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September, 1922 THE ATLANTIAN 5 sort of irresponsibility that we see in small boys, and the only hope of betterment now in sight is that the women may show a clearer appreciation of public duty than the men have done, and when that happy time comes the of fice of Governor will become a pleasurable distinction in stead of as it is now a vicarious punishment for the sins of the people. THE PRESENT CONGRESS In all the history of our country we have never before seen so stupid or incompetent a crowd in control at Wash ington as the present Republican majority in both the Sen ate and House. The only thing at all comparable to it is the present leg islature in Georgia. There is a difference, however, when we undertake to compare the two. The Republican majority at Washington is with long settled intent trying to serve faithfully its masters, the exploiting interests of the country. The partnership is of 40 years’ standing and very intimate. This time the gov ernmental end of the partnership is just a bit more brutal and coarse in its work than in bygone days. And what they are doing to the folks is a plenty. On the other hand, the Georgia legislature is merely an unexpurgated edition of plain jackassifiedness. There was no malice in it. The members of that wonderful body simply did not know any better. Incidentally, it is but fair to say that all the blame does not rest on the shoulders of the national or state legisla tors, but fully half of it belongs to that great and intelli gent public which after many years of recurrent brain storms has simply indulged in one like an eruption of Vesuvius, and picked the bummest lot of “statesmen” of which history has any record. In the language of an old-time philosopher, “May the Lord forgive us, we can never forgive ourselves.” FREE SPEECH—FREE PRESS—FREE CHURCH The Foundations of Human Progress In defense and advocacy of the three things named above, oceans of blood have been spilled during the past few centuries. We thought we had made some headway and in this 20th Century of struggle for human betterment we find certain elements undertaking to undermine these foundations. One element would curtail freedom of speech. Another assails the freedom of the press, and yet another is so intolerant that it would bring back the burnings at the stake for those whose theology is different from theirs. - Thomas Jefferson prized as the greatest achievement of his wonderful life that he was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty. Don’t forget that. For America has produced no greater rnjhd than Thomfas Jefferson, and no more truly Democratic spirit. V ,v . What right haye. r we to deny to others that freedom of thought and speech we claim for ourselves?. What right have we to say to the press, “You may publish only what pleases us?” What would become of our hardly won lib erty if we had no fearless spirits to write and send forth their arguments in our defense? What if they do have a lot of stuff we don’t care for? Somebody else likes it. Bear in mind this cogent fact: Human liberty has traveled a greater distance in the last 200 years than in all preceding ages. Why? The printed word is the answer. Then there is a spirit of religious intolerance abroad in the land which bodes ill for the country. You would fight for your religion, as I would even, though neither of us have, any surplus supply of it, and cannot we accord to the other man that respect for his convictions that you and I think we are entitled to, for standing by our principles? The deadliest enemies of our institutions are intolerance, bigotry, factionalism. If we really have any religion, and will recall the Gold en Rule we can see in a moment how utterly subversive of all human progress, of liberty, of good will, is that spirit which demands that our ’ism must live and the other fel low’s ’ism must perish. If our ’ism is superior, we can prove it by being so just, so kind, so serviceable, that after a time the other fellow will see it, but we can never bludgeon people into our way of thinking, and in the attempt we create animosities which breed disaster. THE RAILROAD PROBLEM Perhaps the most vitally pressing, as well as one of the most perplexing problems now demanding solution by the American people, is the rail road problem. Every human being is dependent to a large extent on a satisfactory transportation system and it is universally accepted at the present moment that the rail roads fur nish the best medium of transportation so far devised, whether the thing to be carried consists of merchandise, farm and forest products, live stock, building material or people. This being true, it is easily understood that every one has a vital interest in the successful operation of this great public utility. That the service must be efficient and the charges moderate is self-evident. At the beginning we did not have the wisdom to make this utility a publicly owned and operated convenience. We allowed grasping men to secure ownership and these through the agency of stock exchange gambling have found railroad stocks'the finest possible counters for playing an unscrupulous game and toiilding up huge, unearned for tunes. All abuses die hard because behind every abuse lie the sinister figures of the men who profit most by that which is. These men have almost persuaded the American peo ple that public ownership or operation would destroy their country, but in their zeal they have overshot the mark, and so today a reaction is setting in against the policies of the men who have turned our chief public utility into a public’