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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday
By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 20 East Alabama St., Atlanta, Ga.
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Why Not Leave Religion
Out of Politics?
» at «t
Men of All Religious a nd of No Particular Religion, Make
Good Citizens. Ability, Hon sty. Good Citizenship—NOT
RELIGION—Are the Tests in THIS Country.
Governor Osborne, of Michigan, who thought he wss an ardent
Roosevelt supporter until Roosevelt failed to get the presidential
nomination at ('hieago. has come out for Mr. Wilson.
IB
The kind of man who is very friendly to an individual until the
individual meets with failure is not always the most desirable kind
of a friend.
Such a man also is apt to he rather a poor adviser, politically
and otherwise.
Governor Osborne, who drops Mr. Roosevelt when the latter
fails in his first big struggle, says that he has come out for Mr. Wil
son because the latter is “a Christian and a scholar.”
Just how Governor Osborne KNOWS that Woodrow Wilson is
a Christian, we DON’T know.
But we do know that it is a foolish thing to drag any religion or
any religions quality into politics in this country.
This is a republic Itased upon a constitution which expressly
forbids government recognition of ANY religion and expressly
guarantees the equality of all citizens before the law, REGARD
LESS of religion.
Mr. Osborne, in his high praise of Woodrow Wilson’s Christian
ity, slaps at President Taft, calling President Taft the candidate of
Wall Street and Woodrow Wilson the candidate of Christianity.
Does Mr. Osborne think that Taft is NOT a scholar and a
Christian?
Taft, it is true, has shown friendship and extended protection to
the Jews-Bl T ONLY BECAUSE THEY WERE AMERICAN
CITIZENS AND DESERVING OF SYMPATHY.
Does Mr. Osborne think it was an unchristian act on Taft’s part
to abolish the Russian treaty when Russia ill-treated American citi
zens of the Jewish faith?
Would it have been more desirable, in Mr. Osborne’s opinion,
to wail until Russia stepped on the toes of some good PRESBY
TERIAN or Methodist before making a protest?
Mr. Taft’s action in the Russian matter —his abrogation of the
treaty when Russia refused to treat the Jews justly—may not have
been distinctly CHRISTIAN, inasmuch as the Jews are not Chris
tians. But Mr. Taft acted in defense of national dignity and uni
versal justice.
He insisted that ALL American citizens should he treated alike
by Russia regardless of religion. And in this he merely followed the
Constitution'of the United States, which insists that ALL citizens
be equel before the law. regardless of religious or other belief.
Mr. Taft, as it happens, is a Christian, and, as it happens, he is
also a scholar, inasmuch as his youth was devoted to study at one of
the best colleges, and inasmuch as his mature years have been de
voted to reading and study and interpretation of the laws as a
judge.
But those that discuss American candidates or American offi
cials should discuss them AS MEN AND AS CITIZENS, not as
Christians or Jews or Buddhists or agnostics.
Thomas Jefferson was not a Christian, ns everybody knows. He
was not a believer in any revealed religion. But he was a good
enough man to write the Declaration of Independence and to make
one of our best presidents.
Benjamin Franklin was not a Christian or a believer in any re
vealed religion. But he was a good enough man to do some import
ant work for this nation of ours
Thomas A Edison is not a believing Christian-—but it hi lucky
for this country that he was horn here. The many thousands of
Jew’s that bring good citizenship and hard work and knowledge
of affairs to this country are not Christians. Some of them are of
the faith older than Christianity which gave birth to Christianity.
And many of them are agnostics.
All of them and all citizens that do their duty at the polls and
in their dealings with their fellow citizens are alike respectable and
desirable inhabitants of this country.
If Governor Osborne chooses to drop his friend Roosevelt on
the first excuse and hastily scramble on the wagon which Mr. Wil
son is driving, let him say frankly that he does it because he be
lieves that Wilson will cross the line first and be elected
Let him not add to his treachery toward Roosevelt the unpleas
ant vice of hypocrisy and fill his statements with cant and insincere
eulogy of Wilson as a “Christian.”
It is a short step from praising Mr. Wilson’s Christianity to
praising his Protestantism, and then his special BRAND of Protes
tantism to the exclusion of all other religions and all other kinds of
Protestantism.
Leave out religion, Governor Osborne, when you talk politics.
Be guided by Cardinal Gibbons, who has denounced as equally vi
cious those that drag politics into religion or drag religion into
politics.
If a man is honest. SAY" so.
If he is able, SAY so.
If he has a record of public achievement and public service,
SAY so.
But leave his religion and his wife and his children out of po
kjltical talk. That is the best plan in America.
The Atlanta Georgian
NOW I LAY ME
By HAL COFFMAN.
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“Now I lay inc doivn to sleep, “Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep”— Any place where I may creep”—
Run a thousand lisping pleas Well the mother can not see
At a thousand mothers’ knees. The lad who whispered at her knee.
WINIFRED BLACK WRITES
.... on-
Telling a Friend the Truth
HT-XSAR WINIFRED BRACK:
I I have a friend, a good
woman, a sweet woman
and a clever woman. Her husband
is unfaithful to her, and 1 think I
ought to tell her about it. It seems
to me so tragic for her to waste her
unselfish devotion upon one so un
worthy of her. My mother says 1
will be no true friend to my friend
If I so much as whisper the truth to
her. What would you do -stand
idly by and see a good woman
throw her life away upon an un
worthy husband, or open her eyes
to the truth, and then help her to
get over it all'.' SINCERE"
What shall you do? That de
pends upon the friend, and upon
you.
Is your friend a real woman or is
she a little creature who will Just
weep and storm and upbraid and
let it go at that?
Is she a person who has any kind
of life of her own that she would
like to live? Is she giving that
life up because she is blindly de
voted to a man who deceives her?
Has she pride, self-respect, self
reliance. truth, courage, honor; or
is she Just a little nonentity who
would live with anx man and be
what she calls "a good wife to him"
as long as he gave her a wed
ding ring and called her Mrs.
Somebody or other'’
What Will Happen
To the Children?
Has she children and what will
happen to them If she divorces her
husband’’ Are you willing to help
her take care of them?
What If the story you told her
should turn out to be untrue? Are
you sure about it?
Is the man really in love with the
affinity'’ Will he stay In love with
her -do you think’’ What sort of
a fellow is he. anyway worth
while in any other way at all?
Maybe you could help him out
of a miserable muddle if you spoke
to him instead of to his wife. You
say you are a friend of both; per
haps he’» tired of the affair al
ready. and Just wants an excuse to
I tel' his wife all about it and be
THURSDAY. JULY 18. 1912.
Bv WINIFRED BLACK.
What would I want you to do
for mo in such a case as that? I
would want you to tell me and to
tell me quick. I don't want to
waste my life ‘'pretending." I'4
rather live alone on a desert island
with the buzzards for company
than to pour out my heart to one
who deceived me I’d rather scrub
floors for a living than to take one
penny from a man who couldn’t tell
me the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth.
Yes! I can see how a woman
might hesitate before she left a
man who is the father of her chil
dren, not only for the children's
sake, but for her own.
Women get lazy; they get self
ish; they got material as they grow
older. I know women who were
once decent, self-respecting beings
The Baby’s Lament
By WILLIAM W. WHITLOCK.
1\ /T OTHER’S so busy w ith speak-
IV I
With making addresses to
clubs.
With guiding young women who're
seeking
The ballot (gee whiz, but they're
flubs! 1,
She seldom if ever comes near me.
Rut leaves me to cry myself sick.
To holler and blubber, to watch and
to' rubber
Until I'm as bad as old Nick.
Father's so busy with voting
(Straw ballots they are, by the
wax 1.
With reading, digesting, connoting
What al! of the candidates say.
He hasn't a moment to spare me.
Hut lets me II.■ here in my crib.
Grow w ..ary with squalling and howl
ing and bawling
Until I’ve a pain in my rib.
1 wish that my parents would grant
me
Some notice, no matter how slight;
To see them alone would enchant me,
To know them for certain by sight.
I've heard them discussed by the
servan’ •.
And so I am sure they exist;
But why need they shove me aside;
can t they love me"
I'd give all the world to be kissed!
who live now with men and pretend
to love them, and they hate the
very ground those men walk on and
live a lie from one dreadful day's
end to the other.
I might be one of those women,
I might prefer ease, quiet, com
fortable deceit to honest misery
and desperate courage, but I'd want
the chance to choose.
The old-fashioned woman didn't
want the chance. "Don’t tell me,"
she -sobbed. "I don't want to
know." Os course, she didn’t want
to know —why should she? What
could she do?
The modern woman? That's dif
ferent, quite different. The mod
ern woman has the whole, affair
quite in her own hands; she isn’t
helpless, not the least little bit in
the world. If she's any sort of
woman at all the courts will stand
by her to the very end. She can
have her children, her income, and
her self-respect—Just by asking for
them before any decent Judge in
this country.
Think It Over
And Do Your Best.
Yes, it is a responsibility. I don't
advise you to tel! the woman, and
1 don’t advise you not to tell her.
Think it over, put yourself in her
place with her disposition, and
then do what you think is best.
Os course, there are many who
agree with your mother. Perhaps
they are right. I can’t say. but real
ly nowadays women are expected
to have a right to know these
things and act according to their
consciences about them.
Just ask that good mother of
yours if ( ven her generation really
respected the woman who shut her
eyes to her husband's "goings on"
just because it was the easiest way
out of an uncomfortable situation.
I know women who never see
anything, never know, never hear,
neve: dream, from xarious motives,
none of them particularly high
mimi-d ones. I wonder if thex are
really the ideal sort of women after
all? #
It is all a g eat puzzle, isn't it?
I wish I knew what other women
honestl? think about it Won't
s me of you write and honestly
THE HOME PAPER
The Education of the
V oter
WHO ARE THE CITIZENS?
Citizens Are of Five Classes, Including Men, Women
and Children; and They Have, as Citizens, at Least
Six Specific Duties to Perform.
IN the strict meaning of the woid,
a citizen is one who enjoys the
rights and privileges of the
city where he lives. But as we
use the word in reference to the
republic it means the rights and
privileges that belong to you as
the resident of the city, state arid
nation.
In this sense, the word is used
much as we use the word man. He
has rights and privileges as an in
dividual. When we call him a fam
ily man we add to his rights and
privileges a group of factors called
responsibilities and duties.
Every individual that walks the
streets may think he is a free
agent, but he has rights, privileges,
responsibilities and duties toward
(1) himself, (2) his family, (3) his
neighbors, (4) his city or town, (5)
the state, (6) the republic at large.
And they do not stop even here.
The constitution did not make it
clear exactly what is meant by the
word "citizen," and the twelfth ar
ticle of amendment was introduced
and adopted to settle the matter.
Five Classes Are
Entitled to Citizenship.
To begin with, citizenship be
longs not to men alone, but to wom
en and children, it includes these
classes:
1. All people born in the United
States, except children horn to the
families of representatives of for
eign governments and to people at
enmity with the republic.
2. Children who are born in a
foreign country, if, at the time of
birth, their parents are citizens of
the United States.
3. Women of foreign birth mar
ried to United States citizens.
4. Indians who have left their
tribes, giving up their tribe rela
tionships and paying taxes to the
government.
5. Naturalized foreigners.
Thousands of people come to the
United States annually from for
eign countries with the intention of
making their homes here.
On arrival, such people are called
aliens. This word means another,
inferring another country or fa
therland.
These people have not the rights
and privileges of citzens, but they
may acquire many of them by resi
dence and declaration of alle
giance.
If an alien resident here desires
to continue a citizen of the coun
try in which he was born he may
do so. Or he may renounce his
allegiance to the mother country
and become a citizen of the United
States.
This is accomplished by natural
ization.
How An Alien May
Become Naturalized.
In order to become a naturalized
citizen the alien must go before a
Judge and state his intention of
renouncing his allegiance to his
mother country’, and «tate his de
sire to become a citizen of the
United States.
After a certain time he goes to
court again and declares his re-
Letters From the People
ATLANTA STANDS HIGH.
Editor The Georgian:
We people of the South are, gen
erally speaking, under the impres
sion that schools and hospitals of
cities like Philadelphia and New
York are superior to our own.
They are, I will admit, further ad
vanced in technical and, perhaps,
laboratory research, hut when it
comes to practical, rational, scien
tific medicine and surgery, Atlanta
schools equal any of the East and
are superior to many.
Comparing our present enlarged
Grady hospital with others of simi
lar size, I wish to say that Atlanta
has an Institution of which she
may well be proud. It is modern
in even’ respect Atlanta is the
most popular city of the South.
People constantly ask me about
our Auditorium, of which they
have heard much. Also, about our
hospitals and Institutions of learn
ing. In reply to questions regard
ing foreigners coming to Georgia, I
reply that the state welcomes all
good people.
The daily papers of Atlanta are
among the best we have in this
country. I can not get along with
out reading The Geoigian and
other papers of Atlanta.
DR SIMON L. KATZOFF.
New York City.
By THOMAS TAPPER.
nouncement, of allegiance to any
foreign country’. He must swear
to defend the Constitution of the
United States. This oath should
inspire him to read his Constitu
tional policy. He must be able to
speak English, to write, to answer
. some questions showing his under
standing of the simple principles
of government. He is then ad
mitted to citizenship.
He is now one of the. family,
with equal rights land privileges
with all others, and he can hold
any office except that of president
or vice president. *
Citizenship is denied to Chinese
and Japanese. It is also denied
to anarchists and to all avowed or
suspected enemies of constitutional
government.
11.
To attain the dignity of citizen
ship in the United States is to re
ceive assurance of rights and priv
ileges that are numerous and val
uable. Every citizen becomes the
recipient of benefits both from the
state in which he resides and from
the nation. As a citizen you can do
all these things and many more:
1. Possess and protect your
property.
2. Pursue your ambition fearless
ly. if it be a lawful ambition.
3. Adopt and practice the religion
of your choice.
4. Have freedom of speech (be
ing responsible for what you say).
5. The right of jury trial.
6. The assurance of security to
yourself, your family and posses
sions.
7. The assurance that you ‘shall
not be imprisoned for debt, unless
fraud be involved.
8. The right freely to assemble
with other citizens and petition for
the redress of grievances. (Tfiis
is the initiative or the recall, ac
cording to the nature of the griev
ance.)
These are a few of the distinct
rights and privileges that are the
reward of citizenship. You will
not fail to notice that every one
of them INCLUDES a duty and a
responsibility. For every privilege
you enjoy is the privilege of every
other citizen. AND YOU CAN
NOT PUT LET OR HINDRANCE
IN HIS WAY.
Six Specific Duties a
Citizen Should Perform.
Some specific duties of citizen
ship are these:
1. Respecting the rights and priv
ileges of others.
2. Performing civic duties honor
ably, and without yielding to the
temptation of private gain.
3. The payment of debts.
4. The respect of another man's
religion.
5. The same respect for another
man’s reputation that you demand
for your own.
6. The willingness to defend the
country that protects you in time
of peace.
Most men are long on demanding
their rights
A true citizen should be just as
anxious to know his duty and to
do it.
THE PROHIBITION LAW.
Editor The Georgian:
I believe that a majority of the
people of Georgia oppose the pres
ent prohibition law because tne
state is in much worse condition
now than when we had local op
tion. Ender the old local option
law there were only nineteen wet
counties in the state. I'nd&r the
present prohibition law every coun
ty in Georgia Is more or.less wet.
During Che days of local option if a
blind tiger was caught he was
given the limit of the law. Now It
seems almost impossible to get suf
ficient proof to convict a blind ti
ger. This prohibition law was thrust
upon the people of Georgia by a lot
of cheap politicians who were
working in the interest of the rail
roads and express companies,
whose revenues have been in
creased enormously by the passage
of the act. It was shown in the
last gubernatorial campaign that
more than 4,000,000 gallons of whis
ky were shipped into this state each
year. The transportation charges
must have been 50 cents per gal
lon, therefore the roads and express
companies received $2,000,000. I
am in favor of prohibition if we
can have real prohibition, but the
present law not only does not ac
complish good. but. on the con
trary, constitutes a menace to the
state.
THOMAS W. SHIERLING
Fayetteville, Ga.
