Newspaper Page Text
EDITORIAL PAGE
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Aftemnnn Fvcer’ > -J*’
By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 20 East Alabama St, v •».’■'>. -•>,
Entered es second-class matter at postoffice V - » Vv-s 5
Subscription Price Delivered by carrier. W .-er*- • * * : • > ’ < mr
Payable in ad vac
Why Not Leave Religion
Out of Politics?
k r «
Men of All Relijrinris. and P«-np of No Particular Religion. Make
Good Citizens. Ability, Hon stv, Good Citizenship—NOT
RELIGION—Are the I‘esu in THIS Country.
Governor Osborne, of Michigan, who thought he was an ardent
Roosevelt supporter until Roosevelt failed to get the presidential
nomination at Chicago, has come out for Mr Wilson.
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 baaed upon a constitution which expressly
forbids government recognition of ANT religion and expressly
guarantors 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 sort ended protection to
the Jews—BUT 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 wait nntil 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 tn defense of national dignity and uni
versal justice.
He insisted that ALL American citizens should be treated alike
by Russia regardless of religion. And in this he merely followed the
Constitution of the United States, which insists that ATT citizens
be equal 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 aa his mature years have been de
voted to rending 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 ot Buddhists or agnostics.
Thomas Jefferson was not a Christian, as everybody knows Ho
was not a believer in any revealed religion. But he w T as a good
enough man to write the Deolanation of Independence and to make
one of our best presidents.
Benjamin Franklin wns not » 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 orrre
Thomas A. Edison is not a believing Christian—but it Is lucky
for thia country that he was born here. The many thousands of
Jews 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 anti
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
liaves that Wilson will cross the lino first and ho 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. wh< n you talk polities.
Be guided by Cardinal Gibbons, who has denounced as equally vi
cious those that drag politics into religion or dtag religion into
politics.
If a man is honest, SAY so.
If he is able, SAY so.
.t h- r record of public achievement and public service,
SAY so.
But leave his religion and his wife and his children out of po
. liticai talk. That is the best plan in America,
The Atlanta Georgian
NOW I LAY ME
By HAL COFFMAN.
■ ■_
Bk; ft .-re
7 Os
■ ■’ |E|
? ' ;C-Z I!
j ri; 77 F ~7 > X i fMi' 1
77- 7 • MILA'I/
'MI h (1111
: 1 Mb t Ji
«L/ oft Mas'll
Now I lay me down to sleep. Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray I hee. Lord, my soul to keep ’ — Any place where I may creep”—
Run a thousand lisping picas Well the motjier can not see
At a thousand mothers knees. The lad who whispered at her knop.
WINIFRED BLACK WRITES
ON—-
Telling a Friend the Truth
_ '\EAR WINTERED BLACK
; J I have a. friend, a good
woman, a sweet woman
and a clever x woman. Her husband
is unfaithful to her. and I 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 I
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 tp
get over it all? SINi'ERE"
What shah 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 hyis 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 «i 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 aux man and be
w hat she calls "a good wife to him"
as long as he gave her a wed
ding ring ind called her Mrs.
S.micbod\ or ol her *
What Will Happen
To the Children?
Has she children ind what will
happen to them if she divorcee her
husband' ire you willing to help
her take care of them'.'
What if the story you told he'
should turn out to be unirm " Ar<»
you sure about it',’
I» the man really in love with the
affinity .' Will he stay in love with
her do you think" What sort of
a fallow 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 an a fro nd of both per
haps he’s tiled of the affair al
ready. and jus' wants an excuse to
'cl: his w ift all I’oout it and be
• irgp. en.
THURSDzW, JULY 18. 1912.
Bv WINIFRED BLACK.
What would I want you to do
for me in such a ease as that? I
would want you to tell me and to
tell me quick. 1 dont-t want to
waste my life "pretending." I'd
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
pennj from a man whp couldn't tell
me the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth.
Yes! 1 can sec 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 get material as they grow
older. I know women who were
once decent, self respecting beings
The Baby’s Lament
By WILLIAM W. WHITLOCK.
MttTHER'S so bust with speak
ing.
With making addresses to
clubs.
With guiding young women who're
seeking
The ballot (gee whiz, but they’re
■ flubs!).
She seldom if ever comes near me.
But leave? 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
w ay i.
With reading, digesting, connoting
What al! of the andidat- s say.
He hasn't a moment to spare me.
But lets me lie here in my cub.
Grow weary with squallingand 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
servants.
And so I am sure they exist;
B’l’ why need thej sho\? me aside.
■ an't they love me '
1 d give all the .' arid to be kissed!
w ho live now with men and pretend
to love them, and they hate the
very ground those men walk on and
live a He 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. "1 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. 1 don’t
advise you to tell the woman and
I don't advise you not to tell her.
Think it over, put yourself in her
place with he> disposition. and
then do what you think is best.
Os course, there are many who
agree with your mother. Perhaps
thex arc right. I can't say. but real
ly nowaday.- worn, n are expected
to have a right to know these
tilings and m t according to their
consciences about them.
.lust ask that good mother of
yours if even 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,
never dream, from various motives,
none of them particularly high
minded ones. I wonder if'thev ate
really the Ideal sort of women aftet
all?
It Is all a great puzzle. Isn’t it '
I wish I knew what othet women
honestly think about it. Won't
- mie of you write and honestly
THE HOME PAPER
The Education of the
Voter
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.
Bv THOMAS TAPPER.
IN the strict meaning of the word,
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 and
natictn.
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 aione, but to wom
en and children. It Includes these
classes:
1. All people born in the United
States, except children born 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 state 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, but 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. 1 wish to say that Atlanta
has an institution of which she
may well be proud. It is modefn
in every respect Atlanta is the
most popular city of the South.
People constantly ask me about
ijur 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 Th< Georgian and
other papers of Atlanta
DR SIMON L. KATZOFF.
New York City.
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
som" questions showing his under
standing of the simple principle?
of government. He Is then ad
mitted to citizenship.
He is now one of the family,
with equal rights and 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 al] 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
lieges 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 securltj 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. (This
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. B’or every privilege
you enjoy is the privilege of ever.v
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 rightsand 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 a.°
anxious to know his duty and ,n
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 the
state is In much worse condition
now than when we had local op
tion. Under the old local option
law there were only nineteen we’
counties in the state. Under th
present prohibition law every coun
ty in Georgia is more or less
During the 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 wer*
working in the Interest of the rail
roads and express companies,
whose revenues have been in
creased enormously by the passag
'd the act. It was shown in the
last gubernatorial campaign tha'
more than 4.000,000 gallons of whis
ky were shipped into this state each
year. The transportation charge*
must have been 50 cents per gal
lon, therefore the roads and express
companies received $2,000,000. '■
am in favor of prohibition if
can have real prohibition, but tbs
present law not only does not ac
complish good, but, on the con
trary. constitutes a menace to the
state.
THOMAS W SHIERL«v»
Fayetteville Ga.