Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

EDITORIAL PAGE The Atlanta Georgian THE HOME PARER THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Publish*! by THE GEORGIAN COMPANY At 20 East Alabama St Atlanta, Oa Entered as snronrt-r;«M matter at Dostofflce at Atlanta, under act r>f March A 11 1 HCAKST'K M'NI’AY AMF.RICAN and THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN will be mallei t subscribers anywhere In the United State- '’Rnada an«l Mexico, ont month for $ *0. three months for 11.76, change of addres made a* often a* desired Foreign subscription rates on application The Mayor's Appeal for a Quiet Christmas Should Be In- dorsed hy All. The Georgian cordially and sincerely commends the sugges tion of the Mayor that the various locker clubs of Atlanta close on Christmas Day. It is both a pleasure and a satisfaction to know, too, that the disposition of the club managements, apparently, is to accept the Mayor’s suggestion in entire good faith, and to act favorably upon it. ATLANTA CAN WELL AFFORD NOT TO HAVE OPEN IN ITS MIDST ONE LOCKER CLUB OR NEAR BEER SA LOON ON CHRIST’S BIRTHDAY. There once prevailed an idea throughout this country that Christmas was a time for rowdyism and questionable merrymak ing. It is difficult to account for the origin of that idea; but, be that as it may, it has been exploded completely and no longer is accepted as worthy. Decent people generally have ceased even to tolerate dese crations of Christmas. Everywhere in the nation, now, Christmas is sought to be fashioned along lines of sanity and safety. Christmas is pre eminently the season of peace on earth and good will toward men—a time of happiness and joy, yes, but a time of licentiousness and looseness, no! The best place of all places to spend Christmas is at HOME —about the family fireside, within hearing distance of the laughter of the little ones—a glad and willing participant in their innocent and wholesome pleasures. Locker clubs are better closed on Christmas Day—and mem bers thereof, nine times in ten, are much better off somewhere else than where they are operated. The Mayor's suggestion that the locker clubs be closed on Christmas is proper and timely. To close them—ALL OF THEM—certainly will make for “a merry Christinas,” in the best sense of the words! Warning to Combinations! Do Not Benefit the Public! President Wilson congratulates his Attorney General upon the successful dissolution of a combination which was not in re straint of trade, but FOR THE BENEFIT OF TRADE! The Telephone Trust has been ordered to separate itself ut terly from the Western Union Telegraph Company. The Tele phone Company has agreed to obey the order. An arrangement by which millions of citizens got better and cheaper telephone and telegraph service has thus been sternly terminated by a firm executive hand. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company has been informed that it must relinquish its less than 30 per cent interest in the Telegraph Company, and forthwith cease a co-operation that has put thousands of dollars into the pockets of the public, added immeasurably to public convenience, invented the ‘ day letter” and the “night-letter,” and REDUCED rates both by cable and land lines. No wonder an approving President pats a complacent At torney General on the back I A blow has been struck that will teach corporations that no such combination or co-operation can be tolerated by the government, whether it is beneficial to the public or not. Apparently because this particular combination happened to prove beneficent, it has been sundered. The extraordinary ability of the telephone company’s officials galvanized a deca dent telegraph service into life and energy. The stock did not go up. It went down. Six million dollars was added to the ex penses, and profits actually declined more than $200,000. Forty thousand miles of new wires were strung in one year. The num ber of offices were increased by 1,000. And by the day and night letters, and deferred rates on cables, the cost of telegraphing was vastly decreased. Incidentally it was made possible for the sender to use his telephone as a local telegraph station and dis patch messages direct from his fireside. That must have constituted the crime. Quick of decision, the watchful and waiting Attorney Gen eral determined that the telephone and telegraph companies should be separated. What mattered it that but 24 hours before the Postmaster General had earnestly recommended that they be actually consolidated for the public good and put under govern mer.t control, as a natural monopoly? What has Attorney General McReynolds to do with Post master General Burleson? Nothing! Let the companies dissolve, he decreed and the companies, nothing loath, agreed to dissolve. A decree has been prepared for presentation to the court this very day. Thus a combination, NOT IN RESTAINT OF TRADE, hut made to give cheaper and better service in order to extend trade, will be destroyed. The price of stock will rise. The price of service will rise. The people, already smarting under a tariff without reciprocity, will pay the price. But the administration rests supremely happy. It has achieved a triumph. And the superlative genius of an Attorney General who could at one stroke please big business and make little business pay the piper is smugly receiving congratulations from a delighted President 1 ♦ < It’s Nearly Christmas i i i wen. I <suess You vjont- TwfeY 'Re Too f pool You WOULDN'T WANT HiM To «row / , UP AMP B6. A ‘ Mou-Y coddle. qg \ would Yov :* sutss i'll 6*t ike. boy AN (VoN pop OWttSTrtAS &e5iD€5 - 6V6RY ^nfcfclCAH e>oY Smould KNOW HOW To SHOOT WHY WHftN 1 WAS HIS I HAD A REAL SHOT GUN f whaT Dih You \ SAY You WERE* OOINC- To \<S6T him ? A HOBBY HoRSE- DIDN’T You Toe. FIRST !! How to Restore Our Merchant Marine By Lewis Nixon O UR merchant marine, knee adequate, efficient and prosperous, now languishes. Many proposals have been rqade by political parties for Its rehabil itation. Usually they have not been en acted into law, and even when weak attempts are made the tre mendous foreign Influence acting upon public opinion here secures their nullification by executive action. Thus under the Dlngley act and the Underwood act we have such nullification by the Hoard of General Appraisers In the one case and by an opinion of the Attorney General in the other. If one hss given a lifetime to the study of a problem and has formed definite opinions based upon facts, such a one would be lacking In public spirit if he did hot speak out without mincing words in regard to a subject so vital to the present and future of his count?} Hence, In the five articles to follow this I shall en deavor to explain how we built tip a merchant marine, how it was destroyed and how measures looking to its revival are cir cumvented. • • • Time for Searchlight. Mmiw foul and unfair have been used against us. Perhaps agreeing with Madame de Stael that “patriotism of nations ought to be selfish.” we need not blame foreign statesmen who do what thev can to grasp at a greater share of ocean carriage at our expense. But when we- find so- called statesmen here at home voting and working against our marine it is time tha f the search light of public interest he turned pitilessly in their direction. Ambition should not. be achiev ed through the hauling down of our flag on the ocean, and men who inspire legislation hurtful to their country under the guise of efforts in behalf of badly-treated elements of our cltiaens should be made to prove their caae. and such proof does not lie in reciting from the pages of blood and thun der novels details of ill-treat ment only to be found in the fertile imagination of a Jack London. : The Foreign Ally. Up to the time we began work on the Panama Canal the influ ence of foreign nations upon our legislation was sufficient to block all really halpful measures. Now, however, the foreigner has an ally. Need we look very far to find the Interests that wish to discourage American ship owning that through the preference given canal dues may carry by water much that has heretofore been carried by land We shall review' the attacks on the canal bill, the Insincere and misleading interpretation given the Hay-Pauncefote treaty hy those knowing betfer, the forcing of a free ship provision into such bill, the opposition to the 5 per cent discrimination in the Under wood bill, the vicious and hurtful ' LaFollette bill. Senate Bill No. 136. and even the new measure ment rules for tonnage When 0 measure is helpful we find our public men speaking with bated breath of some musty treaty as something too sacred to be brought to light, but w'hose imagined provisions. Grand Lama like, must be regarded. However, when legislation hurtful to the American marine—or had we not better say destructive—is pro posed. ample votes are ready to approve it, even though it vio late treaty and convention. * * * The Duty of Congress. Our Congressmen represent our people, and if they are what they should be they should have the courage of their convictions If men believe that the flying of the American flag afloat should be discouraged, let them say openly that It la better the railroads should carry certain merchandise than ships. The Democratic party is pledged to constitutional regu lation of commerce, and in my next article l shall explain what appears to me to be the meaning of such regulation, and why Con gress is in duty bound to enact it, regardless of parjty. My proudest legacy to hand down to my son is that I have built and launched over one hun dred vessels for use in war and commerce. But for over six years I have built no vessels. While my being Interested in shipbuild ing, that master craft which draws upon every calling, pro fession and trade, should in no way detract from the strength of fair discussion, in which I have never avoided any issue. • • • Lifetime Lessons. I wish to say that ns I am build ing no vessels now, there is in what I write or say only a pa triotic hense of duty in presenting the lessons of a lifetime as best I can. I feel that a certain meas ure of public service should be given by every one. and I have been afforded unusual opportuni ties to study this problem at home and abroad and enjoyed the inti mate friendship of such men as William H. Webb, John Roach, Charles H Cramp and W. W. Bates. Senator Frye came up to me at th^ end of a talk I had been giv ing and strongly indorsed all I had said, adding: “Years ago I was Just as enthusiastic as you, but my efforts seemed to make about as much impression against the always vigilant opposition as putting my finger into the water and pulling it out would make upon the ocean.” Yet Senator Frye tried to fol low that platform declaration of his party, and he tried to amend tariff bills to give us real dis crimination in favor of American ships and was voted down. * * * May Hit the Trail. Some day we may And out why th^ Elkins bill, w'hich aimed to carry out constitutional regula tion of commerce as pledged in the platform upon which Mr. Mc Kinley was elected, was with drawn and a subsidy bill put in its place, although in the Repub lican platform of 1880 the fifth resolution said: "Further subsi dies to private persons or cor porations must cease." There was a reason; perhaps we may hit the trail. We must bring out, so that It may be appreciated, evidence of the steady. relentless war urged against every effort to revive our marine—we must expose the character of such arguments as are insicere or deliberately mis leading. When a statesman takes stands that seem hurtful to the general welfare, we must challenge them so that he must justify or aban don his position. Vague references to so-called antiquated laws must he made definite. We must show that our marine, called into being by constructive statesmen, preserved our political and commercial independence, how wise laws were suspended and what the country lost by such suspension. * • • Text From Jefferson. We must show that our marine may be rehabilitated by means fair to the rest of the world, at the same time fully realising that, so great Is our depression, such means must be drastic and com pelling. If we expect to find a way to re gain our foreign transportation (and we can only regain It at someone else's expense) in a way that shall please those who must relinquish, we shall simply live In hope. I shall take the following from Thomas Jefferson as my text: ‘ It is not to the moderation and .lustice of others we are to look for fair and equal acces to mar ket with our productions, or for our due share in the transporta tion of them, but to our own means of Independence and the firm will to use them." s THE PIPER ^ BY CONSTANCE CLARKt O UT of the echoing faraway. Up from the rushing sea; Back on the road of Yesterday, A piper came to me. "Pipe me a song of Life,” I cried, And he lifted his eyes above; While the sweet wfM notes drifted far and wida. As he piped me a song of love. Then laughing T hurried my way. And T left love far behind; Till I came on my piper of yesterday, Crown old end crippled and blind. "Pipe me s song of Life.” I cried. And with blind eyes lifted above, He fingered his cracked old pipe with pride, And played n»« «S»c song of lore. DR. PARKHURST Writes on Vivisection The Arguments Against It Are Gain ing Popular Favor Every Day, He Says. The Uselessness of Much of It Is a Fact—But Contempt and Ridicule Are No Arguments. By REY. DR. CHARLES H. PARKHURST. I T is painful to witness the troubled state of mind into which vivisectionists have been precipitated* by the welcome which the President has extended to their opponents who gathered In council at Washington. Some of us are exceedingly gratified by the publicity given to the anti-vivisection protest by the fact of the conference being held at so influential a center, and es pecially by the report, if it be a true one, that Mr. Wilson regards 1t with at least a. degree of sym pathy. There Is no reason why there should be any sacrifice of cour tesy or loss of temper over the matter. Men who believe 1n vivisection are not necessarily wicked and those who believe otherwise may still be honest and intelligent. Conflicts of this kind are not set tled by epithets. The question in volved is a serious one and can only be solved in a spirit of candor. There are two sides to it, and It is perfectly evident that the side which vlvise'ctionists have been disposed to cover with re proaches is gaining in popular favor. The writer of this article is. and always has been, an earnest disbeliever in vivisection main tained on the wholesale and in discriminate scale now In vogue. Even Tender Hearted Are Callous to the Pain of Animals. We are sensitive enough to our own pain, somewhat so to the pain suffered by other people; but even children, tender as their hearts are supposed to be, will not only witness with composure the suffering of animals, but even find fascination in causing it. People of gentle refinement would oppose the establishment of the bull fight in the State of Georgia, but great numbers of them do frequent the bloody ex hibitions when they get as far away as Spain and Mexico, and among people who do not know them. A man. even though credited with qualities of tender-hearted ness, will go as far from home as to Africa for the purpose of sat isfying his passion for slaughter. The impulse is a brutal one and there is no substantial agreement among surgeons as to whether, after all the slaughtering and tor turing of hundreds of thousands of innocent animals, any result* have been secured that are a practical contribution to the in terests of humanity. Dr. Cowen, of the Royal College of Surgeons In London, testified in Washington that in an effort to find the cause of cancer 145 - 000 animals have been tortured in the last two .years with no re- suiting discovery. No Need to Introduce Ridicule Into the Controversy. Now, so Jong as men of rec ognized authority put themselves on record with statements of such tenor it is straining matters a lit tle for Vivisectionists and vivisec- tlonist institutions to attempt si lencing their opponents by an in expensive application of ridicule. There is no logical force in con temptuousness. It is not neces sary for the antis to go to the extent of claiming that there is absolutely nothing to show for all the killing that has been done in all departments of research, but there is sufficient disagreement among the authorities to bring | down the presumption of vivisec- tionists to a quieter and more modest tone, ai.J to warrant the public in putting an intelligent restraint upon the indiscriminate and irresponsible cutting and tor turing in which insensible knights of the knife are indulging and | amusing themselves. If an ante-mortem dissection of a monkey has proved a cer tain fact, it is neither necessary nor human to prove over again tne same fact by the ante-mortem dissection of a hundred or a thou sand other monkeys. In the book entitled "The World of Life," written by the distinguished English scientist, Alfred Russel "Wallace, recently deceased, occurs the following paragraph: "The moral argument against vivisection remains, whether the animals suffer as much as we do or only half a* much." ‘‘The Mdral Argument Against Vivisection Remains." its gratification necessarily fos ters brutality. Vivisectionists have publicly testified to the delight they take in the excruciating performance. I would not knowingly have any friend of mine dealt with or op erated upon by a surgeon whom I knew to be in the habit of sticking needles into rabbits’ eyes, boiling or roasting them alive. I should Have the suspi cion that during the operation he would get in some sly work with his knife in order to satisfy his curiosity. Least of all would T allow a vivisectionist to practice in the poor wards of a hospital, occupied by people who had no friends and no money to protect them from the operator’s passion to cut. No vivisectionist would inject boiling water into his own dog. It would have to be some one’s else dog or nobody’s dog. It has to be remembered that The bad effect on the operator and on the students and specta tors remains; the undoubted fact that the practice tends to pro duce a callousness and a passion for experiment which lead to unauthorized experiments in hos pitals on unprotected patients re mains; the horrible callousness of binding the sufferers in the operating trough so that they can not express their pain by sound or motion remains; their treatment after the experiment, by careless attendants, brutalised by custom, rerriairvs; the argu- ment of the uselessness of a large proportion of the experiments re peated again and again on scores and hundreds of animals to con firm or refute the work of other vivisectors remains, and finally, the iniquity of its use to demon strate already established facts to physiological students In hun dreds of colleges and schools ah over the world remains.” Questions Answered THE CANAL OPENING. T. C. S.—The formal opening of the Panama Canal is set for January 1, 1915. At that time the available battleships of the navy will pass in procession through the canal. Colonel Goe- thals, who has had charge of the construction work, gives it aa his opinion that ships will not be able to pass through the canal regu larly before May 1, 1914. THE TELEPHONE. J. D.—The telephone in its present form was invented by- Alexander Graham Bell, of Wash ington, for whom it was named. Myriads of improvements have been made by other men, but the principle Is Bell’s. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Student.—Benjamin Franklin was more than an author and a scientist. He was a statesman of the first order. His efforts on behalf of the American colonists in Paris did much to bring about the assistance of France, which was of tremendous help to the colonists in the Revolution. Many historians believe Franklin to have been one of . the Yery great est Americans. GUANTANAMO. F. R. S.—Guantanamo is a town on a deep water harbor on the southeast coast of Cuba, main tained as a naval base by the United States. It was granted as a base to this country by ar rangement with Cuba at the time the Spanish War set Cuba free BURIAL PLACE OF MARK TWAIN. S. D.—Samuel L. Clements (Mark Twain) is buried in a beautiful cemetery in Elmirs where he lived with his family while he was writing many of his books. The members of his fam ily, his wife and two daughter*, are buried in the same plot.