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THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1913.
THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
ATLANTA, GA., 5 NORTH fORSYTH ST.
Entered at the Atlanta Postoffice as Mail Matter of
the Second Class.
JAMES R. GRAY.
President and Editor.
l
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Atlanta, Ga.
1
The Parcel Post and the Farm.
One of the most important and cheering circum
stances in the development of the parcel post service,
as seen through the Atlanta postfeffice, is the Steady
increase in the volume of matter sent to rural com
munities.
It is this class of parcels, according to the super
intendent of mails, that is growing most rapidly.
Supply houses are employing the post in their com
merce with the farm. The next logical step will be
an extensive use of the post by the farmer to estab
lish freer lines of trade with the city.
This would indicate that the basic purpose of the
new service is being realized.
The parcel post has long been needed by the pub
lic as a whole, but to one class of the people should
Jt prove a greater advantage than to those in the
smaller towns and rural districts.
It is. in just this connection, too, that the service
can bd made to, pay from the government’s stand
point: ,
' i Much has been said of recent years about the
dead expense of the rural free delivery system. If
that system continued to entail an annual loss on
the postal department, it would still be justified by
its incalculable value to the country.
But when the parcel post is fully under way and
is in general use, it will doubtless turn this deficit
Irnm the.rutaU -uyjies in to_ an asset. For, the
country districts will then be continuous and liberal
patrons of the government’s service.
The parcel post is by no means yet perfected, hut
the important fact is that it is being used by town
and country alike.
China’s Due.
In urging that the United States no longer delay
in recognizing-the Republic of China, the National
Chamber of Commerce, which is now holding at
^Washington its first annual convention, has voiced
the sentiment and the judgment of thoughtful busi
ness Americans. As a matter of wise policy as well
as sound ethics, it behooves this nation to acknowl
edge the government that is directing the interests
of a new China. *
The failure to perform such a courtesy and duty
would, as the National Chamber of Commerce de
clares, prove adverse to American trade in , the
Orient; and within the next few decades that trade
will assume great proportions. The Republic is the
only responsible government, indeed, the only gov
ernment of any kind now existing in China. It has
been established for more than a year and has
proved in a larger measure than might haVe been
hoped its ability to maintain peace and order, to
..conceive big plans and carry them into effect, to pro
tect foreign interests and to conduct the country’s
affairs in a stable and constructive fashion.
There is no longer "a revolution in China; there is
simply a process of upward evolution. The Manchu
dynasty has renounced its ancient throne and, for
all practical purposes, has been forgotten. The
Republic has weathered the most trying and perilous
■ stage of its career and though it still faces many
problems, it is meeting them all with confidence and,
for the most part, with skill. .
In these circumstances, it would seem that the
onljt generous and sensible thing for the United
States to do is to recognize the Republic for What
it really is and Welcome it into the family of for
ward-looking nations.
Short Studies On Good Roads.
A fertile opportunity for county officials who are
concerned with road building and maintenace is
offered in a special five-day course cf instruction
which is to be given by the highway department
of the University of Georgia.
These lectures and demonstrations, beginning
February the tenth and continuing through the fif-
teeth, will deal with practical problems such as every
road superintendent or engineer is called upon to
solve. They will be adapted, in so far as is possible,
to .local needs ^and will thus be of direct benefit to
those who attend the school.
Among the subjects to Jse 'treated will he road
materials, their selection and use, grade crossings,
road location, culverts and abutments and, indeed,
every question that .s involved in the successful
construction and upkeep of the State's highways.
The road officials of every county have been in
vited to attend the short-term school. All of them
will find it profitable to do so. The .highwaj de
partment of the University is doing much to en
courage scientific and economic road work and for
having projected this particular enterprise it is es-,
pecially to be commended.
Wilson and Monopoly.
The seven anti-trust hills wh\ch have been intro
duced in the New Jersey legislature at the instance
of Governor Wilson are interesting not only within
themselves, but also as a forecast of the virile pol
icies that will soon pievai) at Washington. These
measures grapple directly with the evils of monopoly.
Their tone is clearly "Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt
not.” They remove any doubt that the next Presi
dent will forge his precepts into practice and will
pursue a definite, .workmanly program.
The bills prohibit every form of combination de
signed to crush normal competition, to limit produc
tion, to control prices or to hamper the freedom of
9
individual enterprise. They forbid those cunning
devices by which the absorption of independent con
cerns is accomplished with a view to restricting com
merce. The declare that stock issues must represent
real, not imaginary, capital and that proposed
mergers must have the approval of the State Utilities
Commission before they may he effected. Agree
ments, formal or seerpt and tacit, whereby.a partic
ular group of men or interests confederate to control
any field of production are banned; and all these
general provisions are reduced to specific terms.
Especially noteworthy is that feature of the New
Jersey hills which fixes a personal and criminal
penalty for violations of the law. Piratical trusts
are to be treated not as though they were soulless
institutions subject only to fines for their misdeeds,
but as groups of individuals who shall be personally
responsible and who, if guilty, shall be sent to prison.
It is this provision that puts into the proposed laws
teeth which have been well described as “long and
sharp,” and which will bring definite and wholesome
results.
When such legislation is applied or adapted to
national problems, it will no longer be possible for
country’s resources and industries or its money and
credit to be controlled by a special coterie of^ men
for their owri advantage at the public’s cost. Gov
ernor Wilson’s course as Governor of New Jersey
affords Wall Street abundant food for rumination.
T
I
The New President of France.
Raymond Poincare, the newly elected President
of France, is a statesman of rich achievements and
distinctive force. Within the past year his role in
European diplomacy has been especially notable. He
became minister of foreign affairs when his govern
ment’s relations with Germany were sorely strained
over the Moroccan dispute; but soon order and har
mony were restored and France emerged stronger 1
than ever from a trying situation. To his tact and
foresight, has been due very largely the co-operative
spirit pf the larger European powers during the
Balkan disturbance. He has worked freely and ef
fectively with Germany to prevent an international
entanglement and has labored with substantial re
sults to preserve the peace of the continent.
M. Poincare is regarded at home as one of the
strongest men France has known within recent
decades. In statecraft, he is as versatile as this'
most seasoned politician hut he is moved by wider
and higher purposes than are commonly found in
What America knows as the “politician.”
His election has been interpreted as “a popular
triumph over a political clique.” Certain it is, if his
past conduct is an index to what his future will be,
he will not yield to the domination of special .inter
ests and influences. He is eminently a man of his
own mind; and his mind runs in distinctly Demo
cratic' chanels.
'• For years past, the French President has been
regarded as a political figurehead rather than a posi
tive force in the government. To the premier and
the cabinet, have fallen most of the executive respon
sibility and by them most of the important policies
have been determined. Poincare promises to be an
executive, a leader in fact as well as name. ,
OUMTRY
Captain Raoul’s Request.
Captain William G. Raoul’s bequest of fifty thou
sand dollars to be used in the Crusade against the
white plague in Georgia is eminently in keeping
with the generous service and the noble ideals that
marked his citizenship. During the latter years of
his life Captain Raoul was especially interested in
the cause of social betterment. He gave freely of
his time and influence as well as his wealth to
■those movements that look to the constructive relief
of human distress. No one did more faithful work
than he in the establishment of the Atlanta Anti-
Tuberculosis and Visiting Nurses Association, the
Ratle Hill Sanitarium and the State Sanitarium at
Alto.
How appropriate and pleasing it is that his lib
eral life’s work is to be continued through the legacy
he has provided for the anti-tuberculosis campaign!
His bequest will meet an imperative need. During
the past few years public sentiment in Georgia has
been wondrously enlightened as regards the move
ment against tuberculosis. The people, as a whole,
appreciate far more keenly than ever before the
vital importance of such work. Fifty thousand dol
lars will accomplish vastly more for this cause to
day than it could have accomplished a decade ago.
It is to be hoped that Captain Raoul’s gift will
inspire the city and the State to more generous sup
port of this great work.
Georgia’s New Insurance Law.
The Georgia Association of Life Insurer;, at their
recent annual meeting in Atlanta, paid a distinctive
and merited tri bute to the State’s new insurance law.
They declared that since this statute went into effect
there has been far more protection for the public
and far more encouragement for nonest business
than were possible under former conditions and that
insurance standards themselves have been apprecia
bly raised.
, Coming from men who are leaders in their field
and who are personally familiar with its problems,
this testimony is, indeed, significant.^ The new insur
ance law is one of the most timely and .constructive
measures of reform ever enacted in Georgia, its
results thus far exemplify the truth that legislation,
which is good for the people as a whole, is equally
good for business interests. So long as any indi
vidual or group of individuals is permitted to do
things which are unfair' and adverse to the public
business suffers.
The fact is all legislation which is progressive in
the true sense of that term, which is designed to
protect common rights and to end shady dealing, is
a boon and a stimulus to commercial enterprise.
No man’s character is complete until he has passed
through the *Valley of ignominy.
i The contempt of his fellow men is «. whip that
stings when lqid on a mans
back, and the way he acts under
that lash shows whether he is a
thoroughbred or not.
The knowledge that you are
hated is a bitter medicine, but
wholesome.
Defeat, failure, shame, and de-
spiqings are supposed to crush
men. They do crush small men.
They are the making of great
men.
There never was a man who
reached, the age of forty with a
strong character but that had
most of his excellencies driven
into his soul by hard blows.
Neither goodness nor greatness
(and in accurate analysis they
are the same thing) is a hot
house plant maturing under careful protection. Ra ;h ®r
they are metals, that become perfect only by muc
pounding between hammer and rtnvil.
I used often to wonder why the old mystics la d
much stress upon th e need of having the contempt of
men in order to grow saintly. Reflection and exper -
ence hav e convinced tne that they were psychologica
ly correct.
For it is under ignominy that a man is forced to
examine himself and see if his principles are sound,
his motives honest and his cause worthy.
So long as we are favored and fortunate We may
he rotting in our souls and never know it.
Our greatest friend is our enemy who tells us un
pleasant truths and tramples our pretentions under
foot.
It is then we are thrown back upon ourselves, and
must need's convince ourselves that we are worthy to
live. V
“When men shall revile upon and persecute you,
and say all manner of evil lies against you; rejoice
and be exceeding glad,” for so have they done to every
honest and brave soul since the world began.
It’s good for us. We are never powerful until we
learn humility.. All vanity is weakness, and there is
nothing like a swarm of spiteful, vigorous endmies^ to
clear our souls of those “magic mists of vainglory,” ot
which Thomas a Kempis speaks.
’> There’s never a nobler moment in a man’s life than
when he finds himself alone and at bay, back up
against'God, the world snarling and barking at him.
A Batch of Smiles
The cheerful agent stepped into *the business man s
private office and set his grip on the floor.
“i have here,” said he, “a patent
glass cutter .for 25 cents. It is
known as—”
‘‘Don’t need any glass cutter,
snapped the business man.
“Ah, you don’t need a glass cut
ter. Well, then, I have here a vac
uum cleaner that sells for 40. It is
now in use in thousands of home3.
It is—”
“I don’t need a vacuum cleaner.”
“Well, perhaps not, but then I have something else
that will Vcertainly interest you. It is a phonograph
thht retails for the small sum of $11. v There isn t an
other phonograph in the world that—”
“I wouldn’t buy a phonograph on a bet,” growled
the business m^n, getting red in the face.
“Well, I am surprised. But then I have here a
camera which sells for $27*> It will take the widest
,, ’ •; r vr
scope-—
-“No camera today,”'yelled the business man. ^
“Well, then, I have a $423 automobile which com
bines all the necessary point's of the higher priceh
machines and—”
“For the loVe of Mike, screataed the business man.
take a glass cuiter. Here : your quarter. Now,
get ojit’’
“Thank you,” said the agent. “That’s all I had
to sell in the first place.”—Boston Globe.
* * * *
' “My dear nephew,” wrote a wealthy old uncle, “al
low me to congratulate you o n your approaching mar
riage, and please accept from me the
accompanying wedding "gift. You
wil^ find it extremely appropriate in
the circumstances.”
, With much expectation the pros
pective bridegroom opened the par
cel and found inside a large book
marked “Household Expense Book.”
-Tit-Bits.
f
Editorials In Brief
In the famous vote of 1909 dehorning the British
House of Lords the Liberal coalition in the Com
mons won by 215 majority. From the appeal to the
country in January, 1910, they returned with 124
majority. Last Thursday their majority on third
reading of the Home Rule bill was 110, with about i
fifty members absent. Three months ago it looked
as if the Liberal majority might not withstand dis-
ihtegration long enough to make Home Rule law in
1915; but since the Unionists paraded in Belfast
with wooden guns and bungled the free-trade issue
the prospect is more hopeful.—New York World.
Hobson’s Choice for Turkey.
Driven to an option between the frying pan and
the fire, Turkey has chosen the former by yielding
■'to the counsel of the larger Powers for peace with
its Balkan foes. This doubtless means that the pen
insula war, which threatened to begin anew, is at
an end, and furthermore, that the peril of a general
European disturbance is averted.
The Porte has stuck out doggedly against re
nouncing Adrianople and the Eagean islands, over
which it holds sway The Powers advised that it
consent to the cession of the city and leave to them
the final disposition of the islands. These are far-
reachijig and rather drastic terms, but they are no
more than ,s warranted by the victories the Allies
have won and evidently- they furnished the only
basis on which peace could be established.
Turkey will be shorn of nearly all its domain and
power in Europe, but had it prolonged the war it
could sarcely have hoped to retain even nominal
sway. In the long run, Adrianople would ave fallen
under Balkan bayonets and Constantinople itseif
would have been jeopardized. It was at least more
graceful to yield to the persuasion of powerful by
standers than to the fire of the enemy.
The Ottoman government is promised the moral
and material support of the larger nations in repair
ing the ravages of the war and their good will in its
future problems. This friendliness and assistance
will be sorely needed.
The Important fact is, if the prospective peace
plans materialize, that Turkish oppression and bar
barity in Europe is effectually checked and that the
danger of widespread strife in Europe has been
dissolved.
topics
CeWDOCTO) KYJ^IRS.
THE CREDIT SYSTEM.
While I know that the mammoth part of the busi
ness this country is worked on the credit system, I
never can believe that it is an absolutely safe one. 1
know more about the farming business than any other
sort, and I do know that it works poorly for land
lords or farmers who rent land from them, and who go
in debt for supplies.
jThe man who buys a pair of mules at $200 each and
goes ip debt for them and maybe buys hay and corn
to feed them on until a crop is made and gathered, is
like one of the foolish virgins who was called and
couldn’t go, because she had no oil in her lamp to show
the way out.
It is a moral impossibility for the average farmer
to make expenses and go in debt that way. There is no
life so independent as a farmer’s life if he keeps with
in his income, but there is no debt that pinches so hard
as when a mortgage is foreclosed on his orop and he
is left stranded by debt and loses all that he has made
that year. y
I have in mind a case where several people were
injured in 1912, myself among the number. A colored
man, well known in the community as a clever darky,
came to me to rent a two-horse farm. He said he
owned hfs two good looking mules, and had enough
to support himself until his crop was made.
We signed writings and .he was to pay me four
bales of middling cotton, and to keep up his premises
and the land in good order. 1 built him a new house,
small barn and had a well dug which cost me between
$400 and $500. I had to do this because the L. and N.
railroad engines had burnt up the other tenant house,
and I* had to build out of reach of the engine sparks.
All went along smoothly until his wife and son
were stricken with pneumonia. Out of pity for him I
guaranteed the doctor who waited on them.
In the fall I received one bale of cotton less than
the weight agreed upon, and when I 'went out to the
farm the old man had ‘sloped.”
That worthless son was caught blind tigering, and
the whole posse was gone.
I engaged some pickers to get out i my rent, when
lo! a court bailiff stepped in and levied on the crop.
I f saw him sell two belles of the cottbn and I held my
written rent contract before him in protest. He levied
on everything the renter had, and sold it out, and now
I must go to law to recover my rent from this bailiff’s
hands and, maybe, find the whole sunk in costs and
litigation.
The darky bought right and left, and mortgaged
that crop to Tom, Dick and Harry. The mules were
not paid in full, so the mule owner took them.
The bailiff sold the corn crop and my writte^ con
tract for* rent did not hinder anybody, and I will not
get enough out of the crop to pay taxes or return me
$50 on the building account of my farm buildings. If
those town merchants who sold the negro farmer so
much in goods, furniture and food stuffs had required
c:.sh or a good note, then the mischief would have
been stopped promptly, but I discover that a rent con
tract signed and sealed does not hinder other creditors
from seizing my rent in the field or anywhere else.
This credit system is a deadly menace to everybody
who touches it and mortgages their crops and homes
to make it.
It makes rascals of weak men very ofteji who go in
to beat the other fellow. The merchant hab to charge
extra to his good customers to hedge against the bad
ones. It will make even farming a dreadful risk un
less it is checked.
BED BUG POISONS.
Demorest, Ga., Jah. 16, 1913.
Mrs. W. H. Felton, Cartersville, Ga.:
Mr. Dear Mrs. Felton:—In a recent issue of The
Atlanta Journal I notice* you recommend quicksilver
and corrosive sublimate as bed bug 'exterminators.
Such remedies are doubtless* quite effective in accom
plishing their object when applied to the bed bug.
However, will you alkpw me to say that I am afraid
the use of such remedies would be likely to result in
injury to the human occupants of the bed?
In a book before me called “The Diagnosis from the
Eye,” by H. E. Lane.^M. D., occur the followihg pas
sages «
“The emanations of certain metals are very small,
but their effects upon the human system ar e soon per
ceivable and very injurious. All people working in
copper works have a greenish skin, and their mucous
excretions are of a similar color. Arsenic has an al
most murderous influence upon all who come into con*
tact with the metal; sooner or later they will become
the victims of their dangerous occupation. The per-
nifiousness of mercury vapors is illustrated by the »
following fact: The English ship Triumph, on one of
her voyages, was laden almost exclusively with mer
cury. On the way the entire crew were taken ill; ul
cers, paralysis, salivation (ptyalism) and oth#r dis
eases appeared. ^ f
“On this occasion we wish to caution also against
the use cf poisonous insect powders, such as are often
advertised in the newspapers. The use of corrosive
sublimate against bed bugs, for instance, has often
caused the symptoms of poisoning in many persons
who came into contact with furniture thus treated.
It is also a we.ll known fact that the manufacture of
wall paper containing arsenic colors had to be given
up on account of the ’poisonous effect of their ema-
’nations upon the human system. ’ »
My sister uses gasoline as a bed bug extermihator,
ahd 1 think it is quite effective; at any rate, it is cer
tainly quite harmless, as it soon evaporates. After all
I have read on the subject I would be afraid to use a
deadly poison, such as quicksilver or corrosive subli
mate. There are too many people in the country al
ready who, through sheer igo'rnance, ar^ willing and
eager to take all souts 4 of deadly poisohs into their
stomachs, such as calomel (containing mercury or
quicksilver), strychnine, arsenic, etc., with never a
question or & moment's concern asi to their possible
deleterious after effects. What if the amount of poi
son contained be small (not la,rge enough to kill, as a
rule), can we be certain that the continual taking of
such deadly drugs will not eyehtually result in great
havoc to the human constitution, as indeed they often
do? He who experiments with deadly poisons is like
uqto the child who plays with fire, ignorant of its
nature. And both th© child and the experimenter
usually succeed in getting burnt. Yes, sad to say,
they succeed in this, if nothing else. Allow me to ut
ter the warning: Beware of deadly poisons, the na
ture of which you know nothing.
MATTIE V, MITCHELL.,
Emotions of Pigeons
JVith the lowly angleworm dabbling deftly in the
classics and the humble mouse soaring in philosophi
cal realms, the latest animal at Harvard to go In for
the “deep stuff” is a bird—the pigeon.
Proving the domestic pigeon has emotion, thoughts
and leads a somewhat intellectual life like a human
being has won John Edward Rouse a degree of doctor
of philosophy. That gentleman made, a number of.
pigeons go through a labyrinth,'* with blind alleys,
slats, mirrors and other obstacles, to get a bowl of
corn at the other end of the passage. He found that
if a pigeon Was put through this trick six times it
would learn to go through the maze without knock
ing into the wall. Then he made them open a door
to get out of the cage.
By measuring th* heart beats Rouse fo’Und a pigeon
has emotions like any human being can desire-—be
angry, afraid,' fall in love, and so forth.
He placed one pigeon where he could see a trained
bird performing the tests. Then he tried to see
whether the other bird could learn how to do the
tricks by watching his feathered comrade.' The ama
teur proved an apt pupil.—New York World.
However, the chap who rocks the boat in the sea
o£ matrimony is apt to land in the divorce court.
Constitution making in China is quite as thrilling
as England's struggle for parliamentary liberty or that
fierce strife which won the American colonies their in
dependence. What’s more. It's 1
down to date. The matter is'
being threshed out in Pekin as
the American reader scans this
article. Within six months
'China will have a modern con
stitution, and with It, a legally
elected congress, president, su
preme court and all other forms
of a twentieth century repub
lic. Inauguration day will be
the crowning triumph of a sev
en years’ struggle.
... <
Reformers have been agitat
ing for popular government In
China for more than twenty
years. Open appeals for a 1***
tyrannical system of adminis
tration began to reach even to
th e Manchu throne as far back
as ten years ago. But It was
not until 1906 that the reform element was rewarded
with a glimmer of hope. In that year a memorial
from the throne suggested, with a teasing vagueness
truly Oriental, that a modern constitution, providing it
did not encroach on the inviolate rights qf the crown,
might be a good thing, and* would doubtless he
granted by imperial favor in due time. This conces
sion, however slight Americans would regard It, was
hailed as a glowing promise in China, and instead of
having a quieting effect, as the old empress dowager
probably calculated, it heightened unrest and em
boldened the ardent advocates of better things.
• * •
On October 19, 1907, an imperial decree ordered the
royal advisers to draw up a consfitutiqn and submit
it to the throne. A mandate in the name of Emperor
Kuang Hsu to the same effect was issued July 22,
190S, but no great progress was made. Thirty-five
days later, however, or twelve days after the death of
that arch enemy of progress, the empress dowager,
\Tzl An, who passed out the day following the empe
ror's demise, Prince Chun, now regent of the empire
for his infant son, the Emperor Pu Yi, signed a de
cree which provided for the organization Sof provincial)
assemblies and an imperial national parliament in
1917. Soon thereafter a royal commission of high
Manchu and Chinese dignitaries was appointed to tour
Europe for the purpose of learning just what forms of
procedure would be adaptable to China’s peculiar
needs. The royal commissioners junketed on the con
tinent for over a year and returned with the recom
mendation that the government try a blending of the
German and Japanese system, both of which recog
nized in actual practice as well as in theory, the di
vine rights of the sovereign. About the same time a
constitutional burpau was formed in the city of PSkln
to work out the findings and recommendations of the
commissioners^
• • *
China’s awakening millions were wholly dissatis
fied with this half-hearted and easy-going program,
which the Manchus and the entrenched and barnacled-
Chinese officials deemed a great, and even dangerous,
departure from the ways of their sacred ancestors.
The Boxer movement and Its sequel had convinced
cv^n the most conservative and bitter of the gentry
that the “foreign devils” could not be driven Into the
sea, but to sacrifice their Incomparable and pristine
government for the sake of aping western methods
was entirely too much. On the other hand, the pro
gressive element, .waxing stronger and bolder everyi
day, violently demanded real reform at once, and not
paper promises for the future. The native vernacular
press, always theretofore insignificant, disorganized,
cowed by the Imperial censorate, began to speak Out,
establish Itself in sections that never had been blessed
with newspapers, and to teem with translations of
Ruosseau and Mazzini. - ,.
* * *
The crown, hurried along by the rising storm, was
Compelled in 1909 to promise that a national assem
bly or parliament would he convened the following
year, or seven years ahead of the date originally set.
It also consented to the early foundation of provincial
assemblies. . These bodies were given the right of pe
tition and discussion, but could not pass laws. They
met throughout China for the first time on October 14.
1909, following this warning from the royal court:
• * *
"The consultive council is an institution in which
public opinion will he ascertained and from which the
members of the central council may be recruited. Let
our people point out clearly through the councils what
are the evils that should he abolished in their respec
tive provinces and what are the reforms that tfiey
desire. But let them also remember the duty whieh
they owe to the court 1 and to the country. Violent
discussion should be prevented, lest the order anTl
safety of society might be disturbed.’’
* • * s.
' Membership in the (provincial assemblies was lim
ited to those who had held public office above the mi
nor grades or who possessed property worth at least
£5,000 in silver. This restriction was of no avail In
suppressing outspoken speeches, however, and the im
perial mandate against “violent discussion” was hon
ored by the assemblies more in the breach than in the
observance. Strong demands for the abolishment of
archaic forms and the dismissal of national and pro
vincial corrupt officials were soon sent to Pekin. 'On
May 9, 1910, the court announced that the first na
tional assembly could convene in Pekin on October 8.
* * * / /
This new body came to order on tha «ay set, and
there was great rejoicing throughout China. It was
d'vided into two cliques, a certain proportion being
composed of Manchu princes and Chines© of the pflv-
* ileged classes wl^o were appointed* by the throne. The
majority of the members had been elected by-the sfv-
eral provincial assemblies. Discussion of finances
and appropriation bf a budget were the principal
rights of the new body.
* * * \
The members who represented the people were
united in favor of drastic measures. From the open
ing day they featured the sessions by making 1 heated
speeches and presenting divers suggestions and pfb-'.
grams intended to modernize the government. There
was disorganisation and bickering at first, everybody
geting. irt everybody else’s way, and little cliques be
gan to form. They got together, nevertheless* to such
good effect that on Octoebr 23, or a short twenty da>*s
after convening, they met in full session and amid
much enthusiasm succeeded in passing a resolution,
which demanded th© promulgation of a constitution
and the organization of a full fledged and properly en>*
dowed national parliament at once instead of waiting
until 1917. #
• • *
It was also empowered to draw up new laws, but to
be legal such measures had to be concurred in by the
grand council, an aristocratic body at the beck of the-
crown, and finally receive imperial sanction. In case
of a deadlock over an issue between tho national as
sembly and the grand council the emperor Was to de
cide. The emperor was a baby, so decision rested with
his father, Prince Chun, the prince regent. As con-
stitued, the national assembly was only half progres
sive, an influential element being ultra-conservative.
From the first it was "a house divided against itself,”
a condition which was quite satisfactory to the Man
chus. /
For your true optimist, there is no time like the
future.
If the cost of living remains high it oughtn’t to
kick if the price of cotton keeps on soaring.
It's the easiest thing in the world for a pretty
woman to manage a man—if she isn't married to
him.
Figuratively speaking, an old bachelor nearly i
always hugs himself when he sees a poor, meek-j
looking man trying to i»uiet a squalling infant, ,