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THE HOME RARER EDITORIAL RAGE The Atlanta Georgian THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY At 20 East Alabama St.. Atlanta, Ga. Entered a* second-class mat t» r at p«»«»toffice at Atlanta, under act of March 3, i* 3 Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier 10 cents a week By mall, 16.00 a year. Payable in Advance. The Pressure (See Dorothy Dix's article in last two columns.) When Women Will Wear Trou sers Instead of Skirts A PROPHECY, Which May Not Come True for Years, but Will Come to Pass Sooner Than Most Readers Expect or Even Suspect. If there Is anything more than another which is absolutely none of a man’s business it is how women dress. That’s HER ' business, and hers alone. A man never makes a bigger fool of himself than when he tries to dictate to a woman how large her hat shall be, or how short or low cut or scant her gown shall be, or how many petticoats she may put on or take off. Women have made their garments and worn them as they wanted to ever since Eve’s time, and no man from Adam down ever had any potential say about it. Not but what men have sputtered and spouted whenever a style has changed. Not but what they have drafted ordinances and passed laws, and thundered from the pulpit, and blundered into print about it. But that was all the good it did. The women followed the j style they chose until they got ready to change it. Man has grumbled—and footed the bills. As it is now so it was in the beginning. The aboriginal cave- woman, hugging a bearskin to her bare skin, was the envy of every other cave-woman who did not possess a bearskin of equal j size and furry warmth, and who consequently told her cave-man J what she thought of him—that HE was a poor provider for HIS family. Whereat the cave man answered, saying: “You women think ! of nothing but Dress. Do you think I have nothing else to do except hunt and skin bears for your adornment? I’m a busy man, killing rabbits to wrap the babies in. My great grand mother used to wear fig leaves which she plucked and sewed herself, and never asked for anything more expensive. Now, shut up and stop bothering me.” For there were savages in those days. There was just as much criticism of hoopsldrts in their day of fashion as of hobble skirts in this. Men inveighed against high heels and tight lacing until sen sible shapes of corsets and shoes came in vogue, then rationally denounced the new styles as hideous. They objected to long skirts because they swept up microbes; j to short skirts because they showed too much; to hobble skirts because they were too close; to split skirts because they were j too open; to silhouette skirts and to harem skirts as inventions 1 of Satan. And if no skirts at all were the style they would still j object. , Nor are a woman’s critics altogether of masculine gender. Her fiercest detractors are of her own sex. These are the reac- j tionaries who oppose progressiveness in styles and charge the inventors with being sirens to lead men astray. The present signs of the times are unmistakable. What women evidently are looking forward to and working up to is ’ STO SKIRTS AT ALL. IT WILL NOT BE LONG BEFORE WOMEN WILL WEAR TROUSERS, NOT OF THE SAME PATTERN AS MEN’S, BUT BIFURCATED GARMENTS TO CLOTHE THE NETHER LIMBS. Probably they will first take the form of knee breeches, with long stockings, and with overskirts or long-skirted coats to be worn by the aged or the old-fashioned, or at times and seasons when more warmth and protection is needed. And who shall say that woman in silken breeches and hose j will not look better, feel better, move with more grace and free- j dom, and yet withal be quite as modest as now? Woman has been unhealthily hampered and weighted with | skirts for thousands of years, particularly so since the dawn of i the Christian era. Skirts were first a badge of vassalage and a device to keep women from running away from their lords and masters. Secondly, they have served to conceal the fact that women walked upon two legs, and so logically become a symbol of virtue, modesty and domesticity. But as the younger generations of our girls have been per mitted more freedom of bodily action, a more liberal education, with less espionage and chaperonage, special costumes have been devised with bloomers for basketball and field sports, or divided skirts for horseback and cycle riding. And with the broader sweep of outlook by the present gen eration seeking freedom and equality under the law, and another generation rising who will account themselves the equal of their brothers in all respects, we must expect to see a freer style of women’s garb. They who insist that women should not have rights of suf frage will no doubt denounce her emancipation from skirts. But if votes for women, why uot trousers, too? The Stream of Life ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ By LILLIAN LAUFERTY. L TXKXOW IXuLY, unmeaningly, still day by day they pass us by— J Those friend* whom we shall never know^eomrade* to whom our spirits cry. A little child may *hyly smile, a gray-halred man may kindly glaqcg; But smiling artill. they pass tha while and life beam on It* puppet dance Perhaps that Ctrl with eyas eea-rray might he a comrade snul to me; That lad of spirit blithe and gay may hold to friendship s shrine the k«y. But still the stream of life flows by — flows by to some uncharted sea; A comrade spirit gr-ets the eye, then sweeps away eternally with laggard step or Joyful feet, at every turn throughout the day We pass, but we may never meet, for still conception holds her sway. Brothers and sisters all, they claim -Perhaps, but 'tis a weary w hile Sicca man has dared, unknowing shams ; I greet his fellows with a smile. V.' Character, Not Riches, Brings Happiness No Poverty of the Purse Can Ever Make You Poor While You Have Love, Sympathy and Kindness in Your Heart. By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX Copyright. IMS, by Rtar Company. rpHB great need of the world I ts to have all classes come Into an Intimate understand ing of one another. The more we can do to refute that old statement that “one-half the world does not know how the other half lives" the better for the race. "Happy as a que^n" Is a phrase often used. Life of Royalty Far From Happy; Ask Those Who Know. But those who know the intimate lives of queens and kings know how far from happy they are. Study their portraits and It will reveal much of the melancholy, the discontent, the selfishness or the dissatisfaction which pervades their minds and marks their fea tures. King Oeorge of England ts doubt less one of the best men, one of the most kindly and unselfish kings who ever sat upon a throne. But he does not look like a real ly happy man; he looks like a man conscious of his great obliga tions, troubled about many things, and under a continual nervous ten sion to keep his duties to the na tion performed. Queen Mary has the same serious expression, and one who reads an account of their doings for a single month wonders how two not over-robust human be ings can endure the constant men tal and physical strain to which they are subjected. When we look upon the outside of palaces and homes of million aires, when we see the occupants whizsing by in motor cars, or when we read of their stnart functions, and Jewels and fine linen, we imag ine they live the life of fairy princes and princesses. But when we some to know the Intimate facts of their lives we realise that happiness Is not a matter of position, or place, or honors, or rank—nor of money. It ts a matter of disposition, of char acter and of habit, of thought. Discontented young working- women often Indulge in bitter re sentment toward the people of wealth and leisure. 1 wish these young folks might, gtudy the faces and hear the con versation of hundreds of women In fashionable homes and at fashion able resorts. Kostlessness, ennui, dissatisfac tion and ingratitude distort many a lovely face and render beautiful costumes but a mockery. I do not mean to say that this is true of all women of wealth. What 1 mean to say is Just this; A* As many people In the humble walks of life, toiling for their dally bread, find enjoyment as In the ranks of wealth and fashion. It is a matter of character and disposition, not of money. One who travels to any extent is sure to arrive at this conclusion. There is, indeed, greater dtssat- isfactlon to be read in the faces of women in a hotel dining room at a seashore or mountain resort than In the faces of women who emerge from shops and factories at 6 o'clock in any of our large cities. Yet the majority of these toll ers regard the woman who can travel and wear fine garments as favored by the gods. Wealth Alone Can Never Give Enjoyment or Happiness. No woman is favored by the gods unless she has cultivated cheerfulness, appreciation, kind ness and good will and sets forth each day determined to be happy and to make happiness for others. Many a working girl could teach her wealthier sister how to enjoy life. In no home of poverty did I ever . see unhappiness so marked on the j faces of an entire family as on I one I saw at a hotel not many 1 moons aso. The mother's eyes were fnll of Jealousy and 111-temper; the fath er’s face was defiant and bitter with disappointment; the son was a dissipated wreck of manhood, the daughter a restless, irritable, fault-finding child of misfortune. Yet there were millions of doh lars being spent yearly for the "enjoyment” of this family. There was no love, nor harmony, no good will, no gratitude to God or man In the hearts of these peo ple. Better a crust of bread and a cup of milk after a day of hard labor, and love In the household and hope In the heart, than euch splendid misery. The poverty of the heart Is the worst poverty on earth. Remem ber that as you toll and pray for wealth. If you can keep your heart rich with love, sympathy and kindness, hope and faith, then whatever you acquire of worldly wealth will In crease your opportunities for en joyment. But wealth alone can never give you enjoyment or happiness, and no poverty of the purse can make you poor while you have these qualities. A good disposition is the only thing worth coveting, and that can be acquired. Dorothy Dix's Article --ON-- How Want Forces a Young Girl from the Clean Heights of Virtue Into the Morass of Vice. By DOROTHY DIX. L OOK at the picture that accom panies this article. It shows the saddest and most tragic sight on earth—that of a young girl being pushed down from the clean heights of virtue Into the morass of sin by want. She Is clutching frantically at every twig of respectability, of effort, of work that will stay her progress, but they are not strong enough to hold the weight put upon them, and they break In her hand, and she goes down, down, down Into the slime of the underworld. This picture Is not tlje flower of an artist's fancy. It is a scene from real life. No Amount of Money Will Turn Any Wanton Into a Prude. Poverty Is the Don Juan who has led more girls astray than all the fascinators combined who have ever existed. As Becky Sharp said, It's easy to be virtuous on five thousand a year. But how about being virtuous on nothing a year when you shiver with the cold in the winter, and perish of the heat In the summer; when your shoes are rags on your feet and your torn frock will not cover you; when your mother coughs with a cough that never ceases, and your little sisters and brothers cry for food and your own stomach feels as If your throat had been cut? The learned commission that probed Into the subject of the minimum wage for women deliv ered Itself of the solemn conclusion that there was no relation between what a girl earned and her going In the straight road, and that virtue wasn't a matter of money, but of high moral principle. It Is true that no amount of money will turn a girl with the soul of a wanton into a prude. We read every day In the papers of millionairesses who tread the prim rose path simply because it is the way of their desire, it Is also true that a girl may keep herself pure In the stress of any temptation, however great Tens of thousands do. Among the unknown and un sung heroines of the world are those women who die of want rather than take plenty that they must buy at the price of dishonor. Once a little vaudeville actress said fiercely to me: ‘‘Don't talk to me about the good women who have always had every comfort and luxury about them. Wbat do they know about goodness? They've never been tested. I have kept myself good—and I’ve been so hungry that the smell of the food In a restaurant as I passed made me sick. I've been cold and hun gry, and I knew I had Just to say one word and a rich man would give me furs and diamonds, and feast me on terrapin and cham pagne. I tell you that it’s only the women, such as I am, who know what it means to be good.” Such women as this one have courage and great strength. They can resist, but what of the others, the girls who are timid and weak, and who have no hope of better ing their condition, no outlook for the future? These girls are not. very clever, they are not very skill ful or efficient, they have never even been taught how to do any one thing well by which to make a living. They work such long hours —and earn so little. They are so poor, they are hungry and shabby, and those at home are hungrier and shabbier still. They axe so young, and they have all of youth’s craving for pleasure. They would like to go straight. They would like to keep good. They would keep as pure and sweet as your daughter and mine If they had the chance, but their poverty Is their undoing. Their need presses them down and down, farther and farther, until It presses so many of them over the brink Into the pit. You think this an exaggeration. Listen: Here Is a letter that I got in this morning's mall. It is from a young girl only seventeen years old. She says that her family Is desperately poor, that her mother Is a widow, so crippled with rheu matism that she can no longer go out to scrub, and that her little brother 1b blind. This makes this girl of seventeen the breadwinner of the family. A man, a fat. elder ly man with a house full of chil dren of his own, not long ago got this girl a position with the firm he works for. Now he demands his pay. The girl writes, "I am a good girl. I Want to go straight. I feel that It will kill me with shame If I don’t, but what am I to do? If I resent this man’s familiarity he will discharge me, and what will become of my mother and my lit tle brother then? It Is so hard to get another place when you lose the one you have. I am afraid we will starve. What shall I do?” That Is a real letter, and I get hundreds of them. Just like that, from girls who are willing to work, who want to make an honest liv ing and go straight if only the world will let them. The Unpardonable Sin Is Not Paying a Woman a Living Wage. Old-fashioned preachers used to find a favorite text In discoursing about the unpardonable sin. though they never agreed upon what It was. I think the unpardonable sin. the one thing that God will never forgive, Is that one which force* a woman to s^jl her soul to keep life In her body. And every one of us commits that sin who does not pay our woman employee* a living wage. Look again at this picture of the girl who Is being forced Into the morass of evil by poverty. Per haps It will open that close fist of yours and make you give some Ill-paid girl In your office or shop the dollar or two extra that will keep her from being driven Into taking the wrong turn of the road. We can’t fight much, you know, on an empty stomach. Least of all. can we fight the tempter. The Greatest Mexican By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY. B enito jtjarez saw the last of earth forty-one years ago. Offhand, perhaps, bnt few peo ple outside of Mexico could speak Intelligently of Juarez, and yet so high an authority as Hubert Howe Bancroft pronounces Juarez “one of the most remarkable men of any age or nation.” A full-hlooded Indian, of the Aztec strain, he came down out of the mountains of Oajaca with a drover while escaping the ill- treatment of an uncle. He eould not speak a word of Spanish, but only his native Aztec tongue. He was a wild waif, less than half clad, with a bronze skin and matted hair, eleven years old. A priest picked him up, washed him, and had him educated for the church. But Juarez preferred the law to theology, and such - as his genius that in due time he be came Chief Justice, then Gov ernor of his native State, and then President of the Republic. For four consecutive terms did he fill the Presidential chair, and filled It so wisely and well that the country was redeemed from chaos and given its first taste of orderly, righteous government. The apparition of Benito Juarez will always remain one of the profoundest psychological phe nomena of history. In the words of Bancroft, “here was a wild In dian, caught and reclaimed while young, though carrying always the imprint of his race in his dusky skin, the high cheekbone, the lank hair and piercing black eye, his intellectual transforma tion resulting in the profound statesmanship which founded the Republic and saved it from inter nal strife and foreign invasion— his story seems a miracle akin to ' the conversion of St. Paul with out the attendant light and di recting voice. 1 * J