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EDITORIAL PAGE W THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY L At 20 East Alabama St., Atlanta, Ga. Entered as second-class matter at postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March S. 187» <■ Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier. 10 cents a week. By mall, $5.00 a year. Payable in advance. r | “The Editorial Writer’s Op- I portunity” * * * It Is the Biggest and Most Neglected Opportunity in the « \ United States. J. Writing for a newspaper is merely talking wholesale. Instead 't” of talking to one man or a hundred at one lime we talk through r ‘ newspapers to millions. ;i It is the greatest and most generally neglected opportunity in »¥' the world. The editorial writer’s opportunity is the chance TO ; d SAY SOMETHING. Many writers neglect that opportunity. The newspaper is many things in our life. It is the principal literature of the American people, and, therefore, “good or bad,’" it is highly important to the country. i Among other things, the newspaper’s editorial column takes the place of the public square at Athens, where one man could talk to all of the citizens. j The writer of the editorials is the lalker in the public square of today. He can, if he chooses, do as much for this age as the J Greek with the voice, instead of the pen or typewriter or phono i graph, did in his age. The best description of newspaper work and a very early ex pression also of foolish misunderstanding of newspaper work may be found in one short quotation from Schopenhauer\ essay : “Some Forms of Literature.” V ••The newspaper Is the second hand in the clock of history; and it is not only made of baser metal than those which point to me minute and the hour, but ft seldom goes right—ls It's wrong, the clock is wrong. “The so-called lending article Is the chorus to tin- drama of passing !l f. events. “Exaggeration of every kind is essential to journalism as it is to the dnunatlc art, for the object of journalism Is to make • vents go as far as possible. Thus it. is that all journalists are. In the very nature of their call ing, alarmists; and this is their way of giving interest to what they write. Herein they are like little dogs—if anything stirs, they immediately set up T f a shrill bark. 1® “Therefore, let us carefully regulate the attention to bo paid to this trumpet of danger, so that It may not disturb our digestion. Let us recognize T that a newspaper Is at best but a magnifying glass, and very often merely a 3 shadow on the wall." The newspaper, it is true, is the “second hand” on I lie face of the clock of history. It must exaggerate each second’s importance, otherwise the seconds could not be counted. 4 It exaggerates, in comparison with the slow moving hour hand. ik But it does not exaggerate, considering the needs of the individual reader. For if the newspaper is the second hand “in the clock of his tory,” the individual is the second hand in tin* clock of humanity. The nation is the minute hand, and the race is the hour hand. 1 The journalistic second hand in its rapid, exaggerated tallving keeps pace with that human second hand, the individual, in his en < forced concentration on the little things that happen in his little « life. An editorial can do four important, things; Teach, Attack, Defend, Praise. Teaching is the most, important and the most difficult. Attacking is the easiest and the most unpleasant, although sometimes necessary. The defending of good causes, of the weak against the strong, of the new idea against ridicule, is important and usually neglected by editorial writers. Praise also is neglected, except in a partisan sense without v meaning. The newspaper is not as Schopenhauer says, “a shadow on the wall." although many a newspaper is a mere shadow of what a newspaper should be. A newspaper is a mirror reflecting the public, a mirror more or less defective, hut still a mirror. The papers of the different na tions reflect the nations more or less accurately. And the paper that the individual holds in his hand reflects that individual more or less accurately. Some mirrors and some newspapers are preserver as interest ing old relics, although they have ceased to reflect anything. And some newspapers startle the unaccustomed public with the accuracy of the reflection shown, and the public takes time to get used to it. The newspaper does about what the public does; it is the public, (not the newspaper, that sets the pace. If you have every newspaper in the United States giving first place to the result of a contest between eighteen men playing base ball and accomplishing nothing useful in a “ehampionship series.” you may be sure that the public is conventrated on that game. If you have newspapers devoting space to the secret, pre-ar ranged murder of a gambler by other gamblers instigated by a police officer, you may know that the public’s mind is concentrated on that crime and not on the proceedings of some seientilie con vention. The opportunity of the editorial writer is the greatest oppor tunity that exists. For num have developed as men ynlv since lan guage gave to the individual the power to transfer his thought com plete to the brain of another. The power to transfer your thought and make it vflective is the greatest power, excepting the exceptional power to discover new scientific truth. It is possible for the editorial writer now to talk to at least live millions every day. That actually happens. With our newspaper machinery as it exists it will be possible to talk to the entire reading public every day. No power can be greater than that, lhe editorial writer s power is the power of sug gestion and the power of repetition—very great forces. h 4 opportunity of the editorial writer is wasted usually. It is true that nearly always the so-called “leading article,” or editorial, t “is the chorus oi the drama of passing events." Hut that is not (always true, and it will be true less and less as the newspapers and newspaper readers realize their duty and opportunitv. <•.. The newspapers are like the churches. There ar* eminently re spectable preachers that say nothing, ami less num* rous preachers that say something. First have something to say. Then sav it so that people will SEE it, READ it, UNDERSTAND it ami BELIEVE it. Those are the four things, the reader must SEE. he must READ he must UNDERSTAND, he must BELIEVE. If you want to write an editorial defending Moses against the attack of Rabbi Ilirseh. who denounces some of Moses’ teachings, you can put almost any kind of a heading on your editorial. If you head it “Analysis of the Dietetic Teachings of the An cients.” 90 per cent of those that “see” the heading won’t READ, n ' OU can wr \ te the editorial, head it. “Be Kimi to Boor He Had No Icebox." and !‘0 per cent of those that SEE will AD The Atlanta Georgian / ‘‘Swimmers’ Squadron’’ of the Italian Army A. ; - ’ r s '■ - NigWC'' i 9 V. e . ■ - s -- •-* L. 5 ' Ar \ 7 AA A) : ' ' -A, " -.a v r ■ 7 s n ‘ A new exercise in the Italian army maneuvers, dragoons in full service kit swdmming their horses across the Ticino River at Ponte de la Torre. The Scholar in Politics Bv ELBERT HUBBARD. » NOW that the shouting of the • captains has ceased and the noise of battle has died away, it is well to see that busi ness, big and little, is not appre hensive. The worst didn’t happen. The workers are going forth to their tasks until the e' ening. The waters flow , the winds blow, the sun shines. Iron, steel, lumber and oil are in demand. Advices from Chicago, Denver, San Francisco. Minneapolis, Phila delphia and New York reveal the fact that wholesale dealers are struggling witlt an influx of tele graph orders unprecedented. Discounting Politicians. Have we discounted the politi cians? Possibly. In any event, we are not afraid of the Scholar in Politics. Scholars have never work ed sad havoc. Soldiers in politics occasionally have. Also, we are a little afraid of the reformer and the Utopian who conies with a hand-made panacea. And certainly we would avoid the professional revolutionist and the anarchist. But th*' scholar in politics is never a danger and a menace to civiliza tion. The president-elect is a historian and a student. And he knows, above all men, that this world is not to be made over by revolution ary processes. Woodrow Wilson Is sincere, but he is not serious. He can smile. He realizes that we are all in process, himself included. Woodrow Wilson is not going to inaugurate any speed-limit reforms that w ill land business in the ditch. Hi realizes that economics is under the domain of natural law. He will conserve and retain every beautiful and excellent thing. At the same time in' will regulate under proper conditions and supervise in a sensi ble way. We Are Tired of Them. Some of tile "outs” that have been on half rations may show a vociferous hunger for place, power and pelf, but they will not stam pede our Schoolmaster into unseem liness, * Ahd now it looks as if this elec tion was going to work one distinct constitutional reform. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1912. •J* Possibly the danger of the Third Term has been overrated in this in stance, but, as Thomas Jefferson intimated, there may cotne a time when a man, drunk on power, rid ing on the whirlwind of his ambi tion. will fill the office twice and thrice, and then decide to hold it for life against all comers. Even now thiid-term and unlim ited-term advocates are agitating the circumambient ether. As a peo ple, we are tired of them. Everything moves in circles, and the man coming in the name of re form has, time and again in the past, proved himself first the dem agogue and then the tyrant. So now, while the subject is up, and the Democratic party Is in con trol, there is a very genuine demand among the people for a fixing in :: Daniel Webster :: By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY. Daniel webster died just sixty years ago. When it be gan to be noised abroad that the mighty man was no more, a deep gloom settled down upon the country, and men looked at one an other in mingled amazement and fear, as though the very end of the world was at hand. Webster was so colossal, and the constitution and the Union had be come so interpenetrated by his spir it that when he passed away it was felt that the fabric of the govern ment must go along with him. Nor was the fear without a foun dation. History can and does re peat Itself, and between the pass ing of Webster and the taking away of Mirabeau there is an almost per fect historical resemblance. If Mirabeau could have lived it is be lieved that tlie terrors of the French Revolution would have been avert ed. and many feel that had Web ster been spared for a few years longer the Civil war would not have come. Be that as it may, there is no doubt about the fact that Web ster's was the one commanding presence in the republic. It over towered everything, standing up above the personalities of other men like a great mountain above the lit tle hills about it. It was Webster who made us •• the constitution a limit to the time that a man shall serve as president. The question will probably be presented to the people a year hence to vote upon. . Now is the time to do it. This is the psycho logical moment, and the great mass of the people should be allowed to decide this particular question and pigeonhole it once and forever. We Need No Monarch. America needs no monarch, dic tator or czar. And the continual agitation of the question is not healthful. We are democrats. The gentle ways, the patience and the firm sway of the Scholar are all right, but the dominion and rule of the Strong Man, never! And the Democratic party will confer on the United States a great favor by -- allowing the people to say so. soon. •J* feel, for the first time, that we were • Americans, and that every Ameri can was the brother of every other American. Tlie purpose of his almost super human eloquence was always to help his countrymen keep step to the music of the Union. He loved his country, and his whole coun try. A greater, tru >r patriot never lived. To “give up to party what was meant for mankivd," or to win ' party or personal advantage at the cost of sectional ill will, was a thought that never one.' came near the head or the heart of Daniel Webster. Had the thought been suggested to him, he wo\ild have spurned it with monster disdain. Webster wanted to be president, and might have been had ho been willing to be president of less than the whole of his country. But that h*- would not be. and he died with his great ambition unsatisfied He died—and smaller niei. ran the ship of state upon the rocks which came near splitting her for ever asunder: but fortunately (thanks to the spirit of union which Webster had engendered) the riven timbers were joined again, and with the sentiment of nationality strong in all hearts we are sailing on ward toward the destiny of which Webster dreamed. THE HOME PAPER Ella Wheeler Wilcox Writes on The Power of the Law of the Divine Spirit Be Upright Ourselves and Every Great Social and Industrial Evil Will Be Cleansed of Its Impurities Eventually. Written For The Atlanta Georgian By Ella Wheeler Wilcox Copyright, 3512. by American-Journal-Examiner. ‘ -•-• rip HERE was a pretty little story | told on the last page of a meta physical magazine re cently and signed “Selected.” Here is the story, and it is full of meaning: A tired woman with a big basket entered a ear. She seemed very weary, and staggered down the car to an empty seat. Then she sat down and lifted the heavy basket to her lap. She moved it from one knee to ‘the other to ease its weight. Finally a workingman reached across the aisle and said to her: “Madam, if you will set the bas ket on the floor the car will carry you both.” Take the story home. Are you not carrying your basket on your lap? Are you not feeling it very heavy and very hard to manage? Then set it down on the floor of God’s Car. There is power enough to carry you both. The basket may contain disagree able labor, innumerable worries and all kinds of troubles. Forget Your Tribulations. That is your basket, and you are given the work of getting it to your destination. BUT SET IT DOWN ON THE FLOOR OF THE CAR WHICH IS CARRYING YOU ALONG. And take the journey as easily as you can. Forget about the weight of the basket while you may, and know it will be carried for you. The same magazine has a month ly motto. , This month it is: “I HOLD QUIETLY AND FIRM LY TO THE INTEGRITY AND POWER OF THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT.” That is a great and glorious thought to keep in mind. No matter what your faith may be or what your creed, hold to the consciousness of the POWER OF THE LAW OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT to bring things out for your best good. Do not be in a hurry' to have it manifested. It will prov* itself when you are ready. There was a young girl who longed and prayed for the influ ence of certain people in high posi tion to be given to her. It seemed cruel and unkind of Providence to refuse this boon. Years afterward, when she had at tained tile tilings she desired by her own endeavors, s he thanked the In visible Helpers that they had ch - illed her early prayers. She was stronger and better for :: Getting a Living :: By JAMES J. MONTAGUE. S A Brooklyn doctor says that no one should tenter the medical profession ? without an Independent source of income.—News Item. AVANTED to be a great surgeon. And deftly remove people’s hides, 'A bile with consummate skill I plied chisels until 1 had whittled put half their insides. But noble as seemed this ambition, 1 had to forego it perforce, For I found I could not be a Doc till I’d got An income from some other source. II wanted to be an attorney And spout such a pitiful tale. I hat ih*'_jury would rise and with tear streaming eyes Turn clients of mine out of jail. But dhi'n I discovered that soup meat Was bringing two dollars a bone, I ver\ soon saw I could not practice law Unless Fhad means of my own. I wanted to be a policeman Sublimely patrolling a beat. A>id i l ightening erooks with my sinister looks. 1 ill they all worked in some other street. But joining the forci*was beyond me Until I had gathered my pile, bor policemen must eat, and they can’t walk a beat Lacking somethin*.' to live on'the while. 1 ve entered all sorts of professions, But all my careers were ent short By the hideous fact that 1 utterly lacked lhe means for my daily support. Tim only position that’s left me that 1 ean afford to embrace, Is being the heir of some oid millionaire, An*l 1 m looking for just such a place! e ' w ’ having made her own way, and she had grown discriminating and learned that the influence of those she had desired should befriend her would have been most unfortunate for her in her youth. Believe in the Invisible Helpers, They are REAL BEINGS. They are part of the great Di ving Government which lias this earthly sphere of ours under su pervision. No matter how it may seem to you that things are going very badly on earth, every century the race is in reality advancing to a higher plane. Every Evil Will Be Rectified. Everything which is flagrantly evil is like the raging of fever in the veins of a sick man; and the fever will turn at the critical hour. Things grow worse in our politics, and in social and industrial mat ters that they may be cleansed of their impurities eventually; and that, the race may see how useless it is to try and find happiness in any way but right ways. If you are carrying on your lap the iiea.vy basket jf ,l orry over oti.' politics and our social evils, Pl 'i’ DOWN THE BURDEN ON THE * FLOOR OF THE CAR. Let the Power at the head of the Invisible Government any it along for you. I, will du no good to hold h on your lap. Busy jour mind with high ’ of personal living. Keep straight in your own affairs; be practically unselfish; give thoughts of good will to your competitors and rivals in the field of endeavor. That is a more constructive work toward bet tering tile world than tailing ut tin evils you see about you, mid it I*. much harder. Make Your Home Brighter. Make your borne brighter and happier—-for your presence in it. Many men and women believe they are doing their duty by their fam ilies through hard work and con stant effort to enlarge the fortunes of those dear to them; yet they make home the most miserable place on earth by their ill-tempers, their nervousness and their lack of social qualities. Hume building- is the first great work of each mortal. From the center of a happy, or derly, cheerful and peaceful horn* no matter how small and humble it is, each of us may work out to ward a larger usefulness. But first we must make that center. And then keep in mind th*- POWER OF THE LAW r TO BRING THINGS OUT FOR THE BEST AND THE POWER OF THE CAR • TO'CARRY OUR BASKET.