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Ihe Semi-Weekly Journal.
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TUESDAY. MARCH 2. 1>«
gu==: ■ ■'
Gomes to Cuba—At last, darling, we
are alone.
After July, which city will act as Chat
tanooga a Chattanooga?
According to local police records, the
world Is not growing better.
It was bad enough when eggs went up.
but now 'possum is U a pound.
With Roosevelt in the Farmers* union,
the boll weevil had better look out.
Persimmons, 'possum, potatoes and
prosperity seems to be the bon mot just
now.
Roosevelt and Taft each having written
about tbe other, which is which's Bos
well?
The brown-tail moth will soon divide
honors with the boll weevil as a distin
guished invader.
Arkansas having adopted "Arkansaw"
ns the official pronunciation, what Is
the matter with Kansaw?
Now that Unde Sam has left the is
land. Cuba will take things easy with
eock fights and other old-time diversions.
It la going to be a misdemeanor to
give a worthless check. But what about
giving them on the eve of a legal holi
day? |
The time is short before President
Roosevelt retires, but there is still time
to receive applications to the Ananias
club.
Teacher—What is the difference be
tween a politician and a patriot?
Scholar—A patriot does something for
his country; a politician does his coun
try.
Ts a boy is bad. don’t hand him a ser
monette to make him good; beat him."—
Dr. M. V. O'Shea, of the University of
Wisconsin
"Spare the rod. spoil the child.”—Solo
mon.
Thus are two noted authorities agreed.
ROOSEVELT’S TRIBUTE TO TAFT.
The most striking feature of the
Inaugural Souvenir, which has just
come from the press to be distributed
during the inaugural ceremonies, is
the sketch of the life of Judge Wil
liam H. Taft written by President
Roosevelt
Whatever may be the personal es
timate of Nr. Roosevelt at this time.
It cannot be denied that he has had
abundant opportunity to know and
estimate his successor in office as no
other man can, perhaps, and this
tribute to him constitutes a strong
recommendation which the people of
the south are ready to ratify, so far
as Mr. Taft’s personality is con
cerned.
The keynote of the president's
sketch is to be found in the statement
that “no man of better training, no
man of more dauntless courage or
common sense and higher character
has ever come to the presidency than
William Howard Taft.”
The sketch of bls life, as written
by the president. Is concise and to
the point, but interwoven with the
record of his service are observations
on his personal fitness which are*
highly gratifying.
One week from today the presi
dent-elect will assume the duties of
his high office and the strenuous
president who has occupied the
white house for almost eight years
will retire to private life. It is a
time when the American people are
anxious to secure ever)* sidelight on
the personality of the man who is
soon to be their chief executive.
Mr. Roosevelt’s candid tribute is
•»-yt the least important of these aids
to a better understanding of the man
behind the smile.
Value of Swinburne Volumes
Once again Mr. Swinburne, while still
in his lifetime, is on the list of rare
editions. At a library sale in New York
the other day a copy of his "Rosamund"
brought the record price of four hundred
dollars. At the same sale Shelley.
Thackeray and Oscar Wilde were shown
tn precious copies, but Mr. Swinburne was
practically tbe only living author whose
volumes commanded extreme prices. Some
of the rarest volumes in this sale were
those of Charles Latnb. to whom the poet
dedicated his recent volume of criticism.
“The Age of Shakespeare.” and to whom
bis devotion is aa fervently characteristic
as hto devotion to William Blake—who
by the way. Illustrated Lamb's “Tales
from Shakespeare.” this volume also, by
rare coincidence, being on view at the
same sale.
ttossetlmes a grafter to s man who got wbat
Am crl.ica were seeking.
THE PASSING OF ROOSEVELT',
On Thursday at noon Theodore Roosevelt, twenty-sixth president of
the United States, will retire from the office of chief magistrate, which
he has filled since the twentieth century was nine months old.
It was on November 4, 1900, that he was elected vice president of
the United States, after a nomination which he was undoubtedly sincere
tn wishing to decline, since no man knew better than he the helpless
and hopeless oblivion and inactivity to which that position, in the
ordinary course of events,* consigns the occupant of it.
On September 14 of the following'year—eix months after taking
the oath of office coincidentally with the second inauguration of President
McKinley, the genial and kindly chief executive who had guided us
safely through thp perils of the Spanish-American war and had bound
together the various sections of our common country more closely than
ever, died of the wound Inflicted by an assassin at Buffalo, and the
cowboy colonel found himself called to the highest position in the gift
of the American people.
Pledging himself to a continuance of the policies which the
martyred president has set on toot, and manifesting great activity in
the interest of the people as against corruption and corporate abuses, he
soon won the admiration and affection of the American people. His
tireless energy, his repeated assurances that "malefactors of great
wealth” should be prosecuted, civilly and criminally, the reiterated
homilies which bad not yet become as tedious and as obviously empty
as they afterwards proved to be, all contributed to increase his
popularity, and in 1904 he was elected president by the largest popular
vote ever given a candidate for that exalted position.
The beginning of the second term saw but little decrease in his
popularity. Men wondered that no "malefactors" were sent to jail and
that proceedings against corporate abuses were allowed to drag, but
they hoped on and continued to lend him their moral support. \
But as the years went by, and he became more accustomed to
place and power, the real nature of the man began to manifest itselt.
Eccentricities which find no explanation except in his absorbing vanity
and egotism made tbe groundlings laugh while the judicious grieved.
His arbitrary conduct found one of its most offensive expressions in his
effort to centralize the powers of the general government at the expense
of the states. He began to play a role between that of a political
dictator and an irritable pedagogue. He lectured courts and congresses
in a manner which reminded one of Lord Holland's remark: I would
like to be as cock-sure of anything as Tom Macaulay Is of everything.
He was firing special messages to tbe national legislature at the rate,
sometimes, of halt a dozen a day. He was assuming executive powers
of which no preceding president had ever dreamed.
Much of the prestige he had enjoyed was already lost, months ago,
and yet it remained for tbe close of his administration to bring him
into the positive contempt of the American people. ’Never before in the
history of this country, perhaps, has an administration which opened
with so much promise closed in such bitterness and such complete
revulsion of sentiment.
The unseemly haste with which the president consigned to member
ship in the Ananias club every man who took issue with him created a
feeling of resentment long ago. It became acute when he accused Judge
Parker of falsehood in charging that corporations had contributed
heavily to the Republican campaign fund four years ago. Ihe
confessions of the insurance companies that they had done so, and the
inside facts as to Mr. Harriman’s tat-frylng. at the president s sug
gestion, convicted the president of the very mendacity of which he was
so ready to accuse Judge Parker.
The real climax of his mischievous conduct, however, began with
his assaults upon Mr. Bryan and bls active participation in the Republican
campaign. In theory, at least, the president is the president of all the
people, and not merely the successful candidate of a party. Once In
office he should take no part in partisan politics. This had become a
strong conviction on the part of the American people. The "pernicious
activity" which was forbidden to minor employes of the government was
all the more important in the chief executive, and yet he insisted upon
acting the part of a ward politician while enjoying the honors and
emoluments of the highest office in the gift of the people.
During the past few months he seems literally to have thrown to
the winds every consideration of dignity, justice and patriotism. He
has become not only an intermeddler but a common scold. If he had
deliberately made up his mind to flout and Infuriate the people as the
climax of his administration he could not have gone about it more
effectually. His conduct in permitting and tacitly encouraging the
violation of the Sherman anti-trust law by the United States Steel
corporation is now known to have been a flagrant piece of conduct which
was not even justified by an alleged emergency. The curt Impudence
with which he replied to the senate Inquiry on the subject aggravated
the situation still more.
His assault upon the members of congress who voted to restrict
the use of the secret service within their legal province, practically
charging them with seeking immunity from investigation and complicity
with crime, outraged the amenities due from one branch of the
government to another.
His message to congress, assailing Joseph Pulitzer and other
editors, was the most Infamous state paper ever sent to a congress ot
the United States, It dripped with gall and wormwood. It was Inspired
solely by personal venom and wounded vanity. He has deliberateli
made himself a party to an attempt to revive the methods of the star
chamber and to throttle the free press of the country.
In short, he has done more to undermine the structure of our
governmental institutions than all the enemies of this republic since
George Washington was offered a crown. Were It not for the reaction
which his awkward efforts have brought about he would have laid the
groundwork of despotism in the heart ot the republic.
Noisy, vain, self-centered, he has been, during the past few months,
like a bull in a crockery shop, and throughout the length and breadth oi
the country there will be a sigh of relief on Thursday afternoon when
it is realized that tbe imperious charlatan is no longer at the head of
After which he will "sink to silence, like a tavern brawl."
the government.
DA VIS' NAME RESTORED.
The action of the secretary of war in issuing orders that the name
of Jefferson Davis should be restored on the tablet affixed to Cabin John
Bridge Is an act of tardy justice which the whole country fully
appreciates.
Whatever agency may be chiefly responsible for this step, it is the
logical outcome of that spirit ot tolerance and good will, rising superior
to all sectional passion or prejudice, which has made this step possible.
The order tor the erasure of his name was given at a time of
violent feeling, when the country was engaged in dtvil war. It was
unworthy of the government of a great country, but while it may not be
condoned it can be understood, when all the attendant circumstances
are borne in mind.
Whatever malice lay behind it, whatever purpose there may have
to bury the name of Davis tn oblivion, only defeated their own ends,
so
The Caesar * pageant, shorn of Brutus’ bust.
Did but of Rome's best eon remind her more.
This disfigured tablet, the absent name, was a more enduring
monument, a more conspicuous inscription, than If the name had been
left undisturbed.
The thanks of the country are due to the organizations which have
been active in securing the restoration of the name of Davis. His Is a
name which will always be Invested with a peculiar pathos when the
story of the Confederacy is recalled. The severest penalty visited upon
many of the participants in that great conflict was death on the field
of glory or the consciousness of defeat in the end.
But the president of the Confederacy was in many respects made
a vicarious sacrifice for the whole south. Chains and dungeons and the
petty detractions of little minds stung him and humiliated him and
bowed him to the grave.
It is gratifying to reflect, not merely that the government which
obliterated his name from a piece of work constructed while he was a
member of the cabinet has at last restored it to the memorial tablet,
but it is also pleasant to realize that such an act of restitution, tardy
though it be, is only in keeping with the fraternal spirit of the times.
EXTENDING THE STATE ROAD.
The Columbus Ledger of February 21 takes up the question of the
extension of the Western and Atlantic railroad and discusses it with
earnestness and deep conviction.
In this editorial, which we reproduce in another column, the
Ledger points to the fact that this extension was a part of the original
purpose of the state's ownership, and that unless this step is taken the
value of the property as it now stands will be seriously impaired.
The Ledger naturally takes a keen interest in the extension of a
branch line to the Chattahoochee river and Is doing its full part towards
stimulating local Interest in securing such extension. Efforts are now
being made to build a system of dams and locks on the Chattahoochee
for a regular six or eight-foot slack-water navigation to some deep-sea
port on the Gulf of Mexico. The people of Muscogee, and we may
THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1909
assume of the ehtlre western section of the state are anxious that this
deepening of the Chattahoochee shall go hand In hand with the extension
of a branch line to Columbus. They recall that such an extension would
be only half as great in length as an extension from Atlanta to the
Atlantic seaports.
We feel sure that the special commission appointed to investigate
the plan of extending the road will take into consideration the claims of
Columbus as well as of the Atlantic seaports, and there is no reason why
there should be any conflict of Interests.
The extension of the Western and Atlantic railroad to the Atlantic
ocean is a logical necessity.. Indeed, it may be said that such a course
is the main end to be kept in view. It will open up a more direct route
for shipping to European ports, and will facilitate the distribution- of
commodities from the west to all that eastern section of the state.
But there is no disposition whatever to overlook the claims of the
western section of the state. The building of the Panama canal would
alone furnish a reason for extending one branch of the road to the
Chattahoochee, which connects directly with the gulf ports.
We do not hesitate to say that the work ot extension would be
decidedly incomplete unless this branch was extended to Columbus, and
the citizens of lhat prosperous city—the people ot all western Georgia
may depend upon it that their claims will not be overlooked.
These are details which will work themselves out. The one great
aim to be kept constantly before the people of Georgia Is that the state
road must be extended. As the Ledger says, the value and usefulness
of the road as it now stands will be practically destroyed, after the
expiration of the lease, unless the line is extended, and this fundamental
fact is to be kept clearly and constantly In view. We must make a
determined and united effort to secure this extension and to that end
we need the hearty co-operation of every section and every interest in
the state.
NATIONAL CAPITAL
NEWS AND GOSSIP
By Ralph Smith
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 27.—When
the senate is reorganized after March 4th,
Senator Owen, of Oklahoma, will give up
his present seat on the back row, and
claim the fourth seat from the center on
the first row—the seat occupied by Jeffer
son Davis, when he was a senator from
Mississippi, prior to the civil war.
The same desk that was used by the
president of the beloved Confederacy still
occupies its old place, and Senator Owen
will retain it for his own use. The desk
has a history. It is the only piece ot
furniture in the senate chamber that is
not perfectly immaculate, and except for
a partly hidden scar on its face, it ia like
all the others.
The scar represents the malicious work
of a Yankee soldier, who, at the close of
the war, rammed his sabre through the
desk as an evidence of his hatred for
Jefferson Davis, who once decupled it. The
scar has. of course, been patched and put
tied, and is barely discernable even £t
close range.
Senator Owen is a native born Vir
ginian, and when he takes the old Davis
teat it will bring three Virginians in a
row. Senators Daniel and Martin occupy
seats on the front row of the chamber.
The Banner State.
Mississippi is tfie banner state of the
union in so far as native son representa
tion in the United States senate is con
cerned. Besides Senators Money and Mc-
Laurin, both natives of the state they rep
resent, there are, or will soon be, five oth
er senators who were born in Mississippi.
Senator Gore, of Oklahoma, is a na
tive of Webster county, Miss.
Sea at or Bailey, of Texas, was born in
Copiah county.
Senator Newlands, of Nevada, is a son
of 'Adems county.
Senator Clarke, of Arkansas, claims
Yazoo county as Ms birthplace.
Governor Chamberlin, of Oregon, who
will become a senator on March 4th,
was born in Warren county.
Champ Clark as a Leader.
•'Champ Clark is making a very sat
isfactory leader,” 'said a member of the
minority the other day. and he express
ed the view entertained by a vast ma
jority of the Democratic members of the
house. The Missourian has made good.
There is a vast difference between the
method of leadership followed by John
Sharp Williams and the method being re
sorted to by Mr. Clark. Mr. Williams
was in many respects an excellent leader.
As a debater he has few equals in the
house, and his knowledge of public ques
tions is large and diversified. He can,
and he did, cope with the best of them,
but Mr. Williams was not. and is not-, as
popular with the entire membership ot
the minority as is Mr. Clark, not that
anyone lacked confidence in the Mississip
pian, but that a number rebelled at some
of his tactics.
Mr. Williams rather challenged, or in
vited hostility in certain quarters, where
as Mr. Clark seeks, and has thus far suc
ceeded in harmonizing the warring ele
ments of the minority. In a word, he is
more politic, it seems, than Mr. Wil
liams. and he is thereby enabled to get
more work out of the members, both on
the floor and in the committees.
The Blakely Postoffice.
Although many of the leading citizens
of Blakely are • urging the confirmation
of the appointment of Mrs. Mamie Fryer
Smith as postmaster at the Early county
site, it is being held up in the senate at
the instance of Representative Griggs, in
whose district Blakely is located. Mr.
Griggs insists that Mrs. Smith be not
confirmed, and his emphatic stand is suf
ficient to hold the appointment for some
time. As has been frequently explained in
these dispatches, It is. and has ever been,
the invariable practice of the senators
to respect the wishes of the representa
tives relative to postofflee appointments,
and so long as Mr. Griggs fights Mrs.
Smith the Georgia senators will have to
hold up the confirmation.
An Error Corrected
ANDERSONVILLE. Ga.. Feb. 17, 1909.
Atlanta Journal. Atlanta. Oa.
The dispatch in The Journal of 18th instant,
reading, “The senate vesterdav afternoon pass
ed the Foraker bill directing the secretary of
war to accent the Andersonville, Oa., ceme
tery from the Woman's Relief Corps, with
a view to eventually converting It Into a na
tional park, is so inaccurate and misleading
that it requires correcting; more especially as
It has. doubtless, gone Into the columns of
hundreds of newspapers all over the country.
The national cemetery at Andersonville, On.,
where are burled all those who died prisoners
of war at this place during the summer of
1864, numbering about 12.872. has been the
propertv of the United States since July. 1865,
and has been improved and beautified from
year to year ever since. The bill of Senator
Foraker relates entirely to a different piece
of property, and which tin to the present time
has had no connection whatever with the cem
etery mentioned.
The old prison grounds situated about a
half mile south of the cemetery was for a
number of years after the war closed the prop
erty of a negro named George Kennedy Some
twenty years ago the Grand Army of the Re
public. departments of Georgia and North Ca
rolina. to prevent this soot of ground falling
into the hands of those desiring it for specu
lative purpose*, bought it. They could, how
ever. make no improvements on it for want
of the necessary funds, and. therefore, they
‘endered it to the national encampment of the
G. A. R.. but that organization having their
hands full, and no money to spare for the
improvements that would have been called for
had they accepted the tender, refused the gift.
Finally the Woman's Relief Cores acceptd the
property, and have expended thousands of
dollars In improvement!. Including the erec
tion of a handsome cottage, grading, eto.
Recently the W. R. C. saw that the con
tinuous drain on their resource* on account
of this property would in time bankrupt th»lr
treasury, they tendered the property to the
United States, and the bill Introduced by
Senator Foraker and which has just passed
the senate is to bring about that result.
Wisconsin. Rhode Island. Massachusetts
Ohio and Michigan have erected fine and
co*tlv monuments within what was once the
prison grounds, and It was to provide suitable
care and protection for these as much as
anything else that brought about this move
ment. ,
There hae been no idea in the mind of those
favoring this transfer to create a park at
Andersonville. Possibly such a thing may
be done in the futu*a. depending upon clr
cumatances and conditions not possible at
present to foresee.
This Is a short, condensed account at the
whole transaction. J. M. BRYANT.
STRONGL Y IN FA VOR
OF PROPOSED EXTEN
SION OF STATE ROAD
Columbus Ledger.
In a short few years the present leas*,
of the state railroad will expire. Realiz
ing this, Governor Smith, when he was
campaigning for election, and after hU
election, made a vital issue that the state
road should be extended, one view being
that without this extension, the road
from Chattanooga to Atlanta would be
bottled up, and this magnificent prop
erty of the people would thus become
practically worthless. It was part of the
plan in the original ownership of this
road by the state, that its real useful
ness and value to the people of Georgia
would depend on its extension and con
necti<*ns with navigation to tidewater.
Whilst no one in a very rational way,
except for private conflicting Interests,
can oppose public ownership to any ex
tent that is limited, and which may be
rendered most expedient in a given status
of local conditions, the extension of the
state road is urged on one ground, and
which alone ought to suffice, namely, that
unless the state road is extended, an im
mensely valuable asset and porperty be
longing to the people of Georgia would
be reduced to a condition of utter worth
lessness, and would involve the loss, ot
enormous shrinkage in the value and use
fulness of the property at the expiration
of the lease.
Wtih Governor Smith’s ardent support,
the last general assembly provided for a
commission to report at the next legis
lature on the proposed extensions. It was
left for the governor to appoint a certain
number on the commission, besides those
composing it from the senate and house
of representatives of Georgia. There is no
member on this commission from Colum
bus, nor from western Georgia, although
the governor was strongly petitioned to
make, at least, one such appointment.
Hon Hooper Alexander is on this com
mission. His advocacy of extension ha«
been insistent and lie has sustained his
championship in, a spirit of patriotism
whch includes in the purposes to be
accomplished a great and lasting good to
the people of Georgia, for results that
would help, materially help, toward the
solution and regulation of freight trans
portation. In all these striking- and per
manent benefits, which Governor Smith.
Mr. Alexander and others are prepared
to demonstrate, will accrue, and which
will be embodied in an appeal to the
people to authorize the extension from At
lanta to Savannah and Brunswick, are
not these reasons and inducements just as
cogent for one extension to be brought
to the head of navigation of the Chatta
hoochee river at Columbus? We are work
ing for (and expect the work to be com
menced before one branch of the state
road could be built to Columbus) a sys
tem of locks and dams on the Chatta
hoochee for a regular 6 or 8 foot slack wa
ter navigation to some deep-sea port on
the Gulf of Mexico. A branch of the
state road would be much less than half
the distance for the extension from At
lanta, to any place on the Atlantic sea
board. Furthermore, in reaching the Gulf
of Mexico and the Panama canal with an
extension via Columbus and thence down
the river, the distance would be 500 or
600 miles shorter than via any port on
the Atlantic coast.
Moreover, if it were known that wo
were to get an extension of the state road
to Columbus, or were equally chanced to
get it, with its extension to Savannah.
Brunswick, etc., this would be a potent
factor in our getting locks and dams for
regular slack water navigation from Co
lumbus to the gulf. In the extension to
Columbus, who would be benefited? The
city of Columbus, of course; besides all
the territory along the line between At
lanta and Columbus, and every county
bordering the river between Columbus
and the gulf.
None of those sections in the western
part of the state would be, in the least,
benefited with the one extension now con
templated from Atlanta to the Atlantic
ocean. Recognizing this exclusion, the
Board of Trade of Columbus, on behalf of
its own city and county, and all other
parts of western Georgft. to be affected,
and who would be so grossly neglected,
already shivering with apprehension of
that cold wave heading. this way, and
brewed by the present purposes of the
commission on the state road to make
only one extension, have gotten in corre
spondence with Mr. Alexander.
Mr. Alexander, speaking personally,
concedes the right of the board of trade
to be interested, and that the western
part of the state in question should have
an extension. But the vital point is, and
it is the point, where Columbus and the
western part of the state should very
erectly sit up and take notice, he does not
say that this extension will be allowed or
recommended, to be built at the same
time with the commencement of the work
from Atlanta to the Atlantic seaboard.
Without the slightest reflection off those
who wish for the greatest good to the
greatest number, in the extension of the
state road, it’s self-evident that if our
right to an extension is only to be ex
pected after the one to the Atlantic ocean
is started or finished, this would be too
late for us to use the power to get it,
which we can now exercise on a propo
sition of giving and taking and which is
the true policy for securing those advan
tages which result In the understandings
and mutual concessions in all matters po
litical. If the board of trade and aider
men and people of Columbus don’t “get
busy.” an extension from Atlanta to the
Atlanflc may be recommended and pass
the legislature, and after which, we, of
the western part of the state, will be
asking for bread, but will receive a
“stone’—a dietary treatment in the mat
ter, producing a painful and permanent
inanition in the sufferings and disappoint
ments of which we will have no one to
blame but ourselves.
Saw a Reason
Wifie: Several men I rejected are now
wealthier than you.
Hubby: That’s why they are.
*5 The Regenerative of Forces
-y Working In A Rising Republic 5
*J BY BISHOP WARREN A. CANDLER. 34
■W < iraßr MEI ■
WW
RUBBER FACTORY’ IN MEXICO
View of crude rubber made from Guayule plant, Tarreou, Coab,
Mexico.
In former letters I have b£en writing
The Journal concerning the marked
progress which the Republic of Mexico is
making.
I do not hesitate to say that it is the
most stable and progressive government
among the Latin-American nations. Much
of the good which prevails in Mexico is
attributed to the very great ability and
unquestionable patriotism of such men as
Benito Juarez and Porflrio Diaz.
It is now twenty-five years since Presi
dent Diaz came to office the second time,
after the sorry administration of Manuel
Gonzalez, which ended in 1884. He has
made effective the constitution devised by
Juarez in 1857, and he has established
the government of Mexico upon a firmer
basis. The industries of the country have
been encouraged by him, and its agricul
tural and mineral resources have been de
veloped. Railroads and telegraph lines
have been established, which have quick
ened the productive powers of the nation
and promoted its complete pacification.
With the republic penetrated in every
part by great trunk lines of railway, the
days of factions and revolutions can
never return. The only fact to give
anxiety about the future of Mexico Is
that President Diaz is now an old man,
and no really great man is in sight to
succeed him and carry forward, when he
is gone, his wise and beneficent policies.
But a weaker man can succeed now with
greater ease than could a strong man
thirty years ago.
The railways have recently been taken
over by the government, and this puts
into the hands of the federal authorities
at the capital an Instrument with which
to preserve the tranquility of the coun
try which the most skillful and daring
of revolutionists could not easily over
come. The nationalization of the rail
roads of the United States by our gov
ernment would be a most doubtful, not
to say dangerous, experiment; but the
case of Mexico is very different from
ours. Government ownership of railways
in this mountainous republic, where the
habit of revolution continued so long and
where the people are scattered over so
extensive an area, will doubtless yield the
best results. It means peace, progress
and prosperity.
* But the material enterprises of Mex
ico, which are advancing so rapidly, are
not the main things upon which to build
hope for its future. Society is being per
meated by the forces of a new moral
and Intellectual life. The public school
system is firmly established and steadily
improving.
In my last letter I set forth the work
of education which is going on in the
state of Coahuila under the leadership
of jTon. Andres Osuna. In the adjoining
state of Chihuahua also the most marked
progress is being made, although that
state has no such man as Osuna to lead
its educational forces. The amount which
Chihuahua has appropriated to public
education for the year 1909 is 1512.000. This
state expends about 45 per cent of its
income on education. The following fig
ures show how the state has progressed
in the matter of Its educational expendi
tures since 1888:
Y ear Amount.
Ittfic .... ... ... 5,604.19
1900 :
1901 •**•• ******** ••****•**•••••••• 109»416.77
1902 •• •*••*•• •***•• 196,512.61
vqao 195,961.17
1904 240.269.09
•••••••••••••• • •*• 348,146.00
It is a more populous r<ate than Coa
huila. and yet it is very thinly peopled at
compared with the Southern. Middle, and
Eastern states of our Country.
Besides the public schools of Mexico
there are many good private schools and
not a few excellent institutions conducted
by the churches which are at work in the
republic. All these enlightening and el
evating agencies are bringing to pass the
most marked and admirable results. The
moral tone of the nation is conspicuously
improved. A few things somewhat symp
tomatic of the healthier public sentiment
may be mentioned.
It is now unlawful for any teacher or
pupil in the public schools of the stale
of Coahuila to attend a bull-fight. This
reform was recently secured on the peti
tion of Andres Osuna end his enlightened
constituency in that progressive state.
Effort will be made soon to secure the
same reform in other states. Public
schools and the bull-ring c»n not exist
together in Mexico much longer. It is
certain the public-school has come to stay,
and it is equally certain that eventually
the bull-ring must go. This means much
to Mexico—and in the end it means much
to all Latin-America.
The beginnings of temperance reform
are also visible. All the pulque shops—
the shops in which are sold to the con
mon people that most infiamatory in
toxicant called "pulque”—are closed
promptly at 6 o’clock every day. On
Sundays all the liquor shops are closed
Mexico City is more orderly and tem
perate than either New York or Chicago.
On April 1, 1909. scientific courses
showing the destructive effects of
drinking intoxicants, will be introduced
into all the public schools of the Fed-
Disirict nt Columbia in the United
States. The law requiring this has
been secured already, and its enforce
ment will begin within the next forty,
days. The final outcome of such in
struction in the public schools will be
e far-reaching and irreslstable temper
ance reformation. It cannot be other
wise.
Now, the problem of government is
how to make a body of citizens who
are ruled by reason and conscience and
uncontrolled by passion and appetite.
The use of intoxicants strikes good
government in its very vitals; for it de
thrones reason and enthrones passion. It
therefore inflames every form of disor
der and enfeebles all the forces which
make for order and tranquility. The
thoughtful and patriotic men of Mex
ico perceive all this as clearly as do
the wisest leaders in all the enlighten
ed nations of the world, and they are
taking steps to improve the sobriety
of their people that they may promote
the peace and prosperity of their be
loved country. This reformation which
ly. but it will not go backward.
The enlightening and regenerative
forces which are working in the Mexican
republic will not fail. A new and nobler
Mexico is slowly but stlrely emerging.
Prejudiced and superficial observers' may
I deny this, but I am in position to know
that it is true. During the last ten years
I have made five visits to the republic,
' and I have seen striking evidences of im
provement with each successive visit.
There is no country in which a traveler
is more safe, and none presenting more
interesting features for study. If “night
riders" were to begin their operations in
Mexico, President Diaz would htCVa
speedy and numerous executions, and the
night-riding business would come quickly
to its end. It will not do to trifle with
him and his government.
Many people are finding out the pro
gress which is going on in this rising na
tion, and multitudes of our own people
are making investments here. It is said
by those who claim to know that there
is nearly a billion dollars of American
money invested in Mexico. The English
speaking people in the City of Mexico
alone number about 12,000, and very many
more are scattered throughout the repub
lic. They are not without their influence,
both for good and evil. They are affect
ing even the Spanish, which is spoken in
Mexico. For example, the word "Inter
viu” for "interview” has been adopted by
the papers. "Sufraguita” for “suffra
gette,” and “mitin” for “meeting” are
words of common use. The familiar
“five o’clock tea” is made into oae word,
“faivoloquete,” and for “beef-steak” the
word “biftec” is used.
It is much to be deplored tnat many
of our country-men in Mexko by their
misconduct dishonour the land from
which they have come and damage the
country in which they have taken up
their residence. They support the bull
fight and practice other irregularities and
dissipations. Among this class there is
current a flippant and blasphemous say
ing to the effect that "wa left God on the
other side of the Rio Grande.” It may
be added that they left decency also
behind.
But there are others who maintain their
Integrity and lead here, as they did in
“the states,” spotless Christian lives.
Their moral character is not a matter of
climate and geography, and their piety
is of the sound sort that bears shipping
without deterioration. They are worthy
of all honour.
To a congregation of Americans , of
this noble type I have been preaching
every night since last Sunday (February
14) and their spiritual interest has been
most pronounced. Such men and women
honour their native land and bless the
people among whom they dwell. They
have not put God and goodness behind
them, and a Christian gentleman can as
sociate with them without shame or em
barrassment. * *
W. A. CANDLER.
February 19, 1909.
♦ WHERE THEY’RE BUILDING ♦
♦ 1.000-FOOT STEAMERS ♦
»♦♦♦»♦♦♦
BELFAST.—DurInr a trio through the ship
yards in this city, where the world’.! two big
gest ocean steamshtos—each 1.000 feet long—
an being built, ths e\s Is first caught by an
amasine structure, a webwork of stes! ginfdrs
nearly 300 feet high. 300 feet wide, SM feet
long, and costing 81.250.000. It extends over
the length and breadth of the two great
berths whereon are being laid the keels or
the coming vessels, two berths that have oeen
formed out of three berths whereon such ves
sels as the Adriatic. Baltic and Celtic have
been built.
The foundation of these berths has had 10,000
extra piles driven into it and ferrt concrete,
at the rate of 2.000 ton* each 24 hour*, is be
ing laid, in order that the floor may bear be-
Ins depressed unevenly bv a weight of 7iOUO
tens
Vast as the prertminarv oztlav Is, the Olym
pic and Titanic could not come into bring
without It, for they simply dwarft all that
have ever gone before, even those marvrious
vessels, the Lusitania and Mauretania. As
to the Great Eastern, leviathan born out of
due time, since even now she dominates the
imagination of manv. compare her principal
dlmenslona with these latter day wonders.
She was 25.000 tons displacement, they 60.000
tons- she drew wnen laden 30 feet, they 3/
I feet; her length was about 600 ieet, theirs
between 900 and 1.000 feet (exact figures are
not available in this particular!: her combined
horse-power was 300. theirs 50.000—for they ar*
not to be considered fast ship*, only they wiU
not steam less than 21 knots.
Thev will. each have four tunnels and one
mast. Tbeir stern frames, cast in one vast
forging, will each weigh 309 <>ns, the rudders
each 100 tons 15 hundred-weight, and, for a
■wist transition, the main dining saloon wifi
seat 600 diners at once.
He Was in Bad
"I telephoned my wife an excuse to stay
down town '
"Did she believe it?”
“Yes, blame it, she did. Now I’ve used
up my best excuse, and I really wan*
to go somewhere tomorrow night.”
Her Query
* “This, Bessie, is a tomato plant.”
"And how soon, mamma, before the
cans begin to sprout?”
A RHYME OF DOTING PARENTS
By Don Marquis.
El
Little Heinie Hlnkledepper
Filled his Auntie's eyes with pepper;
Mamma said: "O, stop it, please,
Heinie, ’fore it makes you sneeze!”
