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THE ATLANTIAN
September, 1919
The Harrison Law Enforced
The Harrison law for the regulation of nacotics is
being rigidly enforced by Revenue Agent Gnatt. There
have been some who have feared that the prohibition of
the liquor traffic would result in the increased use of
deleterious drugs.
This fear has not been justified. The Harrison law
which is an effective measure and the enforcement of
which is in the hands of the Internal Revenue Depart
ment is being carefully looked after everywhere with the
result that it is becoming all the time increasingly diffi
cult for people to form the drug habit. In this district,
Mr. Gantt is proving himself a most efficient adminis
trator, and unless some untoward disaster comes to pre
vent proper administration of law the next generation of
Georgians will be free from the curse of both the alcohol
and drug habit. To this end all good citizens should co
operate, for in these troublous times that nation will fare
best whose citizens do not inflame their minds and bodies
.with drink, or enfeeble their brains with narcotic drugs.
The New Federal Judge
Hon. Sam H. Sibley.
The Northern District of Georgia has a new Federal
Judge in the person of the Hon. Sam Sibley. Judge Sib
ley comes to his new position, highly endorsed by those
who know him best as being posessed of ample legal
ability and judicial temper.
In the vigor of his early prime he will be able to give
a strong support and much needed rest to Judge Newman,
the great veteran who has given a life time of service of
which the people of Georgia are proud. That Judge Sib
ley may measure up to the high standard so long main
tained by Judge Newman is the best that one can wish
for him and that he will do so is the confident belief of
those who know him best.
Rent Profiteering
Ninety-five per cent of all the buildngs in American
cities, whether for business or residential purposes ante
date the present era of high building costs. This means
that the landlords have no larger investment from which
to get returns than they had 2, or 3, or 5, or 10 years ago
as the case may be.
Insurance is no higher, State, City and County taxes
are generally about the same. If the landlord’s income
tax is so large as to be noticeable, he is evidently a rich
man with plenty to go upon, and therefore not justified
in trying to unload his income tax on his tenants. The
one item which could justify any increase in rents is the
cost of repairs. But even if repairs cost 100 per cent
more than two or three years ago to cover that additional
expense would necessitate only a very small raise in
rents.
This brings us down to the real facts. The craze to
make big money quickly has seized upon the landlords
as it has on every greedy money grabber in the country
and they are bent on the despoliation of their fellows just
as earnestly as the food hogs whose headquarters are in
Chicago, the cotton and stock gamblers who center in
New York, and the great brood of smaller hogs and gam
blers who curse every section of our afflicted country.
We are a patient people and submit to many unfair prac
tices in our economic life, but there is a limit to patience
and we are daily drawing nearer to the point where we
will pass the limit.
It would be well for them and the country if the gen
try whose unbridled lust for money is creating such bit
terness would bridle their desires and try to grasp the
meaning of the motto of Georgia: “Wisdom—Justice—
Moderation.”
Daniel C. Roper
The World’s Greatest Collector of Money.
In all recorded history it is probably true that no such
amount of money has been handled in the same length
of time as has been handled by the Internal Revenue De
partment of our government under the management of
the Hon. Daniel C. Roper.
This business so great in volume that it is hard for
the mind to grasp the figures is done noiselessly, without
display or boasting, and with efficiency. Executive and
organizing ability of a high order is called for and is
found. When we are disposed to criticise government,
and there are ample grounds for justified criticism it is
well to be just and to recall the much splendid work being
done by the Internal Revenue Bureau, the Reclamation
Bureau, the Public Health Service, the Postal Department,
etc., as an offset to our failures. Government can never
be perfect as long as conducted by men, and it is a cause
for congratulation that we get so much good work as we
do. Our failures stand out like a sore thumb, our suc
cesses are accepted as a matter of course with little
thought of the credit due the faithful men who spend
laborious and anxious days of thought and labor that the
public may be well served.
One cannot doubt that in every one of these well con
ducted governmental agencies like the Internal Revenue
Bureau there is a constant search for improved methods.
Let us be discriminating therefore in criticism and not
forget to accord praise to the loyal men who are giving
us the best that is in them.
Speculation Must Go
The greatest evil today in the economic life of the
world is Speculation.
It is not going too far to say that unless we destroy
speculation, which is but a polite name for gambling, it
will destroy civilization.
It begins with land, goes on to cotton, then to stocks
and bonds, then to foodstuffs, then to mines, then to oils,
until today it is the dominant force in the business life
of the world.
It was born of that hellish greed which wants to
profit at the expense of another, it has no conception of
a square deal, it stands ready at all times to play a rigging