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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. IS7S.
Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mall, 35.00 a year.
Payable tn advance.
Carnegie’s Pension Idea Not
Acceptable
The action of the Carnegie Corporation in offering to pro
vide a livelihood for the nation’s chief servants after they leave
the white house naturally revived discussion of the time-worn
ex-president problem.
Perhaps Mr. Carnegie and his advisers have had no other
end in view than to stir up the nation to deal with this matter
by act of congress. Certainly it is unlikely that public senti
ment will acquiesce in the idea that a private person—of foreign
hirth—should become the continuing benefactor and sustainer of
our foremost citizens.
It would he unjust—even absurd —to say that the people of
the United States have foreborne to provide a regular pension
list for ex-presidents and their widows —because of any nig
gardliness of spirit. No people in the world or in all history
have been more lavish in the matter of pensions to those who
have suffered physical disability or superannuation in the ser
vice of the nation.
Our reluctance to pension ex-presidents is due wholly to a
doubt as to the fitness of such a proceeding. Probably this doubt
will be removed only in the light of considerations that have not
hitherto been generally taken into account. Such considerations
arc the following:
First, that a man who has held the presidential office is
uniquely qualified to serve the nation in some advisory capacity.
His qualification is two-fold. He may be presumed to enjoy
the exceptional confidence of a majority of a. large minority of
the people; and he may fairly be supposed to have developed a
rare insight into the practical problems of government. If,
therefore, the nation should give an annuity to an ex-president
for exercising his talents in public affairs, it may be taken for
granted that the nation would get more than its money’s worth.
A second consideration is that a man who has arrived at the
white house and has lived there for a term or two, as the peo
ple’s spokesman and representative to all the nations, has by that
fact so linked his name with the national honor and dignity that
he afterward loses the right possessed by every private citizen to
lend his name to money-making enterprises. THE PEOPLE
SHOULD. THEREFORE. RELIEVE HIM FROM ANY NEED
OR TEMPTATION TO DO SO. The nation has had in the not
very remote past a well-nigh tragic experience of the use of an
ex-president’s name in shady business ventures.
The circumstances of that case suggest a third consideration
—to-wit, that the absorption of a generous mind in large pub
lic and in personal affairs tends to unfit a man for the success
ful prosecution of private business under the conditions that
now exist. Some day. in due process of ethical evolution, it may
he possible to close the moral gap between public and private
business. Meanwhile European nations have found it reasonable
and expedient to provide liberally for the retirement of those
who have spent a term of years in their diplomatic service or
other highly specialized public work.
For one or another, or all of these reasons, public opinion
in this country will no doubt cordially sustain an act of con
gress granting an adequate annuity to ex-presidents of the
United States. It has been suggested that ex-presidents be made
life senators, with adequate compensation. That would be a
position of great dignity, importance and usefulness.
But the idea of making ex-presidents the beneficiaries of the
bounty of any private philanthropist is inconsistent with the dig
nity’ of the office and of the intended recipient.
Without the least reflection upon the motives of Mr. Carnegie
—without in any way disparaging his generosity or public spirit
—The Georgian, therefore, thinks his offer is to pension future
ex-presidents is a mistake. THAT I'l' WILL BE UNACCEPTA
BLE TO THE NATION. AND THAT IT SHOULD BE WITH
DRAWN
Organs of the Common Life
The idea that the New York Stock Exchange and the Clearing
House ought to be prosecuted and put out of business on the ground
that they misuse the mails is a good example of the policy of burn
ing down mansions to get rid of mice.
Nobody who knows anything about the actual workings of the
two principal institutions of Wall Street will pretend that they are
altogether free from abuses. The truth is. indeed, that the abuses
are inevitable so long as the operations of the Stock Exchange and
the Clearing House are conducted on a basis of private business in
terest —in face of the fact that they have become essentially public
in their character, and are vital organs of the common economic
life of the country.
The real and pressing problem in this connection is. how to
make the Stock Exchange and the Clearing House more responsive
and more responsible to the business community and the public
welfare.
Meanwhile —and to this very end—the public should resist
every incitement to indiscriminate enmity against institutions that
have become indispensable to the organization of industry
and commv**
The Atlanta Georgian
Jenkins, He’s a Lucky Guy
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The Petticoat King
THE Petticoat King is dead—
long live the King! That is,
he is dead financially—gone
into bankruptcy, laid down, cashed
in, and a receiver has been ap
pointed.
The Petticoat King was presi
dent of a corporation that made
more petticoats than all the petti
coat manufacturers in America.
On being interviewed as to the
cause of the collapse, the ex-king
declared that less than half the
I
women you now meet on the street
wear petticoats.
We are obliged to take the tvord
of the ex-king for it, but seeming
ly he knows what he is talking
about.
He says that his firm has in
stock petticoats to the value of over
a million dollars —that is, these
petticoats cost a million dollars to
produce. But they can not be sold
for half this, simply for the reason
that the swish and swing and musi
cal rustle of the petticoat are no
longer in demand.
Banked On His Vision.
A few years ago petticoats had
color,' and they also "listened.”
Now, neither of these things is de
sirable. The slim princess has cre
ated a vogue. The gown clings
like a. process server.
So confident was the ex-king that
petticoats would not go out. of
fashion that he banked on his pro
phetic vision, but. alas and alack!
hr prophesied in the direction of
his interests. He had llxcd so long
in a petticoat atmosphere that his
soul had become subdued, like the
dyer’s hatid.
And behold, the world goes right
along, as it always has, and we are
just as happy without the petticoat
as with it.
In fashion, we have cause and ef
fect, day and night, winter and
summer, systole and diastole.
Things swing way out. and then
they come way back. Fashion, like
the unforgetting tide, ebbs and
flows.
A few years ago we had the long,
sweeping train. The ladies picked
up the train and carried it across
the stieet, and the onlookers looked
the other wax That was the da>
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4. 1912
By ELBERT HUBBARD.
Copyright, 1912, by International News Servi,
* of petticoats—flqffy, flouncing, friv
olous petticoats. If we ever had a
petticoat government it was then.
In the days of long skirts and
flouncing petticoats, ladies were
careless about their hosiery. And
as for footwear, they w r ere slipshod
and indifferent.
Now. tlie coming of the short
skirt demands footwear and hosiery'
above reproach.
The King of Petticoats says that
many women will wear a pair of
stockings now that cost as much
as the entire rest of their raiment.
They are like unto the Mexican
hidalgos, who wear hats that cost
more than their suits, spurs that
cost more than their boots, and
have a saddle worth twice as much
as the horse.
Washington Irving
By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY.
WASHINGTON IRVING!
There is still sunshine and
good cheer in the sound of
the name, notwithstanding the fact
that it was 53 years ago that the
one to whom it belonged passed out
from these earthly scenes.
When Washington Irving died a
beautiful life and a beautiful work
came to a close, and yet. after more
than half a century, the benediction
of that life and the glory of that
work remain among the nation's
most precious and valuable assets.
Born in New York city in 1783,
Irving, when about 25. was called
to the bar. but lie was never cut out
for a lawyer, and. fortunately for
the world, he soon left the sages to
follow his chosen and beloved pro
fession of literature.
After producing those inimitable
pictures of the old Dutch life, the
"History of New York." and the
“Knickerbdckers,” Irving went to
England, where, encouraged by the
great-souled Sir Walter Scott and
other literary lights of the old
Motherland, be soon made himself
famous on both sides of the water.
In the immortal “Sketch Book”
he made the whole reading world
laugh and cry by turns, and in oth
er writings he demonstrated the
fact that, at last. America had
produced a real literary man, a
writer of whom any country could
well afford to be proud, a man in
whose work the creative vigor that
had long been breathing and burn
ing in the hearts and minds of his
• Hosiery is having its brief day'.
Never was the sale of stockings so
great, prices so high and patterns
so varied. Shoes, too, command a
price, and are of a style and dainti
ness never before seen in history.
Catch and Lure Us.
The short skirt, the clinging
gown, the scanty underwear —all
these, with a dab of patchouli,
catch and lure us, and the swish
and rustle and swing are as things
forgot.
Our hearts go out to the abdi
cated King. He thought he ruled,
but time and chance have told him
otherwise. He merely grabbed hold
and held on. That is all any king
does. Kings, like petticoats, are
superfluities. We can do without
• them.
people had blossomed into real art.
There was now an American
style, possessing inborn grace, and
forcibly reminding one of the very
best that had been produced by the
greatest masters of literature. As
long as the world stands, much that
Irving wrote will remain among the
finest things to be found in any lit
erature.
The Old World was no longer to
laugh at Hie “crudities" of Ameri
can writings. Washington Irving
had won for his country full recog
nition in the great republic of let
ters. He had done for American
literature what his illustrious
namesake had done for American
polities—given it a name among the
nations of the earth.
When, in 1832, after an absence
of seventeen years, Irving returned
to his native land, he was received
with open arms and a cordiality of
affection that has seldom been ex
tended to any man.
“Sunnyside,” the delightful re
treat on the Hudson, became a sec
ond Mount Vernon, and its genial
master a second Washington, for
everybody realized that Irving’s
pen had done for us In the realm
of literature as much as Washing
ton's sword had achieved in the line
of political emancipation.
It is encouraging to know that
Irving’s memory is still lovingly
cherished by his countrymen; for
no permanent evil can ever over
take us so long as we venerate the
ideals that cluster about such
shrines as Mount Vernon and Sun
ni si du.
THE HOME PAPER
WINIFRED BLACK
Writes on
>'*l TrafDglll
A Professor’s Advice
It’s Naughty to Wear Shabby
Clothes. Professor Patten Says
So, She Declares, So of Course
It Must Be True. ■ iniiijp
SO it is immoral to save your
money, is it, Professor Patten,
of the University of Pennsyl
vania? It is wicked to wear a
flfty-cent hat when you could get
a ten-dollar one just as easy as
anything if you’d only borrow the
money to do it? Os course, it is
not always easy to find one to lend
you that money the very day the
hat is marked down from fourteen
seventy-five, but still, poor girls
have a moral obligation to dress
well.
It is naughty to wear shabby
clothes. Professor Patten says so,
so of 'course it must be true.
What if She Did Skimp!
What you ought to do, little wom
an, you there in the shabby coat;
dear, dear, look at those tight
sleeves, and nobody wears anything
but the kimono effect this year;
what you ought to do is to stop
payments on that bit of insurance
you are trying to provide for the
children in case that cough of yours
should get worse this winter. What
does it matter about the children;
who cares for them but you, and
you ought not to care, so Profes
sor Patten thinks. No, indeed, not
a whit?
What is Johnnie to you, and why
should you always be thinking of
little Katie and what she has to
wear ?
Worse than that, it’s wicked,
downright wicked; didn't you hear
the professor say so?
You mustn’t think of the chil
dren, you mustn't think of the old
mother who depends on you for
bread.
What if the old mother did
scrimp and save to get you your
first party dress, what if she sat
UP nearly all night to get that
graduation frock done in time for
you? When you told her you were
going to be married she cried a lit
tle, but she kissed you, too. and
wished you well, you that were the
core of her heart, you who were
leaving her for a light-hearted
stranger with a roving and a merry
eye.
And now tlie light-hearted stran
ger has left you with your children
hanging about your neck, and she
lias come to help you take decent
care of them, come through the
hunger and the cold and the dis
tance, just as she came through
the dark when you were little and
cried out to her in the night.
Well, maybe it's all your own
fault the husband going away like
this. Perhaps if you had worn a
nice ten-dollar hat he wouldn't
have done it. Men are such sen
sitive things, so easily affected by
every little bow of ribbon, every
dancing feather that whiffets in
the wind. You must always re
member to look pretty—or they’ll
forget to love you.
Isn’t It a Great Joke?
And that is the important thing
to keep the love and adoration of
the man who will leave. you at the
beck of a slender finger.
And it is so easy, this adoration
business; all you have to do is to
look pretty every minute, tired or
ill or hungry, or cold, or sick at
heart, or maddened with the bit
ter injustice of the world, look
pretty, look pretty—or you lose all
there is to live for.
Tut, tut! What a silly little wom
an to forget that. Why, the flaunt
ing grl down there at the corner
could have told ydu that; she’s
known it ever since she could make
eyes.
What, 100 busy? Busy—at what,
pray tell? Mending little stock
ings and patching little frocks?
Turning your old dress to make a
new one for little Kate? Buying
ten cents worth of round steak and
The Parcels Post
By F. E. S.
rpHE new parcels post law goes
t into effect on January 1, and
while far from being all that
the friends of the system hoped
for. is a step in the right direc
tion. The new law will doubtless
be improved upon from time to
time until ti*e United States is on
a par with European countries in
this respect.
The new- law permits the mail
ing of packages weighing no more
than eleven pounds, which must
not be more than 72 inches in length
and breadth combined. Up to four
ounces there will be a flat rate of
one cent per ounce, or part thereof,
regardless of distance.
For packages weighing more than
four ounces the rates vary with the
distance, which the following table
will explain:
Each
addi-
First tional
pound, pound.
Rural route and city de-
livery ns oi
50-mile zone nr, 03
l.‘>"-mile zone 111; 04
3011-mile zone a;
tiiw-mile zone ux (ll :
By WINIFRED BLACK.
cooking it with cunning care to
make it nourishing and good?
Starching and ruffling the cur
tains for your little front room?
Haunting the bargain shops?
Why. that’s a crime, too; didn’t
you know that? And, besides, it's a
joke. Haven’t you read the funny
papers; it's a great joke, the bar
gain counter, to all those who do
not understand the pitiful effort to
make something take the place of
nothing.
Yes, little woman, you're a time
waster, an energy waster, a prodi
gal of your strength and care, and a
very, very wicked woman, and you
never knew it all this time.
Well, it's never too late to learn —
begin today. Follow out the teach
ings of this learned Professor
Somebody from Somewhere and
spend every cent you lay your
hands on for yourself.
When you can’t lay your hands
on any more, beg money, borrow it.
yes. even steal it, if It comes to
that: for you must look pretty, you
must wear good clothes; It isn’t
moral to be shabby.
How ever did your husband put
up with you as long as he has, you
with your tired eyes and your poor,
knotty, little, rough hands? What
do you expect a man to do, stay in
love with a tired, worn-out little
fright like you?
The children, they love .you?
Well, yes, children are silly’ little
things. I’ve seen them cling to a
mother who hadn’t an ounce of
false hair to her head; and some
little tykes I know think their
mother is beautiful, and she wears
an old-fashioned skirt with room
enough to walk in, and her hat
looks like a hat and not like a
mushroom.
It Won’t Do, Professor.
You ought to see those tykes of
hers when she conies home from an
errand, why’ they’ run to meet her
as if she were some home-coming
queen and they her loyal subjects.
Their father seems to rather likq
the plain, wholesome woman he
chose out of all the world to be his
wife, too. Yes, he more than tol
erates her. I’ve seen him smile to
her across a room full of beautifully
gowned women, and the look was a
caress. But lie’s an old-fashioned
fool, of course—he must be to care
for such a woman as that.
You can’t judge things by that
family, it isn’t right to try; when
here’s the good professor, so wise,
so practical, so broad-minded and
tolerant, telling you just what to do
and how to do it.
What, you won’t listen, you don’t
care for what he says, you wouldn’t
give one joyous laugh of one of
your little children for all the smiles
of professional approval in the
world ?
You are hopeless, absolutely
hopeless, and so I fear is the world
for strange to say, I’m afraid it is
full of women just like you. Worn
en who have forgotten all about
themselves years ago. women who
live but to make those they love
happy and comfortable, women
who wear a 50-cent hat and are
proud of it so long as the children’s
hats are all right.
It won't do, Professor, it won’t
'LI L ea ' y '1 You’ll have to
ana 4°u the risin S generation
and teach them this new philosophy
of yours. The generation you’re
talking to now is too deep in crime
and ignorance and wicked self-sac
rifice to heed you.
And. in the meantime, if I were
you, Professor, whenever I met a
woman with a shabby coat and a
60-cent hat and a pair of mended
gloves, going to work to support
those she loves at home, or even
just to take honest, decent self
respecting care of herself, I’d bare
my head to let her pass, for the
earth she steps on is holy ground.
’•* 1.000-mile zone 09 q-
1,400-mile zone jn an
1,800-mile zone 44 ’<j.
Over 1,800 miles 12
It is interesting to compare th*
above table w’ith the postal rale*
from Europe to ANY part of the*
I. nited States, including
ration by sea, as shown by the fol
lowing table prepared by the Postal
Progress league:
From Norway Z/ 44
From Germany 44 lbg ”
From Italy J' 4
From Italy 11
From Great Britainill Jbs” 79c
From this it will be seen that an
eleven-pound package which can
be sent from Rome to San Fr-.n
for 79 cents, will cost from
30 Y ol * to the same destination
our own citizens gainst
I
• h timer. ton-