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EDITORIAL RAGE The Atlanta Georgian THE HOME RARER
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published by THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 20 East AlabarnH St. Atlanta, (la.
t lflterad as ae^ond-class matter at pom office at Atlanta, ind»*r act cf March 3,1173
ubscrlptlon Price—Delivered by carrier 10 enta a week By mall, 36.00 a year.
Payable in Advance.
The Filipinos Will Welcome
Any Transfer After Harrison
Waste It?
Catch Up Now and Look Out for Spider Webs ot Laziness.
(Copyright. 1913.)
Summer is over. What did it do for you? •
Did you get enough rest to make you WORK better?
Did you use the time of rest to build up strength, health and
character for the work ahead?
Outside of your vacation, were you one of those sensible
enough to work and keep hard at it while others were doing
nothing—although they might be pretending to work?
Are you going to try now, no matter what has happened in
the past, to catch up with those that are ahead? Are you de
termined to get started and keep going?
It is fair weather and sunshiny now- But soon the wipd
win be cold and it will be snowing.
Life is young now, everything seems easy—but soon old age
will come and the wind of anxiety will be cold AND IT WILL
BE SNOWING
Look out for idleness and its effects
Look out for the habit so easily formed, so hard to lose
Every lasy animal that has lived on this earth is hidden
away in your body, inherited by you during past thousands of
centuries.
The sloth hanging head downward is in you. The turtle
sunning himself on the log is your ancestor, spiritual if not
physical.
Even the fearful spider, feigning to sleep, but so wakeful in
his web, is your direct ancestor, according to the scientists.
AH the animals that have spent their lives on this earth, rest
ing in the sun, idling, working only when they MUST, are repre
sented in you.
Your brain has got to fight all of these animal influences.
Your hope is the will power, the capacity for thought, which has
caused the topmost joint in man’s backbone to swell out into the
skull in which man’s brain thinks and rules the world.
How much time do you spend thinking about others, adnur
mg what they do or watching what they do?
How often do you think about yourself, and question your
sell, AND CRITICISE YOURSELF, as we all ought to do?
Have you let the spider web spread over you during the
summer, when everything seemed so easy and comfortable?
If you have. BREAK it and get to work You can do it now,
yon won't do it later.
Don t wait for January first to find yon looking back mourn
fully and making the usual solemn resolutions that will be for
gotten before Washington's Birthday. Gel out of the web and
work There are still plenty of changes fcAvorkera.
Look Out for That Spider Idleness
In every quality necessary to the administration of the af
fairs of the eight million upward struggling Filipinos, Francis
Burton Harrison is conspicuously and superlatively lacking.
Yet by grace of a President whose duty it is to aid these simple
people in their plodding progress out of savagery, Francis Bur
ton Harrison has been made Governor General of the Philip
pines.
What Wilson reason there can be for this astonishing ap
pointment can only be conjectured by the multitude whose hearts
will go out in pity to the childlike inhabitants of our insular pos
sessions.
Pressed on all sides by exploiting promoters, the Filipinos
sorely need protection. Harrison is as little fitted to protect
them as a child is fitted to protect a huddling flock of sheep
against the onslaught of a pack of ravening wolves.
Struggling toward citizenship they need the guidance of
one well schooled in the art of government. What murky ideas
of government flit through the Harrison mind were gleaned from
the teachings of Charles Francis Murphy, of New York City—
who holds that government should be by, for and of the corpora
tions most zealous in contributions to the Tammany chest.
In the fight for standards of civilization the islanders need
an example. Harrison supplies only an example of the organiza
tion tool, too subservient to be a distinct leader, too futile to be
permitted in municipal office, too vacant to be granted any or
ganization favor save a seat in Congress bought by a campaign
contribution.
Opportunities knocked often at the Harrison Congressional
door. The only one he welcomed in was the opportunity to con
tinue a nonenity. The positions were flung to him as pay for
the one service he knew how to render—abject obedience. To
these positions he brought neither industry nor ability, and they
atrophied under his listless hand.
The one conspicuous achievement attributed to him—bolt
ing his party and helping Uncle Joe” Cannon masthead the re
actionary flag over the House of Representatives—was not Har
rison’s achievement at all, but Murphy’s, for Murphy gave the
order that sent Harrison hurrying to Cannon’s help.
Harrison's single adventure in celebrity was getting hnn
self barred from the White House at a time when his constituents
could profit most through White House favor.
Such a man, whose equal in unfitness for the task he has
been set could scarcely be found in public life, has been intrusted
with the destinies, the fortunes and the lives of eight million de
pendent human beings.
Why?
Is it because Harrison, by reason of seniority, stands between
Wilson’s friend Mitchell Palmer and the House leadership, soon
to be relinquished by Underwood ?
Or is it part of a Wilson Bryan plan to hand the Philippines
over to the Japanese and make any sort of a transfer welcome to
the Filipinos?
Summer Is Over. Did You
Fewer Marriages Because People Think
Cold Logic Has Displaced Sentiment and the Mating Instinct-Intel
ligent Persons Now Glance Into the Future.
By DOROTHY DIX
X rKW YORK CONSERVATION
COMMISSIONER E. E. RiT
TENHOUSE asks: "Why
are there more than seventeen mil
lion unmarried men and women in
the United States?"
"Never,” he says, haa a nation
been so prosperous or so within
reach of the comforts and luxuries
of life. Yet people do not marry.
There Is something wrong. What
is It?"
There are many reasons why
people do not marry. One Is the
high cost of living, for while the
nation is undoubtedly prosperous,
the golden stream doesn't wash by
every man’s door to an extent that
enables him to support a family in
any decent comfort
The main reason, however, that
there has been what Mr. VVegg
called a decline and fall oft In mat
rimony Is because people have be
gun to use their heads Instead of
their hearts In deciding the matter.
Cold logic has superseded the mat
ing Instinct In dealing with the
problem.
Men and Women Wed
Formerly Merely as a
Matter of Sentiment.
In former times men and women
married simply because they were
attracted to some member of the
opposite sex Whether they could
feed or clothe a family, or whether
they were likely to bequeath some
terrible Inheritance to their off
spring, did not enter Into their cal-
relation. They went It hllnd, wlth-
cur regard to consequence, to
ihemselves or any one else. Now
Intelligent men ami women cons.ti
er before marriage whether they
have a right to marry and bring
Into the world deformed and dis
eased children, or children that
they will have to sell Into child
slavery because of poverty.
Also men and women are becom
ing afraid to marry. They see that
nine-tenths of the marriages in the
world are failures, so far as bring
ing any happ'lness to either hus
band or wife, and so they decide
that Btngle blessedness is better
than double wretchedness.
Only a few days ago a brilliant
young physician, who has already
achieved success, said to me that
nothing on earth, after what he
had seen of matrimonial misery
through the practice of his profes
sion, could ever induce him to
marry, He recognized that the
ideal marriage was the happiest lot
on earth, but the chances against
it were too great. He was play
ing no hundred-to-one shot at hap
piness.
And the same theory holds good
at the other end of the social line.
The other day a large manufac
turer sent me a letter that was as
curious and interesting a human
document as were the letters of
Grace Brown. This letter had been
written by a little untaught mill
girl, who whs only seventeen,.but
who. In some strange way, had
fathomed the depths of the philoso
phy of modern life. It was written
to her sweetheart, breaking off her
engagement to him, and It fell Into
the manufacturer's hands through
on* of his itenograpff-'rs having
written it for the girl on the type
writer, and a carbon copy of It
having been left lying about.
The letter In part is as follows:
1 have wanted to tell you that I
can not marry you, and you know
the reason. I hope you will not
think hard of me, and will under
stand why under the circumstances
I must refuse. We both have our
living to make, and you know we
could not get along on what you
make now, the way living expenses
are. It was different when our
fathers and mothers married: peo
ple then were satisfied with less,
and there were not so many things
to see. and go to, and to buy.
“I know you think you could do
without some things, and I believe
you would try, but after a little
while you would begin to wonder
if you are getting enough to make
up for what you had given up. You
know our friends are not all mar
ried, and they would still be able
to go and do things when we
could not. You and I would still
be young folks, although we were
married, and I think we would both
feel bad when we saw the good
times our single friends were hav
ing, and which we used to have,
and could not have any more. Why
can not we still be good friends
and sweethearts, and wait until
you can get Into some little busi
ness where I could help, and we
would have more to work on?
"I am writing this to you so you
can not Interrupt me until T am
through. 1 know you love me. and
It is nice to be loved, and I think
you know 1 love you, but can
Very Pleasant is Leisure and Ease, until THE HABIT is Formed. A very light Web at first, it gets
Heavier. (See editorial.)
not many now. It would make us
both miserable.’’
In this letter you have the rea
son why most of the seventeen
million men and women in this
country who are unmarried don't
marry. They love. They would
like to marry, but they have faced
the fact that It takes bread and
butter as well as sentiment to keep
a house going.
The girl at work can make a
decent living for herself. The man
at work can make a decent living
for himself, but the man doesn’t
make enough to make a decent
living for the girl and himself both,
and the children that they may
have. So they stay single.
Increase in Number of
Bachelors and Spin
sters Explained.
Also the standard of living has
been raised. As the little mill girl
says, “When our fathers and
mothers married people were satis
fied with less, and there were not
so many things to see and go to
and to buy.” It’s folly to ignore
this, ami to talk about going back
to the simple life. We can’t do It.
We can't go back to tallow dips
after electric light, or ride on a
stage coach after we are used to
steam cars. It’s unromantic, but
true, that It’s easier to do without
a husband or wife than it Is to do
without the comforts to which we
are accustomed.
All of which makes it rough for
Cupid, but It explains the ever-
increasing number of old maids j
and old bachelors, ^
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Writes on
Motherhood
The Duty of a Wife to Her Un
bom Children Is Clear-Cut—
Maternity Should Be the Iloh
Thing It Is Meant to Be.
Written for The Atlanta Georgian
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(Copyr'ght, 1918.)
THE UNWED MOTHER TO THE WIFE
T HAI) been almost happy for an hour,
Lost to the world that knew me In the park
Among strange faces; while my little girl
Leaped with the squirrels, chirruped with the birds
And with the sunlight glowed. She was so dear.
So beautiful, so sweet; and for the time
The rose of love, shorn of its thorn of shame.
Bloomed In my heart. Then suddenly you passed
I sat alone on the public bench j
You with your lawful husband rode In state;
And when your eyes fell on me, and my child,
They were not eyes, but daggers, poison tipped.
God! how good women slaughter with a look j
And like cold steel, your glance cut through my heart-
struck every petal from the rose of love
And left the ragged stalk alive with thorn*,
My little one came running to my side
And called me Mother. It was like a blow
Between the eyes; and made me sick with pata.
And then It seemed as if each bird and breeze
Took up the word, and changed its syllable*
From Mother Into Magdalene; and cried
My shame to all the world.
' ’>*
It was your eyes
Which did all this. But listen now to tas
(Not you alone, but all the barren wives
Who, like you, flaunt their virtue In the face
Of fallen women): I do chance to know
The crimes you think are hidden from all men
(Save one who took your gold, and sold his skill
And Jeopardized his name for your base ends).
I know how you have sunk your soul In sense
Like any wanton; and refused to bear
The harvest of your pleasure planted seed;
I know how you have crushed the tender bud.
Which held a soul; how you have blighted it:
And made the holy miracle of birth
A wicked travesty of God’s design;
Yea, many buds, which might be blossoms now
And beautify your selfish, arid life,
Have you destroyed because you choose to keep
The aimless freedom and the purposeless
Self seeking liberty of childless wives.
I was an untaught girL By nature led.
By love and passion blinded, I became
An unwed mother. You, an honored wife
Refuse the crown of motherhood; defy
The laws of nature; and fling baby souls
Back In the face of God. And yet you dare
Call me a sinner, and yourself a saint;
And all the world smiles on you and Its doors
Swing wide at your approach. I stand outside.
Surely there must be higher courts than earth.
Where you and I wtll some day meet and be
Weighed by a larger Justice)
A'
FTER discussing "The Un
wed Mother to the Wife,”
poem in. the August Cos
mopolitan, the girls In the office
have decided to ask whether
you would be so kind as to ad
vise us, through The Georgian,
whom you consider the greater
sinner, and why? I consider the
wife the greater sinner, but the
girls do not agree with me. They
seem to think when a woman Is
legally married she has the right
to accept or refuse God’s most
wonderful blessing—children. We
would all appreciate a little ar
ticle on this eubject
Thanking you very kindly in
advance, I an,
One of your many girl-friend
readers,
BESSIE HERMANNS.
The poem quoted above, from
the August Cosmopolitan Maga
zine. Is In Itself an answer to this
query.
A woman who is legally mar
ried has no right to destroy her
unborn child. She has the right
to refuse motherhood if she Is
conscious that her children
would be liable to inherit vicious
or diseased tendencies. That is,
she has the right to decide she
will not plant a harvest of tares.
But once the germ of life is
planted, that moment she has In
vited an immortal soul to come
into being, and take on mortal
form; and if she prevents its
reaching maturity she does a
criminal act.
Girl Who Has Erred Is
To Be Pitied by All
Humanity.
The girl who through lack of
right training and right knowl
edge, or who through loving un
wisely, becomes a mother with
out marriage ties, is to be pitied;
she has brought sorrow on her
self and oil her child for life. But
she Is far less of a sinner thai
the mature woman, who In th<
shelter of a home, and with thi
full sanction of church and so
ciety to be a mother, deliberate
I.V destroys her unborn child, li
order to escape the trouble an/
expense of maternity.
The girl’s sin is the sin ®i
weak human nature; the worn
an sins against ’ nature ami
against God’s divine lass
Motherhood, to be the holy ani
happy thing it is meant to be-
the greatest privilege gl-ren to
woman—-needs the blessing oi
law and love.
Society Condoning th<
Act Doesn’t. Lessen
the Crime,
But marriage iiws,
they protect a wife from the oca»
demnation of society, can neve
make abortion anything less that
a crime.
Wouqen criminals of this ordes
are to be found In every church
and In high soda] circles; and
they ere accepted and their eon
duct Is overlooked because they
are married.
Bqt that does not lessen ttx
crime. Their acts are deliberate
and premeditated and done
through selfishness and a desire
to escape the responsibility ol
motherhood.
The erring girl’s fall is unpre
meditated, and usually the result
of lack of proper training at
home; proper maternal teach
ing; for no girl who Is the close
companion and intimate friend
of a wise, loving, sympathetic
mother, ever goes wrong.
Read your New Testament anc
see how of all sinners mentioned
Christ gave the deepest compas
sion to the fallen woman. And
then look about yon and try t«-
flud one of His true dtadplaa