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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 Dostoffs e at Atlanta, under act of March 3, 1M79
Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier. 10 cents a week. By mail, $5 00 a year.
Payable in advance.
Parents Have NOT the
Right to Deckle on Treat
ment for Their Children
•» R »,
They Can Decide as They Please on the Child s Religion, Not on
the Care of the Child’s Body. That Is a Matter for the Gen
eral Wisdom and Science to Decide.
The Hearst newspapers have advocated and do advocate the
establishment of a public department of health under the man
agement of lhe national government.
Tin government and the people of the I nited States, spend
ing millions to tell farmers how to care for young pigs, horses,
chickens and geese, should spend some money telling mothers
and fathers how to care for their children—and, if necessary,
compelling proper care of those that need care.
< This wise measure has been opposed by many that do not
understand it, and by many others that have good reasons for
fearing science, and intelligent action.
Some of those that hate the idea of a department of health
are well-meaning dreamers, who amuse themselves by saying
that there s no disease until disease comes. Then they die
or send for a doctor.
Others make money by exploiting the diseases, terrors and
sorrows of humanity and fear the spread of knowledge.
Among those that oppose the public health department is
one who writes as follows:
You speak of the great good that
the government does through the
departments that give to tile farm
ers information regarding the care
of their various animals, all of
which is perfectly true and .< great
work, and then of the lack of in
terest displayed by the same gov
ernment in caring for the health
of the children. But it does not
seem to me that the cases are par
allel. because 4n the case of the
animals, they, being dumb tirptes,
must take whatever kind of care
Is given to them without any choice
in the matter, but when it comes to
a human being he, or she, is abso-
lit reply to this we beg to say, first, that the public would
not for a moment foierate a law telling the people to adopt and
submit themselves to treatment by any medical school, allo
pathic or otherwise.
1 he government does not compel the farmer to treat his hog
or his cow or his sheep if the farmer does not want to. The
farmer is allowed to let the animal die.
BI T HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO LET HIS ANIMALS EN
DANGER THE LIVES OE THE ANIMALS OF HIS NEIGH
BORS. HE ISN’T ALLOWED TO LEI' HIS OWN CONCEIT
OR FOOLISH NOTIONS ENDANGER THE PROSPERITY OR
HEALTH OF OTHERS.
similarly, a department of health devoted to the interest of
human beings would not compel the adult man or woman to
adopt any school or treatment.
But that department would do in a national way what the
citi ami state departments of health do now. It would not per
mit the ci’aekbraiut'd theorist denying the existence of disease, or
the careless, indifferent idiot, to endanger the lives of others.
The health department would say to the citizen:
It it is your pleasure to die of consumption you may do so.
It you wish to die of smallpox you may do so; that is vour
business. But you shall not spread consumption among others
if we can preient it. and you shall not spread the smallpox.''
A department ol health would give advice, it would prevent
the spreading ol disease, and no sane person could object.
In regard to children, we deny the statement of our corre
spondent that th' parent has the right to treat the children
medicalh as he seis lit. and that the choice of medical treat
ment is lhe same as the choice of religious doctrine.
A man has the right to teach his children what religion he
pleases that right is guaranteed to him by the constitution.
Later on the child can change if it wishes. Meanwhile the fact
that the child is a Mohammedan, an agnostic, an atheist, a Chris
tian Scientist, a ( atholie, a Protestant, a Zoroastrian. a Confu
cian. a Buddhist or what not makes no difference to the general
welfare.
Religions, unlike diseases, are not catching And if a parent
ehoosi s to ineuh-at'- religious doctrines, truthful or false, that
doesn i do any harm to the community.
With disease ami with the practice of medicine it is dis
. ferent.
I h'- child s imtiilcd io (he protection which is offered to it
by the progress of science
(>ur correspiur ■nt knows that in China, for instance, the
ignorant natives retuse to ln> treated when they have the plague.
1 hex d.e in heaps, ami their children die because thev won't let
them be treated.
lines oui correspondent think it wise to permit human be
ings and children to d ■ in this wav?
Our correspondent is aware of the fact that the Indians,
when i iiex see a child dying, send tor Hie medicine man. This
medicine man weaves his bodx back and forth in front of the
ehild. or holds up some ridiculous charm, and sits there plaeidlv
while the child dies or gets well.
Does our correspondent think that tin’ government would be
wise to allow children to die in this fashion if they had diph
theria. smai'p'ix or other diseases that everybody knows require
sane, scientific treatment?
Grown people max die if they choose; thex max refuse to
eat *or wear ehithing if they want to But they can not refuse
to rive thmr children the treatment which the most advanced
science prescribes.
Manx parents have contested in the courts the theory that
;| l allow a child to die without care, and such parents
■ ’■ ’ " cii' d to their cost that medicine and religion are two dif
ferent things.
rotioo.i] Imr an of health would be chiefly advisory, "an
k - m‘ Hons spreading information, preventing the spread
V " -"ions diseases. And once established, not even the most
" '>d di-amer or tiw most selfish exploiter of disease
' 11,11 nt- advocate discontinuing it.
lutely entitled to the right to choose
for himself, or herself, what meth
od of treatment he, or she, desires,
or in the case of children, the pa
rents have the right to make this
choice, as we certainly are entitled
tp the Inalienable right when it
comes to the selection of our medi
cal school as we are in selecting
our religion. And should this de
partment of health be established it
would without doubt be run abso
lutely by physicians of the allopath
ic school, and they would have, of
course, the medical laws so framed
as to make It impossible for you to
employ a method of treatment that
did not correspond to their views.
The Atlanta Georgian
JOY AND GLOOM
Remember Those Golden Words of Pop Rockefeller-—“ Eat Lightly”
Copyright, 1912. International News Service.
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EL LA W HEE LE R WILC O X
Andress Floyd’s Self-Mastery Colony
A CERTAIN woman who won
a few precious Jewels prizes
one above the others because
it has a special meaning.
It is an old Spanish coat of arms,
and represents self-conquest.
A chanticleer, in emerald, enamel
and mother of pearl is gripping a
serpent >n his claws, and lifting
ills ruby colored head ready to
crow with exultation.
Self-conquest is so much greatei
than conquest of circumstances,
power, place, glory or fame.
Some of the worst people of
earth have conquered all these
things,
t’nlx really GREAT souls have
achieved Self-Conquest,
Out in New Jersey there is a man
named Andress Floyd.
He lias achieved Self-Mastery to
the extent that lie cares noxx for
nothing on earth save to be helpful
to other men ami to aid them to
this same achievement.
Mr Floyd and ids wife have
named their place the Self-Mastery
Colony, but some people call it
"Hobo Farm."
Mr Floyd lias known success,
money success, position and popu
larity with the gay world.
Then he knew failure, and that
put him in touch with every other
failure on earth.
Only Necessary
That He Knows.
Now. the onlx’ letter of introduc
tion xxhich is needed to his Self-
Mastery Colony and work and
friendship is the knowledge that a
man is a failure, homeless and
friendless
Then he is admitted and given the
hand of friendship and some task
is set for him to do.
His idea Is that men who have
TU E.S D AY. J PLY 16. 1912.
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX
(Copyright. 1912, by American-Journal-Examlner.)
lost the work habit must be at
tracted back, not driven, and, un
like the business man who asks for
all sorts of references when an ap
plicant comes for work. Mr. Floyd
asks nothing and gives much.
Here is a littl& classification
which lias been given by the
founder of this colony of the type
of men who come to him.
How He Classifies
The Types of Men.
"Young men who are drifting
and homeless come to us from the
charity associations, missions, cler
gymen. V. M. C. A and interested
friends, and may be classified as
follows:
"First The man unable to find
immediate employment.
"Second—The man in middle
life who has lost his business.
“Third—The intemperate man
trying to control himself.
"Fourth The country boy
stranded in the city.
"Fifth The rich man's sun. wax -
ward, estranged from h s- family
“Sixth -The man discouraged
through domestic troubles.
"Seventh—Men run down physi
cally and mentally, needing out
door xvork.
"Who are the guests' at the Self-
Mastery Colony" Men of educa
tion and refinement, who have fail
ed in business and can not get a
job. men driven to the gutter by
liqqor or cocaine or morphine, m< n
rendered desperate and despond
ent by domestic infelicity; men
from Whose characters have drib
bled the last grains of sand, the
last atom of pluck."
These men are given many tasks
to do and after they once learn the
road back to labor through t r -
pleasant path, thex either stay as
helpers and co-xvorkfrs, ot go forth
tn take their place among the
world s toilers again
Such a work as Mr. Floyd is do
ing needs co-operation.
He has issued a call to all phil
anthropic people who long to be of
assistance to humanity. Here it
is:
“Your heart goes out in sympa
thy to the broken man. who, though
the fault is his own. has become a
social outcast. It is with the keen
est regret that you turn him from
your door, knowing that he is like
ly to fall into deeper and deeper
desecration. until even health, lib
erty and self-respect are lost to
him. At best, all that you can give
him i« temporary assistance-—food
and money—when his real need is
a higher and better viewpoint of
lifj>.
"For years T have been convinced
that to give this so-called derelict
foor and shelter was not enough
for under this man's forbidding ex
terior 1 find t here nxx ells some one's
sun, brother or father, who has lost
th 1 r which he can least afford to
lose - his ideals.
Opens His Door When
All Others are Locked.
“Firmly held by this conviction.
I started to open my doors day and
night to this friendless man, who in
his hour of discouragement mut
ters to himself that all men have
turm d from him. that all doors are
locked against him; that there can
he no God: that the world's ideals
are dead.
"Then it is that I would have him
know of the Self-Mastery Colony,
xvhere the aim is toward the ideal—
the ideal of human service—where
no doors are locked against him.
where no man turns from him. and
that ft. r all there really Is a GOD
whose CHRIST calls out to the
go, i teat livs within his own err
ing heart—calls to him to reclaim
hi f "
THE HOME PAPER
Winifred Black Writes
—OF—
The Drudge Husband
<4 A T h us b an <i ts a good map.
jY/l He has never said an un
kind word’to me since I’ve
been his wife. He is hard working,
devoted, honest, but he is a drudge
—just a plain every-day drudge,
and he never will be anything else.
“.My school girl companions who
married when I did have gone on
and on with their husbands. One
of them has an automobile, one has
a beautiful home of her own and
one has just gone to Europe on a
pleasure trip and here I am tied
down to the drudge in the same
house, we took when we were mar
ried.
“My girls go to a public school
and learn public school ways. I
don’t mind for myself, I am not
mercenary, but I do hate to see
my poor daughters grow up in this
miserable rut.
"I simply can’t stand it. I have
a chance now to go into business
for myself. It will take me away
from home and I am going to put
my girls in school and go, wouldn't
you?”
Nice confidential letter, isn't it?
And the worst of it is that it is
miserably, undeniably true, every
single word of It, and then some
more.
I know a dozen just such cases.
They differ in particulars—one man
has a pretty home, one draws a
salary, one gets wages, one man
has girls to support, one has boys,
and one has only his wife, who de
spises him for being what she loves
to call a “drudge.” It is sad, isn’t
it?
And yet, somehow, I always won
der how much better the woman
who prides herself on her “ambi
tion” is than the drudge who irri
tates her so.
Easy To Be Ambitious
For Some One Else.
It is very easy to be ambitious
for some one else. I wonder how
much headway that same woman
would make with the work the
“drudge” does so faithfully and
well.
What does your husband have to
make him “ambitious,’’ dear wom
an? How do you help him, pray
tell? By nagging him and making
fun of him? That’s a good way,
isn't it? Why don’t you try an
other one for a change?
I've seen a very commonplace
man made over into a comparative
success, just by the faith his wife
had in him.
Have you tried believing in the
drudge to see what that would do?
You can’t nag a man at home and
expect him to bear himself like a
man away from home. It takes
courage and spirit and will power
to fight away up in the world, and
if you take all those things out of
a man before he leaves the house,
what weapons has he to make the
fight?
"Ambitious!” How do you know
whether he’s ambitious or not? ,z
What do you call ambition, any
way? The wish to get rich?
Fine noble work that is. isn't it?
Selling the body and the soul and
the heart and the mind to leave
a fine monument and a rich wid
ow? It’s all well enough to live to
get rich, but why make yourself
believe that you have “high ideals”
just because you want an automo
bile and want the drudge to get it,
some way, any way, only get it?
Don’t be too sure that you are so
much cleverer and so much finer In
every way than the drudge. He
may have his own ideas on the sub
ject even though he does not think
it necessary to nug you about them.
Stick to Your Bargain;
Make the Best of It.
What shall you do? Why, what
in the name of common sense is
there for you to do but to stick to
your bargain and make the best
«f it? It’s good morals, good sense
The Wonder-Maker
{' , DIE. if thou rt cold to Summer's charms.
Her clouds of green, her starry flowers,
And let this bird, the wandering bird,
Make his fine wonder yours;
He, hiding in the leaves so green,
M hen sampling this fair work? of ours,
< ries ( uekoo, clear: and, like Lot's wife,
I look, though it should end my life.
\\ hen I can hear that charmed one's voice,
I taste of immortality :
My joy's so groat that on my
Doth lie eternity.
As light as any little flower—
So strong a wonder works in me;
“('uckoo! - ' he cries, and fills my soul
V* ith all that s rich and beautiful.
By WINIFRED BLACK.
and good religion, nothing else will
do at all.
Your children! What do you ex
pect to make of your children if
you run away from their father
because he doesn’t “get on?”
I’d rather give my children their
start, in life in a happy home, a
home where there's love and trust,
and faith, and courage, and pa
tience, and nobility of heart, than
to send them to the finest school
on earth and pay for that schooling
in the bitter coin of estrangement
from all that really counts.
You can get “schooling” in th*
books—lots of it—and books come
cheap in this day. You can’t learn
patience, and love and truth, and
forbearance in any book in the
world but the good oid book of life,
and home is the very best place to
study that.
Here’s today—fresh. hopeful,
wide-awake today, splendid today,
glorious today—full of promise, full
of possibilities; let's make those
promises come true, every one of
them.
Forget all this “higher ideal"
twaddle; stop thinking of the au
tomobile we can't get and go to
work—here —in the place where we
belong, tn our own home, with our
own children and the man who
loves them.
Get the poor drudge the best
breakfast you can buy with the
money you have to spend; serve it
as prettily as possible, with a smile,
too, that counts —oh, how much
does it count!
Put your heart in the coffee. Put
your brain into those biscuits, send
your little girls off to school with
the “common” children with an
“uncommon" song in their happy
hearts.
It takes so little to do that —a
• new joke, a little story, a word of
extra praise. When they come
home be waiting for them. You.
yourself—not the woman with the
'corners of her mouth drawn down,
the one they’ve seen at the door so
often; not the woman who is mad
because she hasn't any automobile,
not the woman who is sick with
envy because she can’t go to Eu
rope, but YOU, the mother they
love and understand, the mother
they idolize.
Give Him a Good Dinner
And With a Smile, Too.
At night surprise the drudge with
a good dinner, a really good din
ner. Give him a smile with it, and
the same look you had when you
thought he was the One Great man
of the earth. Why, even the office
boy will notice a different set to
the shoulders of the “drudge’’ when
he gets to work tomorrow, the set
of the shoulders of a man who is
loved and looked up to and believed
in. Maybe he will cease to be a
drudge.
Give him a chance; give him a
chance. Forget your dreams and
your ambitions, forget everything
but the drudge and the children.
The drudge who stood by you in
your hour of agony, the drudge who
would ent off his hand at the wrist
to make you and the children hap
py.
Come, come, my dear. life Is with
you, good, wholesome, sensible, lus
ty, kindly, generous, simple life —
life with its thirsts and the drink
to slake them, life with its fatigue
and the good rest to relieve it. I,if"
with its tears and its laughter—for
you can't spare either of these twin
sisters and really live. Dive evert’
minute of it, with your heart and
your brain and your soul, and win
the right to the glory of it every
minute you breathe.
And peace go with you. you and
the good, kind drudge, who may not
be such a drudge after all if >on
give him a chance, and the chil
dren who will rise up and call >ou
blessed, as they would never learn
to do in any school except tit''
school of a happy and an hone.-t
home.