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THE ATLANTIAN
November, 1918
4
I am the giant crane of the brain.
I am the lens that magnifies the farthest star and
the hand that reaches to its height.
Mine is the eye that pierces mountain-sides and sees
the treasures of the rock.
I am the herald of things to be-—guide to civilization
—architect of evolution—I strike the soul-spark that
warms the clay to kinship with immortals.
I am the dream of man-awake.
All that is.mighty on earth and all that is noble in
might—-all that is finest and [farthest and fairest my
pencil sketched;
I stand upon the desert sands and summon fruitful
waters from the hills to slake the parching wastes.
I survey highways in the wilderness and beckon cour
age to the new-found roads.
I tear the bolts from out the hands of Jove and har
ness them to wheel and lamp.
I spin the wonder web of wires o’er the miles, and
gift the strands with speech.
I drive my iron horses over mountain peaks.
I blend the pigments for the painter’s brush and or
chestrate musicians’ hands.
I am Revelation—Horizon, Vision, Hope, Faith—the
Light Eternal.
I AM THE VOICE OF GOD.
I whisper, and walls rise into the clouds, and sur
geons’ knives find foulness in sick flesh, and wings of
canvass breast the winds, and unseen ships hear cries of
help scream from a leaping spark.
I sow tomorrow with good seed.
Without me man is meat.
Swords have won nothing for the world—great fights
are fought with thought.
’Twas I who taught the wheel-maker and the tool-
shaper and the rail-layer and the boat-builder.
I am the Master in Man.
I am Opportunity. I stalk in the sunrise. At dusk,
Time the Sweep brushes away my track, but Tomorrow
I come to walk anew.
About Our City Government
The administration of the affairs of the City of
Atlanta presents a most perplexing question. For many
years past, the City has had a phenomenal growth in
population, in volume of business and in the way of
buildings. The various communal interests, however,
such as sanitation, education, good streets and public
works, have not kept pace with the growth of the City,
and resulting from this, we find ourselves annually faced
by a finance problem which seems as years go by to grow
rather more acute instead of improving. •
It is not our purpose here to find fault with anybody
—we are not criticising the personnel of the City Gov
ernment. The individual’ members average up well
enough. They are usually men of good character, of
average intelligence, and not lazy. When these men
come together, however, to administer our City affairs,
they appear to meet with insuperable difficulties. We
have approximately five million dollars per year to spend,
and that five million is annually one million short of our
needs. In other words we are trying to run a six-mil-
lion-dollar town on five million dollars. This is the crux
'of the question. Unless we can find a remedy, we are
bound to go from bad to worse.
Atlanta is to-day the dirtiest City in Georgia. It
may be that in other Georgia Cities they have shack tene
ment districts for the poor white, people and the negroes
similar to those we have in Atlanta—certainly, on the
surface, other Georgia Cities are cleaner than Atlanta.
Atlanta is trying to set the pace, but it fails utterly in
setting the p&ce in' those matters which are even of more
vital importance than big business. The greatness of a
City consists, not in the greatness of its possessions, but
in the quality of its citizenship. We cannot deny that
in some very essential things Atlanta is making bad
character.
Our newspapers have no other remedy than bond
issues, but under the present construction of the law bond
issues are practically impossible. It looks as though we
must work out the solution along some other line. It
may be that such an adjustment or equalization of taxes
could be made as would remedy the evil financial situa
tion—but we cannot be sure even of that.
It looks as if the best thing that could be done would
be for the selection of five citizens, representing men of
the different classes in the community, to spend several
months in a thorough investigation of conditions with a
view to making recommendations that would solve our
governmental problems. Even this might be a failure,
but at least it would be aii honest effort. One thing is
certain—unless we mend our civic affairs, and that soon,
we are going to be in a position that will imperil the
most vital interests of the City, and this is not said as
a reflection upon any man, or any set of men.
The People Should Rule
We want the people, in fact as well as in theory, to
rule this great Republic, and the Government at all times
to be responsive to their just demands. The people can
and ought to be trusted. They have demonstrated their
ability for self-government. If the people can not be
trusted, then our Government is a failure and the free
institutions of the fathers doomed.
The Rights of Workingmen.
We are especially interested in the problems affect
ing workingmen. If Americans would excel other nations
in commerce, in manufacture, in science, in intellectual
growth, and in all other human attainments, we must