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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 seeond-class matter at postoftice at Atlanta, under act of March 3, 1373
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It Is Easy to Talk Free
Trade Nonsense
A newspaper announces that it “will make tariff robbery plain
to readers.” Following this glittering promise, the newspaper pro
ceeds to demonstrate the fact that it knows very little about the
tariff and about the questions involved in tariff discussion.
The people are robbed through the tariff in the United States,
of course. In the I’nited States the people are robbed IN EVERY
CONCEIVABLE WAY.
They are robbed by corporations that fix prices and thus levy
taxes.
They are robbed by political bosses and political machines.
They are robbed by railroads, street ear lines, express com
panies.
They are robbed by the various trusts —beef, sugar, coal and
the others
They are robbed by the tariff merely among many forms of
robbery.
It is important for the people of this country to understand that
the tariff, which has been dishonestly manipulated, which has pro
tected trusts and made monopoly possible in some lines, HAS ALSO
A GREAT DEAL TO 1)0 WITH THE PROSPERITY OF THIS
ENTIRE NATION. The well-meaning but ignorant newspaper, if
it could arouse ignorant prejudice against all tariff, would endanger
stability in every line of labor, manufacturing and business AND
GREATLY INJURE THIS COUNTRY.
Here is a statement from the newspaper in question. It is a
MISSTATEMENT of facts:
"Eleven yards of fancy wash fabric In this dress cost to manufac
ture in the United States sl.fh>. and in England 31.11. The eleven
yards retail in England for $1 87. and In the United States for $2.75.
WHY? Because the Payne-Aldrich tariff tax amounts to «6 cents.
Under the Dingley law It was 45 cents.”
This sounds convincing if you don’t happen to know anything
about conditions in England and in America.
In this country we can MANUFACTURE 11 yards of a certain
goods for $1.06.
In England, assuming the statement quoted to be accurate, it
costs sl.ll to manufacture 11 yards of goods.
In England the 11 yards are sold at retail for $1.87, a profit
above the manufacturing cost of only 76 cents, and in America the
same goods are sold at retail for $2.75, a profit above the cost of
manufacturing of $1.69.
The newspaper which prints these so called facts and figures
absolutely misrepresents conditions, but, of course, without know
ing. The trouble with many of our teachers is that they don’t
understand that which they undertake to teach.
It is true that goods are very often sold at retail in this coun
try for a profit, twice as great as the profit charged in England or in
other countries.
We shall proceed to explain to our foolish newspaper friend
some causes of the difference in profit.
In the first place, Mr. Editor, the American retail merchant
advertises in yonr newspaper and others, and spends each year at a
low estimate a hundred thousand dollars where the retailer in Eng
land does not spend fifty thousand dollars, and probably not twenty
thousand dollars.
Therefore, to begin with, a very nice slice of the extra profit,
which you blame on the tariff really goes into your pocket.
Think about that for a little while.
In the second place, the retailer in America, if he is a suc
cessful, up-to-date man, has a store that represents an investment
and. therefore, fixed charges infinitely greater than the same
charges borne by the English retailer. This means that American
mechanics have put into their pockets for the building of a fine,
new- store a large part of the money involved.
All clerks are paid too little in all cases there is no doubt
about that.
But the American retailer pays those that work in his store,
at the lowest estimate, twice as much as the English retailer pays
to his clerks. Therefore, the American clerk in the dry goods
store gets part of that larger profit which yon are pleased to
charge exclusively to the tariff.
The American merchant is not content to work all his life for
very little. He may become a bankrupt in the keen competition.
If not. he gets rich and his fortune quickly made represents part
of that larger price which you attribute entirely to the tariff.
It. is true that if we had no tariff the retail merchant would
he compelled to accept a very much smaller profit, and he would
be compelled to cut his advertising spa.ee in the newspaper that
criticises him. and that newspaper would be compelled to cut its
advertising rate.
Without a tariff the merchants would not be able to make
their fortunes quickly and build the great new stores which dot
this country.
Without the tariff the English could send their goods, man
ufactured and unmanufactured, into this country freely, and our
men would have to go out of business or cut the wages of their
employees in two.
It is true that if we had no tariff many interesting things
might happen.
The Scotch could send shiploads of potatoes to this eountrv
and sell them at very low prices—that would be agreeable for
the buyers in the citv AND PUT THE FARMERS OFT OF
BUSINESS.
And the clothing makers in Germany and Austria and Eng
land and (’lnna could send their ready-made clothing to this coun
try and sell the clothing for half, which would be very nice for
the farmers of America, but which would put tens of thousands
of American workers in the city out of business.
If we bad no tariff the Frenchmen, the Germans. the
Greeks could send their champagnes and their other wines in
free of duty, which would be pleastint for our saloon keepers and
restaurant keepers, but would put the California and other Amer
ican vineyards out of business.
And so on. dear, ignorant newspaper editor, all down the list.
If yon had free trade yon would have FREE COMPETITION
IN LABOR, and the manufacturer and employer able to grind his
employees down to the lowest would get the markets.
Americans, big and little, are in a hurry. They live in a
hurry, they travel in a hurry, make money in a hurry, die in a
hurry, get ri<h in a hurry. The tariff helps along the burrv and
makes the pace faster.
The tariff, like everything else in our country, is full of
vices, mistakes and extortion. But we must do to the tariff what
we would do to a sick friend cure it, not kill it.
The tariff compels Americans TO BUY OF AMERICANS
The tariff compels th< shirtwaist maker in the cit\ to bin po
tatoes of the AMERICAN farmer.
Continued in L att
The Atlanta Georgian
Let Bill Do It By George McManus
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How to Build a Fortune
No. 4—The Saving Habit
1
IT is both interesting and enter
taining to read what com
pound interest will do when
it gets t<> work on a smalt amount
of money. One Dollar, at four per
eent compound interest, If left In a
savings hank for twenty years, will
amount to Two Dollars and Nine
teen Cents. Rut One Dollar, depos
ited annually In the same savings
bank for twenty years, will amount
to nearly Thirty-one Dollars.
So, Ten Cents daily, with com
pound interest working on it,
amounts to nearly Four Hundred
and Fifty Dollars in ten years.
•And so on. The more illustra
tions of this kind one reads the
quicker one seems to get rich.
- Rut—
It Takes Moral Strength
To Put Money Aside.
Have you ever thought of the
moral strength required to put Ten
Cents aside, not once, hut three
I The Bed |)
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
Copyright, 1912, by American-Journal-Examiner. <
A HARSH and homely monosyllable,
TA. Abrupt and mnsicless. and at its best
; An inartistic object to the eye; j
Yet in this brief and troubled life of man
How full of majesty the part it plays!
It is the cradle which receives the soul.
Naked and wailing, from the Maker’s hand.
It is the throne of Love's enlightenment:
And when death offers back to God again
The borrowed spirit, this the Holy shrine
; Krom which the hills delectable are seen. ?
Through all the anxious journey to that goal
It is man's friend, physician, comforter. M
!Wheu labour wearies, and when pleasure palls.
And the tired heart lets faith slip from its grasp.
Tis here new courage and new strength are found.
While doubt and darkness change to hope and light.
. It is the'common ground between two spheres
Where men and angels meet and converse hold.
It is the confidant of hidden woe
Masked from the world beneath a smiling brow.
Into its silent breast young wakeful joy
Whispers its secret through the starlit hours.
And. like a white robed priestess, oft it hears
Ihe wild confession of a crime stained sou)
That looks unflinching in the eyes of men.
A common worn, a thing iinbeautifn)
Vet in this brief, event fill life of man
How large and varied is the part it p!av<!
Is •■ ■ SSSSS- ' SV-- • SS". SZSSS-. '.SSSS'.-rfSS s .SSS-.S sS- .s ■ ■ . ■. ■ . . ..... . . .
THFRSDAY. AI’GL'ST 22. 1912.
By THOMAS TAPPER.
thousand six hundred and fifty
times, and never miss it once?
This is one of the most severe
tests to which human nature can
be put. For human nature rebels
against this regularity of self-de
nial, failing to see that a dime’s
worth of self-denial is a little for
tune for the future.
The saving habit, to amount to
anything, must be regular. What
ever plan you adopt, KEEP IT DO
ING. If you can some day in
crease the amount you put aside
weekly or monthly, do so. but make
any sacrifice to keep the original
plan in operation.
It inspires many people to know
that Five Dollars per week placed
In the savings bank with unfailing
regularity will amount to Seven
Thousand Eight Hundred and Fif
ty-five Dollars in twenty years.
But before you let this proposi
tion fill you with enthusiasm, stop
for a moment to consider what this
means.
To go fifty-two times a year for
twenty years to the savings hank,
each time with a Five-Dollar bill, is
ten hundred and forty trips there
and ten hundred and forty trips
back. With all that, is included
making up your mind, getting on
your hat and coat and starting out
ten hundred and forty times.
This is quite a strain.
But It Is Worth
Striving to Win.
And yet. Five Dollars a week,
at four per cent compound interest
semi-annually, amounts in twenty
years to Seven Thousand Eight
Hundred and Fifty-two Dollars.
Os this sum. Five Thousand Two
Hundred Dollars is principal, and
Two Thousand Six Hundred and
Fifty-five Dollars is interest.
If you make one trip a week, car
rying Five Dollars to the bank each
time, you will receive at the end
of the twenty years a bonus of
Two Dollars and Fifty Cents for
each and every time you put on
i your hat and coat and actually
’ reach the bank.
[ But if time is precious and
' money scarce, and the best you can
1 do is to carry Twenty-five Dollars
I to the bank every six months, your
i total credit if you never miss a
1 trip, in twenty years, four per cent
' compound interest, will be about
’ One Thousand, Five Hundred and
1 Fifty Dollars.
Os this amount. One Thousand
' Dollars will be principal, and Five
Hundred and Fifty Dollars inter
est. As the operation involves 40
trips (two a year for twenty years),
your bonus for the trouble of mak
ing up your mind to reach the
bank with the money, will be about
Fourteen Dollars per trip.
Some Inspiring Figures
That Test Human Nature.
These are Inspiring figures, but
they test human nature more se
verely than the Spanish war did.
What do they mean?
1. Industry, or work by which
you earn money.
2. Simple living to preserve
health so that you do not stop
earning money every now and then.
3. Determination to set a certain
sum aside.
4. You may increase this sum.
But if you want to get what the
compound interest table shows you
must never decrease it.
5. Regularity in making the trip
to the bank. Otherwise, the’motor
in the compound interest engine
will quit working
H Careful regulation of your af
fairs so that you can pay the sav
ing* batik a- if it were a bill to be
met prompt!)
In order, therefore, that the sav
ing habit shall do its utmost for
(on, vou must in turn be at regtila*
>n doing, vour part as a clock is in
ticking off the seconds.
THE HOME PAPER
The Voter and His Backbone
M «e w
He Has Killed the Old Machines—Now It’s His Duty to Keep Them
Dead.
The state of Georgia has seen the dawn of a new political day.
The old order has changed.
, Yesterday's voting, which came as a climax to the most de
cently conducted political campaign in recent years, marked the end
of the insane partizan strife which has been for nearly a decade a
disgrace to the state.
Both of the old political machines have gone to wreck and
ruin, and the two hundred thousand voters of the state of Georgia
should join in a fervent prayer that never again may either be
pieced together.
The good that existed in both of them will live. The narrow
ness and the bitterness engendered by- the rivalry between them has
died, finally and none too soon.
John M. Slaton was elected governor, not because he was a
Joe Brown man. He was elected governor because his public ca
reer had been clean, intelligent, faithful; because he made a de
cent. quiet, sensible and yet energetic canvass for the office.
Thomas S. Felder, Judge George Hillyer and others of the suc
cessful state house office candidates were elected not because they
belonged to one faction or another, hut because they convinced the
electorate that they were able to serve their state well.
That seems to have been the test in yesterday’s primary. It
is the only test a free people should apply to any candidate. It
means the end of bossism, the end of partizan strife, the end of
political insanity.
Georgia has had enough of this insanity. Its business and
social interests, its prestige and its promise have suffered heavily
from it.
But a better day has dawned, and none should be more happy
at. the end of the old and the beginning of the new than those dis
tinguished men who were the head and front of the two parties
now dead.
It is the duty of the voters to preserve this sensible order of
things. A little independent thinking and sincere balloting will
smash any ring that ever was formed.
There is precious little chance for a boss where the people know
how to think and have the backbone to register their thoughts at
the polls.
It Is Easy to Talk Free
z Trade Nonsense
Continued from First Column.
The tariff compels the American farmer to buy his wife's
shirtwaist of the AMERICAN shirtwaist maker.
If you had a family of ninety millions of boys and girls you
would say to them, “1 want you boys and girls to live together
like brothers. I want you to buy your goods OF EACH O’l HER
whenever you can. even if you have to pay a little more - I WANT
YOU TO KEEP THE MONEY IN THE'FAMILY AND MAKE
THE FAMILY PROSPEROUS.”
The government of the United States is a father with a fam
ily of ninety millions of sons and daughters. And that govern
ment father says to the great nation of sons and daughters, “I
want you to buy of each other even at a sacrifice. I want you to
help your brother build up his business, buying more while it is
weak. And I want yon to keep him honest and make him deal
fairly by you when he becomes strong.”
This is the greatest free trade country in the world, for we
have free trade from ocean to ocean and from Canada to Mexico.
And it is the greatest and most prosperous country in the
world. BECAUSE WE HAVE TRADED AMONG OURSELVES
LIKE BROTHERS AND HELPED EACH OTHER LIKE BROTH
ERS, and have not simply tried to buy wherever we could at the
cheapest rate regardless of the wages paid.
The New York newspaper moans because goods are manu
factured for 106 cents in the United States that cost 111 cents to
manufacture in England.
Does our contemporary know why the United States is able
to manufacture eleven yards of goods for five cents less than
England can manufacture the same goods?
America can manufacture more cheaply than England and at
the same time pay wages much higher than those paid bv England
BECAUSE THE TARIFF HAS ENCOURAGED AND REWARD
ED INTENSELY BRILLIANT MANUFACTURING IN THIS
COUNTRY. The tariff has built prosperity, increased wages
raised the standard of living, and the better conditions have’
brought the most intelligent, most brilliant men of Europe to our
country. And thus the more intelligent men with higher wages
protected by the tariff have been able to manufacture more
cheaply than Europe can manufacture. The owner of the news
paper which we criticise accumulated before he died twenty mil
lions of dollars, and he died a young man, comparatively.
He earned and deserved every cent that he got, and many
millions more. He rendered services to this country.
The country rewarded him well BECAUSE OF THE TAR
IFF. because when he came here he found himself in a country
where merchants and mechanics and all others, including news
paper owners. lived on a high plane of profit.
lie had his share, and a big share, of the prosperity that wise
protection brings. Let his successors strive conservatively and
cautiously Io eliminate that which is unwise in protection and
in the tariff. Let them not foolishly and ignorantlv seek to pull
down the ladder on which they with this nation have climbed to
prosperity. ,
(hii American motto should he, tree tr«ide from ocean to
ocean and from north to south in our eountrv, and reciprocity
yvith those of our neighbors that want it.
Elimination of protection where protection has bred monop
oly.
But m> free trade that means FREE <’< >M I’ETITK >N OF
LABOR, no free trade that means success for the man who gets
the world’s markets by paying Ins workmen least.