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A GREWT PROHIBITION DAILY
A Ringing Utterance by a Heroic Publisher —A Gem Tor Your Scrap Rook.
We have often said, in private, and now we re
joice to say in public that we candidly be
lieve that no other one thing has been
worth so much to Atlanta’s real upbuilding
in the last quarter of a century as the
coming of Frederick L. Seely within her borders.
He is a young man —only thirty-six—but he looks
almost like a beardless boy. A little over a year
ago he launched the Atlanta Georgian, an after
noon daily, with himself as full proprietor and pub
lisher, and the famous orator and writer, John
Temple Graves, as editor. Mr. Seely startled and
refreshed all lovers of home and purity by refus
ing to accept liquor advertisements and other un
clean ads. He thus deliberately turned out of his
pocket about twelve thousand dollars a year.
And now, when the greatest battle in the history
of Georgia’s civic and moral life is being fought,
and the great dailies in all the great cities of
Georgia are not only advertising liquor, but are
fighting state prohibition in their editorial col
umns, Mr. Seely—this brave young man, with a
kingly head on his shoulders and Christian heart
in his bosom —turns from the threats and the plead
ings of “predatory” wealth, and comes out square
ly and gloriously for state prohibition. What an
inspiring spectacle! —a great daily paper in the
F. L. SEELY, ATLANTA,
Publisher Georgian and News.
most famous city of the South, turning its news
columns and its editorial guns against every form
of the organized liquor traffic!
Let the God-fearing, God-honoring people of
America sit up and look fairly and squarely upon
this rare and beautiful picture.
Os course, John Temple Graves—he of the
golden heart and the unequaled pen —is in hearty
accord with Mr. Seely, and the editorials and special
articles which both of them are writing, together
with the news columns united in the fight against
saloons, all present one great, solid broadside to
the ranks of the liquor men, such as journalism
in America has never seen. We very frankly and
unreservedly advise all who love the cause of the
home against the saloon to have this great daily
sent to them for the next month at least. It will
be a battle royal in the cause of right, and will
prove a veritable moral tonic to every life it
touches. It is almost impossible to describe, to
those away from Atlanta the sensation of beautiful
enthusiasm which The Georgian’s announcement
had on Atlanta last Saturday afternoon..
The personal declaration of Mr,' Seely is so man
ly, so unique, and so positively thrilling that we
have determined io publish it in full, together with
his pi,ctufC| especially for the sake of our read-
The Golden Age for July 11, 1907.
ers at a distance, in order that they may keep
on file or put in their scrap-books, this notable ut
terance which deserves a place among the loftiest
sentiments of the truly great men of our time.
Last Friday, when a dozen men, representing many
millions of wealth, called on Mr. Seely, and used
every possible means to influence him to announce
against state prohibition, this fearless young man
—a veritable hero in the moral realm —listened
respectfully, then looked at them with steady eye
and unflinching nerve, and ran the last mother’s
son of Xhem into the corner with his simple,
searching questions. One man among them con
fessed that the reason he wanted saloons to con
tinue was because he had many houses rented to
them, and it might, for a time, lessen the income
which he receives from several million dollars worth
of property. And with kindred argument, steeped
in human blood, and saturated with human sorrow,
all forgotten in their love of gold, these promi
nent men left the office of the moral hero, dis
armed and discomfited, but secretly admiring him,
of course, in their hearts.
His Mother’s Victory.
He did not dream that the writer would tell it,
but some words fell from F. L. Seely’s lips at lunch
on Monday following his announcement which ought
to be given to our young readers. In a tender,
confiding way he said to the writer: “Saturday
evening, after The Georgian .was out, I felt a
peace in my soul that I had never known before.
The battle had been long and trying. The pressure
on the other side has been so strong and so persis
tent. I was anxious to see my duty clear, and then
be brave enough to do it. And after it was all
over 1 wrote a letter to my dear little mother —
sixty-seven years old, and crippled —and said:
‘Mother, this is your victory. The little white rib
bon you used to wear on your bosom, your prayers
and love and tears for the Right have all come
to a head today. If two and a half million people
in Georgia shall be free from the curse of the
saloon, you have some part in it, mother. 1 have
felt all along that if I should take any other
course it would hurt you. It is your life, your vic
tory, mother, speaking in the life and puipose of
your bay and The Georgian today.’ ”
And then there were some more tears —the manly
kind that Paul spoke of down by the sounding
sea.
But read the manifesto of such a man, and thou
sands of wives and mothers will rejoice with his
own that God has given us such a man for such an
hour: ‘■s $ ' H
“The Georgian and Prohibition.
“The Georgian started out, and has tried thus
far, to be an absolutely unbiased, plain newspaper,
telling the news on both sides of every question—
not siding with factions or men.
“In our determination to live up to these prin
ciples, The Georgian did not openly support Mr.
Smith for governor, though he was the sincere
choice of both the editor and publisher of the
paper. Our duty is to tell the facts to the people
and let them judge for themselves. The people
are intelligent and thoughtful.
“But the unexpected has happened. A great
question has arisen. It has come suddenly. It is
not a question of men. It is not a question of poli
tics. It may be a question of sentiment. It may
be principle. It may be fanaticism. The Georgi°n
doesn’t care what it is called. It is an effort in
the General Assembly to prohibit the manufacture
and sale of intoxicating drink as a beverage in
the state of Georgia. The question is so great that
it seems to be the duty of The Georgian to lay
aside any and every rule or policy that interferes
with advocating and supporting the measure, and
we now and hereby give all the energy, support
and power that in this paper lies to the end that
the prohibition legislation now pending in the state
shall become a law.
“Few, if any, who read this know how serious
a matter it is to us. It is so serious a matter that
it demands the unbounded co-operation of every
friend of the cause in the state of Georgia.
“Listen, please: The paper you are reading and
every Georgian that is printed, costs far more
than you paid for it. This is true of all newspa
pers. You pay two cents, and that only pays for
the paper it is printed on and the cost of delivery
in most cases. The Georgian’s payroll alone is
$2,000 a week. The advertiser pays the difference.
He pays over twice as much toward getting The
Georgian out as you do in order to get you to
trade with him.
“Most of us know that reforms of this kind
are supported largely by people with moderate
means. Few men of wealth sympathize with them.
Men of wealth are always amongst those who fight
such measures —and The Georgian has enlisted it
self with the poor folks.
“Here’s the trouble: Some of the advertisers
have already put us on notice. Others have
brought pressure to bear to get us to fight the pro
hibition measure. Still others have said they want
prohibition. It is your duty to rally to those mer
chants who by continuing to patronize The Georgian
enable us to help in the fight, and, when you can,
say that you are doing so. The Georgian is backed
by a great deal of money. We may lose a great
OH
F fiHi
JOHN TEMPLE GRAVES,
Editor Atlanta Georgian and News.
deal of money in the stand we are taking.
We are willing to stand a loss in such a cause.
Personally, if a great happiness could be brought
to thousands of homes, there is no sacrifice I would
not make. But it is plain to all that we cannot ask
the readers of The Georgian to pay a higher price
to make up for the advertising shortage. So we
simply ask our friends to be loyal to us —and we
will stand or fall together. Many business men,
bankers and real estate men are against the meas
ure. Some of our best men are for it. Many are
against it because they are afraid they will lose
a little money. Fairly good cause to lose in, gen
tlemen! Everybody who is against it is against it
because —‘prohibition doesn’t prohibit.’
“The Georgian is for it because:
“First, we believe it is best for the people.
“Second, because we believe that from three
to five million dollars a year in Atlanta goes to the
saloon that may in part go to the dry goods store,
the builder and the contractor. One million in
this direction would be better than the five the
other way.
“Third, because we believe it is best because it
would do more to regulate the negro who commits
his greatest crime because of liquor, and whose
most venal appetites are fired by it. This alone is
of sufficient importance to try the experiment if
all experiences in other states where there is no
negro population had been absolute failures.
(Concluded on page 13.)
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