The Atlantian (Atlanta, Ga.) 19??-current, November 01, 1922, Image 5
November, 1922
THE ATLANTIAN
5
self, and from the standpoint of big business was by no
means an ideal man for the post.
Secretary McAdoo faced a problem more complicated
and many sided than the Hudson tunnels. We do not re
call his making much outcry over his and the country’s
troubles, but he stayed by the job so faithfully and thor
oughly that some classed him as a “financial wizard.”
Courage, resourcefulness, a keen sense of justice, prudence,
genuine patriotism, executive ability and undying tenacity
won out again, and having done another great job on a Sec
retary’s salary, he quietly took up the task of making a liv
ing for his family. He has in eminent degree those quali
ties which have made some of our best Presidents great,
and if the American people should prove wise enough to
put him at the head of the government, this rare combina
tion of dreamer and doer would make a great President
for all the People.
SENATOR GEORGE
Judge George has been elected by a decisive majority as
Senator Watson’s successor.
He is a man of character, of good ability, and attractive
personal qualities.
He is spoken of as a Jeffersonian Democrat, which is a
sort of fetish in certain sections. Every man who believes
in Democratic principles may be fairly considered a Jeffer
sonian Democrat, but when it comes to the application,
there are many things we must do under present conditions
which Jefferson did not have to face.
We prefer to think of Judge George, who has not been
a professional politician, or place hunter, as a Democrat of
today, wedded to sound principles in such a way as to bring
the largest measure of good to the whole people. That is,
after all is said, the only sort of Democracy that counts.
One grows weary of the eternal threshing out of opinions.
We want a faith which proves itself by its works, and from
what we learn of Judge George we are impressed with the
idea that he is going to be that kind of Senator.
THIRTY-CENT COTTON
The shortage in the cotton supply of the world is begin
ning to be apparent even to the unthinking. To keep the
world properly supplied calls for an American crop around
12 million bales on an average. Last year we fell short, but
the European monetary difficulties, necessitating a rigid
economy, coupled with the carry-over from previous years,
saved the day for the consumers.
Another short crop in America has brought us face to
face with the fact that for the next season there will be no
carry-over, and, however sparingly people may buy, we are
going to face the end of the present season with the world
bare of raw cotton.
The situation developing from this condition is going to
be too difficult for the gamblers, those parasitic enemies
of the cotton growers more deadly than the boll weevil, to
handle as they have heretofore done.
Resulting from a naked world, and an insufficient sup
ply, the harassed cotton growers will have for once the
chance to recoup a small part of their losses, and the extent
to which they will recoup the losses of the past two years
will be governed by their ability to sit steady and sell spar
ingly. If they can and will do that, they will see thirty-cent
cotton and thereby put several hundred millions in their
pockets.
The mills are making great profits. Even the present
prices of manufactured cotton will justify 30 cents for the
raw material. Present conditions demand and justify for
the cotton growers of the South the solid support of every
bank, every merchant, every cotton dealer and every cotton
mill in the South. If every interest in the South will unite
in this emergency and get behind the men who have been
so sorely stricken in the last two years we will see the
South, by the time we begin to harvest another cotton crop,
500 million dollars better off than it is today* and any man
who, in this emergency, holds back for any reason what
ever, is, to put it mildly, the sort of citizen who is not a
credit to any country.
THE NEXT CONGRESS
A great work lies before the next Congress.
How it will be done only the future can tell.
The present Congress has been an overwhelming failure.
If the next Congress should remain Republican by a
big margin we can expect nothing for the public as a whole,
but much for the exploiting section for the dominant party
will accept the public support as an endorsement of the rot
ten failures and shortcomings of the past two years.
If on the other hand the present dominant party, should
retain power by a narrow margin, the era of explanations,
of hedging, of passing the buck, will set in, and the results
of that era will demonstrate whether it is possible to fool
all the people all the time,
One thing stands out like a sore thumb, the Republican
party, as at present organized and dominated, must go if all
the people are to be gainers by government. There are
some favorable signs. The machine has had some hard
knocks from within, and if enough of the new leaven can
get into the new Congress to exert a real influence we may
see some change for the better.
As long as the reactionary element can control through
such men as Lodge, Smoot, Frelinghuysen and men of that
type, we have nothing to expect.
One cannot help feeling that the Democrats are making
a mistake in trying to beat men like Pinchot, BrOokhart,
Howell and Frazier, instead of remaining passive in those
states and allowing the Progressives to walk over the
standpatters. It is not so much the party label that counts
as the character, views and principles of individual men
and just so long as we tie on to the party labels, regardless
of individuality, just so long must we pay the price.