The Atlanta constitution. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, January 15, 1900, Image 6

Georgia Historic Newspapers

The Atlanta constitution., January 15, 1900, Page 6, Image 6

About The Atlanta constitution. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19?? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 1900)

Page of 12

Prev Issue Next Issue

Text PDF JP2 (6.3 MB) Clip/Print Image

Page of 12

Prev Issue Next Issue

Return to Top

Newspaper Page Text6 THE CONSTITUTION CLARK HOWELL Editor W. A. HEMPHILL Business Manager K«*»re4 nt the Atlant* Pnatafflee aa HeeaaJ Class Mail Matter, Nav. 11, 1R73. TEI WFEKI.Y rONsnrrnox. only r per on asaa. Club* ot five. |I each; clot® or ten, fl each ano a copy to utter-up ot dub, WP. WASTYO!' —The Con-tltitlen trains an agent •t every pnatoflicv tn America. AcvntS outfit free and rood terr .a. If yoa are net In aelub wv want you to act aea«ct>t al four ctllce. Write us. CIIASQE OF ADDRESS—When ordering addre« of your paper ebaaged always give the old a.« well as the new addrvwv Alaaysrtvepoetotßce.oounty and state. It yoar paper t» not rvcvtred rv-gnlarly not fy ue and we will rtralchten the matter. IF YOV SEND IW AX ORIO h*r new eotwcrlbera ylra-e allow m a week V* get the name* on th- Itat and yofwrv started before you write a complaint, aa we are very much crowded now. DO WOT FORI; FT to make your renewals tn time. Watch your direction leg an-t nee when you rente •rrlytlonerplr»-«. The nest air month* Till he full <1 tatetvM. and roe sbvuM not nifea a Hncle copy 1 ot Ibe tWaatltution. ru-nd your onlers at leant a week In advance to make sure. It may not take a week In every ta-tanev. as we use the greatest UUigvncT to get them on our uMutmg list. Misrepresentation and Its Aim. There ar** a number of newspapers which, while professing devotion to democratic principles, are most bitterly opposed to what they term "Bryan- Jam." If they were compelled to exp'ain what they mean by “Bryanism" they would admit that they mean the princi ples and doctrines set forth in the d. moertic platform adopted aT Chicago. Tn other words, they profess to be democrats, but conceal their opposition to democratic principles behind the vague and unmeaning term of "Bryan ism." for if “Bryanism" is not democ racy, it is nothing. The only thing that giv- s Mr. Bryan prominence In the democratic party is his devotion to democratic principles and his ability to explain and defend them. The Charleston News and Courier and The N» w Orleans States, both an tagonists ot Mr. Bryan, arc now en gaged in a wonderful effort to show that the editor of The Constitution has made an attack on Bryanism in h’s Buffalo address. Condolence and sym pathy ooze from all th» Ir pores at The trouble with these anti-demo cratic newspapers is that they have been trying their hardest to place Mr. Bryan in a position which he has never occupied. They have interpreted what he has said on the Philippine question as a d sire to surrender to the Tagalas, and to betray and desert the responsibilities ami obligations placed on the shoulders of the United States by the fortunes of war. If thesr* op ponents of democracy could have their way they would show that Mr. Bryan i is a traitor to the flag, and that he ig- | nores a situation that is plain and clear to every thinking man in the j United States. They will do anything and everything to belittle the demo- j cratic leader and bring h'm into con- • tempt. This Is their alm. this is their oh- ; ject. and when they po mce upon a speech delivered, by the editor of The Constitution, and skim it over, and find in it sentences and phrases which they think they can misinterpret, or discover paragraphs which they imag ine they can wrest to their own pur- I poses, they Immediately raise their hamls in horror, and ask how can such things be. Then, under pretense • of defending Mr. Bryan, they proceed to show that his firmest friends nn«l most ardent supporters are falling away from him. We present an editorial from The Albany Herald, whose editor very clearly perceives the motives which hove Induced these papers to place the editor of The Constitution In apparent ’ antagonism with Mr. Bryan. The Her- ■ aid says: The speech nt Editor Clark Howell at ButT.do Is still the subject of dis uaston tn the rowFp-ipers. which fa nothing more than U to l»e expected. Such a speech on •uch an occasion Irvin a man in Mr. Howirs postticn must naturally become a subject for comment. But we have been surprised at the manner in which some ot <>ur southern ma simpers have criti cised Mr. Mowed tor his utterances on th® qu. stion ot expansion, with special reference to the I'lkilipplnes. and th® gen eral subject of tmpe-r.aJI-m. Th® Charles ton Ness and Courier and The New Or leans Stales, for In*lance, refer to him as not only a rampant expansionist, but an imperialist as w<-lL The New Orleans paper, tn the course of an editorial criti cism ot the Buffalo spee> h, says: |- has not be. n so many days ago that this same dark Howell s;*-lce on lie* miu«* retrain with William J. Bryan, and then his votes w tunl arain-t imperfallrm. which be ts how nur-ing aaruly to his It Is Clear that the ciitor of The States h.*.* edits r Hut read Mr. lioae-.'s sin e. h. or that he has mteinterpveted It- A fair *:.<! IntvKV* nt interpret:! tkm of th eja-ech, taken in coiu»ec’!*>n nnd as a whole, will • rta-nSy vindicate Mr. How ell of the charge of being either iui ex pansionist or ici imperialist. He left no room for doubling that he was loyal to his country as a true American and tiia.l Ids sympath.es were with those ot our country men who ar® carrying the flag In the campaign to put down the insur gents and rv*ture ord« r in the Philippines; and tn discu.-sing the subject ot expansion he merely *• epud expansion, so far as the l"hi*.,-piu s are conccnu-d. as a tact. We have already explained, and Air. Howell dis■ us- d iho subject from a pure ly business s:a:.dpoint and argued that we should avail ourselves of the opportu nity to extend our oriental trade, and tiiat II would be ot incalculable b-netit to the cotton planters and manufactur ers of th® south. There is no imperialism in this, nor is there anything in Mr. How ell's speech to warrant the suggestion (which, we note, comes fr«-ni gold bug organs only), that Mr. Howel, is not a giHHi d* mo -rat nnd as loyal a supporter of Mr. Bryan, the acknowledged l«;uier and logical candidate of the democratic party lor the presidency, as he lias ever The rostrum referred to by The New Orleans States was ’hat which Mr. Bryan and Mr. Howell spoke from at Barnesville, on the 4th of last July, when the latter introduc»d the former. Here Is the pith of what Mr. Bnun raid on the Philippine question: You ask me what we can do. My Tric-nds. it is easy to know what to do. When this question came up. wo prom ised the peop>e of Cuba their independ ence. and because we did it there is peart there today, and they are helping us to organise a stable governmen t. We could have promised to the Philippines the tame thing that we premised to the people of Cuba; and the Bar* n resolution ttnlxidjinc the very thing that we prom ised to the Cubans < arne so near passing that it required the vote of the vice president to defeat it. (Applause.) if the people of the Pitilippin.-s had been assured that we were coming, not to de prive them of their Independence, but to help them to form a government of their own. I believe there would be no trou ble there now. If the same message that gave to the Cubans the assur.give of Independence had given to the people of the Philippines that assurance, not a drop of blood of our soldiers would have been shed. (Applause.) Senator Bacon's resolution was intro duced before hostilities began, and had It been passed, and the president adopted this policy, 1 believe sur volunteer sol diers would have been at home now, without the necessity of sending regu lars to take their places. In introducing Mr. Bryan, Mr. How ell said, in part, in referring to the Philippines: Three courses are open to vs: First, to puil down our flag, withdraw our arms and leave the people and the property which providence pul at least In our tem porary keeping to tile wreck of revolution and the damnation of anarchy. Second, to deciare it to be our fixed purpose to lurever hoid the I'hipippines as an inte gral part of our government, maintain ing the supremacy of our flag by the force of our amis until the end of time. Third, and Lest, to extend to the | of tiie Philippines the assurance we gave to the i>eoplu of Cuba, pledging our na tional faith that when they are able to maintain their own independence they shall have it, and that in tiie meantime the protecting arm of the mother of re publics shall be exerted In behalf ot the < -ta<>nshiu<-:it of a stable government iu the Philippines. It will b® observed that Mr. Bryan was discussing what might have teen done—what should have been done —it a democratic policy had be<n carried out. His introducer made brief refer ence to facts us they existed then and . as they exist today, and there is not a word in the Buffalo address contradic tory of or antagonistic to the remarks made at Iktrntsville in introducing Mr. Bryan. There Is but one way to look at the Philippine question as it pre: Itself today, and that Is to look at facts as they exist, and to treat th<m accord ingly. We believe that a sound demo cratic policy would have prevented the war that has been going on in the island of Luzon; but that belief is. In the nature of things, an assumption— an assumption, moreover, that includes only ono of the details of the situa tion. The irain fact which should not bo ignored, but which a great many people persist in ignoring, is that our occupation of the Philippines Ls a poli cy made necessary by tiie results ot the war. We ousted the Spaniards, and we had no other choice but to maintain order as best we could, and to resist to the uttermost all efforts on the part of the discontented nnd tiie turbulent to wreak vengeance on a large part of the population. Thus it hapft ns that the real Philip pine question is not whether wo shall withdraw from the islands, but how we sltnil compose the discontented portion of the population, and how we shall induct these people into a clear under standing and appreciation of repub lican government, which is liberty without license. To be an Imperialist, we suppose, one must Le in favor ot governing the Filipinos as vassal sub jects, denying them even ultimately a government of their own and giving to them only such rights as we may feel inclined to give them. Mr. Bryan is not now and never has been in favor of withdrawing our troops and giving tb«> people of the islands over to the chaos and confu sion of those who dream of liberty, but who do not know what liberty means. The responsibilities ami obligations that have been forced upon us cannot be ignored, and no representative dem ocrat desires to ignore them. The whole controversy about "expansion” in some of the anti-democratic papers has had for its purpose an ardent de sire to place Mr. Bryan in a false position. The attempt hits failed— there never was any fear that it won d succ< cd. - American Fabric Making. The progress of American fabric making has been recognized by the secretary of the imperial maritime cus toms of Great Britain, who s ates that "American cotton fabrics are gradually displacing the English goods from tho Chinese markets.” It has probably been ob.-' rted ’hat tlie* favorable break in the price of lint cotton has come coincidentally with tiie recognized growth of cotton manu- I facturing in the field. The spinner In l Georgia can pay 8 cents for his cotton as well as the spinner in can pay 4d. Tho margin which the Lancashire man has to save out of that 4d. for the marketing and deliv e:y to him of that cotton can be paid directly to the farmer by hLs southern competitor. There are some southern I spinners, it is true, who not having i awakened to the wide fi‘ d before ' them are fearful of new mills, fearing that they may glut the market. When ‘ these men realize that the fight is be | tween ourselves and foreign spinners who have enriched themselves at our expense, they will realize that the new American mills are but allies in that grand industrial campaign which is to transfer the manufacturing center from England to America. We want the whole 100.000.000 spindles ourselves, in-'ead of a bare 1j.000.u00. The fact that our manufacturers have pushed open the Chinese door, and are displacing foreign competitors should give fesh inspiration to all who contemplate an entry into the milling business. The heavy increase in the shipments of cotton goods to China during the year ending December 31. 1899. is without parallel in the history of the cotton goods export trade, and Is well calculated to alarm the English spinners, official figures will not be available for several weeks, but the following approximation by the New York Commercial will anticipate the showring to be made: The total extorts of cotton goods, col ored and uneolored. for the year ending December 31. !»<•. aggregate.! 423.331. KM yards, ngalrat 329.831 fCt yards for tho year which was the record up to that time. Fully S& per cent of last year's exports were tak< n by China, or 231.219,Ti0 yards, valued at about*SlO.uSO.WO. The following figures show the exports of cotton g<H»ls for the last four calendar years, the ttgun s for 1899 being eatimated: Yards. Value. ■. 11.9rt7 W<7 285.984.151 H.813.M3 IMMi 2*1,211,521 15.245.V77 The following figures show the exports to China for the same period: Yards. Value. 1 231.219. I.'iO 1M1.225 js.7 i:;’...’09,?«9 <;.t;s.2:*.r lk9S 1U7.<K3,1U 6.027,'Wl Our exports to t’hina. It will be seen, exceed those of 1898 by 77.935.295 yards, or cluse to 50 per cent, while they are 127,- IMON yards larger than tn 1896. our cotton goods trade with certain THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION: ATLANTA. GA., MONDAY. JANUARY 15. 1900. other countries has shown a larger per centage of Increase, hut trade with them is small, compared with the China trade. An increase of 100,000,000 yards in one year is, indeed, a gratifying show ing, and should lead to a cotton mill iu every email cotton mart. —a ..' The ‘’Uncounted” Stock. One of the developments of the cot ton market agitation which has been made prominent during tho present selling season is the manner of count ing the crop each year. By some figment of the imagination possible only to commercial men and financiers, a dead line of production has been drawn, beyond which it is fatal for the farmer to go, and below which it would not do to acknowledge the fact. This fictitious amount of cotton becomes the normal crop, upon which the best price allow able to the farmer is based, and every bale made to appear in excess is used as a hammer with which to beat down the price. Two results have grown out of this system, both conducing to the end of keeping high tho stock figures and low the price in consequence. Tho one re* suit is tiie making up of records by so called experts, who presume to have ability to count the increase to the market eacli day. Although the grow ing of cotton covers an empire, from the Virginias and the* Carolinas across to Texas and Oklahoma, engaged in by hundreds of thousands of one-horse farmers, and marketed in as many dis- j ferent points, still these experts pro- , fess to be equal to the task of keeping , tab on every bale. Upon their im- ; probable count from year to year, the crop is made to appear hundreds of thousands of bales more than it really is. For fear that these figures might fail of their purpose, the second result has been called into play -that of car rying over a surplus each yoar to act as a nest-egg for the count of tho year following. Based, upon this machinery, ail in tho bands of the spinners nnd tho speculators, no note has been taken of the increased ability of the world to consume cotton, nor of the wastage and wearing out of goods made from previous crops. While all this w*as going on, all (hat tho farmer coui.« do was to grumble. He resolved to curtail the crop, to up peal to legislation, and to other resorts which had no more relation to the problem than to the man In the moon. It hardly occurred to him that the game of big crop was but a bluff set up by manipulators, for tiie purpose ot transferring the money which should i seek tho farmers' pocket into their !own. It eventually happened, howev- I er, that tiie old adage of “whom the gods would destroy they first make mad” was true. Emboldened by tiie i success of past years, the leading statis -1 tical expert flew so wide of tiie mark that he was called down. The destruc tion of Neill was gratifying, so far as it went, but it was Nelllism which tiie farmer was after, rather than the ac commodating Individual who for a season served the purpose cf those who employed him. The recent flurry, in which another firm took up the game where the first J left off. illustrates that tiie comblna ! tion which would make the element of I chance Hie leading one in the market still exists. When the New Orleans man tr <d to wreck the market on an < assumed twelve million crop and fail ed, the New York man comes in and I tries to fill up tiie crevices with cotton from “uncounted” towns. In a season j when the profit made by the spinner is | I wider apart from that made by the ■ producer than exists in the sale of any | other commodity, the game is still to haggle about the size of tiie crop. For tunately, the farmers were not stam peded. and they propose to enjoy what ever profit there is in waiting. At all events, they do not want to embarrass i tho speculators by asking them to * I share in eith< r profits or losses. Tiie great lesson taught our people in the present controversy is that the : counting business is as fictitious as it lis bold and unscrupulous. The cotton ■ stock held over each year is unmer chantable stuff, which his been re jected by the mills, and is simply do ing dummy duty by bearing down the market. Its retention in the column of figures is the boldest fraud ever kept up with market aj prebat on. Then there is no such thing as a count of the cotton crop in the field, where it might be accurate, nor at the gin, where it could be accurate. The count Is made from points of sale and ship ment. Hundreds of thousands of bales are count<*d twice and even thrice at the small town market, at the interior collecting point ami again at the port. | So sharp are these people at the bus iness of counting that it would not be ' a matter of wonder if some of this i cotton was not counted a fourth time In Liverpool. Havre and Bremen. ‘ When an attempt is made to lug in i bogus cotton from “uncounted" towns, j it is but an after thought in the wide spread conspiracy which seeks to I wrest the crop from the farmer for the ' bmefit of the speculator. When should a farmer sell his cot ton? Certainly never in the other i man’s market; never in a stampede; ■ never in response to a sign given by i tho one set of speculators or tho other, i The power does not exist which can I correctly advise the farmer as to when to sell. Newspapers can keep him j advised of eonditons, but ho must <le | cide for himself when it is best for his I own interest to sell. Conditions which ! may impell sales in one place may ' not obtain in another. The only safe I plan is for each farmer to make him self independent of outside influences. With meat and corn on hand for the year, he can afford to pick his own time for selling his own products. Never before was the hand of specu lation more daringly brought into play, ami never before Yvas it so important for the farmer to be on the alert as now. Suggestive nt Least. The sore straits to which tiie British have been reduct'd in South Africa lias led to such a change in English public opinion as to be suggestive at least. Such words as tho following from a recent speech delivered by the first lord of the treasury, Arthur J. Bal four, recall some of tiie speeches de livered when Lord North began to despair of subduing tiie colonits: 1 know of no war in which Gn at Britain has Ih<ii el'tsaßO'l, except that ic.*ultilig in the independence ot the American colo nl, * whi< h did not end triumphantly. Yet I <!<’* not know of ono which has bexun ! triumphantly. I True, tiie war In South Africa fa dfaap pointing, t'Ut it is not a fact that Great Britain lias suffered exceptional reverses er great disaster. On the other hand the war has knit together every branch of the English speaking race, making all feel that they have a great, common des tiny which It Is their duty to accom plish. Then, coming to what may be re garded as the suggestive climax of his speech. Mr. Balfour went on: These are thoughts which ought to sup port us In far greater trials than this war may produce. IL member that a tui tion Which cannot bear defeat 1s a nation unworthy of empire, and although defeat has not yet conn-, ami although we hope and believe It will not come in tho course of the present war. yet, if matters should turn out otherwise, we shot.*, still rely upon the courage and patriotism of cur countrymen. It is one of the best traits of the English nation that it knows when it has enough, and instead of pawing up the earllt like our late Spanish adver sary, it begins to hustle for the best way out of Hie difficulty. That Mr. Balfour should have even meditated such a contingency so far as to give it expression, is notable enough. Comforting to the “Interior.” The relation of the metropolis to the “provinces” is gently hinted at thus in a New York financial publication: Ever*, thing combines to show that the return mov< m< nt of money from lite in terior is will under way. The most lm l>ort:int f' ature of last Saturday’s bank averages was tin g iin <*f $2.816,2U0 in cash. $2,311, 100 of wiiich r« presented a gain in legal tenders. This is conclusive evidence that tiie intt i tor banks art* finding less of a (lemaml for funds, nnd are adding to their balances in this city. The dr tin on the New York hanks for < r< p moving and other | iirposes during the past four months b is been except tonally h avy. W’liile the Industrial and commer cial activity of the country will keep more titan the usual amount of money In 'tin' Interior well employed for some titn . to come, bankers claim that the movement in this direction will be sutti ei. nth large to allow them to accommo date borrowers at reasonable rates of in terest and previ-nt a rep tition of the exac --at'•<! rates for money experienced a short time ago. The manner in which a continent 13 niinimized in favor of one city, nnd 70,<>'.tt,0i o people are mnde to do ser vice to 3,0(M),0(X> is one of the outcomes of the artificial financial system, which plays a game of seesaw from country to town, and from town to country, but always a metropolitan hand acting as "teeter.” Tho interior provinc s and tiie interior banks are twice a year permitted to play a little with the gold coin which is regularly jerked back home for review. When btmini'.ss or loans are good or safe in the nittropolis, then the country is site, but when the provinces are pin< h< il it is only undergoing a period of “healthy liquidation.” The Constitution has always argued for a financial system based upon the natural requirements of the people, and capable of helping them in their businrs , ventures. Tiie man who can meet the requirenmuts of a national bank needs no credit. When tiie government departs from the business of playing “policy" in one city to th exclusion of all the rest, and places our financial system upon a natural basis, tlm result will be a more even distribution of the circulating me dium . < A Pennywise Suggestion. The s’at ■ nrnn who starts great eco nomic ■! movements by cutting off a janitor fion. a public building, while i ho a 1 lows the nil icitnd general man ager to <■ -.cape, *i< <!"ent’.y makes bls appearance, and in unexmeted places. That th s mysterious gentleman has i fout’d temporary lodgment in the post -1 office department is suggested by this press telegram; All “personal no stofitecs” that ran be 1... ,:<<>! by the ag‘ its of Third Assistant tn M.i-r G* neral Madden are to be abo’fahed without delay. ’ Personal post <jllb'es" lire such us are established In out i f the v.'V places for tlm exclusive u-'* of a particular firm or Industrial en ten t A n anf.icturlng concern, for example, obtains half a hi ndred signetnreg to an application for a postoffice. The station having b “ti created tbrouerh the inttu- I enee of congress onal r presentatives tin* i firm has ono of its employ.' s ma le post master. By law p istmasters at fourth class offices nr< given the full value nt c.aneelletl staiiip. to a t< al of sl,O<X>. Ex- • - cl* i k therefor, the promoters of thobust- • in t i e gov ernment sl,<«M in stanips annually. It win be s'on th t 'he victim of this reform is to be tl 11 manufacturer who sets himself up n <t rural place. According to the I<>s o To department lie should either do w hout mall fa cility or move to sonic big city where h's mail would swell the salary ot some president il p. ♦: ister. It will be seen that there I: no claim of ex travagance or corn r> ! . service; tho work which th*' po<office does is per fectly legitimate, but it works favora bly for the manufacturer who prefers the country to the city. It is to bo hoped that this penny wise movement will be dropped. Post offices should I**- established at every point demanded by social or business reasons. Tho department has the ap pointment of postmasters in its own hands, and it Is the institution to bo illumed if tiie wrong man Is appointed. Let the postofficos remain, and let the reform make itself evident in the man appointed, and not by depriving people of mailing facilities. With Respect to the Fanner. That great myth-preserver. The New York Sun, lias the following: Th** f.'rm r is th** mainstay ot us all. —Boa- ton Daily (’lobe. \V<> render nil due respect to the farmer, but th*- belly nnd the ni* tubers once dls *-<iv* r* d that c<*mpnrls*iti of the work done by * i -It Individual was odious and with out profit. It will be observed that our con temporary tries to answer a fai t from Boston with a fable from the region of tiie middle winds, and as might be supposed, tiie fable stands no showing at oil. It presents no parallel case. There is not a product beyond the lim its of his own acres that the farmer cannot dispense with at a pinch. In other words, ho can produce on his own land all that is absolutely neces sary to existence. His dependence on anything else Is a matter of con venience and is therefore purely arti ficial. The farmer was the first producer, and he is likely to be the last. Be fore there were towns and cities, be fore there we.o manufactories, the farmer was earning his own living by the sweat of liis brow, and depended on nothing whatever but the labor ot ins hands. if all tiie cities of the world, all the ships of tiie sea, all the arteries of commerce, all the channels of trade, all the manufactories and industries were to perish from the earth, tin* farmer would be able to maintain himself, and he would grad ually produce, as he has already pro duced, tiie wmlth necessary to recre ate them. By means of the products of his toll, the cities and towns would be rebuilt, the channels of trade would be restored, and after a time, things would bo as they had been. When the various members of the body were boasting of their Importance they did not, if we remember the fable, go back to first principles, nor was it necessary for the moral that the fab ulist intended to draw. But to speak of the farmer is to go back to the be ginning. The whole wealth of the world has been dug from the ground, and on that digging everything has depended. To compare the importance of the work of individuals Is indeed odious ami unprofitable, but the work of the farmer is incomparable. Shut, oft from all other workers the products of the farm, and the result would be destruction —first paralysis and then 'amine. Shut off from the farmer the products of all other workers and he would still maintain himself with comparative ease. He would have to give up many comforts and forego many luxuries, but he would prove to be self-sustaining. Os course The Sun is not serious in the comments we have quoted. It is simply girding at what it conceives to be a piece ot Bosrton philosophy. We are not comparing the individual farm er to other individual workers; ’ze are simply reminding an eastern editor who likes his batter hot, that agricul ture is the basis of all industry, the source of all wealth. He may believe it or not, as the case tnay be; but it is an axiom older than Socrates that the truth is not injured by unbelief. How the Kich May Be Happy. Mr. Charles T. Yerkes, who has amassed $15,000,000 in fifteen years, Ls reported to have declared before a recent meeting of commercial teachers in Chicago that “great wealth does not bring happiness.” This truth is as old as the days when ten oxen rep resented vast wealth, but it is a truth that takes on new value when it falls from tiie lips of one of our modern rich men. Wealth brings neither hap piness nor contentment; all that it can buy is the gratification of a mo ment—a gratification that is as fleeting as the feeling that follows a victory at whist. Nothing so thoroughly- demonstrates the discontent of the very rich people than tho fact that they flit about from place to place and from amusement to amusement with no end in view and no lively hopes of enjoyment. Some of them imagine that the English peo ple are happy, and so they import a round of English amusements—polo, golf and fox hounds that wouldn’t know a fox If they met it in the road. Thon the horse show and amateur cir cuses; and after it Is done and over ami the lights are out, they lean back witli a sigh and wonder why it is that all tiie wealth they have will not pur chase an hour's real happiness, an hour's genuine contentment. They go to their fashionable churches ami the preachers, striving to please, tell them that hell is a myth, and that the Bible is for the most a collection of fables, fairy stories and romances. But even this Is not com forting. If there is no happiness in wealth, no happiness promised in the B Ide, th n tho whole fabric of the world Ls simply a wicked and hideous dream, and tho things of this life a nightmare. If wealth will not buy happiness and contentment for those who own it, what is tiie good of it. and why the scramble ami competition for it? Well, it is one way that men have of escap ing from their own thoughts; but they will have to sit down with them nt the last, let the postponement be for ever so long. And yet. we think there Is good rea son for saying that there 1s one way rn which our rich men may make them selves comparatively happy. It is so simple and so obvious that we hesi tate to mention it for fear some ot them may turn up their noses at its triteness. We will begin, therefore, by saying that all tho world’s greatest benefactors have found the road to the happiness that can be purcha. d l»y wealth. In our own day, to go no further back, there arc G ’o Pea body and Peter Cooper, and follow!’ g hard upon their heels comes Andrew Carnegie and Aaron French who have also discovered for themselves that the happiness and joy that lie hid in wealth can only be brought out when it is devoted to benefactions. We aro ‘never so happy as when we are making others happy; we are never so contented as when wo know that we have been tho means of benefiting others. We have so many rich mon in this country, and their wealth has been so easily gained, that we have often wondered why the examples of George Peabody, Peter Cooper and Baron Hirsch (to mention the name of the most eminent philanthropist of mod uli times) were not followed on a larger scale. There are so many ave nues l>y means of which they could dispose of their benefactions, there are so many things waiting to b- done, so many noble schemes for the bene fit of humanity, that the time cannot be far distant when our wealthy men will realize their responsibilities in these matters. It is true, of course, that the begin nings of the great fortunes which have been accumulated in this country were gathered together under adverse conditions. To John Jacob Astor, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jay Gould, a dollar never ceased to be as big as a cart wheel; but conditions are dif ferent with the posterity of these men. Their wealth grows of Itself, and all tiny have to do is to keep tab on it. Money is not so important in their eyes, and it will become less and less Important when they reflect that the day will come when they will have to lie down and leave it, going forth into an unknown country as poor as the poorest ]Kiuper. Tiie rich man who desires to have his name remembered with gratitude and respect will assuredly find away to satisfy his ambition. The Farmers’ Friend. Walton News and Messenger: The Atlanta Constitution has certainly been the frl**nd of the farmer. Its bold stand for truth regarding the cotton crop has saved southern farmers millions. Monroe. Ga., News and Messenger: The At lanta Constitution has certainly been the friend of the 'armor. Its bold stand for truth regarding the cotton crop has saved south ern fanners millions. “Songs of the Soil” By FRANK L. STANTON The World’s Lost Way. This ol’ worl's rollin' awkward— lts sweet er voices dumb; The thunder of the cannon has jarred it out o’ plumb! The smoke o' burnin' cities —the trampled fields an' dells— Where the rattle o’ the rifles drowns all the Christmas bells! I say, she’s rollin’ awkward—she’s sorter lost her way; The blood o’ warrin’ naitlons on the roses o’ the May! An’ underneath the shinin’ of New Year stars an’ suns. The wallin’ o’ the women, an’ the guns, the guns! the guns! They’re preachin’ from the pulptts over yonder, fur an’ wide. An’ all o’ them air sayin’ that the Ix>rd s on either side! Each nation to the battlefield by provi dence Is led. An’ the blood is flowin’, flowin' till the rivers run in red! The worl’s a-rollin’ awkward she s shorely lost the way; She’s swingin' from the brightness of the higher, sweeter day; We’d see the stars u-shlnln', an’ live 'neath brighter suns. If we wuzn’t cloudin’ of ’em with tho black smoke of the guns! The Screech Owl's Verdict. Ol’ screech owl a-screechln’ In de tdp-*top er de lof, “White man gone ter congress, En he Can’t Swear Off! “Jlmmyjohn Is temptin’. En he tip-toe ter It sos White man gone ter congress, En he Can’t Swear Off!" En las’ er all he holler Futn de tip-top er de lof*. “Nigger lak de white man, Kaze he Can’t Swear Off!" In the Way o’ the World. The worl* —she would be better If the folks would only let her— If they didn't sorter stop her on Che way; In summer time or snowin’ There'll be sweeter roses growln’ While birds made sweeter music ntght and day! But we bring- the chain an’ fetter. An’ wo never-never let her Roll in music on the beauty of hex way; Till lost from all who love us. With her dust an' flowers above us. We sleep the sleep that wakes not with the day. Somewhere It’s Morning Swe?t. What though the night be lost to light Where tiie darkening tempests meet? The stars still shine with a light divine. And somewhere It's morning sweet! Though the darkening tempests meet, Somewhere it’s morning sweet; The sun will rise tn the brighter skies— Somewhere It's morning sweet! Ever a light in the dark, my dear— A light for the weary feet; Though far we roam from the lights of home We il rest In the morning sweet I Though the darkening tempest mset. Somewhere it's morning sweet; The sun will rise in the brighter skies. And we'll rest in tiie morning sweet! A Rainy Day. Better the spirit of storm— Better the tempest .that waves Than the slow, sad rain On hill and plain And the desolate, grass-grown graves! How solemn Its fall in the churchyard seems. Where the dead are with the dreams! But after the lonesome rain Tho sun will come in his might And freshen the flowers In blighted bowers — Weaving their red and thair white. But how solemn his light in the church yard seems. Where the dead are with the dreams! e • • • • The Greater Peace. Sorrow’s coming up th® slope. Clad In robes of Night; But we hear the bells of Hope- See the morning bright! Weep nut on the brighter way For tho griefs of yesterday! Face the morning! 10. the storm Gives the light release; Conies the fairer spirit-form Os the greater I'euce! Folded in the dark away Are the griefs of yesterday. Right reigns kingller for the Wrong, Realized the dream; And the sorrow is the song. And the song’s supreme! Hope Is with us—faith is strong In the singing ot the song! Let it reach the heaven profound Over storm and strife! Let Its thrilling notes resound At tho Gates of Life! Lol ail tears and sorrows cease In the beauty of God’s peace! Why the Heathen Rage. “W’y does ue heathen rage?” Dat what de good Book say. I s ped he mus' be hongry. (Hit fee's um dataway!) He see de empty plate en cup— Done eat de missionary up! Dat wy' de heathen rage En tear his kinky wooj; No use ter preach de gospel Ontell de heathen full! Dey goes on preachin’ anyhow, En heah's ono heathen hungry now! e • ♦ * * An Incorrigible. I hear de gray owl sing his psalm; “Is you gwlne ter swear off w’en you drink ye’ dram? De bran’ new year Is almos’ here. En w'nat you gwlne ter do In de bran’ new year?” But I up en say: "Dis Chris'inuj day, En de bran' new year Is fur away!” Den de gray owl up un' say ter me; “You des ez triflin’ ez kin be! You knows full well— Ez de tale 1 tell, Dat you hears de soun’ er de new year bell!” Butt I up en say: "Dis Chris’mus duy, En 1 'low dat de new year fur away!" Let Us Believe. Let us believe That there is hope for all the hearts that grieve; Tl.at somewhere night Drifts to a morning beautiful with light. And that the wrong— Though now it triumph, wields no scepter long. But Right will reign tiie waves of Error beat Bill flrp’s Letter (Written for The Constitution.) I have always contended that stealing little things was the besetting sin of the negro and was a race trait. And tha. cheating In a trade was a race trait 1» Jews and Gentiles. We white folks da not call it cheating, but say he got the advantage or he got the best of t bar gain, but this advantage is generally got by deception or a suppression of the truth. The negro smooths his sin over by cabl ing it taking things—Just a % our cook once said to me when I complained about her stealing lard and flour and vice and such things: “Mr. Major, I don t think you miss what I takes. Vi ell, I d ‘ d «t very much, for she never took mu* h at a time, but It annoyed me for ner to think she was fooling me when she wurnt. But that same negro would sit up ail night with a sick member of the tanuiy and was always good and kind to _ ou. children. Now the white man rarely steals anything and the negro as rareijr cheats you in a trade. Before the civil war the negroes' most frequent crime was stealing chickens and he got so expert in that business that a law wag pa-sed making it a penal offense for a ">’ bo «y to buv chickens from a negro even tnouga he had raised them in his own yard. VY e could buv foot mats and brooms and baskets, but we must not buy chuckens. Law or no law. he continued his mldn.ght vocation, and if th*' commandment had said thou shalt not covet thy neigh bor’s chickens it would have been all tn® same to him. First covet and then steal was part of his religion. I was ruminat ing about this because I bough*, a tuikey yesterday from a negro for a very low price and 1 wondered where he got it. I didn't question him. f*>r I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. When I was in Norvh Carolina a friend tol*l me about an o'l darky who was on trial for stealing a turkey and the proof was positive, and yet he did not seem to be alarmed let lawyer was discouraged and sai l. Ln**e Jack it looks like th y have got you. “No. dey aint. Mas John; dey aint got me yet and dey aint rigwine to get me. Tell you how it Is. Mas John. De Jedge seten up dir was mv young master when d.* war broke out and not gwlne to send me to de pen. No. sir; he aint. he ant done forget wha I know." But Mas John had lost confidence, for he knew that the judge would do his duty and execute the law. In a short time the trail was over and the judge asked Uncle Jack if he had anything to say in extenuation of his crime. The old gray-headed in * . got up with a grunt anti looking aroni . upon the spectators and then at the ju*. '•* said: “Nullin’ much, Mas Judge, null* much. Only dis. you know all about dat old war which we all got whoop d a: 1 you haint forgot how I went oud wid you to de army for you was a cappen ■ :.d old master told me to go ’long and take keer of vo-u. and you knows 1 did very bes’ 1 could for four mighty long years and how one time you got wounded and I staid by you ontell you was well again und how anoder time you took the measles and me, too, and I stay by you and nus’ you and how anu*i- . time dem yankees coteh me and I got away in de night and c**me back to you and how sometimes you get out of money and out of sumfen to eat all at de same time and you call me up and say, ‘Jaik. you mus’ g*» out a foragin’ and get us stunfin*. and 1 go out late in de night and bring you chickens and rostin’ ears anil one time I bring you a turkey, and you neber ax me nufiin’ about whar I got him and you never giv’ me any money to buy him, did you. Mas Jedg -. V call it foragin’ d* n. didnt you. Mas Jedge. and if it w-as foraging den how cvm It to be stealin’ now?” Bv’ this time the courtroom was con vulsed with laughter ami the judge could not conceal his emotion, for his recol lection of the old darky’s faithfulness was revived afresh, tie wiped his brow and his eyes, and said: “Mr. Sheriff, ad jeurn court. Uncle Jack. I will pay for that turkey, but you must not do so any more. When you need anything you mus’ cume to me. I havent forgot you.” It Is amazing to .ead our penitentiary reports where we learn that there aro over 2,000 negroes in tin- state and county chaingangs who are there for stealing of some kind. Most of them are of the new Issue who w-re never in slavery and a majority have advanced under ireeuon. fr**m simple larceny to burglary. Chick ens are too small game for the modern darky. One of my farm hands was sent there for two years, and was disgusted with his associates and said, “I tell you what, boss, dar fa some mean folks tn de chaingang. Fact is. dar is some folks just as mean !n dar a-* dar •'< outen dar" War wilt make white folks steal : r.d Judge Dooley believed that mean whisky would. The old-time lawyer used to tell how he wae br .ke of taking too mu. h when he was on the bench of th- North ern circuit. A man by name of Sterrett kept a dirty saloon near the hote] and the judge patronized him every morning be fore breakfast and by court time wa pretty mellow. One cold morning the mischievous lawyers borrowed half doz*n silver spoons from the landlady of the hotel and slipped them into the Judge’s overcoat pocket. He never discovered them until court adjourned for dinner and was dreadfully puzzled and perplex ed. He recognised t-.«- epoona, for t ■■ had his landlady's mark and were an ■'* ; heirlooms in her family. He sent for her to com*- to his room and gave th'-m ba i: with abject apology and said it nr. ' have been Sterrett's whisky that done !t It sobered him up and nr* le him v* serious all the afternoon. N-xt m >rnirg a •triftii . . stenting a package of pocketknives from a star.- in town. He was easily convi t ' and the judge asked him if he had anv thing to say for himself. “Nothin*, judge." said lie, “only that I was dr • k ing an don't renv-mber about it.” "• judge leaned forward and said. “You man. where did you get your liqu<- "At Sterrct’s." said he. “Discharge 1. Mr. Sheriff—discharge him' I am :>• rt ly aware that Sterrett’s whisky will rnal an’ body steal.” We soldier’s didn’t steal much dur the civil war. but sometimes we w<- • sorely tempted and fell. Sometimes ’ * got awful tired of salt meat an.l long ■ for a change of diet. I remember • when we camped near Orange courthou there was a lovely little shote that 1 up where our horses were tether*!. It be longed to a cress -M m n v. : ■. htll nearby and Major Aver r* de in the ■ one evening nnd tried to buy it. The c’ man refused h» an insok nt n _ he was a union man and was n ’ ! cause our army had cam:**- ! on his Ta’ and was cutting his t mber. Captain Cothran was a good shot with i p ; st >’. and was proud of his skill, an*! s the next evening Major Aver bet him a quar ter that he couldn't shoot -that pig's ■ ■ out. He took the bet and won. and .-’ir faitful servant Tip dressed and ,k* 1 It. and we feasted. The old mar. *-.an • prowling around every d *y hunting f r that pig and it was harder to 1 it than it waa to steal it. But thi tn Ing we broke camp we sent Tip tip ti :*• and paid the o’d woman two dollars and quieted our conscience. A fat shote w.s almost Irresistible. Ono time George Burnett and Tom Ayer killed one un der similar circumstances ami sent a quarter to our mess. The o’d man miss ed his hog in due time, and when he in quired of üßrnett if they had seen ft around. Burnett whispered to hini that Captain Stillwell’s mess ha 1 fresh pig for dinner yesterday but he mustent tell who ’<•l*l br i. I belonged to Sti lwell’s mess and tho first thing wo knew Colonel Yelser had us summoned before him to be tried on a charge of stealing the o’d man’s pig. It was a kind of mock trial ami resulted In convicting Burnett and Ayer, and they had to pay for the pig. But I am pleased to say of our confeder ate so’dlers that I never knew a case of flagrant or cruel robbery or pillage, nor did I ever know of but one instance of a soldier violating the sacred rights of a man’s family. At Centerville the Tigers, as they were called, committed a shameful outrage in th-* country nearby and were immediately arrested and tried that evening and shot the n< xt morning at sunrise, old Joe Johnston beat lynch law out of sight when he had a sure case. There are various kinds of stea'ing. but the most aggravating to writers for the press Is the stealing by the press. Two friends— one tn Birmingham and the other in Los Augeles. California—have roeently sent me copies of papers published in their towns in which the said papers have copied from The Chicago Inter-Ocean the letter I wrote for The Constitution about Pelzer. South Carolina. My name is not mentioned, nor is the letter credited to The Constitution; onlv a few Immaterial changes have been made, just enough to make it appear that The Inter-Ocean sent a reporter down there to write up tho town. I have known petty thieves sent to the chatngang for doing things not half so mean ao that BILL ARP.