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EDITORIAL PAGE
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday
y By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 20 East Alabama St.. Atlanta. Ga.
Entered as second-class matter at postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March 3. 1873
Absurdity of Half-Cent
Piece in Coinage
Tho vote in the house of representatives for the coinage of one
half cent pieces will strike the thoughtful public, ns puerile anti
antiquated.
It is in response to no demand and is to meet no situation. It
is the least intelligent piece of legislation that the house has passed.
It is simple the return of a progressive, modern nation to the
ridiculous basis of Chinese currency.
Chinamen carry pounds ot copper pieces with a hole iq the
center, and when they go out to buy five cents worth of rats they
hand the seller a long, heavy string of copper coms in payment.
Is that what the American congress would bring us to in this
age and country?
Is our progress in currency reform to be measured by a return
to a system which prevails only in China or Egypt or among the
beggars of the < trient ?
Surely the house must have been napping or without thought
when such a foolish piece of legislation got through.
All modern nations have grown out ot rather than toward
the attenuated division of coinage. The centime is banished from
France and the farthing from England, and file centessime from
Ttalv The smallest coin in France is the sou. which is five centimes,
and the smallest in modern England is the ha - penny, which is
one cent.
Why should America go backward when all other progressive
nations are going forward?
What a spectacle the average future American will make with
his pockets bulging with copper and haggling with tradesmen over
the matter of one half of a copper cent '
\nd what an absurdity to suppose that such a farce in coinage
could reduce thf high cost of living Would it make tilings any
cheaper that a man has to pay for the minting of two pieces of
copper instead of one’
The copper pennv as it is. is an abomination to the American
pocket, but to double tlw number of copper pieces in the small
shopper's purse is simply a slap in the lace <d financial civilization.
Such legislation as this would have been an excellent diversion
on some first dav of April, but it is worse than a waste of time in
serious assemblies
We trust the deliberate senate wdl promptly sit down upon
the house folly
An Indefensible Breach of
(Contract
st w »
(Editorial in Today s Constitution.)
Notwithstanding the walk out of the union pressmen of The
Atlanta Georgian lust Saturday , that paper has suffered little or
no inconvci’once It is now issuing regularly. on time and with
practicalh the normal complement of news and features
But tlw pressmen' union has itself sustained a severe blow
as an organization that may be depended upon to live up to its
solemn contractual obligations. Its individual members having
viol.', rd a bindiiw agreement absolutely without cause or shadow
of iustifmation. find themselves regarded everywhere as men
whose r-entraetu.'d obligation must dwi's be regarded with
suspicion.
In t'bi( .igo. '-yen, where* th- di-.agreement originated, there
was ii" just ground for the action that L'lnpoianh embarrassed
all tlw papers of that city The details haw already been told,
and they must -adden every \tlantau who sympathizes with tlw
moi - exalted phases ot' union labor and its mission. In Atlanta
the walkout wa .. and is. v holly indefensible Th' pressmen
themselves admit that they had and haw now. no cause for
complaint against The Georgian They have been well and
promptly paid, tin* questions of wages ami hours were never in
dispute and. above all. they were, collectively and severally,
hound by a written legal document to the discharge of certain
specified duties Ont of mistaken sympathy for men who haw
themselws set aside a contract of their own making. The Geor
gian pressmen elected to break also their contract and abandon
a charge to which the,' were sworn at a moment no less inop
portune to the public than to the publishers
Their course is shown th' more regrettable b\ the fact that
only in two oilier ■ fu> t’hicag" itself and San Francisco has
their action been . mifirmed h,y their confrere-:. In other cities
and even upon, the alleged offending Hearst newspapers, the
pressmen righteously regarded a legal and deliberate contract in
preference to breaking it in olwdiew-. to dl advised orders issued
as a. palpable attempt at unfair intimidation In this connection,
it is refreshing to note the upright and eons- rxative loyalty to eon
tract of the powerful typographical union, which refused by a
heavy vote in Chicago and elsewhere to upset tin r pledged Word
and join in a sympathetic strike.
In any business, in any rail'*. at am time, and unless abro
gated by bad faith on the side of either party, olwdii nee to a w rit
ten contract is the first and indispensable principle in success and
the maintenance of self-respeet. Wantonly disregarding this law,
the pressmen on .The Georgian haxe brought disrepute upon
their order, and alienated lhe sympathy ot th. oyerwhelming
majority of law-abiding and pledge k<-< pmg union men in tliir
country.
The Atlanta Georgian
A DYING GRIP
Bv HAL COFFMAN.
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DOROTHY DIX WRITES
OF
The Child as the I Unanswerable Argument Against Divorce
one unanswerable argu-
I ment against divorce is the
child
We may say that each of us has
a right to bis or her own happi
ness We may say that an un
worthy husband or wife forfeits
whatever claim they have upon us.
We may say that when we make a
mistake in marriage there Is no
more reason we should be botir*'!
forever to ft than there is why w»
■ hould continue to be the victims
of any other error of judgment.
We may say that to be forced to
live with a husband or wife whom
we hate and who brings out a’l
tli .t is worst In our natures, is de
moralizing to our characters —that
it condemns us to live tn an atmos
nhere in which all that is beautiful
and ideal in life withers and dies
a- if blown upon bv the blast of a
si tn non.
Thi= Is true There is no other
such blighting influence in the
world as discord However pa
tiently borne, it turns the very soul
into an arid desert, and nobody can
blame the Individual who seeks to
escape from this death-in-life.
Children Must Always Re
Considered First.
Then* is no answer to thp.ronten
tion that we bavp a rigrht to sav**
ourselves from the purgatory of an
unhappy marriage except the wail
<»f ,i child, weeping over th* 3 wreck
<>f its home That is nature’s* r* 8 -
leutlr s reply to the sophistries of
philosophv Thu ic duty's stern
cah tn us to at our posts,
whatever the cost in suffering, and
fulfill the obligations wp have taken
upon ourselves When we have chil
dren wp have given hostages to
fortune, and are no longer free to
seek our own happiness, h is they
w ho ai e io he considered first
The childh ss may be divorced, if
it seems best tn them, but above
the noise of warring couples with
children comes the cry of the help
less I'ttle who are left father
less or motherless in the breaking
up nf a home.
Tz'sten to this pathetic, curious,
unchihlish letter that comes to me
TUESDAY. MAY 14. 1912.
By DOROTHY DIX.
from a litt’e girl. She writes In a
little, round, schoolgirl handwrit
ing
Pathetic Letter of a Girl
Whose Home Is Threatened.
"Dear Miss Dtx—l am thirteen
years old. and I read al! your ar
ticles. Now, I want you to tell me
what you think of my case. My
home is about to be broken up by a
woman. Os course, she Is younger
than my mother, but not any bet
ter looking nor one-.half so good
Tell me, please, is that the way the
world is going? Are there no more
happy homes" My brothers and
sisters and I have made up our
minds that we will never get mar
ried No one could have been more
devoted than my mother has been
She has been a. slave to us all. and
tliis is what she gets. Please an
swer me soon What do you think
of a thief who robs little children
of their father?
Poor little girl who at thirteen
has seen ail of the gold rubbed off
of Cupfd s w ings, and who has wit
nessed so many family spats that
she has resolved never to get mar
ried! Poor little girl, who at thir
teen, judges between mother and
father and contemptuously con
demns father! Poot little girl,
whose childhood has been darken
ed by the sad and sordid knowl
edge of th" world, who discusses
affinities and broken homes with
her babv sisters and brothers, and
who bears on her litt’e shoulders
the burden of her parents' weak
ness and sin!
Doesn't the mere thought of her
bring stinging tears to your ryes"
And don't you fee! that nothing can
justify th? parents in the way they
a-e doing" Is it not the plain
duty of that father and mother to
keep a home together for their
children, and to make their children
happy, and give them the chance in
life that only children have who are
brought up in the environment of
decent family life?
Compared to the welfare of these
little on* s what is the lure of some
other woman to the man? How
small a matter even the wife's jeal
ous' and righteous indignation!
The real victims of dtvorc ai =
the children, not alone because they
are made half orphans and home
less by it, but because it destroys
their faith in ail that is good and
tru°. How can you teach purity to
a girl whose mother has the slime
of the divorce courts on her gar
ments? How can you teach honor
to the boy who knows of his fath
er’s dishonor? How can you teach
steadfastness to' duty to children
who have seep their parents turn
cowardly awav from a hard situa
tion? How can the weak breed
strength into the little ones?
Os course it will be said that
w'hen a father and mother can not
agree, and life is perpetual discord
with each other, the children are
better off with either one than with
both; that no home at all is better
than a home divided against Itself
To this argument one can only
say that parents have no right to
make such a home. No matter
how deep they may feel in their
own breasts that they have gotten
the wrong life partners, and that
some other man and woman are
the real mates, they are bound by
every law of decency to hide this
from their children, and to keep
the doors of their skeleton closet
fast locked against inquisitive lit
tle eyes. To be tempted* is the
lot of all. To yield to temptation
is the act of the craven.
Duty of Parents to Protect
Children From Themselves.
It is the paramount dutv of pa
rents to protect their children even
from themselves, and for fathers
and mothers to drag their children
into their squabbles is as bad as if
they threw the helpless little crea
tures into the midst of a battle
where they would be trampled upon
and mangled. For a father and
mother to lot their children become
cognizant of their amours is worse
than taking them Into a leprosy
camp. It defiles the little minds
beyond the power of cleansing
As- for the woman who would
lend herself to the breaking up of
a home in which there are children,
the curse of God is upon her. Truly
it were better for her that she
should tie a millstone about her
neck ind cast herself into th-= sea.
than that she should offend c-ne < f
these little ones.
THE HOME. PAPER
Dr. Parkhurst’s Article
°? ■
The Audacity of Prof. L.-O*
Arthur Drews fe
—and—
How Seventy Is Some-
times a Kindness l
Written For The Georgian /
By the Rev. Dr. C. H. Parkhurst /
ON entering, some years ago.
the city of Stratford-on-
Avon, the birthplace of
Shakespeare, almost the first object
that arrested my attention yvas a
volume exposed in a shop window
and bearing the title, “Bacon Was
the Author of Shakespeare."
Although there are five points in
the life of the dramatist, stated, by
so good an authority as Tennyson,
to be absolutely trustworthy his
torically, yet there is a cast of mind
that finds a peculiar and cranky
Jgnd of delight in arraying itself
against the combined and estab
lished opinions of the age and in
discrediting conclusions that have
been long and confidently cherished
by men yvho have been most con
servative and judicious in their
proccesses of judgment.
Since the time when, according to
the Bible story, Adam presumed to
raise a query as to yvhether It was,
after all. obligatory upon him to
obey the command of the Lord,
there have never been wanting peo
ple who. either out of conceit or out
of distrust of human intelligence
and belief that every mind but their
own was a lying mind, have taken
absurd and mischievous comfort, in
wantonly seeking to cut the ground 1
out from under convictions that
have been impregnably established
in the general mind and that have •
borne the test and secured the in
dorsement of many long and
thoughtful centuries.
Professor Who Tries to Prove
Jesus Did Not. Exist.
A late example of this is afforded
by the recently published work of
Arthur Drews, professor of theolo
gy In the technical Hochschule at
Karlsruhe. Germany, who. in a-vol
ume of 300 pages, sets himself to
what is to him, evidently, the very
♦ ongenial task of proving that ther?
has never been such a person as
Jesus Christ.
Now, there is a kind of impudent
audacity in the undertaking that is
almost fitted to fascinate us by its
immensity.
Commonplace presumption we
simply resent with quiet contempt,
but arrogance that is so colossal
and cyclopean as that of the pro
fesaor is staggering by the very
fact of its monstrous proportions.
To stand up serenely in the face,
of twenty centuries of Christian in
telligence, Christian scholarship
and Christian experience and to
challenge that whole mass of mind
as being the collective dupe of a
bodiless idea and a silly delusion
involves on the part of our author
a degree of intellectual immodesty
and impertinence that should se
cure for him the title of psycho
logical freak rather than that of
theological professor.
That a building as vast in its
proportions and as immense in its
pressure as Christianity < an stand
the tempests and the quaking of
twenty centuries is all the proof
that a reasonable man either needs
or wants to persuade him that un
derneath there is foundation com
mensurate in breadth and solidity
with the structure that it upholds.
♦ M »
Severity Is Often Necessary,
to Maintain Dignity.
* NY person possessed of a gen-
Z-X erous and sympathetic spirit
“hrinks from the exercise of
severity, and yet severitj is very
often necessary in order Io main
tain the dignity of authority, and
not only that, but is quite likely
to prove, in the long run. the finest
form of mercy.
That is the fact in the case of a
father dealing with his child.
The time is almost certain to
come when the young boy. realiz
ing that he has a wiH of his ow n.
sets it in opposition to his fath
er's will. •
Now. there are two parental pol
icies that under such i-ireumstances
can be pursued.
The child can be coaxed into I
obeying, and perhaps have some
privilege allowed him in return
for obedience.
'Jr the father can then and there
settle the question for all time as /
to which of the two is to be mas- /
ter —a result that is never reached /
by lollypop or any processes of Z* .
barter. /
A conflict to be decisive may
wring the heart of the father and
be full of cost to the body of the
child, but when it is once done it is f
done for always, and one thorough
whipping may save the pain inci
dent to a hundred half-way whip
pings.
The current policy of affixing
small fines to the violation of cer
tain statutes ts another case where
the desire to be merciful results
in ten times the hardship that
would result from the resolution to
be severe. , |
A part of this is the fault of the
laws, and a part of it chargeable I
to the unealculating sentimental!- j
ty of the magistrates. /
Dealing out petty fines both Im- 1
pairs the dignity of the law and
tempts to its violation.
Automobiles have, during the
past two years, been driven in such
away in New York as to result in
263 deaths.
Petty Sentence for Speeding
Causes Death tn Innocent.
Now. undoubtedly so far as those
deaths have been the result of care
less driving, at least a half, if not
three-quarters, of such mortality
would have been avoided if the flrgt
violations of auto statutes had been
dealt with in a manner propor
tioned to the enormity of the crime.
As a rule, people who can afford » (
to own an automobile have so much
money as to care no more for a
fine of ten dollars than a rhinoceros
cares for a pin-prick. 1
The pettiness of the sentence en- ' e
courages speeding, so that judicial
sympathy with the criminal is the
author of death to th“ innocent.
This "slaughter of the innocents"
would have a stop very promptly
put to It if a scale of fines ade
quate to the criminality of the of
fense were established legislatively,
and if our magistrates would agree
to put their warm sympathies in
cold storage and deal with offenses
with a severity commensurate with
the seriousness of the offense and
the just demands of the general
public.
Safe Hits
A girl thinks a young man who
spends his money freely is the whole
thing —but if she marries him and finds
he has. spent it all she changes her
mind.
Once in a while a woman buys some
thing at a bargain sale, only to dis
cover after she gets home that it was
just what she wanted.
——v—
When a man begins by saying, “Os J
course, it is none of my business"—you i I
may as_ well stand aside and let him f JI
butt in . |
Perhaps rhe lime may come when a
vast army will strike in the midst of a /’•«!
great battle for more pay and
hours. ,
A man's wif** is always willing to
agree with him—when he declares h*
has the best wife in the world.
It's usualh much easier for a man's
fool friends to get the best of him than
it i? for his enemies.
It takes a woman to tell other women
how she trusts her husband, just as if
she really did.
If a book bores you it s an easy mat
ter to «hut it up—but it's different with
a human bore.
Instead of laughing at the mistakes
of others, try to profit by your own.
A man always has well trained chil
dren if hi.: wife attends to it.
'Ac are al! entitled to something in
this world, if it's only a lemon
You may have noticed that a kicker
Is usually head't'ong also
Hi- satanic maje, ty loves to fish in
troubled waters.
J ,