Newspaper Page Text
EDITORIAL PAGE
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday
Wy THK GISORGIAN Cv*TFANT
JU 20 E-ajit Alabama St.. Atlanta, Ga.
Entered as second-class matter at postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March 3. 1873.
Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mall, $5.00 a year.
Payable in advance.
This Is No World for Pessi
mists
» » •»
It Is an Encouraging, Hopeful World—Despite the Misery and
Injustice That Still Disgrace It.
There are men who are genuinely discouraged, genuinely pessi
mistic, who feel that the world has gone wrong or that the develop
ment of our social system is too slow.
The fact is that the kind of civilization which we have now is
about the best that WE are capable of. We are building upward
slowly, through the dark waters. We shall sec some improvement
in the future, as we have seen some in the past. The great scheme
subject to which we labor is a merciful scheme, and we are allowed
to see a little progress at least—although some of us imagine that
wo are going backward, AND NONE OE US IS CAPABLE OF,
REALIZING THE GREAT ULTIMATE RESULT.
To any man who feels pessimistic about America and about
civilization in general we offer these statements of fact :
A great curse of humanity has been drunkenness. DRUNKEN
NESS HAS SYSTEMATICALLY DIMINISHED EVERYWHERE
OUTSIDE OF THE SAVAGE RACES.
The greatest of all cifrses in this world has been ignorance.
IGNORANCE HAS DIMINISHED IN THE PAST HUNDRED
YEARS AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD TO AN
' EXTENT UNKNOWN IN A HUNDRED CENTURIES PAST.
The printing press has done for the brain, for eflucat ion, the
greatest conceivable work, a work far superior to that done for
transportation by the steam engine. No man has a right to talk
pessimistically when he realize", that for the first time in the world’s
history the man WHO CAN NOT READ IS AN EXCEPTION.
Another dreadful feature of life on earth has been poverty.
Poverty we still have with us. and only too much of it. BUT POV
ERTY IS DIMINISHING. Men s wages within the lives of those
now struggling have been doubled and quadrupled.
The long hours of work that deadened the brain and made
progress impossible have been very much diminished.
No man has a right to talk pessimistically when he sees about
him hundreds of thousands—MlLLlONS—of working men and
women earning at least a decent livelihood, able to feed their fami
lies, and. above all. FREE FROM SERVILITY, ABLE TO LOOK
AN EM PLOYE RIN TIIE FAC E.
Superstition and brutality and cruelty bred by it have been
curses of humanity. SUPERSTITION STILL EXISTS. BI T IT
HAS NO GOVERNING POWER AMONG I S TODAY. There are
no bonfires where human beings are burned alive, “TO THE
GLORY OF GOD.”
No man who has looked into the past, who has seen the rack,
the burning fire, the wretched creature tortured with all the inge
nuity that superstition could devise, has any right to talk pessimis
tically about the present.
As for government, it is true that we have not by any means ob
tained perfection. But we have at least escaped from hereditary
brutality in this country and nearly everywhere else. We no longer
have vile kings breeding degenerate monsters called princes, inher
iting the power to cut throats by the hundreds of thousands and set
one country fighting another.
We DO tight st ill as the dogs fight. for we arc not vet civilized
—but we at least fight more or less of our own accord.
We have at this moment in the United States a rule by money.
Money, which means power, is organized for its own protection, and
it DOES oppress the people.
But how superior it is to the superstitious government of the
Ijcathen world in the dark times How superior to the feudal gov
ernment by disorganized armed bands! How superior to the abso
lute monarchy that succeeded feudalism !
It is true that the people ARE FOOLED. But while the people
hare their votes, and while it is within their power to control them
selves and better their conditions as soon as they MAKE UP THEIR
MINDS TO, no man has a right to talk pessimistically.
There was a day when the prisons of the country cost a hun
dred times as much as all the schools and libraries put together.
Think how that has changed ' How splendid a thing it is when you
go into an American town to see the biggest, the finest. Hie costliest
building, a FREE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL! This*country
has every reason to congratulate itself upon what it has achieved
AND UPON THE POSSIBILITIES BEFORE IT ESPECIALLY ’
All that is required from the citizens is INDEPENDENT
THOUGHT AND INDEPENDENT ACTION. In the past thev have
been too much taken up with their individual supplies of money.
They have taken government too much for granted.
They can better that. AND THEY WILL. There is no ground
for pessimism.
Illusions of “Wealth Per
Capita”
A New \ ork paper argues that the American people are in a
state of fabulous prosperity because our “wealth per capita" in
1850 was $307.60 and in 1910 was $1,310.11.
Average American families of average size, who are wondering
what has become of their five times $1,310.11. or $6,550.55, may be
interested in a word or two of explanation of the illusions of
*' wealth per capita
In the first place, it is to be remarked that there is no known
way of stating the wealth of a great nation in a gross sum. Every
attempt to do so in tables <»• statistics is made up in part of ac
tually existing values, in part of speculative values, in part of le
gally enforceable claims held l.y one class of citizens against an
other class, and in part of more ~r ],. ss romantic guesswork.
In the second place, it is to be observed thaJ a reallv prosper
ous country is a country where honest and industrious human be
ings have a high purchasing power over the necessaries and con
veniences of existence No country in which it is hard to make a
living can be called rich even though every man had a high
figured bankbook ami a big stack . watered stocks, bonds and
other certificates ot indebtedms- against - .i i, t\ at large
Finally, lake notice that a nation of a hundred million paupers
and one trillionaire would have u wealth pt-i capita of about
leu thousand dollars.
I < 4
The Atlanta Georgian
’ )
S I —— , „ S
j His First Drink—and His Last
5 By HAL COFFMAN. §
I $1 ffi 1
•15 ■Vw 1
■ & 1\
1 'W' <3 I
*" sr wy Wil® f lill!!
WLMJwra ■IS
:: Demanding the Impossible ::
A WOMAN, who lias boon tnar
ried six years and says she's
■ never had a single peaceful
day In them, wants to know how
to please a hypercritical husband.
She says;
"My husband is very particular
about his food, and complains if
everything is not perfectly cooked,
yet after I have spent hours over
the stove preparing a dinner to his
liking he grumbles because 1 smell
of the kitchen.
"He says 1 don't read enough,
then when I read he complains of
my wasting my time over novels
instead of looking after my house.
"He finds fault with me because
I am not stylishly dressed, yet
when 1 want a new gown he com
plains of my extravagance.
"Tie say s I'm not companionable
enough, yet when I go out with him
he shows that he's bored to death
ami wishes that I had stayed at
home.
"How can 1 please such a man
as this?"
You can't. A lady angel from
heaven couldn't. The only way to
deal with that kind of a disgruntled
grouch is to let him alone, and go
along and do the way you Want to
without any reference to him. He
wouldn't be pleased, anyway, so
you had as well please yourself.
This man has an aggravated
< ase of a very common failing
among husbands, and that is they
expect the impossible from their
wives. They' demand that their
w ives shall be lightning change ar
tists, who can bo household drudges
one minute and society butterflies
the next, who can do the cooking,
and washing, and ironing, and sew -
ing and mending, and baby tending
for a family. and yet alway s appear
with beautifully manicured. Illy
white hands, and dressed in silk
and lace party gowns, and be able
to hand out a line of bright and en
tertaining small talk when hubby
comes home.
Very Unreasonable.
iif course, this is utterly unrea
sonable. The woman who does her
own work is bound to have rough
and work-hardened hands She is
bound to be tired and nerve
wrecked. It takes money and
leisure, and ease of body and mind,
foi a woman to be able to keep
herself calm and serene and beau
tifully dressed, and up to the min
ute in conversation.
Honestly ivhn you see what
■ n I Xpert .f ' hell wive- )t does
ook o if i lie ■ was a good deal Io
re▼ in favor of polygamy. Certain-
MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1912.
By DOROTHY DIX.
ly being a wife is a two-woman job,
for if any' man got what he thinks
are his just deserts In matrimony,
it would require one wife to look
after his physical comfort, and bear
and rear his children for him, and
another wife to entertain him and
go about with him, and always look
zw 1
Jr
DOROTHY DIX.
like a living picture. And both
ladies would have their hands full,
believe me.
The law of the land and the high
cost of living prevehting this sim
ple solution of the problem, a man
falls back upon the expedient of ex
pecting his wife to combine all
sorts of antagonistic qualities in
iter one person, and to be able to
turn out every sort of varied per
formance. He expects her to be
Mary Ann In the kitchen and
Queen Ann In the parlor, to be able
to g.t a dinner with one hand and
play the piano with the other, to
dress like a fashion plate and
spend no money
He even mariles on this platform
H picks out for .1 wife a -illy little
debutante who rods her eyes jit him
and ask- him foolish question*, and
thru h< ii* !»m . ib»> tjir.t >!•<»,ntr,j n
I het becgUM she isn't a wise, ■ xpi -
rienced, broad-minded, sane wom
an He selects a girl because she
is beautiful, and dainty, and help
less. and then complains if she isn’t
practical, and economical, and a
good manager. He will even mar
ry a professional woman and then
feel himself ill-used because she
knows more about temperament
than she does the proper tempera
ture to bake bread.
Yet. the very man who expects
the impossible of his wife is not
illogical enough to look for mira
cles to happen anywhere else. He
wouldn't buy an automobile and
expect it to turn into a church or
gan. He wouldn't pick out a steak
in a butcher shop and expect to
find it converted into ice cream
when he got home. He wouldn't
expect his dog to suddenly burst
into song like a canary, but he
docs expect just as utterly incon
gruous things to take place in a
woman as soon as the marriage
ceremony is read over her. »
Not* are men alone in expecting
the impossible of the ones they
marry. Women have a talent for
that. too. and nine-tenths of the
"complaints that you hear from .
wives are simply' the result of
ladies demanding that their bread
and butter shall also be caramel
cake.
You hear plenty of women, re
splendent in imported finery, sigh
ing because their poor, dear Johns
are so absorbed in money-making
that they haven't time to attend
Browning circles, and Ibsen mati
nees Sometimes these wives even
go so far as to consider that their
husbands' lack of soulfulness justi
fies them in having long-haired,
high-browed affinities with whom
they can discuss the whatness of
the ain't and other throbbing prop
ositions.
Another Side.
Again you see other women mar
ried to literary or artistic men who
lament that they have more com
panionship than dollars, and who
are dissatisfied because their hus
bands can't make as much money
as a Wall street broker.
In short, the feminine ideal of a
perfect mate is as impossible of
realization as the masculine N >
man is at once a great money
maker and an idealist; no man can
«, make a fortune in the grocery
trade and hold his wife's hand at
the same lime, any more than a
woman can be both a leader of
lushcm and a household drudge
it is because men and women • x
pe< I th' Impossible of each othei
that marii. g* is so often a failu «.
i
; Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Writes on
The Failure of Wo
men To Be the
Best Mothers l|||g|
Possible wlllil'
Written For The Atlanta Georgian
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Copyright, 1912, by Amerlcan-Journal-Examiner.
Tl’ the parents of a rough dia-
I mond could only realize the
handicap they place In their
child by starting him out into the
world without polishing him as
much as possible. I am sure every
parent would do hts utmost to add
a touch here and a touch there to
the personality of his offspring dur
ing childhood, for it Is during child
hood that the little habits are
formed, which, taken as a whole, do
so much to influence his future
career and station in life. I refer
to habits of tidiness, manner, de
portment. carriage, table etiquette,
care of the toilet, etc. There comes
a time in the life of every child
when habits of this class have to
be formed, and there is no reason
on earth why they should not be
formed in such away that in later
years they will not be a source of
embarrassment to him.”
—HERBERT A. PARKYN, M.D.
I WISH these words, by one of
America's most gifted and dis
j tlnguished physicians and met
aphysicians could be written in
letters of gold and hung where
every’ mother and teacher in the
land might read them daily.
Children Show Their
Mothers ’ Teaching.
Women are pushing forward their
claims for higher recognition,
everywhere and every day; and
j women are succeeding In almost all
the arts, professions and trades for
merly pursued by men exclusively;
yet women ARE ALMOST UNI
VERSALLY FAILING TO B 0
THE BEST MOTHERS POSSI
BLE.
You who read these words may
take exception to such a statement.
Yet. employ your leisure, hours the
next week in looking about you
criticallyrand dispassionately’ for a
really perfect, or even “near per
fect” mother of boys and girls of
that embryo age, from eight to
fourteen.
It is during that period children
show forth the training and teach
ing which has come to them from
close association with their moth
ers.
To again quote from Dr. Parkyn;
“There are great possibilities in
a new wooden barrel, provided it
is empty. It is very easy to fill
it with syrup or kerosene, or any
other liquid. But if a barrel be
filled first with kerosene it Is very
difficult to so completely get rid
of its impressions on the barrel
that the barrel can he used after
ward for syrup, the barrel as It
were, having formed an auto
suggestion which is hard to over
come.
“A young child’s mind Is very
much like a barrel, so far as its
first impressions are concerned.
Its mind is an empty thing, wait
ing to be filled with any’ kind of
impressions, and the impressions
of childhood are by far the most
lasting.
"Childhood is the most favorable
time to develop the little habits we
carry through life, and the Im-
:: Virginia Dare ::
By REV. THOMAS B. GREGOR V.
\TfRGINIA DARE, the first child
/ of the English race born
within the limits of what is
now the United States, had her
natal day three hundred and twen
ty-five years ago.
In the light of present-day events,
there is something thrillingly sig
nificant in the fact that the first
English child born in this country
should have been a girl—a mem
ber of the sex which is today all
over the earth making congresses,
legislatures and parliaments 'sit up
and listen” to its demands for rec
ognition as a factor in world gov
ernment.
The circumstances in the midst
of which little Virginia was ush
ered into the world were not of the
fairest description.
The gallant knight. Sir Walter
Raleigh, In 1583 sent his half
brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, to
make a settlement in the New
World. On the American coast
probably that of Newfoundland
Sir Humphrey lost one of his ships,
with nearly all of Its crew, and in
attempting to teach home in the
other vessel sank in a great storm
near Eayal, exclaiming as he went
down The wav to heaven Is .is
near by sea as by land."
In 1584 another expedition sent
out by Raleigh under Aimdas md
Barlow reached the country now
known Its North Carolina.
THE HOME PAPER
portance of giving attention to
these little habits cannot be too
strongly Impressed upon the
minds of parents of young chil
dren. So many parents believe
that If they teach their children
what is right and wrong, from a
moral and ethical point of view,
clothe them and send them to
school, they have done all that la
required of them, and that the
children will do the rest them
selves and make a success In life."
Mothers of culture and educa
tion are to be found all about us
who have allowed their little sons
to pass through he formative
period of childhood without one
distinguishing trait of habit of re
fined, considerate manhood, and
who consider the brusqueness and
boorish deportment of their off
spring as natural phases of boy
hood, which will be eventually
outgrown. In America, children
are allowed to occupy an unnatural
position 1n the home, and are per
mitted to demand favors of their
elders. where foreign children
gently request; to dispute, and
flatly contradict, where others
would only question or. remain
silent, and to alt in the presence
of their parents and grandparents
without waiting for permission or
observing whether any one is dis
commoded by their conduct.
Mothers permit their little sons
to Interrup conversation; to enter
a room noisily, without removing
their hats; to be first at the table
without showing the courtesv of
senting the mother or sister or
guest, and to air their ideas and
opinions aggressively in the pres
ence of older people.
The very greatest work a woman
can do on earth is to guide and
tram the mind and manners of a
little child into gentleness, kindli
ness. courtesy, consideration, po
liteness, respect and reverence for
whatever is great and good, and to
teach the embryo man or woman
those small refinements of deport
ment which mean so much in life.
No matter what other work a
mother may be doing in the world,
if she is neglecting this work'
which is the work God has given
her, she is miserably failing as an
"individual and a citizen, aa well aa
a mother.
Not One Woman in 100
Is a Scientific Mother.
However bright a boy may he hi
his lessons, however he may excel
In the athletic field, he is not
growing into admirable excel
lent manhood unless he is receiv
ing the delicate and gracious
touches of education which a
mother should consider it tier great
privilege to give. But this can
not be given in a day or a year. It
must be done day by day and year
by year, unobtrusively and tactful
ly. until the child has absorbed the
wholesome and refining system un
consciously. And we do not find
one American mother in one hun
dred who is unselfish and patient
enough to bestow so much time and
thought on the profession of scien
tific motherhood.
Into Albemarle and Pimlico sounds,
touched at Roanoke island and re
turned to England.
I’he following year (1585) Ra
leigh sent out a colony of a hun
dred or more men under Lane to
make the beginning of a settle
ment, but nothing came of it and
the remnants of the colony ’were
taken back to England bv the old
sea fighter Drake.
Unwilling to abandon the project
that was so dear to him, Raleigh, in
the spring of 1587, made still an
other attempt. sending out some 150
men and 17 women under the gov
ernorship of John White. The set
tlers reached Roanoke Island the
last of July, and there, on August
U. was born Virginia Dare, the
daughter of Ananias and Eleanor
Dare.
W hlte’s settlement perished, be
ing known in history as the ‘ Lost
t’olony." Says I-'iske: "When the
•Jamestown settlers came they were
told by the Indians that the white
people left it Roanoke had mingled
" l,h the natives and lived with
them for some year# on amicable
•erms until, a, the instigation of
certain medicine men, they had all
been murder, d. except four men.
wo lu,. s amj n young woman, who
"••if ->»..■••»! order of a chief
**• 11 "line woman
y.rglnla lb, re th. n ,,. ( American
v w. mot no megne o f kn.i*-
Ina.'