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EDITORIAL PAGE THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday Ry THE GEORGIAN COMPANY At 20 East Alabama St., Atlanta, Ga. Entered as second-class matter at postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March 8. 1871. Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mail, $5.00 a year. Payable in advance. To the Next Mayor » w » No Matter Who Is Chosen, There Are Some Vital Issues He Must Not and Shall Not FORGET. The people of Atlanta will nominate a mayor today. Presum ably, that nomination will he ratified legally in due course. Into the campaign that is being finished today have been inject ed many “issues” so-called—some of them important, many of them cheap and of no ultimate consequence whatever. No matter who wins today’s victory, however, and no matter how soon—or how happily—some of the so-called “issues” of the campaign may perish and go their way to oblivion and forgetful ness, there are some live, pulsating, vital and highly important things that Atlanta's next mayor SHALL NOT FORGET. There are some things he must keep well, and healthily, in mind, as his administration shapes itself and undertakes to put into effect a program. ATLANTA’S STREETS MUST BE SUCH STREETS AS AT LANTA IS ENTITLED TO. They must he good streets, serviceable and lasting—and they must be kept that way. Makeshifts and botch work have had their all too sufficient dav in this citv ATLANTA’S SEWERS MUST BE SUCH SEWERS - AS AT LANTA IS ENTITLED TO. They must he ample, sound, and built for more than a season or a passing satisfaction. Sewers laid Io accommodate one thousand people must not he required to serve two thousand. The health, the rational sanitary balance, of this eitv must be preserved. ATLANTA’S PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS MUST BE SUCH PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS AS ATLANTA IS EN TITLED TO. There must be erected no more cheap buildings. The education of the children of Atlanta is a continuing process—it goes on today, and it looks forward to tomorrow. Hern are THREE things, Mr. Mayor-To-Be, regardless of your personality, which is relatively unimportant, per se, anyway, that you will NOT be permitted to forget, once yon are sworn in and be gin your duty as mayor. Frenzied utterances in the finish of a municipal fight may be wilder and cause confusion as to the genuine issues Atlanta is to face in the future, or faces in the present, but neither the bewilder ment nor the confusion shall continue long. After the smoke of the battle has died away, and. after the false “issues” of the campaign have gone to oblivion, these three things—and other things yet to be discussed—will be insisted upon by The Atlanta Georgian. Mayors come and mayors go, hut Atlanta goes on forever! Don’t Buy From Book Agents Every man who can afford it should buy, own and read good books. Many more could and would own good hooks if the sale of books was properly managed. The difficulty is with the vicious, extravagant, often dishonest system of bookselling through •'book agents.” Against these agents, as individuals, there is nothing that need be said. The trouble is with those that handle the book agents, that give to the book agents suggestions for misrepresentation, and swindle the public through the extortionate charges that the book agents make inevitable. This newspaper, and others associated with it. hopes, before very long, to make the book agent as extinct as the dodo, and also as extinct as the peddler that used to sell nutmegs made of wood. An ordinary, good book sold for a dollar costs to make ABOUT EIGHTEEN CENTS. When that book which costs a dollar is put in the hands of the hook agent, that agent or his employer must add to the actual cost and value of the book THE SALARY, THE TIME THE FOOD AND CLOTHING OF THE BOOK AGENT. When you want to buy a hook. s'ol W ANT A BOOK You are spending your money for the book, for the knowledge or entertainment that it contains. You do not want to spend \oitr money for the time of the book agent, or to buy his conversation however rare and entertaining. For today, these suggestions are offered : Spend your money on books—NOTON BOOK AGENTS Every book that you buy from an agent is sold to you for at least twice—and usually four times—as much as ought to Ist charged. Every book that is sold to you by a hook agent is sold for at least TEN TIMES AS MUCH AS IT COSTS TO M ANTE \UTURE THAT BOOK. 5 on can make up your mind for yourself whether or not you want to buy a book. Why pay a dollar to a book agent to waste your time and his time persuading you that you want the book? The fact that a book agent calls upon you indicates that he or his employer considers vou RATHER A WEAK-MINDED INDI VTDUAL. The book agents are sent to those that arc supposed to ho “of the mental lower class.” Read for yourself the reviews of books. Go to the man who manages the library in your city, or town, and if you want informa tion about hooks get it from him. Don t get it from a book agent who is paid to sell you some particular—and, usually, worthless production. Make up your mind what books vou want, get them \S FAST AS YpU CAN PAY FOR THEM, and no faster. Get books as last as you can read them, and no faster. the tact that a mail offers you a book on tin* installment plan, and that you can pay for it little by little, is no argument in favor of buying. Only an idiot agrees to spend money in the future sintplv be cause he hasn’t got to pay right away. When a bool < is ofti-red to you lor so much down, and so much per month, remember that the price vou are expected to pas al first IS BIG ENOUGH To GUARANTEE THE SELLER \g\|\s‘t LOSS. IN ( ASE Yot HID NOT M AKE THE OTHER PAYMENTS. Ihe book agent sells usually an inferior product, and onh an interior product offers a large margin of profit, made neeessarv. when a man must spend his whole day traveling from house to house' with a book under his arm. I lie lug Stores tile big liHinul .let Ul’cis of books, that sell direct ly tor cash are those from whom you should buy V l-ook agent who calls upon you considers you rather weak mimiefi but may fe< I every sympathy lor him. hut if you are wise, v. ill adv isc him to get into some better business ami not to tune and your lune. \N|> TRY TO GET FROM YOU Fl\ I, I IMEs THE \ \l,l I op W HAT HE HAS FOR SALE The Atlanta Georgian II DROP IT! I li By HAL COFFMAN. < c ———_ I ' s \\ V ' \ I i ''' • T ’A J? ' Sw' \ vU • X ” C ' .ilX'KsHi' < v / V- k '• <. 'n S,: ‘ ’"•'’MW*-”''' i' $ A <4A 1 h- I \ ! L/ / 11f!' 1 .’HII a- r W’ A W IffiM 'H I Ali p’isfol ' Inters” should be given the limit of the law. That’s the best and only way tn get rid of them. The law is ample; let it be enforced. The Changing Seasons By WINIFR ED BLACK. f fONK. HONK.” they are ■ J ’ Hying South, the wild birds, bast evening, deep in the purple mystery of the gath ering dusk, 1 heard them. "Honk, Imnk." they cried, far. far above the circling hills; "honk, honk," flying South. “Good-bye. Summer," cried the wild voices of the flying birds; “Good-bye, Summer, good-bye, good-bye." Farewell. sweet spring ing flowers; adois. long days of idle pleasure. Good-bye, light laughter of the Hying hours under the sum mer moon. Idle time is going, play time is passing, the roses have packed their fluffy ruffles and de parted, the poppies hang their heads in the quiet garden, the tall holly hocks are not quite so straight and tall as they were. Gone arc the delicate wild flow ers on the, hills and in the valleys and meadows the wild red lily flaunts her beauty in place of the shooting stars and the wake robins that lived there just a little week ago. Good-bye, Summer, good-bye, good-bye. The jeweled humming bird that has fluttered to and fro in the hop vines, threads his shim meting needle lets often now. 1 wonder if all his tailoring is done. The Birds Have Flown. Th<» birds have all gone, they went a week ago except such as sta> by choice around the houses where people live, and last night th.-rc was a party of falling stars. Wh-i-i-i-z. the first one flew across the purple of the autumn sky like a silver pendant falling from the robe of some great Court Beauty decked for pleasant dal liance \\ h-i-i-z. another followed, wh-o-o-o, there goes the third, why it's a regular firework: of a night, and lite milky way how soft ami fait and white it gleams, a broad pathway across the heaven;, lead ing where” I a nude The Little Girl had never hap pened to remember a feast of tail ing stars before. "Oil," she cried Joyously. -011! it is i message, >oim <>ne is sending us u signal. Yes, yes, we sir. we see. bui oh. we do not understand," and the Little Girl spread In slen del uiins wide and held them open to th< glut x of th< night, and the niystt y of it ' tit, " i-ut • iglied it w« oii'x knew txh.it (hex a>< In mg to tell TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1912. "J* us, if w e only knew.” And her soft • eyes grew large and luminous, and she was silent for a long time. I told her the best I could about the stars and their ways and about the great shining planets that roll on and on in space, and do not even know that we are here at all, we and our tiny little whirling globe, and she listened with widen ing eyes and cheeks that glowed with soft excitement and vital in terest. "Oh." she said, "we arc so little and they are all so big, no wonder T get lonesome sometimes and don't know what Tam lonesome for." Where the Wild Cat Purred. Good-bye. Summer; good-bye. good-bye. The asters are purple on the ridge back of the little cot tage where we lived this summer, the ridge where they saw only three nights ago a wild cat leaping from rock to rock, and heard him purring in the moonlight like some giant tabby. The Goldenrod shakes out his yellow pennants to flaunt in every vagrant breeze, the milk weed pods are full and the stiff leaves of the Spanish Bayonet are sharp as the ingratit 1c fcf the one wo love and trusted. The thistles shake their crow nod heads in every by-path, and in some green valleys high above the rest of the world there stand the dandelion sentinels all white with age. Puff. puff, does your mother want you: what time is it. Dandelion; puff, puff, go sew your yellow but ton seeds for the coining of next • pring. Puff, puff, the air is white with the wool of the cotton wood. Good bye. Summer; good-bye, good-bye. flow stiff and prim th< dahlias stand; look at that red one there with the double ruffli around her old maid's cap. Why, she wouldn't speak to you without an introduc tion for all the xvorld, ami all the watering pots in it. Hoxx shy and delicate the cosmos Oeside het. blue, pink, white, faint yellow, butterflies changed to flow - <r». the last offering of summer. Gond-hys, sweet Kummer, good bye good-bye. I have learned much during the drowsy days, much that ought tn mak< the wm id a brighter plot so Gm • wlm flu,| (heit mq l •• plness through me. May I never forget any of that I have learned. Here is Fall whistling down the road, lusty, ruddy, open-eyed Fall. What a great boy of a customer he is. anyway, this Fall, with his shoulder cap of russet and his shoes of yelloxv and his throat-latch of scarlet and brown. See, his arms are full of fruit and of strange brown woods! How they will burn in that friendly fire place in the real home in the city! What's that he carries on his back? A sheaf of books? To be sure, we've almost forgotten how to read out there in the shade and the moonlight of lazy summer, and crowding behind him at his very heels, what a horde of kindly faces, old friends every one. Coming home to the every-day life of work and strife and en deavor and accomplishment, and things attempted, and things done. Welcome Fall, you're a friend of mine and I love you. sometimes I think, almost better than luxuri ous Summer. There's a glint of frost in your hair, so looks the old friend of my heart, tried and true, the one I can trust with the secrets of my life. There's a sparkle of splendid vig or tn your eye. so looks, or so should look the man and the wom an who is getting into the fall of the year of life. Let's Walk to the Glowing Forest. Vigorous, friendly, sane, kindly, the hot hates of the y outh of sum mer pas.-edr. the wild wishes of the winds of spring forgotten, or only remembered with a smile. Hurrah, good Autumn! Hail, friendly, cheery, lusty Fall! Here's my hand; take it. it is yours. t'onie. let us walk the red and brown ami yellow road into the (lowing forest that Is your home, together with light hearts and good cheer to spare for all we meet upon the high mad of the journey we love to call life. Come, good Fall, I'll xut me a stout staff, w ind a wieath of brown and yellow leaves about my head ami set forth, singing at the top of my voice. Good-bye. Kummer; good-bye, good-bye and perhaps some one fallen Into -ad thoughts at the sight of the waning year, and at the thought of the youth which flits nxxav through tin trees like some x islmi will take heart ami sing, too, alt a long t lie xx a x THE HOME PA Garrett P. Serviss Writes on Is Crime a Curable Disease? The Great Experiment That Governor Hunt Is Trying With Human Nature Out in Arizona. By GARRETT P. SERVISS. THE late Professor Lombroso • taught that crime has its earmarks, like genius. The criminal is an imperfect man. ac cording to Lombroso. He carries the mark of Cain upon him, fixed from his youth. He is a crooked stick, which can only be straight ened by breaking. It is not the fault of his wilt, but the decree of pitiless nature that makes him what he is. With his misformed cranium he can not go straight. Tile man of genius, on the other hand, is also, according to the same authority, an abnormal product. He is a genius because he can not help being one; he was born so. Few would probably dispute con clusions of the great Italian scien tist as far as they apply to genius. You Can’t Smother Genius. We recognize that no school can make a Napoleon or a Shakespeare, and that no adverse circumstances can keep such men from manifest ing their power. There are few of us who know life and history that believe in “mute Inglorious Mil tons," or "Cromwell’s guiltless of their country's blood,” sleeping un der unmarked stones in country graveyards. But there are many who are be ginning to believe that the mark of Cain is not ineradicable, and con spicuous among these new proph ets is Governor George W. P. Hunt, of Arizona, who writes a remark able article in HEARST’S MAGA ZINE on the novel Western Ideas of criminology which he is using nil the influence of his official posi tion to push ahead. Governor Hunt believes that the worst criminals can be reformed, and he is putting his theory into practice in away which warms the heart of the reader. His success has been astonishing, as you may read in his article. The secret of this success is com prised in one word—HONOR. Tt is not the sort of honor that Falstaff ridiculed on Shrewsbury battle field; not the “bubble reputation" that the soldier seeks even in the cannon's mouth; but the inward sense of honest manhood that Is never entirely extinguished in any human breast. Governor Hunt’s way is to ap peal to this slumbering sense of honor, and awake and strengthen it. Neither turns condemned crim inals loose in his state nor overloads them with sentimental kindness in their cells. He does not have flow ers sent to them by hysterical wom en, to awake In their minds the idea that they are suffering mar tyrs for whom tender hearts are breaking The Intermediary I By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. Copyright 1912, by Amrrlcan-Joumal-Exa,miner. WHEN from the prison of its body free. My soul shall soar, before it goes to Thee, I hou great Creator, give it power to know The language of all sad, dumb things below. And let me dwell a season still on earth Before I rise to some diviner birth: Invisible to men. yet seen and heard. And understood by sorrowing beast and bird— Invisible to men. yet always near. To whisper counsel in the human ear; And with a spell to stay the hunter's hand. And stir his heart to know and understand: Io plant within the dull or thoughtless mind The great religious impulse to bo kind. | Before I prune my spirit wings and rise f I o seek my loved ones in their paradise. | Yea! even before I haste now to see * I hat lost child’s face, so like a dream to me. ■ I would be given this intermediate role, I And carry comfort to each poor, dumb soul; ■ And bridge man’s gulf of cruelty and sin I By understanding of his lower kin. I fwixt weary driver and the straining steed ■ On wings of mercy would in\ spirit speed. I And each should know, before his journey's end ■ I hat in the other dwelt a loving friend. H From zoo and jungle, and from cage and stall. B I would translate each inarticulate call. B Each pleading look, each frenzied act and er; B And tell the story to each passerby; H Ami of a spirit's privilege possessed. H Pursue indifference to its couch of rest. H \ml whisper in its ear until in awe It woke ami knew God*' all embracing la" Os 1 niversal Lite- the One in All Lord. Id this mission to ms lot befall. Ms •' ii ■ No, he sends them—thieve, h ur glars, murderere-on mission trust, letting them go b' rail or on horseback, hundreds of m , ' with money for expenses tn tie pockets, and nobody to watd them, and no restraint pu t Upon them except that of an honorw, man's promise to do his duty anil come back to resume the place j n which the authority of the law ha , put him! This looks like a bold program and so it is. it i ooks revo | utjl , ra .. v - and so it is. Rut IT SUCCEEDS If you doubt, read the Tories that Governor Hunt tells, and be con vinced. Not once has the worst criminal trusted by the gpverno betrayed him. When he meet, prisoners he treats them a., men he lets them see that, 1n his op! n i ton, they are not bad all through that they are still men, with th. Instincts of true manhood 1n them He shows them, not bv word, but by deeds, that there 1s v et an honorable place for them ts thev will but take'lt. He lets them sen . out their sentences, as a duty which they owe to society, but he en courages them to a. better after life by developing their higher na ture, while they are still undercon demnation for their former crime, Read, I say again, read what h. says about the effect upon these men. The experiment Is new. and then, are not many such governors. It may be a long time yet before this method of treating criminals be comes common, but It seems worth trying elsewhere than in Arfaona It may not succeed in ail cases, bnt if it succeeds in a few it Is worth while. At any rate, Governor Runt Is justified by accomplished fact., in believing that he has discov ered a cure for crime. He fa ne pessimist. He knows that a crooked stick may be made straight with out breaking. How He Makes Them Over. The cane-maker knows that se cret also. He taJces a stick that nature and circumstances have formed crooked, and softens It with steam, puts it under pressure, makes Its fibers He straight, a, they would have grown in the first place if they had had the oppor tunity, and finally turns out a goM ■ tipped staff on which age can lean with confidence for support. Gov ernor Hunt straightens Ms cane, with the warm pressure of common democratic brotherhood. And, after all, there Is nothing new in the method. It was prac ticed In Palestine 2,000 years ago. The Founder of Christianity wa« i no pessimist, either.