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A "• EDITORIAL RAGE 1'he Atlanta Georgian THE HOME RARER THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Entersd a: Suhscrlpth lbllshed Kverv Afternoon Except Sunday B\ THE li'KoKUIAN CoMI'ANY At jo East Alabama St.. Atlanta. Ga ■ 1111.t i .tuftlcn at Atlcnta. under act of March 3.U<3 ,eUv, ,Hi h*carrlir 3 ?enu u week. By mall, 15.00 a year Payable In Advance. The Stalwart Senate Should Stand by Our American Merchant Marine Big Business Men And Despotic Power The United States Senate fronts an opportunity and a duty in dealing with our merchant marine. Public attention is rapidly focusing upon American mari time conditions, and it is high time that it did. The favor with which the readoption of the early American discriminatory maritime policy is regarded by the thoughtful press and by influential Americans who are indifferent to foreign protests and threats is additionally reassuring. Even more important, the people are realizing that an Amer i- can deep sea shipping will form an urgently needed and entirely lacking secondary reserve for our navy. Mr. Underwood's mere insertion of the thin edge of the wedge of discriminatory duties in his tariff bill has served to arouse both national and international interest. Public indorsement of the policy is so strong that the stal wart Senate should promptly DRIVE IN THIS WEDGE. It will separate the United States from its trade agreements and con ventions with other nations whose people know that the American navy will remain weak so long as it lacks the resource of a strong American shipping with officers and men. , The House tariff bill only provides a discount of 5 per cent of the duty on imports in vessels of American register. It ap plies to less than half our imports—only to those that are duti able. It applies to only 10 per cent of our imports from South America, the other 90 per cent being duty free. That discount will not suffice to attract American capital into oversea shipping with the new duties so low. The pending provision would give foreign yards the building of all the ships its enactment would bring under American register. And finally there are conflicting opinions as to whether or not the withdrawal of the United States from trade conventions and agreements that now estop it from applying the policy is as suredly provided for. THE SENATE MUST REMEDY EACH OF THESE DE FECTS AND OBSCURITIES. We must have a whole hearted and not a half-hearted readoption and enforcement of the policy that gave American ships the carriage of 80 per cent of our im ports and exports during all of the more than sixty years it was previously in force. There is an overwhelming American demand for the repeal of all restraining conventions and suspensory laws that per petuate our present maritime importance. The need of the Nation, the need of our Navy, and the need of our foreign commerce alike demand it. The Senate must infuse vigor and vim into this section of the House bill, so that its enforcement will fill every American shipyard with orders for oversea ships that will reassert Ameri can maritime independence and carry the American flag over all the seven seas to the business ports of the civilized world. H t Judge Gary is the working head of the greatest industrial corporation in America—the United States Steel Corpora tion. He is especially notable among the big business men of the country because he believes and has constantly declared during the last few years that the great interstate business concerns that now control most of the output of the necessaries of life MUST CEASE TO BE ARBITRARY AND DESPOTIC IN THE USE OF THIS POWER AND MUST SUBMIT THEM SELVES TO PUBLIC AUTHORITY. Speaking to an organization of his business associates last week, Judge Gary remarked: "The President of the United States recently said that honest business need not be afraid. Well, let us be honest. Let us take him at his word; let us as sume that he means exactly what he says." The Georgian takes ‘occasion to say that SOMETHING MORE THAN WHAT COMMONLY GOES BY THE NAME OF "HONESTY ' IS NOW REQUIRED OF THE INDUSTRIAL LEADERS OF THE UNITED STATES. What is required is that big business men shall have the high intelligence TO HATE THEIR OWN ARBITRARY POWER OVER THE INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTRY. It is time that these men should come to understand that it is absolutely impossible for the republic to submit to irre sponsible power of any kind. IF THlj REPUBLIC IS TO EN DURE. THE ECONOMIC DESPOTS CANNOT STAND. The principle that all power over the essentials of life must be in the hands of men accountable to the people is the principle upon which the political and legal systems of the United States are founded. This is no fine-spun theory. It is a part of the everyday consciousness of the American man. It follows from this principle that whenever any man in America is seen by the people to be exercising a selfish and unregulated power over the people's lives, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE TO REGARD HIM OTHERWISE THAN AS A PUBLIC ENEMY. The people are patient with private monopolies only so long as there is a reasonable doubt whether they really are private monopolies. But as soon as it becomes perfectly plain that cer tain men are levying private taxes upon the people, the people cannot and will not any longer have patience with such men. Judge Gary has pointed out the right road for corporate managers who are suspected and who suspect themselves of be ing monopolists. Many months ago he told a committee of Con gress that the industrial trusts must be controlled by the Gov ernment—even to the legal limitation of dividends and of com- moaity prices. lr short. Judge Gary is the one corporation man ager in the country whose intelligence has been absolutely clear on the point that no monopoly can endure in a republic—EX CEPT A PUBLIC MONOPOLY In quoting the words of President Wilson last week. Judge Gary spoke truly enough—but feebly. He has often spoken bet ter from other texts. It is not by mere scrupulosity, not by mere freedom from rascality, that big business men are to set themselves right before the country or to set the country right in the light of its demo- critic tradition THE COUNTRY EXPECTS TO SEE AN UPRISING OF BIG BUSINESS MEN. WHO ARE AMERICANS MORE THAN THEY ARE MONOPOLISTS—WHO HATE ARBITRARY AND ..DESPOTIC POWER AND ARE DETERMINED TO PUT IT )OWN> A Touch of Sun By HAL COFFMAN. • o r ^jj- MINNIE ~ D' Yfl SEE WEDDlN’ R.INC5-S Xfl Like IN DLRE 7. J / Ik The spring- a Youh<S EANCY ON DE LE.VE.i- L^DY DATS So pounds SET ooT I'LL SIC FIDO OH YOU 11' ,v ^ S' c_ SflMC £>Lb SToMINlSR_ ARGUMENTS c % ••• ^ -7- i\ The. sTarT of Pi (SRE-AT SUMMER- SPORT r r ffp i^. XT'S That Summer. Suit ‘That's Been ck.ro ^waY in moth Balls tH v n- ; o /htmA<!sr~ Demurrer Overruled By FERA. WE ' ^ NOT / \JJA\T ANT) SEE WHAT PA Think S ABOUT IT, ANY SUCH-A TNiNq’ I SAY Yoo CAN'T KEEP him! 6- I: »; JL tuuuuum. Rev. John E. White Writes on The Biggest Politics ft ft Three Great Races—the Teu ton, Slav and Mongolian— Are Lined Up on the Map of the World, and the American People Are at a Perilous Point About It. WRITTEN FOR THE GEORGIAN By REV. DR. JOHN E. WHITE Pag tor Second Baptist Church I T was stated that Dr. John Bas sett Moore had been brought into President Wilton's admin istration with no reference what ever to politics. That was a very great mistake. Dr. John Bassett Moore is First Assistant Secretary of State pre cisely because he is such a poli tician— the broadest, biggest, world - wideiiest politician at Washington. The sort of politics that absorbs Professor Moore's attention is not as scrappy as the race for Con stable in a small town, but for variety, strategy and ominous ness it is the big game of the world. It has been Professor Moore's life work to study the vaster forces of the human movement called civilization. He is the as tronomer of the Democratic ad ministration. With his telescope sweeping immense political areas, he locates the points of disturb ance in the field of civilization and tells his superiors what to do about it. He keeps a wise eye on the great mass formations in the scrimmage of nations and races. He has a man's job ali right. The Big Line-Up. At this moment three great races—tbe Teuton, Slav and Mon golian—are lined up on the map of Europe and Asia. They are looking each other in the eyes and each is confident of its ultimate ascendency. This is politics more than continental or international. It is the biggest, deepest, most tttanip situation of human competition the mind of man ever contemplated The smaller questions occupy ing the foreground of public inter est are bagatelles compared with the issue presented by racial ambi tion. Such immense energies are involved that to think of them as let loose upon each other ap pals the imagination. Outside university cloisters, from which Dr. John Bassett Moore has emerged, few people have dared to entertain the prob lem of collision on so colossal a scale. Within each of these great race masses we are told that In stinctive tendencies are not con trolling thi point of view’ of di plomacy. and these tendencies have become manifestly eontri- petal. The family disputes within each of the race groups are to grow less and less frequent under the resistless pressures of race uni ties. Quarrels between England and Germany, for instance, or between Russia and the smaller Slav States, are decreaslngly ca pable of serious consequences. The get-together race move ment is dominating the motive tn world politics and the indications are that the Mongolian race will be the first to arrive at the goal of solidarity in a political game. The Japanese Imbroglio. Here is uncovered the back ground which renders American complications with Japan at the present time a subject of intense solicitude all over the world. The London Times is not given to groundless slarm and Us For eign Editor. Sir Valentine Chlrot, has just sounded a solemn note on the subject: “The ultimate point of dispute.” he says, ''does not affect the United States alone, still less Cal ifornia. It is a world question essentially. Fears of the inhabi tants of the Pacific slope may be premature, but they are not en tirely groundless. They spring from the instinct of self-preser vation and if the present minor dispute Is composed they will as suredly recur.” Commenting editorially on the situation. The Times says that: ' However it may be settled now. the issue will have to receive the earnest attention of the W’hite races in times to come." The American people have heretofore occupied a superior at titude toward this “big politics’' and has kept away from it, but fate seems now about to thrust upon us the necessity of putting out our hand toward it. It is impossible to exaggerate the consequences which depend upon the hand we put out. If it is a fist we may as well get ready to tax ourselves, our children and children’s children with the cost. There will be the price of trouble enough to last a hundred years. Putting Our, Fist In. The expense of warships and army equipment Is an insignifi cant item In the reckoning. The losses in markets affecting Amer ican labor and capital, and par ticularly the cotton trade through a long period wmuld be stagger ing. But the really great sacrifice that a gladiatorial attitude oar part in the problem of big poli tics would exact of us would be the surrender of the moral su premacy in relation to these things which the founders of the American republic committed to us and which the historians have cheerfully accorded. Is it not our better destiny to play the part of a big, fearless, chivalric brother with courage, firmness and wisdom, and with fairness and patience, than to seek the role of the “Big Fist,” or the "Big Stick” with the com monplace distinction which his tory has committed to ali its boastful and selfish peoples? Letters From The Georgian's Readers FREE SCHOOL BOOKS. Editor The Georgian: The Constitution of Georgia pro vides for free public schools and provides a school fund for the sup port of such schools. The Consti tution further provides for local tax ation for public schools. T hope thai the Legislature will pares a law authorizing the State School Commissioner or some other public authority to purchase for the use of the public schools of the State all school books necessary for the children attending the schools. This law would result in the sav ing of thousands of dollars annual ly to the people of Georgia. 1 do not think the State itself should embark in the publication of free school books, but I am sin cerely of the opinion that the State and towns and cities should furnish free school books. A few of the reasons for my opin ion are as follows: 1 The child of the poor man has the same chance to obtain an edu cation as the child of the rich or well-to-do man. •>. The “thorough system of com mon schools” provided for by the Constitution of Georgia is thus made in fact a “thorough sysTem' because to the free school house and free fuition is added free school books. ?. The work of the school can be begun without delay when school books are furnished at public ex pense and thus become effective from the beginning of the school term. . . , 4. Uniformity in the use of school books throughout the State is thus secured —although under the Georgia adoption law uniformity is already obtained in the County schools. n The common schools, estab lished for the education of the com mon people, are made popular and attendance is encouiaged and pro longed , ... « The school books are public property and through the use of %jiem respect for public property may be. taught. Xb • following fctates have lawa providing for free school books for the public schools: Maine, New Hampshire. Vermont, Massachu setts. Rhode Island, Pennsylvania. Nebraska, Maryland, Wyoming and Utah. SHEPARD BRYAN. ■ Former Member Atlanta Board of Education WHY IS A FIRETRAP? Editor The Georgian; The Georgian quoted Professor Sla ton, superintendent of Atlanta pub lic schools, the other day aa saying. “The Atlanta schools are flretrape The flretrap may be avoided by insisting that the architect observe the following simple rules: Every school house of more than one story should have at least two stairways, located at extreme opposite ends of the building, so that should Are break out at, say, the east end, and block that exit, the west end stair way would be the last part of the building to bum. The stairs should not be located Id the main corridors, where they would form a trap in case of panic, but in separate stairway halla, raaais; out at right angles to the main cor ridors. They should land in imme diate proximity to the exits, so the pupil will not have to run through the building looking for a way out They should be 4*£ feet wide, and have small round hand rails on both sides. The main corridors leading to exits should be entirely free from ob struction of all kinds. The corri dors should give free and unob structed passage directly to exit doors that open outward at a slight push from inside. Have all the steps that lead to the first floor on the outside of the building, so that If, in a rush to get out. a child fall* ©r is thrown down he will be on the outside, where he ran be rescued Have no inside vestibule steps. Locate heating plant near the cen ter of the building, in an absolutely fireproof room, with entrance from outside the building only. CHARL.ES V. CARLTON.