Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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 postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March 3. 187*. Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mall, 35.00 a year. Payable In advance. Beavers and the Law The following paragraph is taken from a letter received today by The Georgian, from a citizen of this state: What, after all. has Chief Beavers accomplished byway of lasting benefit to Atlanta? He has macle crushing war upon a class of weak women —a war that, tn spite of their demoralizing business, will come to nothing. Why not, have let well enough alone, for segregation seems to be about the best solution of the problem? Beavers has stirred up a situ ' ation that will be in no wise relieved because of the stirring. He made a great mistake—he probably was seeking notoriety. The r>roblern he as sailed is not to be settled by sensational methods. I would not say that Beavers is a fool, but I do say Beavers was very foolish to invoke the senseless crusade he did. This correspondent probably means well, but his point of view is all wrong. The problem that confronted Beavers was the problem of enforcing the law that's al). It primarily was none of Beavers’ business whether it. was a good law or a bad law. It was the law- and he had TAKEN A.SOLEMN OATH TO ENFORCE IT to the limit of his ability. Atlanta has said by municipal statute that the [daces Beav ers closed shall not exist inside the city limits. Beavers did not make that law: he never has been constituted a court to pass upon its reasonableness, nor yet the common sense of it. To say that Beavers did a “foolish” thing when he insisted upon the enforcement of a law that is written in the code as lucidly and as clearly as the English language can make it, is to say a ‘‘foolish’ - thing—more than that, it is to say a dis tressingly unpatriotic ami discouraging thing! The Georgian’s correspondent invokes an ancient fallacy when he attacks the thing Beavers did, and Beavers for doing it. HE CAN NOT SO ARRANGE HIS PHILOSOPHY THAT TWO WRONGS WILL MAKE A RIGHT. He thinks the municipal statute under which Beavers pro ceeded is wrong, and he seeks to remedy that wrong by hav ing Beavers db the further wrong of violating his oath of of fice! The Georgian's correspondent, in undertaking to do that, is fair neither to Beavers nor himself. Beavers found an undis puted illegal situation in existence; he wiped it out. He was right. The question of whether a law is a good law or a bad law, per se, is a question entirely aside from the duty of a sworn official of the state. It may be that the present municipal statute is not the best statute that Atlanta might have, in the matter of handling the problem The Georgian’s correspondent refers to. Men may differ rationally about that and they do differ. But so long as it REMAINS THE LAW, there is but ONE course of action open to officials of the city, high and low. The law must be enforced! The Lesson of Success We hear often that Bell, the great ami useful scientist, ‘‘in vented” the telephone. Nothing has done so much to free men from limitation of time and space as the telephone. It was the turning of a screw that made Bell the great and deservedly popular man that he is. But long before the days of Bell, Reis, the German school master. yvas actually using a telephone of his own invention. Reis could whistle, sing and transmit other interesting noises through his telephone. But it was impossible to SPEAK through it. The voice could not be sent from the transmitter to the receiver at the other end. Reis's idea was that the telephone must be arranged in such a way that the electrodes did not quite touch. He wanted them as near as possible, but he did not quite let them touch each other. He was sure that that was right, and therefore the little screw connect ing the two electrodes kept them about one-thousandth of an inch apart. Bell's idea, which gave him millions, which has enriched the human race by thousands of millions in saving time and labor, was that the electrodes Ml ST touch, but very faintlv. HE TURNED THAT SCREW ONE-THOUSANDTH Ob’ AN INCH AND THERE WAS AT ONCE THE TELEPHONE OF TODAY. 1 hat turning of a screw one-thousandth of an inch, that faint distinction between success and failure, between inarticulate whis tling and shouting and useful, distinct, clearly heard speech, that turning of one-thousandth part of an inch this way or that, is some thing that happens in the lives of nearly all of us. There are thousands of human beings in this world, millions of them, with important messages for other human beings, with emo tions. moral sense and character that need expression. But some thing is the matter with the screyy that puts the mind in touch with the outside world. And the message is never carried distinctly, it never REACHES. In all of us there is something that might at any time be done, some effort of the will, some application of concentrated thought, some new idea, some effort, some reaching out. born of hope that will not be destroyed ; some little turning of some screyy in the brain one-thousandth part or one-millionth part of an inch, that might make of the man unheard, misunderstood, lacking the comprehen sion of his fellows, a creature as far above ihe man that he yvas as the telephone of Bell is above the useless telephone of the poor, dis appointed German schoolmaster. The Atlanta Georgian IN THE COILS i Drawn By TAD. ———— < < I <- > ■ i j oiw A- ■ JC&k Mai fcl' nfl| I I# Silently, surely, the gambling habit, like a noxious serpent, coils gradually around its victim ? i until it crushes to death his prospects, his reputation ami his character. $ it The Miraculous Movies By ELBERT HUBBARD. Copyright, 1912, International News Service. rFAIIE other day there was a | swell wedding in a Western city. The ceremony was/out of doors in a garden under the trees. Tliert "as a little procession from the house to the garden: then after the ceremony there was a banquet at a beautiful spot under the spreading elms. After the banquet there was a wedding journey to the shore of a little lake. Novy. the particular point was that every feature of this wedding "as duly recorded by the untiring movies. One hundred sets of films "ere prepared and presented to as mans guests and relatives, some of "hom weri unable to attend. Ten Years From Now. And it so happened that I was one of the guests who received a set of the movies I put them in my cameragraph, called in the neighbors, and we had the wed ding all over again, even to the playing of the music, I have the films. The) are mine to keep, and I can produce this wedding at any time. Ten years from now it might be very inter esting in ease there is a divorce — bliss my soul. Terese, how terribly sunburned the back of your neck is! The value of moving pictures as a factor in education is very great, and the exti nt to which they can eventually be used no man can say. The business is still evolving, climbing growing, aviating. From a mere plaything, whose business was to astonish and produce "Oh's" and "Aah's." we now have some thing tile pedagogue prizes There was a time when children used to tun away from school. Finally, we heard of children run ning away and going to the moving picture shows. But now that the movies are being used as an educa tional adjunct, children are running TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1. 1912. I away from home and going to | school. The Montessori system of educa tion is founded on the proposition that everything that makes an im- He Blames Stage Door Johnnies. Editor The Georgian: 1 have read with a great deal of care all articles published in all At lanta papers during the last few days regarding the moral house cleaning of Atlanta. In this move the cheap theater is also included, and along this line I would like to offer a suggestion to those inter ested in tlie work, and believe that if they will follow my advice on the matter, the cheap theater prob lem will be solved in quick order. To begin with. 1 have been a the atrical agent in Atlanta for twelve years, and in close touch with the theatrical situation here in all lines, and I have watched the cheap thea ters and cheap shows and must ad mit that it is serious. The trouble with the cheap thea ter does not lie with the employ ment of these girls, but with the stage Johnnies that hang around the theater entrance and entice these girls out to the clubs and other resorts. There seems to be a fascination for stage girls among a certain class of men. A girl may work in a factory at three per and never be molested, but let this same girl gc to work in a chorus in one of lite local cheap theaters, and some one of the well known society Johnnies will become attracted at once and, with his automobile to back his flashy dress, be does not find it hard to tempt these girls after the show for a joy ride. Now. let the police and good workers get after the Johnnies. Let Judge Broyles send a few of the would-be sports to the stockade for a long period, and you will soon find that if you take away this nuisance from the stage door the girls will soon learn that they must look upon the show business as •tiny do any other line, and as a means of making a good salary GEORGE B GREENWOOD. Atlanta. Ga. pression on the senses is educating the child. Impressions on the brain through the sense of sight is the easiest possible way to teach. In fact, it is the natural way to teach. There is a fascination in motion —just note the crowds around any show window where something is being- done. What Children Want. Children want to go somewhere. They want to see things, and this constant desire for motion, move ment. new scenery, new ideas, new sensations, is all a natural part of the great evolution of the individ ual. The child learns through his senses, and should learn in joy. The thing that interests him. that holds his attention, is the thing that is educating him. The use of moving pictures is being advocated in a great number of schools, from the grades up to post-graduate courses. There was a time when a piano in a private home was considered tlie very height of luxury. Now the most modest cottage contains a serviceable instrument. I can remember when the Reming ton typewriter was exhibited at Philadelphia at the Centennial ex position. Operators were desired, and an advertisement was placed in the Philadelphia papers for men or women to run these machines. A postscript was added to the ad vertisement thus: "Only those who can play the piano need apply." It wqs supposed that the degree of digital skill acquired in playing a piano was requisite in-running a typewriter. Pen-Pusher Won Race. Also, 1 remember one worthy teacher of Spencerian penmanship who offered to race the typewriter in writing out 5,000 words. A day was set. The Spencerian pen pusher won the prize, the lady at the typewriter having had a case of nerves in mid-flight. We all said that the typewriter was a very wonderful plaything, and the way the operator would print your name out on a slip and hand it to you made us think we had achieved fame. We folded up the precious slip and carried it away to show to the folks at home, proving to them Brother Jasper's dictum that "The world de move." THE HOME PAPER Ella Wheeler Wilcox hgjMHßifesa? Writes on How Grafters Are Made-- Early Training of Boys Responsible For Their ’ Acts in Later Life. "Written For The Atlanta Georgian By Ella Wheeler Wilcox Copyright, 1912, by American-Journal-Examiner. IF you do not want men to be grafters, begin with the little boys in their kindergarten age; and train their minds to think of something besides personal gain. Do not buy their good behavior, or their polite attentions, or their small duties with pennies, sweet meats, or promises of picnics. In still into their young minds a per sonal pride and self-respect which will cause them to be ashamed of receiving presents for every’ good act. This can be done by' making the child a confidant and by talking in a friendly way which will interest and entertain, about the value of good manners, and the pleasure and happiness which older people feel in children who show good breeding; and making it plain that any lack of politeness and willing ness to oblige others, or any' dis play of greediness for pay, or ac ceptance of money for little acts of courtesy, reflects upon the family pride and gives strangers an op portunity to look down upon such children. All Children Should Have Individual Pocketbooks. A frequent and pleasaiit reitera tion of similar ideas will invaria bly guide a child away from thoughts of looking for or accept ing money for every courteous act. Then when the child has formed dignified ideals in this matter, an arrangement should be made so that the boy or girl has an indi vidual purse, if only a few pennies each week can be afforded to sup ply it. If a child desires to become a wage-earner, have it understood that it is a matter of straight business. He does an errand for a nickel or for a penny', as the case may be, but the courtesies which every well bred child is taught or the thoughtful acts which should be a part of his education are not to be sold or bought. Meantime parents and relatives should make a point of not impos ing upon the good nature, time or strength of children, by’ making them continually' run errands and fetch and carry when a little thoughtfulness would prevent the necessity. Children have certain rights which, are sometimes, if not fre quently, overlooked by' their elders. It seems a small thing for Jack to be asked to run up two flights of stairs, or over to a neighbor’s, or to the post box on the corner; but if there are four older people who ask the favors a dozen times a day Necromancy By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. Copyright, 1912, by American-Journal-Examiner THAT necromancy lies in little things! ' * A yellow rose, sei in a yellow jar. Smiled through the window of a city shop. > And lo! the hot street vanished, and the voice Os blatant commerce suddenly was hushed. I seemed to walk along cool corridors. Where fountains played, and priceless statues gleamed; Out from an alcove tiptoed tender notes Os harp strings, lightly touched: a woman laughed, And silken garments, kissing marble floors. Exhaled a fragrance, subtle as their sound. No discords marred the harmony of life— Beauty and mirth, and music, made the world. What necromancy lies in little things! 11. What necromancy lies in vagrant airs! Idle and happy, basking in the sun. Where art with nature held high carnival. One summer day there fell upon mine ear A half forgotten melody. It flayed My heart out into strings whereon the hand Os Pain thrummed misereres, and the light Spilling upon the earth from flawless skies Was changed, and charged with darkness. From deep graves Dead Sorrows rose, with mould upon their shrouds; And in the eyeless sockets of their skulls Burned old despairs. The haggard Past stood forth And hid the radiant Present from my sight. What necromancy lies in vagrant airs! . it becomes a little tedious for Jack. And when the elders forget to say thank you. and are quick to complain if Jack is slow, then the injustice becomes more and more apparent to the childish mind. Perfect courtesy', absolute polite ness, and unvarying appreciation should mark a parent’s attitude to ward a child. The Fault Always Lies With His Older Associates. Then it is an easy matter to make that child feel a keen delight in doing little acts of kindness and performing little duties for the parent. And with no thought of graft; for that is precisely what ft is, when a child is always on the alert to receive some money return for every' act. Whatever is wrong in a child, the fault lies with his older asso ciates. Every man who is in prison for deceiving the people in his misuse of power and his misapplication of influence, could have been made Impervious to temptation if he had been rightly reared the first four teen years of his life. A fashionable boarding or mili tary' school does not supply the kind of education referred to. That must come from persona! association with an older person, whose mind is wholesome, and whose principles are high, and who makes it a .solemn and beautiful duty' to awaken the young being to an understanding of life in its very truest and best sense. Not by talking religion or phi losophy, but by’ making clear the small personal responsibility which rests on each human to become the very finest and best type of his race, and to begin being this type, by scorning whatever is petty, small, ignoble and mercenary, and by cultivating whatever is big and broad and altruistic and helpful, while developing the qualities which will lead to independence and success. Teach Boy to Take Pride in Himself. Any boy' who has been given this association with an older individual will never stand before the world in the shameful limelight of a criminal. Do you have to pay' your boy for I every little act of kindness or every courtesy he shows? Then why have you not taught him to so love and respect you. and to take such pride in himself that he could not bb a small • grafter?