Newspaper Page Text
July, 1916
THE ATLANTIAN
a
The Atlantian
Box 118, Atlanta, Georgia
THE ATLANTIAN will give free apace to all Secret Societies and Labor
Organisations.
On the other hand, we pnt everybody on notice when THE ATLANTIAN
makes a statement "•'■Ich we believe to be true, and such statement goes
uncontroverted, we shall Insist that It is true.
Published Monthly bv The Atlantian Publishing Co.^£^»
Vol. 8. JULY No. 88.
Our Motto: “Pull for Atlanta, or Pull Out * *
Editorial Etchings
Stand by the President
There has been all over the country more or less crit
icism of the President’s foreign policy.
But is must not be forgotten that the President is a
constitutionally elected official, and that the management
of our Foreign affairs are, under our laws, left in his
hands. This point must not be overlooked, and whether
he manages well or ill, when a crisis comes between us
and any foreign nation, it becomes the plain duty of the
American people to rally to the support of our official
spokesman.
In the past our people have always lived up to that
obligation, as to the vast majority, though in the war of
1812 there was fierce criticism and some overt action,
while in the Civil War there was much bitter criticism.
It is much easier to find fault than it is to imagine one’s
self in the other man’s place and then to consider how
one would act under such circumstances.
Roosevelt has savagely criticised the President, but
he has never one time set out an alternative policy.
Candidate Hughes has joined forces with Roosevelt,
but to this day no man knows what his attitude would
have been under the same conditions the President has
had to meet, and there is nothing in his record to indicate
that he would have acted differently.
For the American people to fail to rally to the support
of the administration in the grave situation which it
now confronts would be a denial of our faith, and a re
pudiation of our own actions, for it is by our votes that
Woodrow Wilson is President, and we knew the respon
sibilities of the office when we elected him.
To go to war under his leadership would not mean
a personal endorsement of all his acts, but would mean
that we refuse to desert our colors in the face of an
enemy.
There never has been a war in which there was not
a great number of soldiers who believed (they could
handle the army better than the general, but notwith
standing such belief these same soldiers have gone out
and fought like Trojans in obedience to the orders of
the much criticised general.
And this principle lies at the very root of organized
government. Here and there a fool pacifist, or a rabid
partisan may dispute this truth, or may try to evade their
plain duty, but the great mass of ordinary men, who
love their country and its institutions, will not split hairs
over the matter, but will grab their guns and go forth
to uphold the honor and dignity of their country.
It has always been so, and always will be so until we
sink into the luxurious life like Capua of old, and lose
our manhood, and when that time comes it will not mat
ter what becomes of us for we will not be worth saving.
The Georgia Legislature
The General Assembly of the state is now in session.
It is a very common custom to throw rocks at the Leg
islature, but do the people who throw these rocks ever
stop to consider that the Legislature is composed of the
same kind of folks that we are?
We elect them or they would not be there.
They represent a fair average of the country, or they
would not be there.
The legislators we send up to the capitol probably do
as well as we would do were we in their places.
Every country has just as good government and just
as good rulers as it deserves. Exactly.
The better plan, therefore, instead of abusing the men
we elect, would be to get behind them and back them
with moral support and helpful suggestion.
Acting on that principle The Atlantian would suggest
the advisibility of the Legislature taking such action as
would lead up to the elimination of the multitude of dead
laws on the statute books.
In some cases there are a half dozen, or dozen, dif
ferent laws bearing upon the same subject with the re
sult that the whole question is a hodge podge.
It is not so much that we have too much law as that
we have too many laws.
Our land transfer system needs simplication, and the
substitution of the Torrens system would be a godsend
to the property owners of Georgia.
Georgia stands forty-fourth among the states in an
educational way. This is not only humiliating to our
pride, but is harmful to the best interests of the state.
A Compulsory school law is, therefore, urgently
needed.
The Atlantian has faith in the good spirit and inten
tions of the legislators, and trusts the present session
will be harmonious and fruitful.
N. B. Every law submitted to the General Assembly
ought to be sent to some man who can write compact and
clear English, and who would revise it, cutting out the
tautoloeies and surpluses which leave gaps for misinter
pretation of the law’s purpose.
The Southern Railway Scores
The Southern Railway deserves its name.
It is par excellence the Southern Railway, not alone
because of its great mileage, but because it puts into its
management a spirit unusual anywhere in the country.
From the President down to the trackwalker, every
man’s conduct is always under observation, and both
praise and blame fall according to deserts.
A great esprit de corps is being built up, and as an
illustration of this may be cited a recent incident.
The great convention of the Order of Eagles, slated to
meet in Savannah, had its committees looking into the
transportation question. *
Apparently the Southern Railway was not in the game,