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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday
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. 1M??.
Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier. 10 cents a week. By mail, $5.00 a year.
Payable in advance.
! Let the Baltimore Conven-
I
tion Beware
The reactionaries have shown that they are now tn control
of the Republican party. The Guard, the jatnsaries of
privilege and special interests, have won the first balile, and
have routed both the progressive wings of their part).
They are hot with the hope that they will carry to success
their whole tortuous plot against the people.
There is no doubt that the mass of the people—so far as
they had a voice in the preparations for the Republican
convention —had utterly repudiated the bosses who were in
control at Chicago, and had done their best to free themselves
from the thraldom of the Republican machine.
But the machine ground on indifferent to the voice of the
people—careless of the scorn of public reproof.
Reactionaries of all names—those who, lor their own gain,
call themselves Democrats, as well as those who call themselves
Republicans—will no doubt derive fresh encouragement ano a
more insolent assurance from what has happened in Chicago.
The powers of predatory finance, all the agents and willing
servants of the great corporations, will now lay their plans Io
capture the Baltimore convention as they seem to have captured
the convention at Chicago.
It is their wont to gamble for a sure thing and play both ends
against the middle.
Therefore, The Georgian warns the Democrats who are
about to convene at Baltimore that they must be on their
guard. The Democratic party in the nation is free from the fat
of patronage and the rot of stagnant power.
It comes fresh from the people, and it is of the people and for
the people.
But the Democratic party must bewarel
President Hadley Makes a
Mistake
President Hadley, of Yale, in his baccalaureate sermon
sounds a note that will make the thought ful pause. The error
of today, he says, is measuring success in terms of dollars, for
“the amount of wealth each man acquired or the progress he
has made possible.’’ But Mr. Hadley bows his head to mam
mon. and declares that the universal standard of worth today is
measured in dollars, pounds or francs.
Concretely the president of Yale would say: “He is a suc
cessful man, he is worth a million dollars.’’ He admits that
this is all wrong, but he sees no way to right it. It is the pop
ular standard, and he sees no gleam of promise in the future.
He declares that the legal and the ethical side is lost to sight
in the glitter and the tingle of the coin.
Therein is his mistake. He has not. read the sign of the
times. Patriotism and love of humanity would be very dead if
the people took the pessimistic view of this cold-headed thinker.
But who ever discusses the wealth of Washington—the private
fortunes of Longfellow or Emerson —the dollars accumulated by
Edison? And are those names held in less esteem than that of
Croesus?
The eminent president of Yale is wrong. Americans do not
measure success in terms of bank accounts, and future, genera
tions will revere the names of Jefferson and Lincoln and Prank
lin when the memories of the Morgans and the Rockefellers
and the Carnegies have passed away.
The Gift of Loving
RY WINIFRED BLACK.
•Rwewt are th* dew on the rows.
Sweet 1* the flowers of Spring;
Sweet are the dew on the roses.
Says the po’ gyurt that nobod-y
10-o-eves."
T HEARD the man who can play
1 the ’Tiara and Hounds" on the
guitar with the blade of his
pocketknife singing ns he swept
the porch early this morning, and
that is what he «ang.
So you see yoo are not the only
one who is starving for affection.
Laugh at you! Not 1 T'd as goon
laugh at the forlorn mite who
threw her puny arms around my
neck at the orphan asylum the
other nay and tried to make me say
1 was her really, truly mamma.
Funny? There’s nothing funny
about loneliness, nothing amus
ing In a sad heart. 1 think you Ait
pitful and 1 do wish there was
some way to help you. but there
isn't---not much of away -for
what you want.
The poor narrow-souled creature
you’ve married can't give you bread
when you ask for It: maybe he
would if he could, but he can't: so
he gives you the nearest thing to it
he has—and thinks he has done all
that Is required of him.
It 1b not given to every one, th*
gift of loving It is a gift, a great
and noble gift; as much a talent
as any of the other things we call
genius.
It takes a big heart to know how
to love, and a big soul, too. Be
thankful that you have the great
gift Enjoy it to the full, but
don't waste it. Don’t throw It away
nn a poor, half-blind. half-deaf,
ilf-alivo creature who can't ap
you and what you are try -
ing to give him.
' not her man'' Nonsense. You're
a good woman and a sensible one.
"h- should you throw away youi
h completely Just because the
' -' (a IL d <tea t urc you
<-.i can't see w nat he is
losing. Don’t lose your life through
vour gift of loving. Save it.
How? Begin with that little girl
of yours. She is cold and undem
onstrative. too. You may teach her
to be different.
Just take that poor little pover
ty-stricken nature right Into the
warmth of your big heart and
she’ll warm up in spite of herself
That little soul around the cor
ner She came to town from the
mountains of Tennessee. She’s
homesick and lonesome. Get ac
quainted with her Be a friend to
her.
Ho-w about that girl who's trying
to make her way alone In lhe big
city where she is so friendless
She has a place in one of the big
shop* Pretty thing, isn't she?
Such big blue, innocent eyes Can't
you help keep t'hem innocent?
There'S a boy In th* flat just be
low you, a rather stupid, awkward
fellow all hands and feet He's
so lonesome and forlorn h* has to
whistle every minute to keep up his
courage Why don’t you help him
a little?
He's saving every cent he can
rake and scrape to send hl® little
sister to school. Get him to show
you her picture and tell you how
smart she is and how she’s doing at
school
Did you see that old mail wait
ing on the stops for the postman
today? Hie son Is 111 down South
somewhere and he's worried about
him. Couldn't you cheer him up a
bit?
Tito world is full of love and of
life, and of Interesting things, and
human, simple, hoping, fearing
people Make some friend among
t hem.
"Sweet is the dew on lhe roses."
■-ays the po' gyurl that nobody
l-o-v-e-s. Do you know who Is
more to be pitied than the po' gyurl
whom nobody lovc« I'll tell you
The poor girl who loves nobody
I hut's the real poverty .
Don't h i that happen to you
The Atlanta Georgian
$ Can You Read Design in Nature? &
The Atmosphere Might Have Been Composed So That Lightning Would Burn or Explode It
(Photographs reproduced by permission from Hearst's Magazine for June.)
. . . '■** A-~" !
A Ship Literally Enveloped by Light
ning Plashes.
By GARRETT P. SERVISS.
READ Dr. Williams’ explana
tion why the air is not set
afire by lightning in the
June number of Hearst's Maga
zine. Then think about it a while
and you will probably find yourself
agreeing in opinion ‘with the great
astronomer, Kepler, when he de
clared that if pewter dishes, leaves
of lettuce, grains of salt, drops of
oil and vinegar and slices of egg
had been flying about, in the air
from all eternity it might at last
happen, BY CHANCE, that a salad
would come out. of them—but never
a salad so exactly right in all re
spects as those that his wife had
prepared for him.
One of the most interesting re-
■ suits of the progress of science is
the opening of our eyes to the as
tonishing number of delicate ad
justments by which everything in
nature is made to run safely and
smoothly. Perhaps we unduly flat
ter ourselves if we think that this
was all done for our particular
benefit —but, nevertheless, WE DO
GET THE BENEFIT, and many
devout minds believe that they can
rend therein the hand of a benefi
cent deity. Surely, nobody can
read there the blundering hand of
chance.
Suppose that you were In a great
mine, buried deep tn the earth, and
that you saw, from time to time, a
crinkling flash of Are darting
through the air. You would shrink
into yourself through fear. You
w ould believe that at any moment
the whole mine might be blown up.
You would tremblingly recall many
stories of terrible mine explosions,
and you would find difficulty in Re
assuring yourself, even if some sci
entific companion said to you,
"Don't be afraid, THIS air can't
bum. The flashes you see put
themselves out too quickly. There
is a little burning, but it can't ex
tend. The composition of the air
makes you safe.” Nevertheless, you
would get out of that mine at the
first opportunit>.
A Kind of Mine
Now, when jou are on the sur
face of the earth you are in a kind
of mine, from which you can not
escape. Every time a bolt of light
ning darts through the sky It burns
a little of the nitrogen, which is
one of the two principal gases con
stituting the atmosphere. If that
burning extended, as it sometimes
extends in a coal mine, where other
Inflammable gases abound. It would
he all over with you and your com
panions In a moment. One mag
nificent flame, sweeping valley and
hill, and good-bye to this world!
But we are protected by the com
position of the air. Nitrogen is not
inflammable. In ordinary circum
stances it will not burn. An Intense
electric flash can burn a little of
it. lying in the track of the dis
charge. but outside that narrow
space the heat is so quickly dissi-
Editor of The Georgian:
Supplementing remarks made by
me quoted in your issue of T'm
Georgian of June 19, with refer
ence to the criminal courts, I de
sire to say that the fault 1 find
Is with antiquated, old-time crim
inal laws, and procedure, not with
the judges.
Many people agree with me. that
tlte time has come when the crim
inal laws of Georgia should be
changed so as not to allow cases
to be continued because defend
ant's attorney happens to be in
another court dying a case, and
for many other reasons which ap
pear as trivial When one of these
motions is made tinder the Jaw as
it exists mu judges arc required to
continue the eases. Should he try
them >n motion for new trial, one
would have to be granted by the
higher court.
MONDAY, JUNE 24, 1912.
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MEp- ■M’i II
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After the Flash the Heat Dissipates so
Quickly That the Burning of Nitro
gen Stops and the World’s
Supply Is Saved From
Destruction.
pa ted that the burning ceases as
soon as it begins. Oxygen, the oth
er principal gas of the atmosphere,
which is a great supporter and en
courager of combustion, is there
in abundance, but, nevertheless, the
inertness of the nitrogen, its indis
position to burn. Is so great that it
refuses to catch fire as a whole.
It defies the lightning, as a chem
ically prepared paper defies a
flame. There is a little local char
ring, but the fire jean not spread.
Now, look in another direction!
I*'rom air turn to water. Water is
composed of two gases—oxygen
and hydrogen. Hydrogen is in
flammable. Oxygen is a supporter
of flame, although It does not .itself,
burn. When they are combined into
the liquid called water, which con
tains two volumes of hydrogen to
one of oxygen, they do not burn.
But take the hydrogen out of the
water, as can be done in a labora
tory, and It burns with ease.
An Experiment
That great experimental philoso
pher, Michael Faraday, used to de
light liis audiences—the elders as
much as the youngsters—by put
ting one volume of oxygen and two
volumes of hydrogen together In
a stout glass bulb, and I ben pass
ing an qlectric spark through them.
Flash! The oxygen and the hydro
gen both disappeared in an in
stant. and a little water, formed by
their explosive combinations, tric
kled down the inner side of the
bulb. That was all that remained.
I was once the witness of a very
startling accident due to allowing
Laws Need Revision
Would it not be a wise amend
ment to the criminal law also,
which will require all cases to be
tried on their merit, and wipe
from the statute books al! tech
nicalities as to language used in
indictments and technical points as
to names of parties in indictments,
which frequently gain an acquit
tal. even for a confessed murder
er. The times are too far advanced
for these old cobwebs which are an
obstacle to the administration of
justice to longer remain on our
statute books.
I wish to say a word about "pis
tol totets” who infest this city. If
it is necessary to d«> so. the con
stitution of the state of Georgia
should be amended, allowing evi
dence to go before a jury of a
pistol found on a man's poison,
even though his arrest might hap
pen to be "illegal." Our city po
lice ha' e the right to make ar
rests for violation of city ordi-
The Weird Traceries of Light Are the
Paths of Electricity Setting Afire
the Air’s Nitrogen as It Goes.
a little hydrogen to come into con
tact with oxygen in the presence of
a flame. You know that the oxy
hydrogen light used with the stcre
opticon is produced by combining
jets of oxygen and hydrogen and
setting them on fire against a stick
of chalk. The intense heat makes
the chalk glow' like a little sun.
One night, while giving a lecture
in New York, the operator of the
lantern carelessly allowed a rub
ber tube to slip out of place. In
stantly there was a lightning flash
and a loud explosion, which sent
the audience flying, with cries of
dismay, out of every exit, though
fortunately nobody was hurt. The
operator had let a little hydrogen
escape, and it had met just enough
oxygen to produce an explosive
combination. But. if the operator
was careless, he had nerve. In
stantly he turned a cock that
stopped the escaping hydrogen, and
the danger was over.
Now. remark this significant
fact: THERE IS NO FREE HY
DROGEN IN THE AIR. The earth
can’t hold hydrogen gas. If It
gets out it flies away Into space,
because its molecules are too live
ly to be permanently retained by
the earth’s gravitation. But we can
imagine a planet having the pow
er to hold hydrogen in its atmos
phere. Suppose the air of such a
planet to contain two volumes of
hydrogen to one of oxygen—and we
know no reason why intelligent
beings might not be so constituted
as to live in such an atmosphere.
Then, suppose another Prometheus
io bring fire to that planet, or sup
pose a flash of lightning to dart
through its atmosphere, like the.
electric spark through Faraday's
bulb. There would probably be
one gigantic explosion, one All-en
veloping flame, ami then another
"deserted world" w ould roll through
space, covered with a lifeless film
of water, formed by the combina
tion of the gases of the exploded
atmosphere!
He is a madman who thinks that
this world of ours ONLY HAP
PENS to be a safe place of abode.
nances. yet the law is such that
tile arrest is technically illegal to
snch an extent that evidence, which
might be a concealed pistol, can
not go to a jury.
1 earnestly hope that the move
ment to revise the criminal laws,
started by the convention of Geor
gia judges, will receive serious and
prompt consideration at the hands
of the incoming legislature.
While I am on this subject, why
not adil to the gaming laws, bet
ting on horse races and baseball
games, and make the same a
crime—-especially this “hand
book" business'.’ I am sure the
baseball people would rise up and
call the legislature blessed, and
even the horses would hail such a.
law with joy. The pernicious ac
tivity of these "handbook" fellows
should he put an end to.
Verv respectfully vours,
JOSEPH A McCORD.
Atlanta, Ga.. June 20, 1912,
THE HOME PAPER
The Education of the
Voter
Nq. 2—lnitiative; Referendum
An Easy Explanation of Some of the New
Political Terms.
By THOMAS TAPPER.
IT is important for the citizens
of a republie to know some
thing about its government.
If you help to elect those who
make laws, you are in part respon
sible for the result.
Our form of government, that of
a republic, recognizes the people
themselves as the source of power.
Reading the daily paper of late
you have come upon a number of
. new words which spring out of the
political situation of the day. These
words are Initiative, Referendum,
Preferential Primary, The Recall,
and the like. What do they all
mean
Keep in mind the fact that the
Federal Constitution does not es
sentially take precedence over
State Constitution. In fact, one
supplements the other. Also, keep
it in mind that a Constitution is
always the result of progressive
history. This fact, progressive
h-Lptory. made it necessary to add
fifteen amendments to the Consti
tution of the United States. There
is one further thing to remember:
History is progressing now, in 1912,
it will keep on progressing, or
misfortune will swallow us up.
H.
The words Initiative and Refer
endum do not occur in the Federal
Constitution. But in Article I of
the Amendments it is stated that
Congress shall make no law pro
hibiting the right of the people to
petition the Government for a re
dress of grievances. It is import
ant to remember this petitioning
right of the people.
In politics, the words Initiative
and Referendum are frequently
used together. The Referendum
is nothing new. and wc shall see.
The word Initiative in this con
nection refers to the right of he
people, of you as an individual
voter, to initiate, or start, or or
iginate legislation. Any petition
on the part of the people—you are
one of them —-for the passing of a
desirable law is the Initiative.
The incorjgiration of this principle
into has been brought
about in South Dakota, lowa, Ne
braska and California.
I-ocal application of the initia
tive has long been known. When
the people of a town frame a pe
tition to open up a new street and
present it with sufficient signa
tures to the town fathers they
have availed of this privilege. Often
a governing body refers a ques
tion to the people. This is the
Referendum. The whole gist of
the matter has been successfully put
by Dr. Oberholzer in his treatise on
the Referendum.
Shall the law. he says, which has
been passed by the state legisla
ture apply to a particular locality?
Our Women Workers
By ELBERT HUBBARD.
A GREAT life insurance compa
ny. whose actuaries have
more than a national repu
tation for soundness of reasoning,
has recently given its agents some
instructions on insuring the lives
of women. I quote:
“Whereas, this company has not
heretofore thought best Io insure
the lives of women, it is now ac
ceptable for you to secure applica
tions for policies from women as
follows:
"1. Accept, applications only
from women in business or from
wage-earning women who have
people dependent on them.
”2. Do not accept women with an
income that is not derived from
their own property."
From tins I assume that these
hard-headed actuaries, who elimi
nate gallantry, poetry and senti
ment from their calculations, re
gard married women and women
who have things provided for them
as uncertain propositions to insure.
Wage-earning women are rea
sonably happy. Steady, systemat
ic work meahs health. The com
petent man tn’ womftn is a good
moral and financial risk.
A married woman may ho com
petent or she may not. She may
be happy' or she may not. It is
quite unnecessary to question her
—she will not tell the truth about
herself, and it is exactly the same
with a woman who lives on the
bounty provided by either a live
man or a dead one.
Four-fifths of all the surgical
eases in public hospitals are per
formed on women. But of the
wage-earning. weal th-producing
women, no more go to hospitals
proportionately than do men. It is
men who tak£ the physical risks of
the world—4t is men who operate
railroads, tunnel mountains, sal!
ships, mine ores and build build
ings that scrape the sky.
Yet. in spite of these facts, the
The people will decide by the refer- v
endum.
Where shall the referendum he
taken? The people will decide by
the initiative.
The REFERENDUM results
when laws .ire prepared by the
legislature and are submitted to
the people. The INITIATIVE re
sults when laws are prepared by •
the people and submitted to the \
legislature.
111.
The initiative in respect to local
conditions is frequently adopted.
When in South Dakota, as many
as five per cent of those who
voted for governor in the previous
election sign a petition they estab
lish a right to be heard on any 4
question of state Jaws. ,
The required number of signa
tures to the petition is not uni
form in the states and municipali
ties in which the initiative is op
erative. In the city of San Fran
cisco fifteen per cent of the votes
cast at the last election are re
quired: in the state of California,
50 per cent: in lowa, 75' per cent,
and in Nebraska, fifteen per cent. ,»
To submit laws to the vote of
the people is a live and important
question. It is not a new princi
ple in American politics in local ap
plication. The education of the
voter should convince him wheth
er the initiative is a principle that
is capable of expansion from a
narrow to a broad application. Are
the people, as a rule, fitted to give
judgment on legislative, measures?
To answer the question, ask your
self:
Am I so careful a student of no
litical questions that my opinion Is
intelligently formed on any pro
posed measure of legislation ? ,
Do I actually know anything
about it ?
Do I keep in mind when I vote »
THE ONE GREAT MATTER ')
THAT AFFECTS ME DIRECTLY j
the prosperity of the country? I
Do I vote with a sane point of 1
view as to property protection, to
the purpose of taxation, and so on"
Between tlie man who thinks
upon the right of the franchise in
this way and the man who crimi- •
nally disposes of his vote for a
price stretches the whole range of
voting intelligence.
All the conditions that may sur
round us as a people depend on
whether the voter is intelligent
and responsible, bet him be a re
former in the truest sense of ths
word.
Let him also remember that )
many writers and papers are in
clined to regard the reformer as
working heaven and earth in his
own Interest
This is the right and proper
thing to do if. at the same time,
his interest Is the greatest good to .
the greatest number. {
insurance actuaries much prefer io
insure men who are abroad In the
world doing things than to accept
risks on women who abide in the
safety of the home and are pro
tected qnd shielded on every side.
From this there is only one conclu
sion, and that is, that to be mar
ried and Veep house, -ind ro ha m
an income- and do nothing, are
hazardous undertakings.
Tt is not the dangers of childbirth
that make women a bad risk—it is
the paucity of their lives. If it were
the dangers of motherhood, the in
surance companies would not re
fuse women over 50. but married
women, and those unmarried, who
are provided for, are plated in the
same category.
The real, fact is. few women,
comparatively, ate admitted into
the work of the world. Woman Is
the slave of her housekeeping -the
slave of a man. When she gets
married she throws up her job. And
in New York, if she is a school
teacher, her marriage is equal to a
resignation. Hence the misery that
leads to the ether-cone, the liga
ture and the scalpel.
And that Is the reason why life
insurance companies, as a rule, will
not insure the lives of married
women. The average married wom
an has no high purpose In life po
output for her ambition, no rock
upon which she can strike her in
tellect and cause the welling waters
of life to flow.
She has tasted of life and found
it alkaline—all there is for her now
is submission. She is a passive
party. So the insurance actuary,
viewing the average married wom
an with his cold, calculating, finan
cial eye, declares her a hazardous
risk, and passes her up.
Give women the ballot! it will
help to enlarge their Ilves, improv,
their mental and physical estate,
and make them better risks Also,
it will make them hettbr compan
ions of men.
