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EDITORIAL PAGE THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday By THE GEORGIAN COM PAN V At 20 East Alabama St., Atlanta, Ga. Entered as second-class matter at postofflce at Atlanta, under act of March 3. U7S. Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mall, $5.00 a year. Payable in advance. Z The Truth About the Standard Oil Letters. Collier’s Weekly of October 5 says that FIVE of the 117 “Standard Oil" letters thus far published in Hearst's Magazine are “forgeries.” It does not say that the five letters in question are spurious. It does not indeed question the authenticity of the five letters nor the accuracy of their text as published, nor the fact that they were written, sent and received by the individuals named, and at the time and for the reasons stated in Hearst’s Magazine. What is it then that Collier’s Weekly means when it describes these five out of 117 letters as “forgeries?” It makes the exact statement that the PHOTOGRAPH It' REI’RODI (,‘TIONS in the magazine of FIVE OF THE LETTERS show the use of a type writer different from the one used in the Standard Oil offices. That is all. Collier’s (incorporated), repeats the statement many times (as though it expected a denial), and publishes a letter from a type writer manufacturer to substantiate its statements. The explanation is very simple. Every one knows that when letters are put through a letter press, or when a carbon copy is taken, the secondary copy is often slightly blurred. Every one familiar with the photograving process knows that such a copy will not photograph distinctly. The editors of Hearst’s Magazine inform The Georgian that several of the “Standard Oil letters,” while clear to the naked eye, could not be reproduced for the print ing press without first recopying parts of the typewritten lines in fresh typewriting, so that the print, would show as clearly in the printed page of the magazine as in the original. In no other way by the art of printing could WHAT PURPORTED TO BE A FAC SIMILE OF AN ORIGINAL BE MADE TO LOOK LIKE THE ORIGINAL. That is the whole story. The Standard Dictionary defines a forgery as “the act of false ly making or materially altering, with intent to defraud, any writ ing which, if genuine, might be of legal efficacy or the foundation of a legal liability.” Now the great power and force and virtue of the “Standard Oil” letters is due to their truth. Their publication was of grat importance solely because the letters themselves revealed for the first time the exact method used by the powerful, successful and cor rupt corporation to control the Government of the United States. The Standard Oil letters have shown how the source of all power in this country is poisoned al the fountain head by the money of criminal corporations, not so much to maintain in power a par ticular political party as io keep in places of power in both parties men willing to betray their party and their country to the cor porations. What mattered the face of typewriter used in the mere repro duction in Hearst’s Magazine of five out of 117 Standard Oil letters thus far printed when the letters themselves were absolutely au thentic? when the guilty writers of the letters confessed sending them and the recipients of all letters confessed receiving them. Foraker never questioned his letters or certificates of deposit—but retired to private life. Senator Bailey has decided to retire to private life. He led the Democrats as Foraker led the Republicans in the senate. Sibley never questioned his letters and he has been retired to private life. Penrose does not deny his and is on his way to private life When shown on the witness stand, before the senate committee on August 23, the entire batch of his letters published in the July and August numbers of Hearst’s Magazine, Mr. Archhold admitted the genuineness of every one except the Penrose letter (the copy of which he said his secretary had been unable to find), but as to that one he admitted the payment to Senator Penrose of $25,000, which was the only important fact in the letter. And Senator Penrose testified that he received the $25,000. His letter and acknowledg ment is indeed in the current Hearst ’s Magazine. The more theSe letters are read, examined and discussed the better for the country. Collier’s Weekly says at the end of its article: “ Mr. Hearst has many genuine facsimiles in his posession. Photographs were made of genuine, original documents. Why is he using for geries?” The answer is that he is not. At least five out of the 117 letters so far published (and possibly a few others yet to come, as we are informed by the editors of Hearst’s Magazine) are slightly blurred, requiring re-copying before effective reproduction is possible. But there is nothing blurred in the public mind about the truth and meaning of the letters and no one has questioned the high public service rendered by the publication of the letters, except the guilty men who have been exposed and a few others who unhappily are tortured by the envy, malice and hatred in their hearts. Cheaper Credit For I'armors Ambassador Myron Herrick is doing a notable work in bringing to the notice of the American people the admirable methods em ployed in France to finance the farmers of that country. In Paris there is a financial institution known as the Credit Foncier, which lends money to farmers at an average interest rate of 4 3-10 per cent. It gels its money from general investors at about 3 per cent. Last January it offered to the public a hundred million-dollar issue of 3 per cent bonds; the issue was enormously oversubscribed. The p’ublic came running with two billion dollars in its hand a convincing demonstration of the high esteem in which the French people hold their farm securities The Land sell alt en and Kittensehai'ten of Germany furnish spe cial facilities for the financing of.small i’arming enterprises. These German farmers' banks are mostly run on a co-operative basis. They have*been tested and seasoned with the prosperous experi ence of a century or two. Americans pay nearly twice as much for their farm credits as Europeans do. The average gross interest rate on farm loans in the United States is about > 1-2 per cent. Since the total farm debt in this country amounts to something over six billions. American farmers pay in annual interest charges about SSIO,OOO,OOO—WHICH WAS ABOUT EQUAL To THE VALUE OF THE WHOLE WHEAT CLOP OF THE COUNTRY | LAST YEAR. It, therefore. Ambassador Herrick can procure the introduc tion into the 1 nili*d Slates of the F reueh or Berman system of rural credits he will save our farmers half the value of their wheat crop and will immensely stimulate the whole body of American agri culture. The Atlanta Georgian THE SPENDTHRIFT I ! By HAL COFFMAN. ! In the pictures above the artist shows the hand of the spendthrift. The hand that ) throws money away recklessly and vaihly is later sure to be reaching out in appeal for : ! the nickels of charity, the dole bestowed by those who did not wantonly waste. ■ ■ • ■ ■ ■ - ■ - .. ... How to Build a Fortune The Basis of It. By THOMAS TAPPER.’ A NY one can save money and • 21 thus lay the foundation of a fortune who will follow the great rule of the game. This is the rule; Spend loss than you earn. And this is the only rule. You stand between what you earn and what you spend. If, In the passing of the money from one hand to the other, nothing stays with you, no fortune, not even a small one, can be yours. If something can be made to stay, you are sure of an independence. To the young man or woman who sincerely considers the building of a little fortune, two problems pre sent themselves for close study. They are these: Two Problems. 1 Earning capacity, and how to increase it. 2. Expenses and how to govern I them. The increase of earnings depends on industry, increase of knowledge and initiative. The governim nt of expenses depends on study ami judgment. As every living organism has a parasite tnat feeds on it and tends to destroy it. so the family or per sonal income is. reduced and de stroyed by its parasite. The name of this bug is Waste, it is necessary, then, tor any one "ho purposes seriously to manage his money in such a manner as to set sonic of it aside, to begin to study this parasite—Waste. If you are serious in your inten tion to begin to put something aside for the future, do not bo rash about it. Yon have lived to the present moment without doing this. Take a little time to examine the situation You know now exactly the amount you earn, but you prob ably do not know anywhere near as exactly just what you do with it. Watch the Balance! A month devoted to watching yourself is the best beginning you can make, it may be monotonous to keep an exact account of every . cent tor a few weeks, but it is a bit of « xperhneutul science tiiat will set you straight. Against every legitimate expense you have, set its amount, ami watch the balance. FRIDAY. O(TOBER 4. 1912. "But. there is no balance; not a • cent’.’’ Very well, then, you must start in again. As a rule, however, the most humble of us do have a balance that is charge 1 to Wast<>. n —— S- aIIf I CfX-'* s*'■ '' ■■■ THOMAS TAPPER. Sunday Concerts Editor The Georgian: 1 have read the news item in your paper regarding the Sunday concerts at the Auditorium. I have been attending these concerts with much pleasure. 1 think it is a mis take for tite association to take a collection during the recitals. They would do far better to ask a nomi nal sum and announce this fact in the papers instead of the way the) are doing at present. • The announcements heretofore have stated that these concerts were free, and as a result many who attend same were embarrassed on account of these collections in not being provided with small change. I ant sure that charging a nominal sum would aiot reduce the attendance ami it would do away with the present arrangement, which is nothing more or less than deception. XV. G. ENNEN Atlanta, Ga. What is Waste? It is a two-fold proposition with a P. S. at the end. 1. It is paying too much for what tve purchase; that is, not getting the worth of our money. 2. It is living bevond our means; that is, contracting for more than we are justified in allowing our selves. P. S. Jt is purchasing useless things; that is, it is taxing our selves heavily byway of our habits. To consider these two proposi tions and the P. S. brings us face to face with the subject of econo my, which is the right administra tion of our affairs. Or. the proper use of money, time and strength. A person earning money receives it for what he does w’ith his strength of mind and body. This is the best part of him, and the mon ey lie receives should be regarded as an equivalent for this best part of him. He should respect it for what he has given for it. The moment he respects it he w ill become a good steward of it. He will realize that there, is no justice to himself, or to those who depend on him, in unwise expenditure of it. The first care he will henceforth take will be to get as near his money’s worth as he possibly can in every pur chase. Measuring the Income. Next, if lie feels that lie is work ing as hard as he can and is earn ing all his work is worth, he will not burden himself beyond what is right. This means, very simply, that he will not contract to pay more for rent, clothes, food, and so on. than his income justifies. And for the P. S., a month or two of very careful study of exactly what he does with his money will show him what his habits cost. He may take all the care he can with items one and two. but if he spends money uselessly he can not be even a moderate success. To consider these things puts before him the simple conditions that underlie How to Build a For tune. Without studying them it i. 4 not possible to learn to what ex-i tent judgment and strict uttenJ tfon will aid hhn in his effort. THE HOME PAPER Garrett P. Serviss Writes on Ignorance Still Blights the Minds of Millions |L Despite Science IL The World is Still Full of Superstitions and Errors Which Manacle the Hu man Faculties. By GARRETT P. SERVISS. AVERY curious fact, filling a y strange gap in the history of the infamous ilmperor Nero, has just been brought to light at the Paris Academy of Inscriptions by M. Constans. Not only does it solve a historic puzzle, but at the same time it shows, in the most graphic manner, the wonderful in fluence once exercised by conietls over the human imagination. In the year 60 A. D. a brilliant comet made its appearance in the sky, and the Roman world was thrown into the state of nervous apprehension and vague terror which such apparitions always caused in those days. It probably made its entry suddenly, like the mysterious “Comet A” of 1910, which, many readers will remem ber, shone like a plume of fire in the sunset sky at a moment when the astronomers were all looking in another direction for the oncom ing comet of Halley. In Nero’s time nobody knew anything about the real nature of comets. There were no mathemati cians capable of calculating' their orbits, and the spectroscopes with which we now serenely proceed to analyze them and detect their gas eous secrets would then have been regarded as the machinery of witches and necromancers. Never theless, men had in those days very definite, though very erroneous, ideas about comets. They believed, among other things, that a comet foretold the death of some ruler who happened to be reigning in the year of its appearance. Difficult to Comprehend Such Childish Acts. Nero evidently felt tljgt the blaz ing messenger in the heavens had _ its fiery eye fixed specially upon him, and as he had jU§t begun to taste the delights of unlimited pow er, he was in no mood" to be sud denly translated from the earth. Accordingly, he cast about for a means of averting the peril. Very likely he was assisted by some as tronomer, for the astronomers of that age were not scrupulous about lending their countenance to super stition. and. in fact, most of them were little better than astrologers, and they were probably as much afraid of comets as anybody else. The device finally hit upon, ac cording to M. Constans, Was to reckon the year 60 —the year of the comet —as having already ex pired as far as Nero’s incumbency of the tribunitian office (which was the official sphere of the early em perors) was concerned. Thus it was thought that dust might be thrown in the comet's eyes and that, find ing Nero out of reach, it would either go away without a victim or content itself with some barbarian king. All that Nero had to do, after having ignored the remainder of the fatal year 60. was to issue a decree beginning a new principate for himself with the year 61. This was done, and the consequent dis crepancy has, until recently, greatly exercised historians. It is difficult for us to compre- I he Needle and Thread By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. Copyright, 1912. by American-Journal-Examiner. ''T'MIE Needle and Thread one day were wed. A The Thimble acted as Priest; A Paper of Pins, and the Scissors twins, Were among the guests at the feast. That dandy trim, the Bodkin slim. 1 Danced with Miss Tape-Measure, But he stepped on her trail, and she called him a what And that put an end to their pleasure. Wrinkled and fat the Beeswax sat '■ And talked with the Needle-Case. “ 1 am glad." she said, "that my niece, the Thread. Has married into this race. "Iler mother, the Spool, was a dull old fool, And the Needle and Thread were shy; > The result, you can see, came all through me— I taught her to catch his eye.’’ The Emery-Ball just there had a fall— She had danced too long al one time, And that put a stop to the merry hop, And that brings an end to my rhyme. • hend, in our time, the state of mind which could lead a ereat ruler and his advisers to perform so childish an act. But let us not ar rogate too much honor to ourselves on that account. For suppose that we had been living in the days of Nero—what would we have thought about it then? Is it not likely that we might have admired and ap plauded the sagacity of the emper or who had shown himself able to defeat even the designs of heaven? We Look on Nature as Vast Field of Knowledge. Nero was popular at that time, for the wicked side of his nature had not yet declared itself, and very likely this incident of the comet exalted his authority and in fluence, because in all times it ha, been by playing, consciously or un consciously, upon the imagination of the crowd that unscrupulous men have fortified their power. Nero seems to have thought that he had rendered himself immune by tricking the comet, for after the year 60 he gave way to his natural Instincts and began the career of crime and debauchery that has made his name a byword. The undeniable fact that, living in the time of Nero, we would have believed and acted with re gard to such things as he and his contemporaries did, should make us seriously reflect upon the Immensi ty of the debt that we owe to those great and devoted men who, by the labors of centuries, and often in the face of the fiercest persecution, gradually accumulated that body of science which enables US to laugh at the superstitions once enter tained about comets and other heavenly bodies, and to look upon nature as simply a vast field of knowledge to be gleaned, whose riches we shall never exhaust, but whose cultivation means for us the strengthening and exalting of all our faculties. If there had never been a Co pernicus, a Galileo, a Newton, a Laplace, a Herschel; if the tele scope and the spectroscope had never been invented, the heavens would have remained as myste rious and as full of Imaginary ter rors during the nineteenth century as they were during the first cen tury, and this now so brilliant twentieth century would be but the opening of another chapter in the history of the Dark Ages. Science Offers Discoveries That Are Decried. But the world is still full of su perstitions and errors which mtn acle the human faculties. Science still offers discoveries that ai ■ de cried and disregarded. Blank, stu pid ignorance yet blights me mns of minds. The great duty of a who are fortunate enough to pos sess a little light is TO SPT E 'D IT. Knowledge is of little io' u less it be disseminated. Educate yourself, help, as best you cm. educate others, and you "ill making the best use of your ! ' and will render a return of 1 days of Nero impossible.