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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday
■C. THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
*> East Alabama St., Atlanta, Ga.
Uttered as second-class matter at postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March S. U7».
Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week By mail, 10.00 a year.
Payable In advance.
“The Government Is Help
ing the Banks”
St » W
Yes, Indeed, Helping the Banks TO ROB THE FARMERS BY
CHARGING FROM EIGHT AND ONE-HALF TO TWELVE
PER CENT INTEREST
I _
“Eminently respectable” newspapers, always filled with joy
when “those that have” ?et a little more, comment approvingly
upon the fact that, as they put it. “the government is helping
the banks." They mean by this that the government of the
United is taking money which belongs to all of the peo
ple and sending his money on deposit to inland bahks through
out the nation.
The crops are in and must be “moved.” The farmer must
pay his freight, pay’ his bills for fertilizer and the wages of his
men. HE MUST HAVE MONEY
He gets the money—and he gets it at shamefully usurious
rates —because the money that belongs to the people of the" United
States is handed over to the banks, which in turn bleed the farmers.
When we tell you that “the farmer has to pay on the average
eight and a half per cent for the money he borrows,” we are NOT
GIVING YOU IMAGINARY FIGURES from a soft-hearted muck
raker. we are quoting B. F. Yoakum, president of the St. Louis &
San Francisco railroad, president of other railroads in the past,
interested as director and stockholder in banks AND INTIMATE
LY ACQUAINTED WITH THE METHODS OF ROBBING
THE FARMER. WHO PRODUCES, BY THE MONEY LENDER,
WHO PRODUCES NOTHING.
Yon wonder that the cost of living is high, but you need not
wonder.
The farmers of this country’ owe the banks six thousand
millions of dollars these are Mr. Yoakum’s figures and they
pay in interest EVERY YEAR EIVE HUNDRED AND TEN
MILLIONS of dollars.
The amount would be much greater, except that many of the
loans are paid off by the farmer as soon as his crops are sold, so
that the vast sum of five hundred and ten millions, which would
hnild two Panama canals every year, which in five years would
put good roads in front of every farm in this country, repre
sents only’ the interest that the fanners pay for the use of the
money FOR A LITTLE WHILE, no for a whole year.
Nothing is more demoralizing than the payment of exorbi
tant interest. It discourages the man who pays, it makes him
reckless and discourages careful economy.
The cost of the food that you eat represents the money that
the farmer must spend to produce that food, plus his protit
AND THE INTEREST ON THE MONEY THAT HE BOR
ROWS
Here you have the banks. THAT PRODUCE NOTHING, tak
ing from the farmers in interest every year live hundred and ten
millions of dollars, and that vast sum is added at once to the
cost of the food you eat.
Do yon realize that the money which the banks loan to the
farmers is government money’ Do you realize that the banks
pay nothing for the use of this money, and that, as Mr. Yoakum
testifies, they charge the farmers on the average the usurious and
criminal rate of eight and one-half per cent interest?
Do you realize that this money which the government uses
“io help the banks" is money that the farmers and other citi
zens have paid to the government in taxes—taxes on imports, on
cigars, on beer?
Can you conceive anything more outrageous and shameful
than a system of government which taxes the people heavily and
then deposits the taxes in the hanks and permits the hanks
AGAIN TO TAX THE PEOPLE IN THE SHAPE OF CRIM
INAL USURY?
A national bank buys government bonds. The government
pays interest on those bonds to the bank
Then the bank can issue money of its own against those
bonds. For this money thus issued it pays not one cent of inter
est. Its own money is safely invested in government bonds, and
the artificial money which it issues against those bonds is loaned
out at usury to the farming class.
it is a wonder that, instead of worrying about the high cost
of living, our country is not. in actual want.
And it is a wonder that we are not in a continual state of
panic, instead of merely having panics every few tears
The farmer would not try to work a horse with blood suckers
hanging to him and draining his vital tv.
How can the farmers be expected to work and eurieh the
country and make the cost of living reasonable when the blood
suckers of the banks bleed them to the tune of five hundred
and ten million of.dollars every year in the shape of usury
B and use the people « money in making their loans I
The Atlanta Georgian
The Great Political Show
By HERSHFIELD.
4m - ~ ■■■ . < —_
—G ‘
igg
' - i
There was an Old Man in a boat,
Who said, “I’m afloat! I’m afloat!”
When they said, "No. you ain’t!” he was ready to faint,
That unhappy Old Man in a boat.
From Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense.
j HAVE received a lettei which
I says:
"Will you kindly help a wom
an with an artistic tempera intent to
see the bright side of a life that
she is doomed to spend with a
man who cares for nothing in the
world but business. He is not in
terested in politics, religion or lit
erature. He plays no games. He
does not care for the theater or
opera. H- reads nothing but the
stock reports. He does not care
for automobiling except to get mote
swiftly to his business. He does
not even care for his children, but
gives them any tiling they want to
keep them from bothering him and
taking up his valuable time. \\ hen
he is at home, which isti t very oft
en before 11 or 12 o'clock at night,
he Is absorbed in thinking over his
business plans, or us cross and
grouchy as a sore-heAded bear be
cause he is exhausted, mentally
and physically, by his labor.
He’s No Companion.
"laterally. I have no husband I
have a generous provider, but no
companion, no chum, nobody to go
out with me or to enjoy things with
me
T know there is so much misery
in the world, so much real suffer
ing for the necessities of life, that
I should not complain of my lot.
There must be a bright side to my
ease, and I know if there is you will
be able to see it. Will you kindly
point it out to me?"
Os course, there is a bright side
to yom lot, sister. Your cloud Is
literally silver lined and what you
want to do is to get a pick, and go
mining for it.
Believe me, there are worse hus
bands than a cash register, ami the
woman who is lucky enough to be
married to a man who has the gift
for making money, and the energy
to do it, should sit down and con
trast her luck with that of those
wives who have to take in washing
to support lazy, looting, ne'er-do
wells. who are born too tired to
w ork.
The woman with a husband who
is a good business man ran. at
least, r spent him because he is able
to hold his own in a world of men,
because he iias tpe intelligence to
plan and scheme, and the grit and
backbone to tight and achieve
things Would you Hade that kind
of a husband off for a pool, wishy
washy. helpless m.tlr creature, so
blind lie can never see opportunity
until it has gotten past him, so in
competent he always fails at everv
thing he undertaker, so weak he
MONDAY. OCTOBER 7. 1912.
The Silver Lining
Bv DOROTHY DIX
•> can not stand alone, but has to be
always helped by somebody else?
I trow not, and before you quar-
I rel with your cake just consider
how hungry .von would bo if your
husband was one of the men who
could not provide you with even
bread and butter, to say’ nothing of
angels' food. •
It is, of course, unnecessary to
call your attention to your mate
rial possessions, and to say’ that the
woman who is married to a naan
♦’iiw
1
DOROTHY DIX
who can provide her with a luxu
rious home, with an automobile,
with money for trips and theater
and opera, and good clothes should
be down on her knees, knocking
her forehead on the ground, and
returning thanks for her good for
tune she ha-- got the stuff to make
happiness out of. Site has got the
means of entertaining herself, and
if she doesn't have a jolly time It's
iter own fault
Os course, y ou shrug y our shoul
ders and say that houses and au
tomobiles and Paris gowns are not
love and thrills and all of the bal
ance of the romantic flub dub that
you thought that marriage was go
ing to mean. Alas, sister, nobody
is >< Utinn nta' after they have becii
ell IX otolith . and tin re is
never a thrill gets past thi honey-
moon. Then, when you settle down
to the long pull of married life, it
makes all the difference in the
world whether you glide over it in
a 90-horsepower limousine, or have
to haul a handcart yourself.
You. who are married to a plain
business man whose greatest heart
interest is the rise and fall in the
grocery trade, think how wonder
ful It must be to be the wife of
some long-haired poet, or dreamer,
w ho could palpitate with you over
a sunset, or delve deep with you
into the psychology of the last
problem novel. Kindly reflect, be
fore you get green with envy, that
Mrs. Poet doesn't have time to
palpitate over anything but the
cook stove, and that the burning
subject of discussion in their
household is how they are to get
enough money to settle the butch
er s bill at the end of the month.
Also if you could look into the
breast of Mrs. Poet you would find
that she would like to trade off
about a barrel of her husband's
j soulful thoughts for your hus
band s ability* to mas<e money.
Without doubt, the woman whose
husband neglects her for his busi
ness has just cause of complaint.
It would be far better for the hap
piness of all concerned if men
worked less and played more, if
they gave their families fewer lux
uries and more of their society.
Point lace over a woman's brea«t
doesn't ease the ache of her lonely
heart, nor does a string of pearls
make up to her for never having
his arms about her neck.
It s Easier to Preach.
Rut it is easier to preach mod
eration in business than it is to
practice it, for it is a strenuous
tare in which you must keep in
the lead or else be trampled out of
existence. But the wife of the
man who is absorbed in making
money has at least the consolation
of knowing that her rival is a bodi
less one. and that at the back of
all her husband's seeming neglect
the real motive that inspires all of
his labor is his love for her. and
his desire to lay the best of every
thing at her feet.
In reality the supreme test of love
is whether a man is willing to
work for a woman or not. Judged
by that the checkbook husband is
ace high, and the wife who is mar
ried to such a man and is not har -
py is a worthy successor to the
Fairy Princess who was such a
seeker after trouble that she delved
under her in mattresses of ease un
til she found a single crumpled
rose leaf.
THE HOME PAPER
Thomas
Writes on
How to Beat the
Cost of Living
and Provide For
a Savings Fund
Strict Management of
Family Finances Can
Defy Presidential
Changes and Result
ant Periods of Unset
tled Conditions.
TO make a success of himself,
the average man must have
these things:
1. A job. •
2. A place to sleep.
3. Some clothing.
4. Food.
5. Ambition.
They are all necessary, and they
all figure in the Cost of Living.
The job yields so much Income,
and takes so much Time. Out of
the Income the worker buys shel
ter, clothing and food. Out of the
Time he has left over after his
day’s work is done he buys ths
possibilities of Ambition.
The Cost of Living may be high,
and the way the government runs
affairs may be wrong, but the av
erage man can do nothing in the
next 24 hours that will materially
change either of these things.
But he must begin, say, about 7
a. m., and get down to tbrass tacks
—down to doing his day’s work
that he may, have shelter, food and
clothing of his own earning dur
ing the day and night.
And, besides this, he must spend
a little of his spare time in firing
the engine of Ambition, in order
to be able to afford tomorrow, or
next year, the things that he can
not afford now.
We grumble a good deal about
conditions as they are about us.
And. grumbling, we forget to
cast a cold and critical eye upon
conditions as they are.
The Mental Scientists tell us
that by holding the proper attitude
toward life all good things will
come to us.
This is true.
But there is a joker in the pack
age. It lies in the words “proper
attitude.”
The whole game of life, includ
ing the Cost of Living, is up to
the individual.
There is no likelihood that the
government will make us rich pen
sioners, however we may vote.
But there is every likelihood in
the world that it will protect the
man who undertakes to run a job
and a lofty Ambition at one and
the same time. This is life, lib
erty and the pursuit of happiness,
which are free gratis to all who
have the “proper mental” attitude
toward them.
11.
The value and worth of the dally
paper is that it continually shows
us our possibilities.
Here is a news item from a New
York paper that reports the opera
tions of a man who, after 75 years
of age, made over Two Hundred
Thousand Dollars. He MADE it,
mind you. The government gave
him nothing—except liberty to be
ambitious.
Here is another that tells about
a man who owes over Ten Thou
sand Dollars because he could not
The Three Tenses
XA THAT do we know of lhe wondrous scheme
* » That sages and serfs have tried to know ’
Why do w'e look at the stars that gleam
At the end of a sad day's afterglow’.’
Why gaze we up and never below?
All Logic tries for replies—and misses.
But this is so. and <hall ever be so:
The Future applauds; the dead Past hisses!
Future and Past—what au ill-matched team!
Biting and fighting to and fro.
Always a mock and a menace thev seem
Io the Present that sees them come and go.
lhe Present is neither fast nor slow;
She is just a dream, like a sunbeam's kisses.
But she senses this, as we know a foe:
Ihe Future applauds; the dead Past hisses.
Bl
5 K Jr
Bv THOMAS TAPPER.
change his mode of living, even
his income fell below his expenses
Now, the government did n't
get him into trouble. He probab
charges his misfortune to the Co
of Living. That is right. But it
was the cost he bought that wreck
ed him, not the cost that was lor,
upon him by any power except ii ■
own bad judgment.
in.
I talked with a hotel waiter a
few days ago about the Cost of
Living. Here is this case:
Salary per month, Twenty-eight
Dollars. Tips about the same.
The hotel gives him all his ineaH
except three per week.
He has held his job for l well
years.
He is married, and has on. b„v,
aged nine.
Against this:
Rent, Twenty-two Dollars per
month.
Habit expenses, smoking a pipe
Insurance, a Five Hundred-Dollar
Endowment Policy, costing Twen
ty-one Dollars per year.
A wife, who handles all the mon
ey and keeps a record so carefully
that it balances to a penny every
montn.
This record shows two weak
pointst
Too much Is paid for rent—near
ly 40 per cent.
An endowment policy is a mis
take, because considerably more
straight life insurance could be
carried for the same premium.
But this record also shows some
strong points:
1. The man has kept his job con
tinuously for twelve years.
2. He and his wife know exactly
what they do with their money.
3. An examination of their record
shows that the wife has put into
the savings bank. In twelve years,
a total of Four Hundred and Thir
ty-eight Dollars. Small amounts
have occasionally been drawn out
to pay unexpected expenses. They
have in hand now. Three Hundred
and Twelve Dollars as an emergen
cy fund.
What does It all mean?
It means this:
B.v strict management, fanulv
finance can beat the Cost of Liv
ing.
It can defy change of presidents
every four years.
It can do business on little and
still secure a savings fund.
Referring once again to news
items: Some consternation is ex
pressed in high society because
there is to be a scarcity of certain
expensive kinds of perfumery i.i: :
season. A small amount that foi
merly cost Ninety-five Cents is to
be One Dollar and Thirty-five
Cents, or something like that.
This is going to raise the Cost
of Living for many a struggling
family, but It is safe to say that
won’t hurt the affairs of the wai
By WILLIAM F. KIRK.
Tapper
