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EDITORIAL PAGE The Atlanta Georgian THE HOME PARER
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Hunday
By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At JO East Alabama St.. Atlanta, Oa.
i.'eiod (' • >Tt matter at post office at Atlanta, under act of March jt.UTt
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Payable in Advance
A Treaty Japan Has Steadily
Dodged
I he Japanese Have Not Lived Up to the 1 reaty I hey Are
NOW Invoking in T heir Own Behalf
OUR ANTEDILUVIAN ANCESTORS!
Japan we now know, has not only protested specifically
against the California alien land bill on the ground that it is con
trary to the. treaty of 1911, but on the more general basis that it is
an offense as between nations and not in harmony with the tradi
tions and friendship existing between the Mikado's Government
and that of the United States.
The reply of our Government is that there is no violation of
treaty, and that the broader question of offense is a proper sub
ject for diplomatic negotiations.
But with how clean hands can the Japanese Government
complain of a violation of treaty?
If. under its terms, Japanese subjects have irrevocable
rights to own and lease land in the United States, there must
also be an equivalent. Citizens of the United States must have
the right to own and lease land in Japan. Have they? The Jap
anese Parliament passed such a law, but IT HAS NEVER BEEN
PROMULGATED. It has never been put into force by imperial
decree. It is a dead letter.
That law, even as it stands, is not an equivalent such as
Japan is claiming in the United States. An American corpora
tion, for instance, cannot acquire lands or any other rights in
Japan, even under the statute, unless a special charter is issued
and the application approved by the Minister of Home Affairs.
The law reserves to the Japanese Government the right to
exclude aliens and alien corporations from any place the Home
Minister may deem advisable. The law excepts Hakodate, Naga
saki, Formosa and many other places where Americans might
want to go.
JAPAN HAS NOT LIVED UP TO THE TREATY IT IS
NOW INVOKING IN ITS OWN BEHALF.
As for the broader and more serious protest against an
• offense between nations," this newspaper has already pointed
out that the sovereignty of the United States is thereby chal
lenged more than the sovereignty of Japan.
For eighteen years, until quite recently, the State of New
York maintained a law prohibiting aliens from holding land.
Indeed, that law was repealed only at the just-closed session of
the Legislature and the repealing measure signed by Governor
Sulzer.
IN ALL THOSE EIGHTEEN YEARS NO NATION OB
JECTED TO THAT LAW AS A NATIONAL AFFRONT.
Any such objection would have been an international
ABSURDITY.
It is the sovereign right of the United States to determine
who shall and who shall not be citizens, and each State has its
own right to determine whether individuals not citizens shall
own land in it.
To challenge these sovereign rights is to step out of the do
main of international law and custom into the arena.
f
Bryan’s Still-Water
Statesmanship
What shall one say when the
registered pilot of the ship of
state refuses to face anything
but fine weather and a smooth
sea? *
Mr. Bryan is not willing to superintend the foreign relations
of the United States if there is going to be any serious trouble
about them. He says: I made up my mind before I accepted
the office of Secretary of State that I would not take the office
if I thought there was to be a war during my tenure.’’
Now that Mr. Bryan's mind is thoroughly made up about it,
he says he feels sure there will be no storm while his discriminat
ing hand is on the helm.
These assurances may reveal a tender heart in Mr. Bryan,
But they expose the incompetence of his executive character and
the shallowness of his political thought. The implication is that
wars are simply sinful and that they occur only when unjust or
unamiable men are put by unhappy accident into places of power.
Mr Bryan has lived and prospered so well by the mere
facility of his tongue that he seems to have lost all sense of those
real and passionate contradictions of human interest and honor
that spring out of settled rights and moral convictions and that
can not be disposed of by any form of words.
Imagine, for example, what would happen if Mr. Bryan s
free and unlimited coinage of fine words were to be applied to
such an issue as that raised by the suggestion that the " national
honor of Japan requires the admission to American citizenship
of hordes of Orientals on equal terms with Germans or French
men.
IMAGINE. IF YOU CAN. THE MEEK SUBMISSION OF
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO A JUDGMENT OF HAGUE
LAWYERS THAT THIS COUNTRY OUGHT TO CONSENT TO
BE ORIENTALIZED WITHIN THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS!
The plain truth is, of course, that nations, as they are now
constituted, can not keep clear of war for a single year save as
"strong men, armed," who keep their palace that their goods
may be in peace. Brave and foreseeing men have indeed a right
to look forward to a day when nations that now confront each
other with menaces may be so transformed in their social and
economic substance that all marked antagonisms of interest shall
be canceled and dissolved.
BUT IN THE MEANTIME IT IS NOTHING LESS THAN
A GRAVE MISFORTUNE THAT THE CHIEF SPOKESMAN
OF THE UNITED STATES IN ITS FOREIGN RELATIONS
SHOULD BE A STILL WATER STATESMAN, WHO DE
CLINES IN ADVANCE TO FACE THE POSSIBILITY OF A
CPRM /'ND WHO RELIES SOLELY UPON RAPTUROUS
lASES TO MEET DANGEROUS EMERGENCIES
t
John Temple Graves
Writes on 1
False Economy
jihi m 1
X® J|
1 Which Is the Better Business
W* '
Policy, He Asks, the Spend-
Ip £
ing of $60,000,000 for Our
nyf 1
Navy or War Costing This
ipiS
Country $2,000,000,000?
mm-
31 “Poor Skinclotbes has awfully hard luck!”
X “What's the matter with him?”
i “Why, he’s trying to start a little fruit and vegetable farm and the dinosauruses and pterdactyls eat up everything he raises!’’
S—rv-I—I~X**!*v
rrrrm*
Rev. John E. White on “Marriage in a Hurry”
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE.
Pastor Second Baptist Church.
A YOUNG lady of Georgia
weiit to'Vienna to complete
her musical education in
thfr great conservatory there. She
met her fate in the person of a
nplendid young Austrian. The
distance from her home in Geor
gia. and the impatience natural
to love’s young.dream seemed to
make it impossible for the mar
riage to' take place in due and
ancient form at the bride’s home.
Desiring to proceed with the wed
ding ceremony in Vienna, after
a full; correspondence with the
bride's family, a stubborn ob
stacle presented itself In their
path.
Our Hurry-Up System.
The Austrian Government in
terposed J startling amount of
legal red-tape with reference to
the bride. It was required tfoat
legal evidence be transmitted
through the Austrian .Consul at
Savannah that the young lady in
question was of marriageable age.
health** record,* moral character,
and that-her? father was a .citi
zen in good standing—ail to be
certified to in writing and at
tested by Government officials
and ministers of religion
Fortunately the young lady
had no difficulty in complying
with the Austrian marriage
laws The Germans are a long
headed people.^ They have dis
covered that the marriage altar
is a national strength or a na
tional weakness.
This discovery has not yet been
made in Georgia and in this
country. If statesmen had planned
for It a more efficient hurry-up
system for marriage than ours
could nol have been devised.
There are enough forces of self-
interest brought into play to fa
cilitate matrimony in Georgia to
constitute a practical conspiracy
to get as many people married as
possible.
The State and County laws of
license make It profitable to the
officers to issue licenses.
Over tithe doors of the office of
Ordinary in Fulton County might
be written the motto: "Marriage
for Revenue Only.” without seri
ous offense. Justices of the Peace
profusely welcome the touch of
romance and the tingle of silver
which brighten their dusty of-
h9es.
The preacher and the preach
er’s wife ardently believe in peo
ple getting married, and not for
reasons too numerous to> men
tion. So from the'man wh'd sells
rice and cow-bells to the livery
man and the instalment furniture
shop there is a chorus of "Hur
ry up. John, and'hurry up Mary,
and get off.”
If the young foreigner had met
his fate in Georgia, our hurry-up
system, which asks no questions,
and trusts to matrimonial luck.
with a spur on both heels, would
have convinced him that the peo
ple of this country were looking
for a chance to marry off their
young ladies quite regardless of
whom they married.
So we have the fiddler to pay.
Hurry-up marriages demand hur
ry-up divorce.courts. The serious
vows of wedlock, their sacred
sanctions and solemn responsi
bilities, so vitally concerning the
%
welfare of society and the happi
ness of souls, are bound to lack
impressiveness since they are left
almost entirely to a passing men
tion in the wedding ceremony
which the average biide and
bridegroom in this country wants
hurried up and over with.
People are not likely to stick
together through thick and thin
if their marriage is cheaply con
ceived and unimpressively con
summated.
Hold Up, There!”
Another penalty but recently
regarded as mentionable is the
gross inattention to physical fit
ness. What brides can not be. ex
pected to know parents should in
sist on knowing..
The perpetuation of * disease
through the blood channels of the
race begins at the unguarded
marriage alt^r.
If we believe what the physi
cians are testifying, the marriage
aliar is society's "bloody angle.”
whan it ought to be the open
sesame of health, happiness and
Qualities That Popularize Men With Women and Women With Men
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX
Copyright, 1913. by Journal-Amer
ican-Kxaminer.
J UST what are the qualities
which make men popular with
women and women with men
This quer> ofttimes puzzles
wise heads to answer.
Some of the ugliest men physi
cally have been great Lotharios:
and women without marked
beauty have been heart winners.
Men with no decided talents,
men of no social prowess: men
without money; men with shad
owy records, have all succeeded
with women where other and
seemingly, more attractive and
certainly fnore desirable men have
failed.
A bigamist who was under en
gagement of marriage to thirty
girl*, when he married two of
them, tays his success resulted
from "always talking to women
about themselves."
That is the secret* of most
friendships and ;* ove .affairs.
,«Qd the explanation of most di
ms n 01 w oman ceases to talk
about the virtues and charms of
the other.
That is why beautiful women
seldom make men happy, .and why
plain women frequently fascinate
and hold.
It is not a peculiarly feminine
trait, this love of hearing oneself
analyzed and made the leading
topic of discussion it i« merely
HUMAN
Might Gain Fiancees.
Men claim to be abo\e it, but in
truth they are delighted to be the
absorbing subject of conversation
when a woman is the converser.
Any girl, however devoid of physi
cal charm, if she possesses refine
ment and tact, can win the'man
she admires if she understands
the art of keeping him entertained
about himself and gives* lirfrn to
understand in a subtle manner
that his characteristics, his aims,
his desires and interests are mat
ters of continual observation and
study to her. The woman who
undertakes such a course of
action must be modest, however,
and in no way thrust herself upon
the man's notice. She mast not
be bold or self-assertive, for these
arc repulsive qualities to a man.
She must simply utilize her op
portunities-and be patient. A man.
on the contrary, can make his op
portunities to see a woman, and
when he uses boldness and self-
assertion in .his* suit she is all the
better pleased, so long as he con
tinues to occupy her time by talk
ing about her. with only occas
ional references to himself and
other people.
Therefore, it is not difficult to
understand how. while an earnest
woman might be slow in succeed
ing in her wish to win and hold
the regard of one man. a busy,
trilling man might accumulate
thirty fiancees with ease and ce
lerity.
Yet. on .he other hand, woman
has more latitude than man for
conversation of this kind. A man
is perfectly willing a woman
should discuss his faults, and de
lights in having her analyze his
sins and weaknesses (before mar
riage». with occasional laudations
of his virtues; whin a woman
limits liiiti to the recounting of
By JOHN TEMPLE GRAVES
the growing of a stronger and
purer race.
The demand for a "Hold up,
there!” can not be long postponed.
The only voice that can utter it
effectively is the voice of the
State.
The talk among ministers about
organization for the purpose of
refusing to perform a wedding
ceremony except on conditions is
practically useless. The Legisla
ture musl impose the necessary^
conditions with proper penalties
attached.
Parents are. perfectly ready to
be protected, but are helpless to
protect themselves. Proper mar
riage laws would educate public
opinion against the matrimonial
speed mania. Jacob could be
trained to wait at lea at three
months for his Rachel, and Rachel
wopld not have to have her Jacob
on a w eek’s acquaintance.
It ought not to be possible for
anybody’s best man to swear suc
cessfully that the bride is 18 years
old because the bridegroom told
him so. The Ordinary is protect
ed by the lie that is sworn to. The
preacher is protected by the cer
tificate of the same lie which has
received fchje seal of the Ordinary.
■Georgia is behind every other
Southern State, except South
Carolina, in the looseness with
which marriage licenses are is
sued and in the practical absence
of any requirements of vital sta
tistics.
June is coming and our hurry-
up system will celebrate itself.
A BUSINESS man who re
fused to spend $100 in or
der to save $1,000 would be
regarded among business men as
miserly and incapable.
The representatives of a rich
nation who would refuse to spend
fifty or sixty million dollars with
in two years to save an expendi
ture of two thousand million dol
lars ought inevitably to be classed
as stupid, miserly and unpatriotic.
The comparision is perfect with
the conditions of to-day.
War with Japan is not only
possible, but it is not improbable
within the present month.
If we have war with Japan the
experts who know and not mereto
the gossips who speculate are a
unit in the belief .that within
a few weeks Japan could easily
capture the Phillipines, the Ha
waiian Islands and the Sandwich
Islands.
Might Land an Army.
It. is also agreed that Japan might
land an army by trasports
through Puget Sound upon Amer
ican soil, make a demonstration
against our beautiful City of
San Francisco and invest the
Panama Canal for bombardment
or surrender.
The value of these island pos
sessions are insignificant as com
pared with the after expense.
This nation could not afford and
certainly would not afford to suf
fer this indignity at the hands of
the Japanese soldiers and sailors.
If it took the last dollar of our
money and the last contingent of
our soldiers the United States
would be compelled to vindicate
its honor and its prestige by re
capturing what Japan shouid win
and fortify against us.
There is not a statistician of
war who does not believe that
this gigantic effort w*ould cost
our country between one thou
sand and two thousand million
dollars.
The records of the Russian -
Japanese war vindicate the belief
that this is not an extravagant
estimate of the cost.
Two thousand million dollars is
a prodigious sum even in the
day of magnificent figures in
money.
These two thousand million
dollars, plainly stated, would rep
resent just exactly what the
stupid, selfish. unpatriotic and
mercenary statesmanship of our
recent Congresses have cost this
country.
Japan Would Be Silent.
There is no escaping the ar
raignment. If the naval programs
which have been presented 'to
Congress within the last ten years
by Men who are paid by the
Government to tell the Govern
ment what is needed for the na
tional defense had been adopted.
as they ought to have been, by
the representatives of the peo
ple there would have been a navy
large enough to make this war,
which is now probable, not only
improbable, but impossible.
Japan would never have voiced
a comparative ultimatum and cer-
tinly never have ventured upon
a war against such a navy as
our programs had required.
The men who have been re
sponsible by their blindness and
parsimony for our debilitated
navy and our unpreparedness in
national defense must inevitably
be held responsible for the record—
responsible for war and its ex
pense and its humiliation.
It is useless and weak for the
men to plead that they did no:
know and could not foresee.
It was their business as states
men. looking beyond the present
moment, to know the probabilities
of the future. Their intelligence
has been appealed to by informa
tion and by argument from ex
perts and veterans so as to, leave
them no excuse save obstinacy
not to have understood arrfl to
have foreseen.
The narrow selfishness of local
and district legislation and the
desire for personal preferment
will always be held as the expla
nation of the unpatriotic and par
simonious policy which has crip
pled our navy and made possible
the humiliation that seems to be
at hand.
The only possible reparation
which these blind and stingy
statesmen can make to the coun
try and to the people is to stand
ready to vote now for prompt and
liberal expenditures for the na
tional defense.
'Pork Barrel” Politics.
They must do more than this.
They must realize that the pres
ent instance, which follows fas*:
upon an incident that occurred,
two years ago, may be and prob-
• ably will be followed by a similar
incident at a near-coming time.
And, whether or not the present
difference with Japan should be
composed or should result in V
prodigiously expensive war. the
representatives of the American
people in Congress can only vin
dicate their stupendous folly and
narrowness of the last decade by
voting in succeeding years for a
naval program which will make
impossible the shameful condi
tions and the frowning menace of
to-day.
Hereafter the American Con
gressman who votes to squander
millions upon the pork barrel and
his own re-election and refuses to
expend the necessary millions for
his country’s peace and its defense
must be branded as incompetent
and treasonable and sent back to
the people who were foolish
enough to send him to Washing
ton.
her charming qualities and to
anxious solicitude ^for her wel
fare.
The only-fault she allows him
to refer to is her ability to break
hearts, or her cruelty to men who
adore her. or her delicate physical
organization. Most lover? talk of
the charms of their sweethearts
during courtship. Few husbands
make .the virtues of their wive? a
topic of conversation in the fam
ily circle—hence the divorce court
is busy.
Few Jo vers are .so.tactless. as to
devote many minute? to lauding
the virtues or charms of other
women to their sweetheart?.
Accuse Wives of Jealousy.
But, many husbands enjoy this
topic of conversation, and accuse
their wives of jealousy if they
seem uninterested.
The successful bigamist surely
would know* better than to pursue
Siich a course: so while better
men have been losing thei» wives
and sweethearts he ha? been win
ning an embarrassment of riches.
Tne wav to win a woman lies
through praire of her.
The wav to lose her through
praise of other women.
T HE Pharisees
dead yet.
Bob and his sister Polly,
in a crowd, walked all the way
home from Sabbath school, a full
quarter of a mile, each with an
arm around the other. While
passing over the little bridge
they kissed with a smack that
was heard above the rippling of
the brook.
Bob atld Polly had not been
home ten minutes when their in
valid mother was heard to shriek.
"If you grown children do not
stop quarreling you will kill me
dead!”
Bob and Polly are Pharisees
and simpletons.
A Baalam on Broadway, or in
Bowery, who. through a mega
phone. proclaims his love for his
mother, is not to be trusted by
her or by any one else. If she
has any sense or decency herself
she will, upon hearing him. pluck
him gently by the sleeve and say,
"Don't do that, my boy! Come
home and whisper it in my ear or
speak It to me with your eyes or
manifest it with some little deed
of kindness or act of courtesy.”
Baalam is a Pharisee and a
fcol!
Schnickman. ar the club loud
ly and repeatedly declared that
his wife was the sweetest, pret
tiest little woman in the world.
He offered to bet $25 that he
loved her better than any other
husband ever loved a wife.
Schniekmai. v*a? cashier - ti»e
ice plant. One night he ab-
By WIGHTMAN F. MELTON
of Emory College. Oxford, Ga.
are not all
sconded with the funds. A week
later his wife and babies disap
peared.
On entering Schnickman’s
house his bondsmen and the of
ficers found a closet full of empty
jugs and bottles. In the dining
room they found a buggy whip
that showed much us’e. Schnick
man kept no horse and was nev
er known to drive one.
Schnickman is a Pharisee and
a villain!
When the old prophet Elijah,
thinking there were none right
eous left on earth, went up on
.Mount Horeb. as he was com
manded. he stood to hear his
Lord's condemnation of a wav-
way world.
Elijah was probably surprised
when God’s wrath was not pro
claimed in the tempest, or in the
earthquake, or in the thunder-
light. »
After these noisy things had
passed by a still small voice in
formed Elijah that there were yet
seven thousand Israelites whose
lips had not kissed Baal.
The Still-Small-Voice was no
* Pharisee.
Mother-love ever expresses it
self "Sweet and low. sweet and
low." like the wind of a Western
sea. while her little one. her pret
ty one. sleeps.
Mother is not a Pharisee.
If ove may get itself expressed
in the odor of a violet or in the
dream of a kiss or in the memory
of a silent sunset.
True lover never blusters.
True love is not loud.