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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.'