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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Eicept Sunday
By THE GEORGIAN COMPACT
At 20 East Alabama St., Atlanta, Ga.
Entered as second-class matter at postoftlce at Atlanta, under act of March 3, 1379.
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How to Put an Encl to Cor
ruption in Elections
r. M M
There Should Be a Law Exactly Defining the Uses That May Be
Made of Campaign Money.
Governor Wilson and Colonel Roosevelt have both assured the
Hearst papers that they will aid in giving the fullest publicity to
the sources of all money contributions to their campaigns both be
fore and after the election.
The promise is excellent. The performance will be a long step
in advance, hnt it will not of itself cure corruption in elections.
When the list of contributors is published it will not necessarily
throw much light upon the real backers of the two candidates.
Any giver wishing to conceal his identity will give under another
name, or under several names, and no one except possibly the
candidate and one or two confidential political managers—will
know the individual, or the groups of individuals (unincorporated)
to whom the candidate is under obligation.
The Georgian advocates the enactment of Federal and state
laws requiring full accounting by all committees in national and
state elections, not only as to the sources of contributions, but,
still more important, OF ALL EXPENDITURES, WITH THE
AMOUNT PAID TO EVERY INDIVIDUAL AND THE PUR
POSE FOR WHICH IT WAS PAID ALL SUCH PAYMENTS
SHOULD BE ATTESTED BY PROPER VOUCHERS AND RE
CEIPTS AND THE RECORD SHOULD BE COMPLETE ENOUGH
TO SATISFY THE MOST EXACTING CHARTERED AC
COUNTANT.
The proposition under this head in the Democratic platform is
ridiculously inadequate. It is also, apparently, insincere.
What is wanted is a law EXACTLY DEFINING THE USES
THAT MAY BE MADE OF CAMPAIGN MONEY—AND PRO
HIBITING, UNDER SEVERE PENALTIES, ALL OTHER USES.
Legitimate campaign expenses are those, and only those, that
are incurred in making an appeal to the reason and judgment of
the electorate. Thus the law should allow expenditures for litera
ture, speeches and other means of informing the public. It should
allow expenditures for any open appeal to the intelligence and con
science of the people. IT SHOULD NOT ALLOW ANY OTHER
EXPENDITURE WHATEVER
When we have laws of that kind, we shall have clean elections.
And when election expenses are limited to the business of inform
ing the voters the amount of the expenditure will not, in ordinary
limes, be very great.
Any individual using money in elections for other purposes, or
causing it to be so used, should be subject to ARREST AND IM
PRISONMENT FOR BRIBERY If a candidate for an office has
been elected by such means, the offender should, of course, be de
prived of his seat.
The Democratic platform deals in platitudes on this subject
platitudes so trite that they are nearly reactionary.
The Baltimore platform pledges the party to enact a law pro
hibiting any corporation from contributing to a campaign fund
The proposition is good enough so far as it goes. But it merely
recites a principle that is already generally recognized—with or
without statute laws. Neither this proposition nor the following
one—which would forbid any individual from contributing “any
amount above a reasonable maximum’’ —is of any particular value.
If any individual really wants to pour unlimited money into
an election, he can always manage somehow to do it—through va
rious other individuals. The beneficiaries of special legislation,
whether they be corporate or personal, can always find away to
return courtesies through liberal campaign contributions.
There is. moreover, a fundamental moral absurdity in attempt
ing to set a limit to the material sacrifices that a citizen may nfake
to a public cause. In a supreme emergency, a man of the purest
motives might spend a very large sum for the diffusion of sound
fiolitical ideas, with the most unselfish patriotism. Men give their
ives to save their country. Assuredly they ought to be allowed to
give their money.
But two questions should be answered in every campaign.
First, where did the money come from! Second, bow. to whom
and for what purpose was it spent *
The Revolution of 1830
By THE REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY
IT was 8f veers ago that the
French people threw over
board the royal Jonah. Charles
the Tenth, and tacked the ship of
state in the direction of the demo
cratic haven at which, after much
rough weather and hard sailing,
they were ultimately to arrive.
Louis the Eighteenth, the old
Bourbon who tried to hold down
the throne of Prance after the sec
ond abdication of the great Na
poleon died In 1824. and official ti
tle of Charles the Tenth, succeeded
to the royal honors
Charles was bigoted. ignorant
and immoral When it became ap
parent that he was about to be
come king he threw over his dirty
life the cloak of piety, but as the
"Lord's appointed" he was the
same old sinner that he had always
been
It did not take the FTench people
long to see that Charles had made
up his mind to declare war to the
knife against all constitution lib
erties in the kingdom, anti they
prepared themselves to fight him
to the last ditch.
With wonderful patience they
bore with the despot until the en
actment of the famous "Ordinances
of St. Cloud." which suspended the
liberty of the press: dissolved the
chamber of deputies; provided for
a new system of election for giving
absolute power to the king, and
filled the council of state with the
ultra royalists who were prepared
to do the king’s bidding quite re
gardless of the people’s rights
These vile ordinances were pro
mulgated July 25, 1880: and two
days later the lightning of the pop
ular indignation struck Insurrec-
tion broke out at once, and did not
let up until the Tricolor floated
over the Tuileries and the rights
of the people had been vindicated.
Charles finding that the army
had deserted him ami tn.it the peo
ple were in earnest, abdicated the
throne and struck out for England,
where he died in 1836.
In the meantime the French peo
ple made the mistake of putting
another king on the throne instead
of kicking the throne to pieces and
declaring a republic.
On August 9 1830, live days aft
er the flight of Charles. Louis Phil
ippe. the new constitutional mon
arch. ruling not bj “divine right."
but by the will of the sovereign
people, king of the Tricolor, not of
the lilies and the white cockade,
took oath faithfully to observe the
amended order.
Louis Philippe was a gentleman,
and personally was well disposed
toward the popula- rights, but his
will power and judgment weta not
on a par with his good intentions,
and In the hands of bad men he
became a "rock of offense" to the
people who had trusted him and
eventually ’tad to go the way of hit
predecessor.
(Jetting back to the ousting of
Charles the Tenth, which was the
teal beginning of modern democ
racy in Frame, it Is well to note
the fact that the beneficial Revolu
tion was largely ow ing to the press
Thiers, the editor of The National,
marshaled the forces of the "Fourth
Estate” and threw them with irre
sistible momentum against the en
throned wrongs. It was a battle
between J’ower and Opinion, and,
thanks to the press, Opinion won
the day.
The Atlanta Georgian
: UNCLE TRUSTY!
Copyright. 1912. by International News Service.
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“William, I can’t pay any attention to you and Theodore this morning. I'm so upset
s over this cartoon that somebody has sent me! Did you ever see anything so insulting? It
f makes me nervous, too' You can't tell what minute I may be locked up for felony! Suppos
■ ing Root should confess!
>: The Art of Conversation
Bv DOROTHY DIN.
\GIRL writes and asks me how
she may become a lluent con
versationalist.
I don't know, and if I did I
shouldn't tell her Heavin defend
that it should lie my hand that
would set any innocent young feet
on the path that leads to social de
struction!
For in Illis world there be many
afflictions that are grievous to be
borne, but the ehiefest of these
and the one that we flee from at
sight- is Hie lluent conversational
ist. It is only in grand opera that
lite hero warbles. "Hid me dis
course" In real life noUody ever
wants to hear another discourse.
Ear fiom it. <>n tile contrary.
Hut If praise be- the art of con
versation lias become a dead art,
the art of talking still survives, and
in the verv breath t[iat 1 warn my i
correspondent against becoming
that champion bore, a conversation
alist. I urge her to acquire the
pleasing grace of becoming a good
talker.
The two tilings are b\ no means
the same, and the difference be
tween them is the difference be
tween a monopolist and a free trad
er. A conversationalist is one who ,
mounts a platform, so to speak, and
uses up all the time and words
there are to tell what he or she
thinks A good talker is the quick
change artist in tin small coin of
human intercourse -one who gives
ami takes uni lets you have vm f
turn at the counter, and it is worth
any girl's while to learn this gentle
aceomplislftnenl
Now, to become a good talkt
there are four things to bear in
mind
(al Ke, p off other people - toes.
(b> Don't talk about yourself.
(c> Avold details.
(d) Listen.
The other name for the first of
these .specifications for becoming a
good talker is tact. Some people
are born w ith an intuitive know l
edg, of what to sav. Others are
not. but all may acquire a good
working substitute for it bv the
simple process of considering other
people's feelings. There is no more
excuse for going to a man's house
and riding rough-shod over all of
his pet opinions and theories than
there would be in smashing it
against the walls, or punching holes
through his pictures.
Nothing but congenital idiocy is a
sufficient apology for conversing
with a woman whose husband is a
bank defaulter on Ihe sttbji et of
robbery, q- relating anecdotes about
MONDAY. AUGUST 5, 1912.
lame men to a cripple. To sav you
"didn't think" incriminates you. It's
your business to think, and unless
you are capable of thinking you
have no right to inflict your ion
versation on other people.
Therefore, little sister, if you
want to acquire the art of convor-
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DOROTHY DIX.
satiou consider the individual to
whom you are talking. Try to re
member who he is. what his tastes
are. what his hobbies, and these
shall be i lamp unto your feet to
keep you out of th* pitfalls that
the blundering hit or miss style
of talker falls into.
Next keep from talking about
yourst f if you have to choke. No
human being, not even your near
est and dearest, really wants more
than the most casual information
about what you do, or think, or de
sire. Think, best beloved, of the
deadly bores you know, the men
and women whose presenci is like
i wit blanket on any festive occa
sion. and live minutes of whose so
ciety reconciles you to the brevity
of life What is the secret of their
blighting presence'.’ Merely that
th. v talk about themselves.
Do you not know some woman
who monologues along about her
home, her servants, her husband
and her children until you wish
they were all sunk in the bottom
of the sea? Do you not know some
man who maunders on, and on, and
on, and on. to the very crack of
doom about his auto, or his motor
boat, or his golf, of what he said
to the boss and the boss said to
him
You would go ten miles to avoid
meeting either of these people.
Reflect that your affairs are no
more interesting to them than
theirs are to you. One of the
home industries that should be
encouraged is the canning of do
mestic conversation. If you would
I be popular, let other people talk to
you about themselves, but do you
never retaliate by talking about
yourself. This is a heroic remedy,
but it works.
Avoid details in conversation.
Learn just to hit the high spots in
a narrative, and have the balance
to your listeners’ imaginations.
They can fill in enough. When you
relate a story about Mrs. Jones’
cow. don't let that lead you into
a history of every member of the
Jones family, and the pedigree of
every animal in the vicinity. No
people are more wearisome than
those individuals who lose them
selves in so many conversational
byways they never arrive at the
point of their anecdotes —or if they
do, you are too exhausted to com
prehend them.
There are those who are like the
dictionary, where one word leads
on to another. Avoid this fault.
Be brief. Say what you have to
say. and be done with it. and give
others a chance. That's about nine
points in the art of conversation.
Always leave people wishing you
would tell another story, instead of
saying: "Thank heaven, we got
her choked off at last."
Finally, beloved, to be a good
talker, you must be a good listen
er. Nobody is so entertaining as
the one who has the gift of being
an intelligent listener, who listens
with sympathy and comprehension,
who inspires us to our best and
who makes us feel what terribly in
teresting people we are. Acquire
the art of listening with your eyes
fixed on the speaker's face, and a
rapt expression on your face, and
you will be esteemed the most bril
liant of conversationalists. the
most fascinating of women, though
you be dumb as an oyster.
For there are many talkers, but
audiences are few and hard to get.
THE HOME PAPER
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Writes on
Organizations for the
Distribution of
Money to Xfl
Aid the
i Ortr »-iCar *
Written For The Atlanta Georgian
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Copyright, 1912, by American-Journal-Examiner.
A READER of this column is
displeased with some fa
vorable comments made
last April of the methods of the
Associated Charities.
“What reason is there,” he asks,
“for such an organization to exist
in our great land, overflowing with
opulence?”
There is no reason for any form
of charity to exist in America if the
PEOPLE of America possessed the
focused will power to demand the
rights of every soul born into earth
of the use of EARTH, sun and air.
But until the people DO unite and
demand such privileges there must
be an organization for the distri
bution of money to aid the poor.
And there is not one particle of
common sense in abusing this so
ciety, which is doing the best it
can. under great difficulties, or of
blaming it lor the lack of co-oper
ative methods among the people.
The discontented reader says no
one is doing anything to bring
about a better condition.
That shows how little he knows
what is being done.
The Single Tax organizations
(which hold the one great solution
of the problem) are doing wonder
ful work and producing wonder
ful results. Joseph Fels, the mil
lionaire philanthropist, who is de
voting his life and his money to
efforts to bring about justice for
human beings, has settled down to
the conclusion that it can be done
only in one way, and that way by
putting into execution to such ex
tent as is possible the principles
and precepts of Henry George's
philosophy of taxing land values,
and nothing else.
He has obtained use of idle lands
in America and England, and has
practically demonstrated the effica
cy of his ideals.
And those who wish to know all
about the experiments here and
abroad need only to write the Jo
seph Fels Single Tax society. Phil
adelphia, Pa., or New York, and
send stamp for mailing pamphlets.
Five hundred gardens, composed
of one-eighth of an acre each, are
supporting 500 families right in
the precincts of London through
the influence of Joseph Fels, and
he is hard at work convincing the
owners of thousands on thousands
of acres of idle land all over Eng
land and elsewhere that by giving
the use of these lands to people
who are wanting to make them fer
tile they will reduce the pauperism
of the country.
When the experiment has become
universal the force of ptlblic opin
ion will compel a change in our
laws and render it illegal for any
man or corporation to hold idle
land while masses of people are
herded into slums for want of op
portunity to till the land.
It will be more than illegal, it
will be UNPROFITABLE to hold
land in this way. once the Single
Tax value is placed on it. Not so
many years since there was a loud
cry of the impracticability of the
Single Tax Idea.
But up in British Columbia and
Vancouver it is being found prac
ticable.
The British Columbia Royal Tax
commission reported last winter
recommending the abolition of the
poll tax. the tax on personal prop
erty of all kinds, the increase of
the amount of income exempt from
taxation and the substitution for
these taxes of a tax on land values.
The commission started out preju
diced against the land value tax
Letters From the People
EXERCISE FOR CHILDREN.
Editor The Georgian:
Please allow me a few lines to
correct what I believe is false
teaching. Your article a few days
ago regarding the training of chil
dren and a picture showing a baby
bearing a weight of 50 pounds is. I
believe pernicious and dangerous.
Over-development tends to weak
ness. Cultivation and development
are healthful up to a certain point,
but beyond that the part or organ
is more susceptible to disease and
decay. Moderate exercise is neces
sary. but strain is injurious. Pro
fessional athletes, as a rule, are short
lived. Fast running and heavy lift
ing by amateurs is to be watched.
When adolescence arrives, most
young people require more exercise
than they get and more than some
want to take. Even then all that
the system demands is exercise
that will expand the lungs and
quicken the heart action without
strain or over-tension.
Walking, as proved by its devo
tees. is the best for health and
longevity. Vigorous exercise, where
every muscle and nerve is tested
and in favor of the poll tax. After
two years’ careful investigation the
commission reported unanimously
in favor of the above changes,
which, when made, will place all
British Columbia on what The
Portland Oregonian is pleased to
call a single tax basis.
Now comes The Colonist of Vic
toria, one of the dailies of the state,
and says, undei- date of April 9:
“Although the next session of the
British Columbia legislature is as
yet nine months in the future, pre
liminary preparation of legislation
to be presented to the house upon
its assembling on January 16 is al
ready commanding attention. It is
expected one of the first govern
ment measures of’the new session
will be that effecting reductions in
taxation and rearrangements in the
assessment system, based wholly or
in large measure upon the recom
mendations contained in the ex
haustive report of the Roya’ Com
mission on Taxation, which went
into these matters last year.
In reply to an inquiry, Hon.
Charles H. Lugrin says:
“I may say that the Royal Tax
Commission of British Columbia, of
which I was a member, went to
work with open minds and without
preconceived ideas as to what they
were going to do. The conclusions
we reached were forced upon us
by our knowledge of the conditions
of the country and of the evils of
some of the taxes now levied. I
confess that at the outset I was
even in favor of the poll tax. against
which our commission is now unan
imous.'
“The same thing applies to tha
tax on improvements and personal
property. We felt from our investi
gation of tlie province that they
were unjust; that they could not be
fairly levied, and that it was only
right that they should be abolished,
and we believe that this will be
done by the legislature.
“The city of Victoria, after care
fully observing the results in Van
couver. has now also abolished the
tax on improvements, and I am sat
isfied that within two years neither
personal property nor improve
ments on land will be taxed any
where in British Columbia. That
this will encourage enterprise and
investment in the province goes
without saying.
“in the communities that have
adopted this system of single tax
there is no influence that can be
brought to bear that could lead
them to depart from it.”
Meanwhile, until the people (who
are the power in every land) awake
and understand and use concerted
methods to bring the single tax
into use in America, universally, in
stead of in a few localities, we
must have charitable organizations.
And having them, let us find out
the truth about their methods be
fore we accuse them of one or all
the vices which the unreasoning and
uninstructed ones lay at their door.
Much intimate knowledge of the
organized charities has made me
regard them with respect and grati
tude, while it has made me more
and more deplore the CONDITION
which necessitates their existence.
But neither the founders, organ
izers or officers of these societies
are in fault for these conditions.
The fault lies wholly and entirely
with the submissive and indolent
people, who will not awaken and
unite and demand a trial of 'the
principle of single tax tn every
state in America.
to its utmost, is adapted to mature
life inly, and then not too fre
quently repeated.
Such exercise should never be un
dertaken by either extreme of age.
Neither childhood, first or second,
should try to “show off" by doing
feats, but moderate exercise is nec
essary. W. N. NANNEY. M D.
Brunswick, Ga.
CONGRESS AND THE NAVY.
Editor The Georgian:
I wish to commend you for the
editorials appearing in The Geor
gian relative to congress’ apparent
intention to refuse to provide two
new battleships at thia session. No
greater mistake could be made bv
this country than to reduce the
strength of the navy. With the
early completion of the Panama,
anal It is absolutely necessary that
the United States be in position to
back up whatever position she
takes with reference to the opera
tion of that new waterway. The
editorials which you have written
on the subject meet my hearth ap
proval in every particular.
Atlanta, Ga. L. 0.