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THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 1913.
THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
ATLANTA. GA., 5 BTOBTH FORSYTH ST.
Entered at the Atlanta Postoffice as Mail Matter of
the Second Class.
JAMBS B. GRAY,
President and Editor.
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Atlanta, Ga.
The Way to Penal Reform.
Thoughtful public opinion naturally approves the
proposal that a legislative commission be created at
the forthcoming session of the General Assembly to
study the penal system of Georgia and recommend
such improvements as may be necessary or advisable.
That the present system may be changed in some
respects decidedly for the better no one familiar
with its practical workings can deny. Indeed, those
who are in closest touch with these matters and who
are officially responsible are among the most earnest
advocates of a thoroughgoing plan of readjustment;
witness the recent interview wth Judge T. E. Pat
terson, of Griffin, a member of the State Prison
Board.
“While we are seeking,’ said he, “to conduct
the penitentiary system in the best manner pos
sible under the present laws, toe realize, at least
I do, that the system is far from perfect. It
has •its good points but it has also its defects
and I am confident that a properly constituted'
commission, given sufficient authority in the
matter of securing evidence and information,
could point out these defects and suggest the
most efficient remedies, possibly in the shape of
amendments to the present laws or, where neces
sary, supplementary laws which would commend
themselves to the Legislature and the public.’’
The • purpose of such a commission would in no
wise be that of pell-mell muckrakers; on the con
trary its object would be a deliberate investigation
of the methods now employed with a view to making
them more efficient, if possible, but not to introducing
changes merely for the sake of change; and also a
study of the systems that have worked most satis
factorily in other progressive States to the end that
Georgia may profit by all such experience and work
out a system of hep own that will meet the ends of
justice, humanity' and common sense.
Especially praiseworthy is the suggestion that
courts be given discretionary power, within properly
defined limits, to suspend sentences in cases where
such a course would not be harmful to the interests
of society but would he distinctly wholesome for the
offender. It would frequently happen in the case of
young prisoners or to the case of those who had erred
through impulse or in unusual circumstances that a
plan like this would serve all the purposes of justice
and at the same time save the individual from a life
of crime.
The thing of prime importance, "however, is the
appointment of such a commisson as has been pro
posed, in order that all phases of the State’s penal
system may he studied carefully and all suggestions
given due consideraton. That is the broad, practical
way which everyone sincerely interested in improv
ing the penal systef can follow.
The Business OutlooK
In the Southeast.
The cheering report rendered by the various local
superintendents of Bradstreet’s Southeastern agen
cies who are now convened in Atlanta, their division
headquarters, would turn the melancholy Jacques
himself into a business optimist. These men have
rare opportunities as well as an established reputa
tion for gauging the Condition and the prospect of
commercial affairs. Stationed at every city of impor
tance in the Southeast and connected through divers
channels with the total business life of their respec
tive districts, they are in direct and constant touch
with with developments of every kind. They are
i_ trained students of facts and it is upon facts alone
j that their reports are based.
| When, therefore, these agents declare, and bring
■ proof to show, that conditions in the Southeast are
promising for every field of material endeavor, we
have good reason to be confident of the year’s prog-
i less and results. They testify without exception that
| the present, status of crops forecast a goodly harvest,
that building trades are active and that in each of
their communities a spirit of hardy and hopeful en
terprise is astir. Mr, J. E. C. Pedder, of Atlanta, di
vision superintendent, strikes the keynote of his offi
cial associates when he says:
“For the past two years the southeastern
states have'had a particularly hard time, in fact
have passed through one of the most crucial pe
riods in their history. In the early spring condi-
tions did not look very favorable for an average
crop this year but for the past two or three
weeks the southeastern states have had good
rains, seed have germinated vjell and the land
has been well cultivated. Crops are now looking
much better. Our grain crop this spring teas a
very good one, Notwithstanding a momentary
depression, this section has gone ahead by leaps ,
and bounds. More developments in all lines have
been noted, and more railroads are under construc
tion. As far as Atlanta is concerned, we have '
broken all records. I do not see any cloud on
the financial horizon, and am looking forward to
a fine business this fall with confidence.”
This estimate is borne out by the reports from
each of the local superintendents. It is shown, for
instance, that in Birmingham there are now under
construction buildings which represent an aggre
gate cost of more than ten million dollars and that
Alabama is today making pig iron at the rate of
two million, one hundred and fifty-two thousand,
seven hundred and sixty-four tons per annum, the
greatest figure in the history of that industry; while
on the heel of this record comes the announcement
of the American Steel and Wire company that it
-will expend eighteen million dollars in completing
its great plant. The Jacksonville agent relates that
the commerce of that port is expanding at a phenom
enal rate and that despite the large extensions re
cently made to the dock and terminal facilities, they
are still inadequate to meet the growing demands
upon them, so that the city itself has undertaken the
construction of additional docks to cost a million and
a half dollars. The completion of a forty-thousand
horse-power electric plant on the Savannah river will
usher Augusta into a new manufacturing era. In
that city, several ten-story office buildings are In proc
ess of construction, work on the levee is under way
and the grain crops of the outlying country are re
ported to be larger than for many years past. In
Chattanooga all factories are running full capacity,
good wages are maintained and bank clearings have
steadily increased.
These are but a few mong many striking instances
which show that the Southeast is pressing steadily
forward upon firm ground. In Georgia there is par
ticular cause for confidence, as is witnessed by the
progress of Macon, Savannah, Albany, Columbus,
Rome and other towns independent of Atlanta and
also by the substantial conditions of agricultural in
terests throughout the State.
No Money, No War.
Despite the belligerent attitude of-Servia and Bul
garia, there is good reason to believe that another
war in the Balkans will be averted. The larger
Powers are exerting their utmost influence for peace,
and particularly significant is the harmony with
which Germany and Russia are counseling together
toward that end.
Of chief importance, however, is the warning
from Prance that, in the event of war, it will make
no loans either to Bulgaria or Servia before or after
hostilities. That announcement should serve effec
tually to check the Balkan States in any warlike
action they may have contemplated; for the cam
paigns against Turkey have almost emptied their
treasuries, and, without a prospect of future financial
assistance, they would be without means either to
fight or to meet their pressing domestic needs.
It is not surprising, therefore, to 16am through
dispatches that Servia has signified her purpose to
avoid all provocations toward Turkey, and that Bui-.
garia likewise has expressed a readiness to do every
thing possible to preserve harmony.
Indeed, ail natural circumstances indicate that
the year 1913 will be one of rich returns the nation
over. There is promise of a record-breaking wheat
crop and of abundant yields of all kinds of foodstuffs.
That industries are .thriving is evidenced by the fact
that the transportation companies have a greater
volume of traffic than they can well handle. There are,
to be sure, occasional signs of financial stringency
but In so far as the great underlying sources of pros
perity are concerned they stand without impairment
or peril.
Superintendent Pedder’s declaration that he sees
no cloud on the business horizon is, interestingly
enough, almost the very phrase employed a few weeks
ago by James J. Hill in an interview, scouting the
idea that there was any occasion for commercial
alarm or distrust. It is a significant fact that men
who are in a position to observe accurately and to
predict advisedly agree that American business to
dy is upon solid ground.
The very circumstance that they think thus and
that public opinion is attuned accordingly is within
itself assuring; for, those periods of financial depres
sion which we call "panics,” or “near-panics” are in
many, if not most instances, due to a state of mind
rather than to any material cause. The psychologists
have often debated whether a man, upon seeing a
bear, becomes frightened and runs, or first runs and
then becomes frightened, and the weight of opinion,
we believe, inclines to the latter view. Certain it is
that nine times out of ten, a country gets “panicky”
from running and not from any real or insuperable
danger. The heartening fact in the United States
today is that nobody who thinks at all is thinking
of running. The great rank and file of business men
know that the sources of prosperity are undisturbed.
They are keeping their heads and are going their
ways in confidence and cheer.
Any man who would jilt a girl deserves to be
married by her successor.
Helpless Turkey.
The assassination of the Turkish grand vizier in
Constantinople yesterday was the third deed of the
kind within recent months. The commander-in-chief
of the army and another distinguished general had
previously fallen victims to the spirit of dark sedi
tion with which the Ottoman government is beset.
If it be true that the defeat of the Turks at the
hands of the Balkan allies was due largely to the
demoralized condition of the army and to popular
distrust of the government, it is even more true that
the results of the war have intensified both these
evils. In fact, Turkey is today threatened -with an
internal upheaval that may call for intervention on
the part of the responsible Powers.
Occasionally a woman can tell a man what she
t&Jnks of him without thinking very hard.
Let’s Look Before We Leap.
The State of Tennessee expects to open bids this
month tor eleven and a half million dollars of four
per cent forty-year bonds. Dispatches say, however,
that Governor Hooper and other officials, upon can
vassing the financial field in New York, have been
advised that there is little or no chance for market
ing the bonds at tha present time, t*ne general opin
ion being that short-term notes could be more easily
sold. It is possible, therefore, that future negotia
tions may be directed to that end.
Now that the question of a bond issue for At
lanta is being discussed, Council will do well to con
sider the Tennessee situation. Is this, a favorable
time for a large offering of municipal bonds? Could
they be easily and advantageously disposed of? Any
doubt in this connection should be removed before
the subject is pursued further.
Before the City thinks of embarking on so seri
ous a venture, it should have definite and ample as
surance as to where it will land.
If I Ha! A Million Dollars
87 t)B. PKA.71 CMn.
(Copyright, 1913, by Frank Crane.)
I wish I had a million dollars, you say, I could do
so much good with it. There are so many I would like
to help. It would be such a pleasure to relieve the
sufferings of this poor family, to
assist that struggling young man,
and ,+ o contribute generously to
.the church and the hospital. I
know I would not be as selfish
as many rich people are. If I
haa a million I would gratify
my generous impulses.
Stop right there! Your imag
ination is misleading you. If
you had a million dollars you
would be , no more liberal than
you are now.
Helpfulness does not depend on
i the size of your income. If you
I are doing nothing for others on
1 your present income of fifty dol-
llars a month you would do the
same if you had fifty thousand a
month. You would be just as wrapped up in your
own sweet self as you ar e now—and wrappeder.
For it is a well established fact that one’s altruistic
impulses decrease in force as one’s wealth grows.
The kindest, most generous, and charitable people
in the world are those who have little or nothing. The
best friends to the poor are the other poor.
T have in mind now one of the most benevolent
women I ever knew. She is always thinking of oth
ers. She sends flowers to her friends upon just the
right occasions, she has delicious soup sent to certain
people in whom she is interested in the hospitals, she
plans in various societies to help needy children, she
is a real “trouble woman,” for wherever there is
trouble there is she, to hold the nervous hand, to
smooth the hot brow, and to give of her full cheer
and hope to them that need. She is not rich in pocket;
she has the true riches, of the heart, riches that moth
and rust do not corrupt nor thieves-break through and
steal.
And you. if you have the root of the matter in you,
can be as benevolent as the most lavish millionaire.
What you need is not money, it is disposition.
For the one thing to give in this world, the one
thing that is worth while, the one thing that cheers us
all up and adds ozone to the soul, is—yourself.
The great gifts of the rich-Mt is doubtful if they
do any good after all. I have my suspicions of them.
But whoso gives himself, his .time, his thought, his
attention, his care, he is the worWl’s real benefactor.
“This world is so waste and eriipty,” says Goethe,
in his “Wilhelm Meister,” “when we figure but towns
and hills and rivers in it, but to know that some one is
living on with us, CVen in silence, this makes our earth
ly ball a peopjed garden.” -
Mothers' Day
“To Miss Anna Jarvis, Philadelphia, is given the
palm of victory and the laurel crown for founding the
second Sunday in May as ’Mothers’ day.’ Throughout
the country, state after state has set aside this day or
some later one in May in memory of her who stands
the peeress of all ages, ‘the mother’—-the greatest name
to mortals given. There is Children’s day, Fathers’
day and Parents' day, but the greatest of these is
Mothers' day; for where there is no mother there is
no day to found in her honor. So proud is Miss Jar
vis of the homage paid our motherS| in America that
she has planned a trip to Switzerland and will appear
before the World’s Sunday School convention, which
meets there early in July. She will plead for a world
wide observance of Mothers' day. She has already
2,000 delegates promised for the convention. A small,
white button with the word 'Mother' upon it in the
language of the country in which it is used was worn
all over the world on Mothers’ day. Also the white
carnation was worn as emblem of the day.’’-—Club
Woman’s Magazine. 1 r : ' r ‘
Mother
i.
Mother! upon my heart,
Wherein enthroned thou art,
f This flower I lay,
An emblem there to be,
Of love and memory,
This holy day.
II.
In this white flower I see
Love in Its purity.
Love the divine,
A mother’s death love—
Who can the bounds thereof
In words define?
III.
In reverent memory,
Deep in my heart for thee
I’ve built a shrine,
On which is carved thy name.
Love in its altar flame,
Dear mother mm
IV.
Who still his head can rest,
Upon his mother’s breast,
Happy is he!
Kissing her lips, her brow,
Oft will he wonder how
Strong love can be;
V.
But he who to dumb skies.
Must turn his longing eyes,
Which tears make dim,
He. too, may happy be—
Love’s faith a Saint shall see
Waiting for him.
—CHARLES W.
HUBNER.
Progress of Irish Home Rule.
The second passage of the Irish Home Rule bill
in the House of Commons brings that interesting’
measure and the great cause it represents to the
borderland of success. If the bill passes the Com
mons once more during the tenure of the present
Parliament, it will automatically become a law, re
gardless of the opposition of the House of Lords.
Whether the Liberal majority will be able to re
tain its power until a third and final vote can be had
is another and a more serious question. Dispatches
indicate that the Irish Nationalists are rather down
hearted over this particular phase of the outlook;
and certain it is that the fortunes of the Liberal
party are just now at ebb. The Marconi scandal has
involved high government officials and, though this
is a matter that has little or no logical bearing on
political issues, it will be worked for all it is worth
by the opposition. Should the Liberals be retired
from Power, the Home Rule bill would be lots, at
least for years to come.
That, however.- is is no wise a certainty nor even
a very strong probability. On the larger issues of the
time, the Liberals seem to hav .*the rank and file of
the people with them; and they may weather the
present storm as they have many others within the
past few years.
And many a man with a weak intellect is head
strong.
^OUAITRY
OME
Fine weather for mint beds, even if a bit warm
for the other ingredient.
TOPICS
CWjcted by .ms v: kjte.ltda
SEEN IN THE HALL OP FAME.
After I made a late visit to Annapolis and gathered
some very thrilling gealogical data, I became inter
ested in the Hansons of Maryland, for there were some
Marshalls who also carried the name of Hanson as
jiven names, s ;owing relationships and intermarriages.
Among the very large land owners was one Thomas.
Hanson Marshall, who was evidently a kinsman to
^he great John Hanson, who is one of the two cele
brated men whose bronze statues have been placed in
the capitol of the United States by the state of Mary
land. Up to this time I had felt small interest in
John Hanson, but I find he was one of the greatest
of our colonial patriots, and was the very first presi
dent of the congress away back in the early history of
these United States. He was born in Charles county,
Md., In the year 1716, nearly 200 years ago. He lived
there for fifty-eight years before he moved to Fred
erick county, where he died ten years later. When the
patriots became indignant at British aggression Hanson
fearlessly joined in giving supreme control to the pro
vincial government ae against the control of King
George. He was one of the noblest defenders of the
articles of confederation of the United States, lie
was the great leader in Maryland, when so many of
my forbears signed in 1776 before the Declaration of
Independence was signed and which signatures would
have executed them and confiscated their property,
if British arms had succeeded in America.
In 1787, when Gcneraal Washington was moving
against the troops of Sir Henry Clinton, and the pa
triots in the south were in dire struggles to defend the
country fron* British soldiers and tories, this John
Hanson was elected the very first president of the
congress of the confederation. By this election John
Hanson became in a political sense the foremost per
son in the United States and represented its dignity.
His title was “president of the United States in con
gress assembled.”
After General Washington was victorious at York-
town and Cornwallis was signally defeated, President
Hanson had the great happiness to welcome General
Washington and present him to the congress, then
assembled at Philadelphia.
He died in November, 1782, two years later, but the
last British soldier had sailed away from New York
and peace was in sight. He had represented Charles
county nine times in the provincial assembly of Mary
land. He raised two companies of riilemen for Gen
eral Washington’s army and sent money to relieve the
poor of Boston who had suffered from the ravages
of the enemy, and forty companies of minute men in
Maryland. How many of our historians have informed
themselves of this great John Hanson who was really
the first president of the United States?
His hand guided the fortunes of the new nation in
the year that brought final success to American arms.
Some of the letters written to his wife and son-in-law
show how dearly he loved his home when he was in*
constant and active service for his country for twenty-
five years.
With Charles Carroh, the other great Marylander,
whose bronze statue keeps company with that of John
Hanson in the Jiall of fame, he spared neither strength,
money or life in the service of his country.
Charles Carroll was devoted Catholic and John
Hanson was Protestant in faith. Carroll’s famiy were
devoted to King Charles I of England, while John Han
son was an adherent of the house of Hanover. Carroll
was educated at religious institutions in France; Han
son was educated in Charles county, Md.
Both were members of very influential families, but
Hanson was more the man of the people. He was one
of the stanchest supporters of what was called the
“Maryland Association,” organized in 1770, and was
among the first of the signers that I have in previous
articles alluded to, where they took a solemn oath to
stand by Maryland and defied British aggression.
Among those signers were nine of the Marshalls and
four of my Latimer kindred, one of them being my
own grandmother’s father, as we now understand. This
signing was set down as treason to King George, and
it meant eternal vigilance in a lanji where great influ
ence was used to preserve allegiance to the royal arms.
Had British arms prevailed every one would have been
executed or exiled as before said.
• * *
SLANDEROUS ATTACKS ON CANDIDATES.
To the most of newspaper readers it seemed a vain
undertaking to try to run down the attack made on ex-
President Roosevelt, who was charged with habitual
drunkenness in the campaign of last year, but th© se
quel shows that it was time and money well expended.
When it came'to a showdown the proof failed to appear.
During the 1U12 campaign a so-called national prohibi
tion organizer appeared in Cartersville and publicly
stated that he himself saw this much abused candidate
drink four stiff glasses of whisky inside of thirty min
utes. The falsehood had to pass unrebuked, because
there was nobody qualified to say that the speaker was
a brazen liar, but which he was, and we now are sat
isfied that he made lying his professional business.
This is alluded to merely to say that all sifeh tales
should be taken not only with a grain of allowance, but
held at arm’s length on suspicion for honesty’s sake.
There are very few men who are ambitious for po
litical promotion who would dar© to enter a campaign
with habits of this kind, and newspapers should be
very careful to hold back such villainous stories un*til
the absolute proof is presented. No sot is L. to serve
in a representative capacity, and no immoral man
Si ould be allowed to appear as a legislator. Civic
righteousness should be illustrated, as well as preached
for example’s sake to the ^outh of the land. The time
has been in our country when drunkenness was con
doned, but that time has gone by. A man who is too
weak to control his thirst for strong drink should go
to an inebriate asylum before he asks the votes of any
number of people, and after he thinks he is cured he
should test himself in private life before he essays to
become a lawmaker.
Mr. Roosevelt’s vigor and physical robustness would
have given the lie where he was personally known, but
eternity alone can count the votes he lost where he
was not so well acquainted. It was well to chase the
lie down.
• * *
A SHORT SIGHTSEEING TRIP.
Washington, D. C., May 19, 1912.
As I walked down F street on yesterday afternoon
I heard the fire wagons coming. Surely I never saw
so many splendid engines in line of battle to meet the
voracious fire fiend!
The large building occupied by the department of
geological survey was al^ in flames down in its base
ment. A great express company’s supply, also domi
ciled in the building, was being destroyed.
For hours the engines poured in great streams of
water. One .man, who got near enough to see, said
there were twenty hose lines pouring in their floods.
I never saw sue! beautiful engines ip my life. They
were haridisome as the inside works of a splendid
watch, and they had attached themselves to every wa
ter plug in the vicinity, and the hose were stretched
along all those crowded street near the F.bbitt house
and the United States treasury. Being Sunday after
noon and beautiful weather, everybody was prome
nading the streets, and the crowd soon banked ^hem-
selves on the various sidewalks. I have not seen the
morning paper to know the extent of the loss, but you
may be sure it runs up into a good many figures.
What it has cost the government to procure all the
data and th.s patents and wjiat the hindrances to prog
ress will be I can only imagine to bo enormous.
I took a street car lido out to the popular Chevy
Chase club and grounds, miles and miles of the finest
streets and parks on the continent; and the people who
invest in a town where the t;r; n s of ro,000.000 of peo
ple are used to beautify and extend such improvements
can easily perceive what I’v ir luck has been.
My vEcrtion or l.olida;. is hampered by a:i inflamed
eye which : annoys me a great Cesl. but 7 knew T
could not rest from reading and writing r.t homo, so i
am on a little sightseeing trip of v.d irh you will '..car
more anon.
THE INCOME TAX
XI.-
-THE SUPREME COURT DECISION.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
Perhaps no decision ever rendered by a federal
court in the United States tended to shake the faith of
the people in the courts more than the decision of the
^supreme court that the law of
r 1894 was unconstitutional. Hay
ins the misfortune to reverse
the construction and practice of
t hundred years, coupled with a
practical reversal of its own
’irst decision, the court, how
ever righteous its aim or high
ts purpose, might have brought
iown upon itself a storm of
adverse and distrustful criti
cism.
As soon as the law of 1894
went into effect all of the big
interests of the country got
ready to’ fight it.'on the ground
that it was unconstitutional
Many suits were brought con
testing It, but the one which fi
nally had the honor of being
the Lest case was that of Pol
lock vs. the Farmers' Doan and Trust company, Some
of the ablest lawyers at the American bar were
brought In to attack the constitutionality of the law.
Few cases in that court ever have been more thor
oughly argued or expounded than was this one, the
arguments and briefs filling several volumes. There
were two principal grounds upon which the opponents
of the tax declared it unconstitutional—that It was
not a uniform tax, and that It was a direct tax. They
laid more emphasis on the former than on the latter
assertion. They attempted to persuade the supreme
court that it should pronounce the tax unconstitutional
without reversing the former decisions of that body.
The oourt paid little attention to the argument that
the tax was not a uniform one within the meaning
of the constitution, and, indeed, in a later decision,
the government’s contention in this partciular was
upheld. ’ .
...
The court had declared by a unanimous vote In
1870, in the case of Springer against the United
States, in which Springer resisted the payment of a
.tax upon his professional income, that ‘"it does not
appear that any tax like the one here in question was
ever regarded or treated by congress as a direct tax.
This uniform practical construction of the constitu
tion touching so important a point Is a consideration
of great welgth.” It further added that "our conclu
sions are that direct taxes, within the meaning of the
constitution, are only capitation taxes as expressed in
that Instrument, and taxes on real estate. ' It further
declared that the tax upon Springer’s income was in
the nature of an excise or duty, and, therefore, not a
direct tax.
.....
Unfortunately the income of Springer was not de
rived from lands, but rather from United States bonds
and professional earnings. When the law of 1894
came before the supreme court counsel argued that in-
, come frojn land cannot be distinguished from land lt-
’ self, and, therefore, if a tax on land is a direct tax.
,as every one concedes, It follows that a tax on an in
come derived from land Is also a direct tax. Upon
this argument the court decided In the first case that a
tax upon Income derived from lands was a direct tax,
and, therefore, inhibited by the constitution except
under apportionment. There was an even division of
the court upon the question of whether the "remainder
of the law should be declared unconstitutional because
this -part of it was so held. There was one phase of
the controversy, however, upon which the court was
unanimous, and that was in declaring that the, part
of the law which put a tax upon incomes derived from
state bonds was unconstitutional, not because it was’
a direct tax, but because the federal government had
no right to tax the instrumentalities of a state.
...
Of course such a decision tore the income tax law
to pieces, and there seemed no other way out of the
difficulty than to reopen the whole matter and to ar
gue it all over again- Counsel opposed to the law
built tlielr arguments upon the opinions of the court
in the first case, and declared that if, as th'- court
had held, a tax upon income derived from land were
a direct tax, then also a tax upon the Income from
personal property would e a direct tax. Justice
Jackson had not participated in the hearing of the
first case, and arose from what proved to be his death
bed to hear the arguments on the rehearing. He voted
in favor of the constitutionality of the law, and since
the vote had stood four to four on the first hearing,
his vote in favor of the law must have made it consti
tutional, had not one of the justices affirming the
constitutionality of the law in the first case changed
his vote and registered himself against it. Who tha»
justice was is not known. For a long time It was
claimed that ,t was Justice Shiras, but more recently
claims we.q made that It was not he, but Justice
Brown. Others assert that it was Justice Field.
Probably it will never be known. But, at any rate,
one man who, on the first hearing, had voted to up
hold the law, changed his mind and voted against it
on the rehearing.
t e e e
Many careful authorities assert that the court did
not take time to make its own investigations, and,
therefore, relying upon the representations of counsel,
it was gravely misled, and that this fact is disclosed
by an examinatinn of the affirmative opinions. For
instance, It was argued that a Frenchman by the name
of Turgot had written a pamphlet on taxation in
.which he pronounced an income tax a direct tax, and
that this work was in the hands of the framers of
the constitution. Chief Justice Fuller accepted this
and used It as an argument In his opinion. Prof.
Sellgman, of Columbia university, shows that no such
work ever was published in France, much less trans
lated in the United States. Turgct did write a little
memoir, in whicl. he contended that th e only direct
taxes were poll taxes and land taxes.
...
Again, * was contended by counsel and adopted in
the opinions of the court that the clause in the con
stitution forbidding the levying of direct taxes except
by apportionment was inserted to protect the small
states against the large ones, whereas, such authori
ties as Prof. Seligman produce the words of the con
stitution framers themeslves to show It was put there
as a compromise to protect the slave states in th«
three-fifths rule, whereby, in determining the ratio
representation in the house of representatives and di
rect taxation three white people should count as much
as five negro* .
Pointed Paragraphs
There are local disturbances other than the
weather.
This cold spell was a thing the almanacs were
not prepared for.
Iii weather like this the bleachers are just as
good as the grandstand.
The dictograph has supplanted the old ears the
walls used to have.
Ilx-Presidait Taft probably wonders how the
president gets r.waje with it so easily.
As a man grows older, his ideas, like his tailor’s
measurements, don’t vary much from year to year.
if ?, woman ever doss find her ideal man, she
■imest invariably discovers that tome other woman
-.as a prior claim on him.