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WAKING THE PUBLIC CONSCIENCE
"Brief Speeches on Citizenship From the Man Who "Redeemed St. Louis and Stirred a Continent by "Turning On the Light. ”
By Ex-Gobemor Joseph W. Folk.
LETIER NUMBER ONE.
~~ ""[HERE has been a great awakening on
the subject of individual responsibility
X 2 f° r a ff a i rs °f city, State and nation
Jw within the last few years. The public
conscience has been aroused against
W civic evils, and things are not tolerated
W now that a few years ago were sub-
\ niitted to in silence. Will the move-
• me nt toward higher ideals go on? Will
not the people soon forget? Have not the people
already forgotten, and will not things be allowed to
go on in the same old way as they were before the
awakening of the people? These questions are being
asked all over the country today.
Reforms sometimes die, but revolutions never go
backwards, and a revolution has been wrought in
♦he consciences of men. This awakening is merely
a determination to have the government of city.
State and nation represent the public interest and
noV special privilege. In the battle against privilege
some fights must be lost. With each fight lost we
■ should not lose heart, but battle all the har.der.
With each victory we should not become apathetic
and think all has been won. If the issue could be
presented squarely “between public rights and spe
cial privilege everywhere, there would be no doubt
as to the outcome. For the majority of the people
here and everywhere will do right when they know
right. The representatives of privilege are too
shrewd to permit a plain issue between public rights
rights and special privilege to go before the people.
They adroitly manage to complicate the main issue
with other questions, so as to bewilder and confuse
men of the best intentions. By confusing the issue
PHILATHEA GIRLS AND JUNE ROSES
" Brunslvickd>y*the-Sea” to be the Assembly Ground Tor Great flattie in a Modern "War of the Roses.”
UT no political intrigue or selfish seek
ing for earthly gain is the occasion for
this call “to arms.” The war is on
and on it will remain until the shackles
of indifference, inertness and inefficien
cy are broken from the feet and arms
and hearts of every Christian girl.
The roses' Ah! Baraca boy, shield your
heart, for Cupid will lurk in the heart
B
of every one of them and his darts will fly like mad
from the ambush of their eyes. For they are “Geor
gia Roses,” and every one an “American Beauty.”
The petals each are girlish charms, and the wil
lowy stems are the supple bodies that bend with
ease and grace to every task, however lowly. And
for fragrance, these roses will outrival the storied
urns of Egypt, for what can be sweeter than the
essence of consecrated womanhood!
And Brunswick! Dear Old Brunswick hath its
charms also. For of all the places where a conven
tion can “work while it works, and play while it
plays,” Brunswick bears the palm supreme and un
excelled. If you are a Philathea girl, go to the
third annual convention of the Georgia State Phila
th&a Union which Will be held in Brunswick, June
7-9. You will “live long and be happy ever after.”
The Brunswick Philathea' Union, which is com
posed of classes from the Methodist, Presbyterian
and Baptist Churches, is putting forth every effort
to make this the most successful and pleasant con
vention yet held.
As the Philathea movement is practically new and
there are some who are unfamiliar with the organi
zation and its work the following may be of inter
est:
Some of the young women of Syracuse, N. Y., led
by Miss May Hudson (now Mrs. May Hudson Dono
van), realizing the need of special work of this
character for the young women of their town organ
ized the first Philathea class in 1.898, adopting as
their platform “Young women at work for young
The Golden Age for June 2, 1910
♦he representatives of privilege divide the forces in
opposition. Those who object to reforms do not
usually put their protest upon the true ground, but
they seek some other pretext. They ask why is not
this or that done? If one examines the source of a
complaint like this, he will usually find that it is
not made because of a desire that reform be made
more thorough, but to discredit what has been done.
If one sincerely desires progress in the way of bet
ter things, instead of criticism he will give his help
in the accomplishment of the things wished for. Re
form always progresses by degrees—everything can
not be done in a day.
Hiding from the Light.
One of the obstacles to the progress of righteous
ness everywhere is the mistaken view that it injures
a city or State to prosecute wrongdoing. I have
heard men deplore the exposure of public corruption
because it hurt a city; I have heard men oppose the
enforcement of law against gambling and liquor law
lessness because it injures the State; I have heard
men object to prosecuting trusts and monopolies in
order to make them obey the law because it hurts
business. Such views are entirely false. No city
can be injured by the enforcement of the people’s
laws; to do otherwise is to substitute the will of
the official for the laws of the people, and that is
tyranny. No State can be hurt by exposing grafting;
to do otherwise is to connive at it. There is no
secret remedy known for evils of this character.
They can not be cured by hiding them. The dis
grace is not in their correction, but in submission
to them with supine indifference.
women, all standing by the Bible and the Bible
School.”
The name “Philathea” is Greek, meaning “lovers
of truth,” and the motto of the Philatheas is, “We
do things.”
But Syracuse could not hold the new idea, for
prominent workers all over the country discerning
the many virtues in the methods of this first class,
and realizing that just this kind of work was needed
at the time, adopted their plans and organized Phila
thea classes in their home towns, until now, twelve
years after the organization of the first Philathea
class, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and in foreign
countries the Philathea pin is worn, and many hun
dreds of girls and young women are marching un
der the class colors —blue and white, which mean
truth and purity.
The Philathea idea is perhaps one of the broadest
movements of its particular character organized in
recent years. It is undenominational, broad in char
acter, undertaken by earnest, consecrated young
women, and receiving the highest endorsement and
commendation, of representative citizens wherever
its influence is felt.
At the World-Wide Baraca Philathea Convention
held in Asheville, N. C., last June. 975 chartered
Philathea classes were reported. This convention
was composed of representatives from classes all
over the United States and Canada.
The Philathea movement has demonstrated that
organized work for young women is needed, and is
practicable.
The classes in several States have organized State
Unions. The Georgia State Union is composed of
eighty-one classes, and delegates from nearly all of
these classes are expected; already quite a large
number have been reported.
Among those to speak during the Convention are
Miss Eckert, the National Field Secretary of the
World-Wide Philathea Movement, whose visit to
Georgia at this time is looked forward to with a
It is well for a State to display its virtues and not
to parade its faults, but it should not be forgotten
that the' highest civic virtue is the overthrow of de
pravity. Grafters, whether in St. Louis, Philadel
phia, Chicago, San Francisco or Pittsburg, always
endeavor to have it appear that a fight against them
is a slander against the city in which they operate.
Criminal wealth, when assailed, always tries to hide
behind the skirts of legitimate business, and claims
that business is being attacked. According to their
argument, grafters should never be assailed lest
some assume that all in that city are grafters; and
lawlessness in business should not be fought lest it
be suspected that all business is lawless.
A commonwealth can have no better reputation
than to be known as a State wherein the people rule
through their laws, and where corruption is not
countenanced. Let the movement toward higher
ideals go on. Jhe fight tor the right is never quite
finished; the battle against, wrong is never over; in
iquity dethroned will rise again, if your vigilance is
relaxed.
In the work before us there is no use for the
sword, but there is a stern demand for that courage
shown by Americans on so many battlefields. The
spirit they exhibited as soldiers of war we should
show as soldiers of peace in the noblest work to
which the patriot can be called—-the supreme and
sublime effort to bring a little nearer, day by day,
the time when brotherhood and charity shall rule in
stead of avarice and greed; when “special privilege’’
in every form shall be destroyed and justice and
equal rights to all enthroned as the ruling principle
of public, and the guiding principle of private life.
great deal of pleasure by the Philatheas through
out the state; Dr. Len G. Broughton, of Atlanta,
who needs no introduction to the people of Georgia:
Mr. S. C. Callaway, of Atlanta, who has been the
friend of the Philathea movement from the time of
its organization, and who is at present Chairman of
the Committee on Expansion Work; Mrs. Sam Jones,
of Cartersville, and Mrs. Ivey, of Dawson.
Following is the program giving the daily routine
of the convention:
Tuesday, June 7, 1910—8:15 P. M.
Convention called to order by President —Miss
Mamie Deubler, Dawson.
Opening Prayer—-Rev. W. 11. Budd, First Metho
dist Church, Brunswick.
Music —Choir First Baptist Church.
Scripture Lesson- Rev. W. H. Budd.
Music -Choir First. Baptist Church.
Welcome from the City Hon. R. R. Hopkins,
Mayor.
Welcome from the Churches Rev. .1. E. Sam
mons, First Baptist Church.
Welcome from the Sunday Schools —Rev. F. D.
Thomas, Presbyterian Church.
Welcome from Baracas—J. O. Zellner.
Welcome from Philatheas —Mrs. A. M. Johnson,
Response to Welcome —Miss Alexander, Atlanta.
Music-Choir First Baptist Church.
Announcements and appointments of committees.
Adjournment.
Informal reception immediately after session.
Wednesday Morning—lo:oo A. M.
Hymn.
Scripture Lesson—Prayer—Mrs. W. H. Budd,
Brunswick.
President’s Greeting—Miss Deubler.
Organization- Roll call of delegates.
Minutes of previous meeting.
Report of Enrollment Committee.
(Continued on Page 8.)
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