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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. 187>
(subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mail. SS.OQ a year
Payable in advance.
Tie the Hands of the Pistol
“toter”
The Average Man Who “Packs” a “Gun” Is a Coward at Heart,
and He Goes Armed Because He Believes that, in Event of
Trouble, He Will Have an Advantage Over the Other Man.
The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce will find itself suppor* <|
by the best and most patriotic <hoiight and effort of the entire
state, in its movement to rid Georgia of the "pistol toter."
The Chamber of Commerce proposes to ask the legislature at
its next session to provide a law prescribing a permit from compe
tent authority as a prerequisite to the purchase of pistols in
Georgia.
This plan of regulation is thought by those who have studied
the question to he about the best solution of the grave problem
presented therein, and the Chamber of Commerce has set in mo
tion the machinery through which the dfsired legislation may be
obtained
The new law will in no wise do away with or weaken any
of the wholesome statutes now in force with respect to pistols.
It still will he a violation of the law to carry them concealed, or
to use them for malicious or mischievous purposes. Bather will
the new law strengthen the old laws, in that the permit system
will make the purchase of every pistol a matter of public record,
ami the ownership of every pistol figuring in a tragedy possible
of tracing.
Eyery permit should he made returnable Io the authority is
suing it. with the name of the person or firm from which the
weapon was purchased indorsed thereon. This would make a
complete record of purchase and sale. And such a complete
record would throw a dependable safeguard around the transfer
of ownership after purchase had been effected.
In short, this legislation will put the responsibility for every
pistol in a community squarely upon somebody's shoulders and
if will be a responsibility that law-abiding and liberty-loving
citizens, who compose nine-tenths of our population, will be slow
to abuse or treat lightly.
Most "pistol tutors” are potential murderers. Ninety-five
, per cent of the shootings that* occur never would occur at all.
were somebody not possessed of a pistol in a moment of unreason
ing anger, jealousy , or spite, or during a. period of partial or
complete intoxication. The average “pistol toter” is a coward at
heart—he carries a pistol because, in the event of trouble, he be
lieves it will give him an advantage. Often he may carry if more
as a thing with which he may sustain a reputation as a “bad
man in a. scrimmage -and it is in the scrimmage that he shoots
and kills, and that more often than not. without intending really
tn kill at all.
To cite a recent example of the all too ready pistol, there is
the Clay ease. Clay neVer intended to kill his wife when he
went to that little Lee street home last May. But he carried his
pistol with him and in a conversatiop with his wife, uncontrolla
ble rage fell upon him. and he shot. Friday he was hanged—and
today his little boy is an orphan, and Clay, the “pistol toter."
lies in a felon's grave.
The proposal to get rid of the “pistol toter” is a practical
proposition. It is not a sensational suggestion merely—a thing to
get excited about, ft is based upon hard, common sense- com
mon sense that means the peace and safety of society, the pro
tection of life and liberty. the orderly progress of civilization, and
the majesty of the law.
The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce has started a good fight
—a fight, moreover, that it is sure to win. For the entire state
will support the movement—and other states, seeing the good
work in Georgia, will be prompted to follow its example.
Criminal Carelessness
The report of the interstate commerce commission on the
causes of the Westport train wreck of October 3 convicts the
officers of the New Haven railroad of negligence, involving
wholesale manslaughter. No doubt is left as to the moral quality,
of the conduct of these officials.
At the time of the Bridgeport disaster of last year they were
warned by the interstate commerce commission that their
“crossovers” at Bridgeport, at Westport and elsewhere were
too short to fa* safely negotiated by fast trains. Nevertheless,
they neglect to lengthen the “cross-overs” or to install de
vices to prevent their being taken at a high rale of speed. The
Westport calamity was unquestionably due to this neglect.
The commission of a grave crime by these railroad officials
would be not only morally but also legally demonstrated if it
were not for the fact that the recommendations of the eoinniis
son are. under the statute, given an advisory and not a manda
tory force,
Mhy should not the interstate commerce commission have
power to impose a minimum standard in railway safety ap
pliances • What use was there in the commission’s report on this
disaster if its recommendations were to he treated as mere "<>s
sipt
The interstate commerce law should be amended. The com
mission should have power to put a positive ban upon unsafe
condition* of railroading and require them to be remedied.
The Atlanta Georgian
“My Predecessor, Frithiof”-—An English View
of the Kaiser’s Gift •
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z k ’’ Talk' S'
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9' I JOr* tSEI
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Ik Eh ' g ' •
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By presenting them with the gigantic statue shown above, the kaiser pays florway a compliment. Frithjof
was a Norwegian national hero of the sea—to Norway what the kaiser himself would like to be to Germany, ac
cording to an English periodical. With a slight upward twist of the mustache (see photograph inset) he would
look by no means unlike his imperial majesty. The statue will be unveiled next year at Framnaes. on the Songe
Fjord, where the graves of Frithjof and Ingeborg are situated. The sculptor, Professor Max Unger, is seen standing
by the side of his nearly completed work. •
Second Marriages W-
time ago you wrote
an article on second mar
riages In which occurred
the following sentences:
•"Only one woman in five hundred
who is widowed in her prime is left
with a memory of such ideals of
love that remarriage is impossible
And only one man in five thousand.'
"Does this mean that you Con
sider there ate nine hundred more
ideal husbands than wives'." it
would seem so. Curious Reader."
No; it means that every woman
possesses nine hundred times the
qualities which make constancy to
a memory possible. With the very
best .conditions, and a perfect ideal,
only one man in five thousand is
so constituted that lie could find
contentment in living a widowed
life, and solacing his lonely heart
with memories of a happy compan
ionship in the past.
Mental and Spiritual Realms.
But there tire many women who
are so constituted They possess
extieme sentiment, great Imagina
tion. much spirituality. They are
not strongly sexed, their vitality is
usually below normal.
And they live in the mental and
spiritual realms, finding happiness
in pleasant friendships. In the com
panionship of their children, of
relatives, and in social and char
itable occupations
While there are many such wom
en widowed, it is only one husband
in tiv< hundred who leaves memo
ries with a wife after he passes on
which make an impassable barrier
to a second marriage.
As a woman lecturer once satd,
"There is qfttimes great compla
cency behind the widow's veil, be
cause she inis come into freedom
MONDAY. DECEMBER 16, 1912.
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
Copyright 1912, by American-Journal-Exaniiner.
out of slavety, into the right to
handle and use money which she
has he’ped earn, after having been
a beggar at her husband’s door for
a long peiiod; and ofttimes her
tears shed ov r his casket arc tears
of pity for self, for the lost illusions
of her honeymoon."
. We have all seen the faded, spir-
lllar'.-
ft
IlgW
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
itless, middle-aged wife bloom out
into the beauty of matuiity, after
dropping widow's weeds. And with
her weeds, dropping a decade of
yea rs.
Few Men Ask the Reason.
One can not help hoping the hus
band. in his home beyond the earth
plane, is witnessing this transfor
mation. and tealizing that it was
his own utter lack of symnathy, of
liberality, of considerate < are. and
of loving companionship which
made the wife fe.de before he: time
And that Ip is ,-eeing the bloom
return to her dwelt, and the light
•J* to her eye. and the admiration of
other men offered at her shrine.
No man likes to see his wife fade
and lose her attractions.
Yet. few men who note such
changes in the fresh, fair girl they
have married stop to ask the rea
son therefor.
With few exceptions, the reason
could be I'.aeed to tin- husband.
Now and then life shows us the
sorry type of woman who loses all
he' pride and self-respect and pret
ty feminine vanity’, as soon as she
is legally married, and with these
things loses, of course, her com
t pbxion and figure and other at
i tractions She simply settles into
the complacency of middle age, ahd
is satisfied to be well housed, well
fed, and to have her bills paid, and
to affix Mis. to her name
: Take Careful Look at Wife.
; She takes her husband's love and
loyalty as a matter of course, and
is the last one to know when no
becomes disillusioned and disloyal.
Fortunately, such women are ex-
1 eeptions, ami the unattractive, life
less. uninteresting wife? is. as a
rule, the handiwork of the thought
less, selfish, inconsiderate htHband;
the num «ho has ceased to be the
lover, or the comrade, or even the
best friend, of his wife.
The man who finds all his pleas
ures outside his home, and who ex
pects his wife to be satisfied with
her children and her church and
her home duties.
Take a careful look at your wife,
good sir. and see how she is ap
pearing after a few years of marital
partnership with you.
Are you preparing her for com
placency under her widow’s veil?
And will she look ten years
younger when she puts on second
mourning and begins to go about
and ■ njoy life than site does now
as your neglected wife?
THE HOME PAPER
Judge Wm. D. Ellis
Writes on
The Divorce L«k w
Evil fc 1
White Divprces Exceed
Negroes in Southern
Cities, But Not in Coun- 1
try—Laws Should Be
U n if or m. * 4
Written for The Atlanta Georgian
By Judge Wm. D. Ellis
Os the Atlanta Circuit.
ARTICLE 111.
Statistics sirow that the propol
tion of divorced persons who re
marry is constantly on the in
crease, showing that divorce is less
disreputable th in formerly, a-nd
now quite respectable, and indicat
ing also that divorces are being
sought for tin- purpose of getting a
chanee to take on some discovered
affinity or some more attractive in
dividual.
Im the South all the obtainable
information tends to show that the
larger proportion of divorce cases
were among the colored population.
The excess of divorce cases among
colored over white people in the
rural districts is very large, but in
the cities tlie excess is among the
white rather than colored people.
In the cities the excess is largely
due to the fact that the laws
against bigamy are regarded with
less fear among the colored than
white population.
The most painfql evil of divorce
is its effect upon the children of the
divorced parents. Not only do they
go forth in life with the cloud
hanging over them, but the contest
over their possession embitters the
bad feeling between the parents,
: nd teaches the children to lose all
affection and respect for either or
both, and especially against that
father or mother from whom they
are taken. They go out into the
world with all the neglect and help
lessness of orphanage, and are oft
n in a worse plight, because they
are bereft of the care which, if they
were indeed orphans, they might ob
tain from benevolent institutions or
front childless philanthropists who
might adopt and care for them.
Necessity for Divorce Law.
There is. I believe, necessity for a
divorce law, but it ought to be uni
form in all the states, and it ought
to be hedged about with sueh re
strictions and regulations as rather
to be deterrent than persuasive. No
total divorce ought to be granted
on the uncorroborated testimony of
one of the parties. If a husband or
wife has been so cruelly treated as
to authorize a divorce, some other
. person would know about it. If
either party is an habitual drunk
ard, some one, as well as his wife,
could testify about it. If either
THE Voice of the World is calling:
“Come out to strive and to do!
There is work for men
And the men are few
I here are laurels waiting
For you—for you;
1 here is fame to win, there is praise to gain,
And a man must strive thru toil a»d pain
To reach the goal that is reached by few.
Come out and strive—there is work to do.”
I he voice of Life is calling.
“Come out to taste and to see!
1 here is knowledge for men,
And the men are few.
There is harvest waiting for yon—for you:
There is much to see, there is much to try.
Ami the man must live, though he question whv.
Come, learn the truth—it is known by few.
( ome out and live—there is much to do.”
The voice of my Heart is calling:
“Go out to learn your soul I
There is Life for men.
And the men are few.
There is suffering waiting for you—for you;
There is some of sweet, there is some of pain,
And a man must bear both loss and gain.
Strive for the soul that is reached by few.
Go! Life’is short—and there’s much to do!”
party lifts deserted the other for the
years required (three years in this
I state), some of their neighbors
i would know of it.
There ought to be some period
of delay in regard to remar.ying.
I This thing of a divorce in the
morning and a wedding that night
ought to be prevented, and a law
which would delay remarriage for a
I year or more would be at least cal
culated to deter divorce.
Divorce strikes at the sanctity of
I the home. To destroy the home
not only ruins the family, but hurts
the neighborhood. To injure the
neighborhood injuriously asset ts th,
state and all the people in it.
A Proposed Amendment,
1 prepared a bill and presented
it to the legislature, which provided
that no total divorce should h.
granted on the uncorroborated tes
timony of one of the parties: that
no divorced party should remarry
within a year; that in undefended
cases an attorney should .be ap
pointed and paid to take testimony
and represent the state, so that the
real truth could be shown. This bill
was killed judiciary com
mittee and not reported favorably,
either as drawn or by subs ituti
and I can see no reason for its fate
except that fewer divorce cases
would result in fewer fees.
The church inveighs against the
evils of intemperance; it pro
nounces anathemas against the so
cial evil, but I have heard of little
it has done or said against tile evil
of divorce or the dreadful conse
quences of its prevalence and rapid
increase in our country. The Ro
man Catholic church, however, mar
be an exception to the rule. That
church denounces it among its
members, and it may appeal io the
Protestant people of the country for
more attention to this subject when
it is apparent that the divorce rec
ords show that this growing evil
has in rare instances invaded
Catholic homes, and that in Italy.
Ireland and Spain divorce is rarely
heard of.
Since writing the foregoing paper
I have been pleased to see in news
paper reports that at a general
conference of the Methodist church
ground has been taken against the
growing evil of divorce and pro
•• testing against it.
The Voices
By LILLIAN LAUFERTY.