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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published tOvary Afternoon Except Sunday
Hy TMR (JKOTUllAN Com PAIS V
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Bryan’s Narrow “Little Navy”
Policy the Cause of His Visit
to California.
The selection of Mr. Bryan to visit California and persuade the
attJcens there to abandon the exercise of their sovereign rights and
to bow timorously and obsequiously before the threats of Japan is
peculiarly appropriate.
The reason that Californians are asked to give up their rights in
ostler to pacify Japan, and to saoritloe their interests and the in-,
tcrests of the country at large in order to please the Japanese, is
because we have no sufficient navy, and the main reason that we
have no sufficient navy is beoause Mr. Bryan has exerted his in
fluence among his unthinking followers in the Democratic Housei
to prevent the country from having a sufficient navy.
This visit to California, therefore, will give Mr, Bryan an op-:
port,unity’ to demonstrate to the country the advantages of his
peace-at-acy-price policy. It will give him a conspicuous ohanoe ■
to establish his superiority in wisdom and patriotism to George^
Washington, who said:
"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual methods j
of preserving peace.''
Mr. Bryan iB noted for his eloquenoe, if for nothing else, and it
will take considerable eloquence to prove that war is oheaper than
a reasonable naval insuranoe against war, and to convince the citi-I
sens of California that Abraham Lincoln was wrong when he said:
“One half day’s cost of this war would pay for all the slaves^
in Delaware at £400 a head."
It will take quite a flow of oratory to oonvinoe the citizens
otfthe country generally that the proper American policy is to save j
a few dollars in the building of ships and sacrifice our independ-
enoe, our self-respect and our actual interests as a nation.
It is fortunate that Charles Coatesworth Pinckney, statesman t
and partiot, iB no longer alive* to learn from the Democrats of to
day how poorly he represented the American spirit when he replied
to the demands of Napoleon's Minister that the motto of America
was "Millions for defense, but not one oent for tribute."
To-day, at least among the Democrats of America, there are
no millions for defense, but there is a pitiful disposition to pay
tribute in consideration and concession to any demands that an in
solent foreign nation may urge.
In Ambassador Pinckney's time the United States had about
one-third the territory that it now possesses and about one-twen
tieth of the population.
It was smaller in men, but larger in manhood. It was smaller
in size, but larger in independence and honor. It was lesser in
wealth, but greater in courage.
For Ambassador Pinckney was not speaking for a nation of a
hundred millions to a nation of less than half that number. He
was speaking for a scant five million of plain American citizens,
and asserting his independence and theirs in the face of the great
est military nation of that time, and of the greatest military leader
of the world.
But courage and determination more than made up for lack of
numbers and lack of wealth, and Talleyrand accepted Pinckney’s
defiance and abandoned France’s insulting demands.
Even in our day courage and conscience count for more than
size. Little Montenegro is one of the smallest nations in the world.
Yet all the powers of Europe, with their fleets concentrated at its
shore, could not make it abandon what it believed to be right. King
Nicholas, of Montenegro, in spite of the threats of the powers*
prosecuted the siege of Scutari until he took the city.
And withal little Montenegro is so small upon the map and the
iW of Europe is so large. In view, then, of our own American ex
perienoe and from our observation of the achievements of other na
tions reliant upon right, it would seem that the size of a country
ig«not so important as the size of the men it has at its head.
"TEACH US TO PRAY”
T
By LILIAN LAUFERTY.
EACH uh to pray;
’Tiadark o’er all the world,
And over land and pea the mints close down.
If You Should Live 100 Years
If you should hr alivt* 100 yoars from to-day, no
loubt you will hr ahlr to see sights in the United
States like the above. Here you see the great, tall
buildings of the future, so tall that the giant sky
scrapers of to-day, one of which boasts of a height
of T-">0 feet, would appear hut a pigmy compared
to the skyscraper of the future with its more than
100 stories. You may be sure that when build
ings such a safe pictured above become a reality,
the airship will then he as common as the trolleys
of to-dav.
American Genius Has Given the World Its Greatest Wonder
Out In tlie darkness hopeU
And search and can not
O God! teach us to pray.
ssly we stray,
tlnd again our way.
i«wv-v
Teach tis to pray;
We are not worthy. Lord;
For we have dwelt long: years in sin and shame
We closed our eyes and would not see the way;
And now ’tis vain—for hopelessly we etray.
O God! teach us to pray.
Teach us to pray.
For this cannot be prayer
Which comes but as the cry of hearts of fear.
We are poor trembling mortals gone astray—
3f it be not too late to find Thy way.
O God! teach us to pray.
Teach us to pray.
For everywhere is gloom.
And sudden terror seizes on our hearts.
A bitter knowledge comes to us t o - d a y;
We are world-weary sinners far astray,
O God! teach us to pray.
Teach us to prav.
We would but speak w ith Thee.
Our hearts are full of what but Thou coukiat understand
And we are tired children far astray
We seek the light of -Thine Eternal Way.
Dear God, teach us to pray.
Teach us to pray—
YSet this iteelf is prayer
Fflcm hearte of troubled pilgrims learning pearek* 1 * «
us but strength to go a eng Tb> Wu< *
Thv little children v .io did stray. Aft*
we sieep—we pray.
By GARRETT P. SERVISS.
that
N antiquity
there were
the world,
l was said
seven wonder
beaded by
the
great Pyramids of Egypt.
In the Middle Ages the list of
world's wonders was change*!
throughout, and then it started
with the Coliseum of Homo.
To-day, if we should revise the
list once more, there can he no
doubt as to what would stand at
the head — it would be the Pan
ama Canal.
In order to i'v ai ropi rtl as a
“wonder.” any work of man must
make a particular kind of appeal
to the imagination. That it ex
cites admiration is not. enough; it
must also awaken the feeling that
in creating it man has taken a
step forward, beyond the line of
his previous achievements.
What Nature Has Done.
Regarded in this way. the Pan-
• iih Canal is without a rival, as
the intense interest shown by the
entire world in its approaching
completion proves.
For the first time in his history
man ha directly joined two
oceans, the greatest on the globe.
na? cut two
8$ tf* t'nwi
A GEO-
t
peal to the imagination all, his
former works sink into relative
insignificance.
If some new Herodotus were
to go wandering through our
modern world in search of mar
vels he would, on arriving at
Panama, find no words strong
enough to express his amazement.
He would exclaim that the Amer
icans had defied the gods In
changing their arrangement of
the fare of the earth! ‘
In order to understand what the
Panama Canal means as an ex
ample of human interference
with geography, we must look at
what nature had done on the
same spot. For this purpose take
a map showing the Central Amer
ican and .West Indian region, with
indications of the depth of water
on both sides, and a raised chart,
like Mr. Grays. exhibiting a
bird’s-eye view of the line of the
canal across the isthmus.
Thus you will perceive that, in
some long pa t period, broad,
though very irregular, necks of
land probably connected the two
Americas, joining many of the
islands to the mainland, both
north and south. The Gulf of
Mexko whs otic* nearlv istvated,
kkr a srr # 'al lake, and there were
other a*Tge .ah.es the Carib
bean Sea now roll.-* its waters.
Afterward there was a sinking,
separating the islands from the
eontinentai shore, and leaving
•only the narrow isthmus to con
nect North and South America.
Two Oceans United by Man.
For ages this condition has per
sisted. and it is doubtful if the
two continents have ever been
completely cut apart, at least
since the cretaceous* age. More
likely the rocky spine of the isth
mus has always connected them,
whatever other changes may have
occurred.
If this he so, it is evident that,
in making the Panama Canal, wo
have interfered with an original
arrangement of Nature. We have
taken two oceans which she had
separated and united them by a
waterway. That waterway, to be
sure, is a mere thread, and we
have had to elevate much of it
above sea level (which Nature
could not have done), but it serves
our purpose, and does it without
upsetting any of Nature’s broader
designs. If the r hole Isthmus
were swept away the Gulf Stream
would probably be diverted, and a
climatic catastrophe might fall
upon northwestern Europe, if not
upon North America itself.
It wih be just 400 year* next
the; home: paper
Rev. John E. White
Writes on
The Sociological
Congress
w t*
It Means That the South Intends to
Make an End of Outside Fault
finding by Undertaking Itself Al!
of the Faultfinding That Is Nec
essary.
\
J
WRITTEN FOR THE GEORGIAN
By REV. DR. JOHN E. WHITE
Pastor Second Baptist Church
\ \ THEN sociology first came
V V South it met a cold re
ception. Here and there
a college professor extended hos
pitality, but the popular mind
viewed it askance. The word was
* the limit of new-fangled scien
tific? and smacked of a certain
“black beast" called Socialism.
Who would have thought that
in the year 1918 a great South
ern Sociological t’ongress would
be meeting in Atlanta?
This Sociological Congress
which began its session here last
Friday evening means criticism.
You know that, of course, if you
have attended any of the con
ferences.
South Criticising Itself.
It means that the South intends
to make an end of outside fault
finding by undertaking itself all
the fault finding that is neces
sary. Southern conditions of one
kind and another have been the
subject of a good deal of dis
cussion in this country and
abroad. Injurious impressions
about the South have gone out
over the world.
The Southern Sociological Con
gress means that Southern men
are addressing themselves to
Southern conditions and thart the
best intelligence and the most
unselfish patriotism is to be con
centrated upon all the social
problems of the Southern States.
The old protest—"Let the South
alone" may now cease. The
South is not going to let her
self alone.
Wherever there, is any general
situation of social sorrow, of de
pressed civilization, of backward
progress, our minds and hearts
are to be organized and a great
hand stretched forth with the
truth on its palm for all the peo
ple to see.
It will be a Southern hand, a
hand of understanding and sym
pathy.
The Broad Diagnosis.
It will be again of incalculable
value for Southen men to see the
truth about ourselves and see it
whole. None of the conditions
which need remedy can be dealt
with effectively so long as they
are considered merely individual
and local.
The slogan of the congress is
“A Solid South for a Better Na
tion.” That is a solidity of
Southern* society which peculiar
ly invites tbe sociological lever.
We are a morally inflammable
people. The resolution of im
provement can be invoked for a
general contagion of progress.
A good straight look at the
Southern field sociologically, for
instance, will show our weakness
clearly in relation to our strength.
There are 80,000,000 people, but
they are not all safely civilized.
From the standpoint of the so
ciologist—and this is the stand
point of the truth—the South is
ten million strong and not far
from twenty million weak.
There are 10,000,000 people who
represent the Intelligence, tbe
thrift and the progressiveness of
the Southern States, but there are
10,000,000 white people—and An
glo-Saxon at that -who, on ac
count of illiteracy and unsocial
ized natural intelligence, are suf
fering the penalties of backward
ness.
They constitute the real prob
lem. and until it is taken out of
the eddies and put into a current
the reliability of our civilization
is called into question.
The 10.000,000 negroes a 1st* are
here among us arid a part of the
heavy downpull which handicaps
us.
*
Optimism With Motive.
The characteristic of the Socio
logical Congress is optimism with
a motive. Those who stand out
side and criticise the South do not
do us any good, and. indeed, can
not.
Grover Cleveland said; “Those
who stand next t<> the burden are
alone able to lift it." When a
man finds fault with himself -there
is hope of practical repentance.
Southern men believe in the
South. They believe that its re
sources justify a radiant vision.
These resource's of material
wealth in soil and climate, in
mind and field, are world assets.
Our resources of human nature
are generous and courageous. We
constitute the great American re
serve of the unmixed republican
stock of jealous Anglo-Saxonism.
Our great poweis only await en
listment, combination and direc
tion.
There is nothing going on below
the Mason and Dixon line that
appeals quite as much to funda
mental patriotism as the begin
nings of constructive criticism
realized and foreshadowed in the
Southern Sociological Congress.
No Molecule Ever Rests
By EDGAR LUCIEN LARKIN.
September since Balboa, standing
silent upon his “peak in Darien,”
saw the glitter of the Pacific and
thus knew that tiiere was another
great ocean west of America.
He. and others after him* looked
for a natural waterway between
those oceans, but the possibility
of making such a way could not
have occurred to him, and he cer
tainly had no foresight of the
mighty nation that was to arise in
the north, composed of a differ
ent race from his. and destined,
in so short a time, to link the
ocean behind him with that which
he saw far ahead.
No More to Discover.
The age of discovery of new-
habitable lands, capable of becom
ing the seats of new empires, is
past. We now know the whole
earth, as Nature made it. having
seen even its poles, through the
eyes of brave explorers. It only
remains for us to complete it-
conquest by making it fitter for
our habitation.
The Panama Canal is the first
gigantic stride taken in this new
conquest. American genius and
enterprise have achieved it un
aided. We have paid its cost in
lives and treasure: let him beware
who would deprive us of the fruit
of our toil and sacrificel
M OLECULES are composed
of atoms; and, of course,
the least number that can
form an atom is evidently two,
and the number varies greatly
from the molecules of rare gas
to dense solids. But no molecule
within the entire range of hu
man experience is at rest. Put
very line particles in water, put
a small drop of the water under
the lenses of a very high power
microscope anti examine. The
particles move rapidly and in
many directions. Thus a particle
will move on a short straight line
and then turn abruptly, not in a
curved or round corner, but sharp,
angular turns will be made again
and again, the path being zigzag.
When the phenomenon was dis
covered in 1827 by Brown the mo
tions were named Brownian mo
tions in his honor. But the mi
croscopes used by him would be
in the "ash heap" now, or in a
museum of curios. The present
day microscopes are instruments
of vyry remarkable power.
Brownian Motions.
'The Brownian motions have*
been studied by many able physi
cists. At first investigators
thought that the mysterious mo
tions were caused by slight in
equalities in temperature in the
little drop of water. This was dis
proved. The motions were appar
ently self-caused, and continuous,
no rest. Thus the smaller the
particles suspended in the liquid,
the faster they moved. Finally
they used particles to the limit
of their magnifying powgi- >uU
the rapidity of the strange move
ments ever increased with de
crease of size.
All kinds of liquids were used
to sustain the floating and flying
things. No explanation of the
motions was made;, still men
could scarcely believe that they
moved of themselves. Then
came the very wonderful new ul
tra-violet energy-ray microscope,
and new methods of applying
rays to the flying bodies. All
was now animation in laborato
ries; the limit of all power of
seeing was reached; and it
seemed that the very interiors of
the particles could be reached.
New kinds of liquids were dis
covered and used, and new kinds
of excessively minute particles
suspended. They all moved; but
new rates, new speeds were dis
covered.
Speeds Increased.
Then another new plan was
tried; fine mettle, as silver, were
torn apart by eleutriolty Into dost
of stiver so fine as to be beyond
Imagination. These were put into
liquids, and specific speeds were
greatly Increased.
Then an unheard-of experiment
«as made—the extremely small
fragments of stiver were floated
In gas. They moved faster than
ever and in far longer paths be
fore turning The great dlsoov-
ery was made; they do not move
of themselves, but are carried
along hither and thither by the
original Invisible molecules of the
liquids and gases. Xljeee gjgyg
perpetually.
ti