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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 second-class matter at postoff . e at Atlanta, under act of March 3. 1871 Subscription Price—Delivered by earlier, 10 cents a week. By mail, 15 00 a year Payable In advance. Much Talk—More Smoke • There has been much talk about Atlanta's smoke. Council and the smoke commission are disagreed about how to handle the problem. The smoke commission has amentlcd a liberal ordinance, declaring it too stringent, but the oily attorney ruled that the commission acted without authority. The impressive fact, though, is that the great majority of the people <>f Atlanta have definitely made up their minds that the smoke nuisance must be abolished. They are tired of having their offices filled with soot. They are tired of breathing bad air. They are tired of paying excessive laundry bills. They are tired of losing thousands of dollars an nually in ruined goods. They are tired of having their city and themselves always soiled. They know that the smoke nuisance can be stopped, and they know it can be done at an inconsidt rate cost to the owners of the smoke producers. When the Chamber of Commerce launched a movement to eliminate smoke from Atlanta a government expert said it could be done Io a reasonable degree within 30 days. The smok ordinance has been a law for more than two months. The people elect their eouneilmen to control their municipal affairs. Not only in the light of what other cilies have done, but concluding from their own reasoning, they know that the control of smoke is a most important municipal function. No one wants an unjust hardship inflicted on the manufac turers. The people simply demand that within a reasonable time the smoke nuisance ne eliminated from Atlanta, and it MI ST be elimi nated. I Former Georgian for Gov-| ernor of New York s» r r Oscar Straus' Nomination Is a Tribute to a Man Worthy of Great Honor. Oscar Straus, the nominee of the Progressive party for gov ernor of New York, is a former Georgian and a citizen of the high est character, an admirable choice for any public office. His nomination was absolutely unsought by Mr. Straus; it was not for one moment planned by the managers of the parly. The convention met; circumstances made it possible for the delegates to act spontaneously, and the result was Mr. Straus' nomination, with an enthusiasm ami earnestness scarcely ever equalled in the polit ical conventions of this country. Mr. Straus’ nomination illustrates in real life the power ofthe independent movement in our politics. In an interview in The Lon don Standard, several days ago. Mr. Hearst said: "The independent movement in the United States is a i. al and powerful force. It began with the Independence League in New York and developed strongly in various sections of the country. ‘The advocates of ttiis third party movement are enthusiasts. They be lieve absolutely in the necessity of a third party to free the country from the corrupt control of both of the old parties. They believe that both of the old parties are in the grip of the privileged interests, and that the stran gle hold <>f those special interests can not be broken. They also believe.that there Is no desire on the part of the leaders of the old parties to terminate this association with the privileged Interests, as it is a profitable assot iation and enables these to secure large campaign contributions, ns has been shown in the Standard Oil letters, and so to finance and operate their ma chine and party organizations "The third party supporters believe ardently Tn their program, the main purpose of which is to take the control of government out of the hands of party machinesand privileged interests and restore it to the hind; of the people Nearly all the measures of the third party platform tie aimed di rectly at that end” Mr. Straus is admirably adapted io lead the independent move ment of thinking citizens in any state or in any republic. His life has been devoted to public tt(fairs and Io public welfare. As ambassador of the United States in Europe, as a member of Mr. Roosevelt 's cabinet, as an earnest advocate of peace measures, as a private individual struggling for public betterment, and as a member of one of the most distinguished business and philanthropic families in the state. Mr. Straus is eminently titled for any public office. He is one of throe brothers one. Isidor Si rails, distinguished in business, finance and industry, a citizen and philanthropist of the highest standing, recently lost his life on the Titanic under e.ondi tions of peculiar heroism still fresh in the public mind. Nathan Straus, the third brother in this honorable family. has done more for the children of this and all other nations than any other ten men of his generation, and has. therefore, done more than any other for the generations that are to come. Xaihan Straus has done tor the physical healt h of children as much as Rousseau. Pest a - and Eroebel combined did for the minds of children. It Oscar Straus should receive from the citizens of New York one vote for the life of ev.-rv child saved by his brother Nathan, his election would be overwhelming. It happens that in this case the election, important as it is. is not the most important thing. Public office is not desired bv Oscar Straus. The nomination was absolutely against his wishes But the nomination is fortunate, as it gives to independence in politics—which this country m eds dignity and character worthy of republican government. There can be no doubt that the tribute to Mr. Straus, the cypres sion of appreciation of his character, the type of citizenship repre sented by himself and his brothers, will at tin coming election en courage other nu n of the highest character and independent thought to interest themselves in public affairs and accept public responsi bilities. As Mr II earst said in the interview above quoted: “The progress!'. sentiment in the United State., is tremendous The men who class themselves as progressives. no matter to what party they b< long constitute a . onsid. ruble majority of the voters of the United Si ti> - I his progressive sent ment in our country, this independent majority < th. citizens will welcome Oscar Straus and tin high I ciiutand principles lur winch he stand-' j The Atlanta Georgian A Drama Amid Settings 1,400 Years Old The Open-Air Theater of the Ancient City of Carcassonne and IChat It Recalls z - x Z ■ . •- - - " ' • ■ . ■« ■ I ■ i •* i PLAYING THE “CID" IN THE ANTIQUE CITY. * By GARRETT P. SERVISS. zqrwHERE is one feature of life j in old Europe for which we have no exact equivalent in new America, arid that is the FETES (a FETE me ins a "feast.” or a celebration) that are annually given in many ancient towns and cities. They not only serve to * arous. am: perpetuate local and na tional pride and patriotism, but they ale the delight of artists and ' of all persons who have either a taste for the picturesque or an ap preciation of tin* scenes of a past age when they are vividly brought before the eye. Possibly our continent is now old enough, inasmuch as several hun dred years have elapsed since white men to do things within its borders, to have something of this kind to rec all its former days, but among us the spirit that in spires fell s i.s yet generally lack ing. Perhaps a thousand years from now there will be splendid f. tes in New York, having some of tile ruins of its skyscrapers for a background and serving to recall to the men and women of that time what life was on this continent in the days when the first feeble at tempts at aerial navigation were looked upon as modern miracles. Hut I have no intention to dis course on tlie general subject of fetes, 1 wish simply to call at tention to jj, very remarkable" ex ample of this kind of celebration which has recently occurred in the old city of Carcassonne, in south ern France. If you ever go to Eu rope you must try to see Carcas sonne. There is a modern town and an ancient one, side by side, and it is only the ancient one that lias much interest tor (lie traveler. Hut its interest is supreme. It stands on a little hill and it looks but I can hardly tell you how it looks, How to Build a Fortune JVo. Q—Protection I. r | > HIS is how ,i business 11 n de- I scribed a young; man as a desltable'employee and cit izen : 1. He should take an interest in bis work. 2. I>o nothing to injure his health. I’.. IL nee. Have simple habits. ■I. Carry as much lite insurance as his income permits. 5. Haye some money, even if it be but litth* in a bank. If lie takes an interest in bis work lie will soon get a better place, tor a wise business man is seldom found' who overlook'- a promising employe . But, lie added, they do sometimes. If he does nothing te injure his health he can work with all the strength there is in him. If His Habits Are Simple. If his habits are simple he will waste none of his income; but he will learn how to enjoy life sanely as he goes on from day to day. He must carry some life insur ance if any one is dependent on him. Ami he should acquaint him self. as soon as he begins to earn, with tin necessity to a young man of ill's kind of protection. W ith a little money in the bank he is prepared for an emergency. In brief, all these tlx, it, ms 1 hnv< mentioned give him a degree of in • t > Ct t it ' iI ■ ■ t•,f . ent, tit. and they < , rtaitily ttiaki a good citiz.i n. 11. This sounds reasonable, and the more one thinks it over, the mote reasonable it becomes. It is true. In w<i .r, that <. ■ nuts - young men , nrx t attempt to put th, ms- Ivt - in lu' u . The reason is that they ate playing tin most populai ganu MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16,1912. for, unless you have seen some thing of the kind, you can have no means of making a comparison. For one thing, it looks as old as the rocks and hills, find as desert ed as a wilderness. And yet it is a whole and complete city, with its walls, towers, houses, churches, streets, battlements and dungeons existing as in their pristine time, and simply lacking its inhabitants. Nobody lives in it except Caretak ers and watchmen. * A Mental Picture. Suppose the i ity of Albanj should be deserted by its inhabitant.-: then let century after century pass over It, leaving its great capitol and its other buildings standing intact; finally imagine yourself visiting it and finding it in the same condi tion. a thousand years or more lat er. and you will have in your mind some idea of the appearance of Car cassonne. only Albany is not a fighting city —except for politicians —and it has no stout walls to re sist besiegers, no gates with port cullises. no loopholes through which to shoot with Crossbows, h irque busses or musketoons, no donjons, no barbicans, and no torture cham bers. Carcassonne was a fighting city for l,smi > ear- battling against Visigoths. Saracens and enemies of every kind—and if has kept all these things, except the people who used them. They have vanished, leaving their city in a state of pres ervation more complete than that of a specimen in a museum. It is the mummy of a medieval city and the most perfect thing of its kind in the world. In this antique city, which they have taken the utmost pains to keep intact, repairing where neces sary the lavages of time, the French this summer have cele biated a fete than which nothing of tlie soi t could be more interesting. Inside the deserted city, with its walls and towers for a background •By THOMAS TAPPER, in the world. It is called the Hand to Mouth game. Its rules are: , 1. Let tomorrow take care of it s If. I i|BBI a® "<• • * ' HOMAS TAPPER. 2. A short life and a merry one. 3. Better a drink tonight than a quarter in the morning. I And if I die'.' Let wife ami children, and lather and mother, look out for themselves. This max not be the written creed but ti Is the living a< tion x.• man probably would admit that ho is willing to let thost dependent on (as you see in the photograph), in the open air. on a stage resembling a parterre in front of a castle, and with a great audience seated undet the sky, they gave representations, by famous actors and actresses, of classic French dramas, recalling the manners, costumes and scenes of the olden ages. It was an exhi bition of the French sense of the harmony of things, which we do not possess as perfectly as they do. One of the plays presented on this remarkable stage was "The Cid," of the celeb: ated dramatist Corneille. "The Cid" is a drama of the heroic days of Spanish chivalry, which brings before our eyes the ideas and tlie doings of an age which lias not ceased to he inter esting because it is past. But on this occasion the repre sentation derived a thrilling inter est from the fact that the vanished inhabitants of Carcassonne who mice dwelt on this spdt. who walked though these streets, who manned these walls and kept watch from these towers when an enemy’s army was seen approaching with its bat tering rams, its catapults, or its culverins, and its armor glittering in tit'. southern sunshine —that these pebple would have felt per fectly at home amid such scenes as the actors were representing. More than one imaginative spectator half expected to see watching faces, armed men, women in strange cos tumes. looking down, from the old walls at the sight of this revival, on their own ground, of the scenes and deeds of their day. One com mentator remarks that their ghosts must surely have been there! A Lesson For Us. There is a lesson for us in this. Because our past is relatively brief, and our progress bewilderingly rap id. wc are apt to, think too little of bygone times. We have no Carcas sonne. but we have glorious mem ories of a great •••>st, and we ought to cultivate them more. him take their chances. But he makes them take chances. He may love them and hope they may m ver want. But it takes more than fair words to make them safe. There are thousands of men who go on from day to day. leaving the family exposed to the most cruel dinger through waste, extrava gance and selfishness. The tragedy of the unprotected family is witm .-sod every day . If a man really has any pride in the woman he marries, and in the chil dren they bring into the world, he will get down to business and be gin to do things for them. If lie is anything beyond a bluff at the art of living, if he actually tn, ms to be honest toward those dependent on him. he will believe fully in the statement of the busi ness man at the lead of this arti cle. Must Work On. System. He must work on this basis, even if it costa him severe self-denial. He has gone into the game, and he must not only realize how serious a game it is. but he tTMist be a good player. If he is single, and no one de pends on him. he still has his own future to protect, or he becomes a burden to his friends or the recip it nt of charity, if he can get, it. in his old age. He would far better stand on his own frit. A let of nonsense has been written about our independ ence. It is far better to think of th, it tlepetiden, e. of the extent to which other lives have come into our keeping. Take the five statements at the beginning of this article in good f ilth. Then th >st de- ndtng on you *w ill have placed their X faith whttt it is safe. THE HOME PAPER W. R. Hearst on Free Trade <*•4- 4-*4* 4-*4- 4*«4* Americans Won’t Permit It Wilson's Views Theoretica 1 Special Cable to The Atlanta Georgian. LONDON. Sept. 16. —The London Daily Express, which pnh lished the views of William R. Hearst on the Panama canal . op. troversy, prints the following: To the Editor of The Express; Sir —You ask me how the views of the various presidential candi dates in America on the Panama matter and other matters will af fect England’s interests. I do not think there is any great difference of opinion entertained by the three leading candidates in regard to this canal question. I think I can say that the American people are practically a unit in support of President Taft’s attitude on this question. The newspapers which took a position in opposition to President Taft and in support of foreign claims and home corporations have been whipped into line with Presi dent Taft's altitude by the force of popular opinion. T do not think that either Mr. Wilson or Mr. Roosevelt would jeopardize his election by taking a position in opposition to Presi dent Taft’s attitude. Abuses Mead Correction. You people tn England are ardent admirers of Mr. Wilson because of his free trade views and because they think that the policy of free trade on the part of the United States will benefit England. I do not think that a policy of free trade will be permitted by the American people. .1 am supporting the Democracy in this campaign, but politics in the United States is in such a transitional period that the word Democrat or Republican does not definitely fix any particular princi ples, and I reserve the right of my own opinion as to what consti tutes true Democratic tenets and proper progressive principles. I do not approve of Mr. Wilson's policy of a tariff for revenue only, nor do I think that he improves his position when he declares in sup port of gradual reduction of the tariff. A gradual reduction of the tariff means a rontinual reduction of the tariff and tiie continual dis turbance of tlie tariff means con tinual disturbance of business. it would he much better for tlie Democrats to adopt a very definite tariff program, and then, if elect ed, carry out exactly that tariff program. and thereafter allow business to proceed in confidence and seeunii and with a thorough knowledge of established condi tions. There are some abuses in the tariff which need correction, but for m.\ part I believe in a proper tariff for protection, and I believe that tlie growth of the unexam pled prosnerity of America has been largely stimulated by the principle of protection in spite of certain abuses in the system. Mr. Wilson says that we have grown to such a point of produc tion that we overflow our own mar kets and that we must extend our markets and open up foreign mar kets’ to our produce. 1 his is quite true; but one reason that we fill anil overflow* our own markets is because legitimate pro tection has prevented the product of foreign manufacturers and for eign cheep labor from invading our markets attd crowding our own ntanufaeturers and our own labor ers out of business. If we have had such splendidly prosperous business conditions at home, it would not be well or w ise to alter too vapidly nr too radical ly tlie system under which these splendidly prosperous business con ditions have been developed. Fur thermore, we can not secure tlie markets of foreign nations merely bv reducing our own tariff wall. We must reduce the tariff wall of foreign nations. Greatest In the World. By demolishing our own ta its fence we may get out of our own pasture, but wc can not get into tlie pasture of foreign nations until we have demolished their tariff fences. If wc sacrifice our protective pol icy v.e sacrifice our one opportun ity to lower the tai iff bars of for ‘ign countries. It is only hy rerj. procltv that the tariff bars of for eign countries can he lowered If we maintain our protective tenet we van say to foreign cuun- tries: “We will lower our bars to your products if you will lower your bars to our products." But if we have no tariff fences, we can make no such beneficial bargain. Mr. W ilson must not be like tli = dog in Aesop’s fables who let ?0 the bone that he actually had in order to grasp at the reflection in the water. If we sacrifice am ad vantage that we actually have we must be sure that we are going to get a corresponding advantage in return, and if we should sacrifice injudiciously our protective policy, we should find our markets open to the products of all the nation of the world and their markets still closed to the products of our own nation. Mr. Wilson also disapproves of American business men and consid ers them “ignorant" and "provin cial.” I am almost disposed irrita bly to contradict this statement of Mr. Wilson American business men are the greatest business men in the world and have made America tlie great est business nation in the world. They are accumulating in America the wealth of the world, and they are employing their wealth in a way which excites the admiration of the world. Some of our business mon. like Rockefeller, are endowing universi ties for the advancement of learn ing and supporting institutions of medical and surgical experiment for the benefit of our own people and of all mankind. Others of our business men. like Carnegie, are endowing libraries for the dissemination of universal knowledge and maintaining observ atories and other scientific estab lishments for the extension of sci entific research and the develop ment of scientific pursuits. Others again, like Morgan, are assembling in America the art and library treasures of the world for the development of our tastes and perceptions and for the higher cul ture of our people in the refine ments and intellectual enjoyments of life. Lecturing Business Men. Our business men have been able to do all this without Mr. Wilson's guidance, and in spite of his poor opinion _pf them it is just possible that tinder the guidance of college professors these “Ignorant" and "provincial" business men of ours might not have accomplished as much for themselves and their country as they did when left to their own resources. Mr. Wilson's dogmatic and di dactic declarations have all the positiveness of the pedagogue who lias theories on everything and ex perience in nothing. His is the cus tomary attitude of the college pro fessor who knows everything, hav ing read it in books, where it was written down by other college pro fessors with equally infallible knowledge based on equally uni versal inexperience. It is an interesting thing to see a college professor lecturing practi cal business men on the practical problems of business from tlie musty rooms of one of’the college j which the practical success of the 10 business men had enabled them to endow. It must also he an interesting thing to Englishmen to note that America is considering the advis ability of embarking on a free trade policy, which England is consider ing the advisability of abandoning This paradoxical situation I- due to the fact that England has' had to her sorrow some experience w ith a free trade policy, while American statesmen are educated tn the hook’ of theoretical English economists which were written before the free trade theory had opportunit) practical experiment and refuta tion. 1 do not wonder that English men are interested In this phase o American politics, but I think that the sound sense of American citi zens will prevent any foreign coun tr\ being unduly benefited at our expense by the hasty application ' tlie undigested theories of some mt well meaning hut inexperienced etati sinen W ILLIAM RAMXiLFH HEAR&T.