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EDITORIAL PAGE 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. Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mail. 35.00 a year. Payable in advance. 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. X O J —~~ — > frW -OS owwww -/w x I 111// rf/r | I 1 I / / V— Jy/fir ufSrw \ ZLUffl awT JT, “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- ' Si /W ' Jlr <aafW I ' ; f • 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.