life of the State. Each has been
twice Governor, and from the Governorship Mr. Smith
passed to the Senatorship. The battle will have to be
fought out now on the record; and by the record Senator
Smith has an immense advantage.
Mr. Brown cannot, by any stretch of the imagination,
be classed as a progressive. He is by temperament, train-