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EDITORIAL PAGE 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 Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mall, 35.00 a year. Payable In advance. 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 /K ■:L, , WANTIN to * chance in G Operand I TEL L IH EM j > GG GGcG - ! h —rwj ' —-Lr- s G'g rW xWH IP therf-saman' I L b IN THE CROWD THAT LE.T I < • I \ • UGG A REASON WHY R|l I - ' '■ 1 WONEN WOULDN'T Pi .-Z, I 1 A > j - ( ■'? phj vOT E STEP DOIT! 0 . 5 • f- - ’ F/t HERE AND GIVE IT! JI ’• e ‘ ' q SMSGs- ' WBpv -4 < La rB Af’ : i // u A W ; FA 4Z. lIC AND BILL DID! II 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.