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EDITORIAL PAGE The Atlanta Georgian THE HOME PAPER
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
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The Passing of a Statesman
It wag not Georgia alone that lost a statesman and a worthy
and well qualified public servant when on Saturday August s Oc
tavius Bacon, senior United States Senator from this State,
passed away in Washington The South and the nation lost a
really great man.
On the statue books and in the public records of Georgia
and the United States, Bacon wrote endunngly his constructive
statesmanship HE WAS A BUILDER.
Whatever Bacon undertook to do, he put into the work inci
dental thereto all of his heart, all of his energy and all of his
splendid intellect.
He served Georgia in the Legislature for many years, and
there are monuments eternal scattered throughout the entire
Commonwealth, speaking eloquently to-day in honor of the dis
tinguished dead. He served Georgia notably, too, in the broader
field of national endeavor—but after he went to Washington, he
became, in every sense of the words, a Senator of the United
States.
There is nothing in Bacon's life that is not inspiring and
worthy of emulation. He was not spectacular, but he was sin
cere. He was not a "mixer” to any great degree, but he gen
uinely was a constructive statesman.
Now that he is dead, Georgia soon must consider the mat
ter of his successor in the Senate. This is something to be con
sidered in due course. Just now, however, through respect and
genuine affection for the dead Senator, public men generally
will defer discussion of his successor until he shall have been
laid to rest among the old red hills he loved so well.
A Question of Honor, National
and Personal
President Wilson is said to have determined not to send a
message to Congress urging the repeal of the law exempting
American coastwise ships from Panama Canal tolls. His deter
mination is wise. Such a message from President Wilson would
look curious indeed alongside the speech of Candidate Wilson
warmly applauding the enactment of the very laws he now
would repeal. To preach surrender of American rights in per
sonal letters is bad enough- to embody such a policy in a Presi
dential message would be worse.
The President bases his present opposition to the law he
once applauded upon the broad principle of national honor.
Every little politician who takes his cue from the President,
every newspaper that finds its aspiration in offices where the
prices of railway stocks and the maintenance of railroad rates
are the all important public questions, is harping on this ques
tion of national honor.
One would think that the national honor was a special Wil
son discovery—and one regrets that his solicitude for it did not
become acute in time to save it in Mexico.
The Wilson anxiety for the national honor, however, is not
stirred by the blood of American citizens poured on the soil of
Mexico, nor by the tears of American women exposed to the ban
dits of Villa. But It is aroused to a very agony of acuteness by
the proposition to enforce a national law to the detriment of the
transcontinental railroads.
A nation s honor after all is the summing up of the sense of
personal honor of all its citizens. Its first citizen, its President,
should express in his own actions the honor of the people.
Let us consider this question of personal honor.
Woodrow Wilson was nominated for the Presidency by a
convention which adopted a platform including the following res
olutions:
“We favor the exemption from toll of American thips engaged m
coaetwiee trade pasting through the canal.'*
Mr. Wilson accepted the nomination of that convention. He
accepted its platform without reservation. August 15, 1912, al
most two months after the convention was held, he made a
speech urging his hearers to vote for him, and for the platform,
and referred to this particular subject thus:
“One of the b»H« pending, just passed by Congress, passed I be
lieve yesterday by the Senate as it had passed the House, provided for
free tolls for American ships through that canal and prohibits any
ship from passmg through that canal which is owned by any American
railway company. You see the objact of that, don’t you? We don’t
want the railwaya to compete with themselves, because we under
stand that kind of competition. We want the water carriage t© com
pete with the land carriage, so as to be perfectly sure that you are
going to get better rates around by the canal than you would across
the continent.”
That speech was made after the subject had been fully de
bated in Congiess The plank applauded had been inserted in
the platform alter the fullest consideration. The belated effort
of some of the special pleaders for the railroads to make it ap
pear as “smuggled in” has failed. A majority of the platform
committee which considered it have testified to the regularity of
its adoption.
What the nation wants to know now is what voice, unheard
by the people at large, has whispered to the President, and what
were the arguments which changed a commendable policy in
August. 1912, to national dishonor this February, What has
caused him to abandon the effort to get better rates around by
the Canal than you would across the continent?”
The candidate for President sought votes on a platform de-
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When Bill gvt off the train and took the ferry across the
North River to New York it was just about dusk. As he stood
on the front deck and loked at the sky line of miles and miles
of awe-inspiring buildings that were just beginning to be
lighted, and heard the steady buzz and purr of the great city
- Bill began to get a bit nervous and thought to himself: “Gee
whiz! WHAT a place, and I’ve got to make a living nut of it
somehow " When he got off the ferry he askod a policeman
how to get to the address of his boy friend—the one who had
come back to Bill’s town from New York and who’s talk had
decided Bill to make his try in New York. The policeman
directed him. and as Bill walked up the street to the subway,
he heard a roar overhead that made him think some of the high
buildings were falling on him, for they didn’t have elevated
trains in the town Bill came from. After much questioning on
© Letters From the People ©
COST OF LIVING.
Editor The Georgian:
It Is stated authoritatively that
a person i® now able to live rea
sonably well on a little more than
11,000 a year Will you pleas*
show m* how I can liv< decently
nn JlO a week, which ha® been my
wages for the f>««*t two years?
Poawlbly it might help in the cal
culation to add that my daughter
help® aome. as ahe has been work
ing for two years at $1 a week.
There ar*- three of us. I receive
my pay <>n Tuesday and often our
Monday and Tuc«da\ meal® are
reduced to bread, butter and cof
fee We are thankful that wo are
not starving, but question wheth
er the condition is just
RALPH ISLAND
“GIVE HIM A CHANCE.”
Editor The Georgian
Your editorial of February’ 11.
entitled “The Indeterminate Sen
tence and the Hope That It Holds
Out to the Criminal,” strikes a
keynote on a vital question of the
age. and one over which all fair
minded hnneet thinking people
should ponder And 1 heartily
ron ajr in th* statement made by
you that the s< nten< ® of the law
in all caaes less than death
should i>® Indeterminate. Os
course, th® violator of the law
manding free tolls; he sought votes by speaking in favor of that
issue. Once elected, he repudiates his platform, retracts his
words, violates his implied contract with the voters.
The President says that there is “an honest difference of
opinion” now as to the meaning of the Hay Pauncefote treaty.
That "honest difference of opinion” was freely and fully dis
cussed during the campaign of 1912. Mr. Wilson then advocated
the American side of the controversy—the anti British, the anti
monopoly, the anti-railroad side. He approved the unanimous
declaration of the National Convention on the subject. Ten mil
lion voters approved his position then, the Progressive party’s
position. President Taft's position taken after due consideration
of the law and the existing treaties.
President Wilson has not yet given the true reason why he
repudiates his former view and now adopts the views of the |
transcontinental railroads and of the British Government, i
How Bill Got Along — so - 3 -
BILL ARRIVES IN NEW YORK.
should suffer and be made to pay
the penalty for his misdeeds.
But there is a chance for every
human being, even though he be
the vilest criminal, to turn from
the error of his way and respect
and obey the laws of man and
also the divine. Every man hae
within him a soul, no matter what
some people think to the contrary.
And no matter how low the man
becomes, the souls of all are the
same.
i>®t the criminal Fee a star of
hope. I>et him hope for the day
when he will return to society and
his wife and the dear ones that
lov* him. Let him hope for the
time when prison life and the
narrow cell and the chains and
the striped suit will fall from him
If by magic. Let him see upon
the stnrm clouds the bow of prom
ise.
The divine law give* a man,
though he be the vilest of crimi
nals, a chance to save his soul.
Why not the human? The goal
to which all creation moves is
God. Give the criminal chance
to turn from the error of his way.
Give the criminal a chance once
more to walk in the paths of rec
tiude and righteousness.
W. D. MARTIN.
Commerce, Ga.
Bill’s part he finally arrived at the address. The landlady told
him his friend roomed there, but was not at home just then,
but that he could go up to his friend’s room and wait for him.
Which Bil. did, and as he sat in the little dingy room and
realized that the ride ip the trains and th° excitement of the
trip was over, a strange lump arose in his throat, that feels
like indigestion, but is commonly called homesickness. Finally
his friend came in—much surprised at seeing Bill, and his
first comment was. “Where'd ya get that small town ward
robe’ You 11 never get a job if you go around wearing that
kind of scenery." As Bill lay in bed that night he kinda
wished he was back in his own home, but as long as he was in
New York he made up his mind to stick it out. Also, the first
thing in the morning some of his S3O was going for some new
“scenery,” as his friend called it.—EL C,
To be .'Ontlnned.
© Questions Answered ©
DENOMINATIONS IN UNITED
STATES.
M. M. E.—Dr. H. K. Carroll,
late special agent of the United
States Census Office, gives the
following figures for 1910: Roman
Catholics in United States. 12 -
184.973; Methodists. f 477.224;
Baptists, 5,510,590; Episcopalians,
981,713; Presbyterians, 1,840.046;
Lutherans, 2,107.047; Congrega
tlonalists. 732,500; Disciples of
Christ 1,430,015; Friends, 119,061;
all other denominations 3,029,668.
The Jewish Year Bonk for 1910
gives the Hebrew population of
United States as 1,903,926; and
Carroll gives the number of He
brew communicants as 143,000.
Os course, there are a great many
more Methodists, Baptists. Pres
byterians. etc., than the figures
would indicate, as only the actual,
and in many cases adult, mem
bers are here reckoned.
CHINA.
J. H. R. —Any figures for the
population nf China must neces
sarily be more or less unreliable,
inasmuch as the census man is
not much In evidence in the land
of the Celestials. The estimate,
which is probably somewhere
near correct, is 402.700.000. As
to whether the millions of China
will ever become thoroughly mod
ernized, In the sense that the
Japanese are, remains to be seen.
The Chinaman possesses a plenty
of good sense, and there seems to
be no valid reason why he should
not some time “catch on” to
things and forge ahead with the
rest of the folks.
GREATER NEW YORK.
H. L.—The population of Great
er New York Is estimated by the
Health Department at 5,476.966 on
January 1, 1914. According to th®
same authority the population of
the borough® is as follows: Man
hattan. 2,513,060: the Bronx. 612,-
294; ' ■ 1 580,715; Qu<ens,
373,411: Richmond, 97.515, Not
' *t. owever, has Greater New
York - aug: • up with London. The
British metropolis s p i*;his the |
big Yankee town by some 2,'h>o.-
000. You are probably right in
thinking that ’aomonme” New
Jork w4U
THE TRIUMPHAL MOTOR CAR.
S. C. P.—According to the best
and latest information available,
there are at present in the United
States more titan 1,250,000 motor
vehicles. In the entire country
there are about 90,000 commercial
motor vehicles in use, showing
that the horse is rapidly being
eiiminatezi as a beast of burden.
There is but little doubt that the
time is not far distant when, save
in out-of-the-way places, the
hauling will largely be done by
the motor vehicle.
LONG ISLAND’S POPULATION.
H. L. S.—Long Island has a
population of 2,500,000, which is
a- large as that of New Jersey,
double that of Connecticut, and
greater that the combined popu
lation of New Hampshire, Ver
mont. Utah. Montana. Idaho, Ore
gon. Delaware. Nevada and Wy
oming. Long Island is 130 miles
long and 20 miles wide at its
greatest breadth.
MEXICO.
G. R. 8. —Os course, the lifting
nf the embargo on the importa
tion of arms into Mexico works
to the advantage nf both sides it
would be impossible to proclaim
the right of but one side to buy
arms. International comltv would
not permit that. Under the pres
ent arrangement both rebels and
Federals can buy the sinews of
war to the extent of their means.
THE U. 8. CAPITAL.
I C.—The capital of the United
States has been located at dif
ferent times at the following
Places: At Philadelphia from
September 5, 1774. to December,
1 776; at Baltimore December 20,
1776, to March, 1777; Philadel-'
phia, March 4, 1777, to Septem
ber, 1777: Lancaster, Pa., Sep
tember 27, 1777. to September,
30. 1777; York, Pa.. September 30,
1777, to July, 1778; Philadelphia,
July 2. 1778. to June 30. 1783;
Princeton, N J„ June 30. 1783. to
November 20, 1783; Annapolis.
Md November 28. 1783, to No
vember 30. 17«4; Trenton. N J .
from November, 1784 to Januart
17.87; Now Tori. January 11. 178.'..
to 1?M.
Then the seat of government
was removed to Philadelphia,
where It remained until 1800.
silica which tttoa U baa been la
DOROTHY DIX
Says
Failure to Face
Truth Wrecks
Happiness
The Virtuous One Al
ways Puts the Blame on
the Sinner, Yet It Is
Stupidity That Leads
the Weak Imo Tempta- I
tion.
By DOROTHY DIX
I
WONDER how many hus
bands and wives whose mar
riages have turned out to be
failures ever have the courage to
face the real truth and recognize
the part that they have played in
wrecking their happiness?
The virtuous one always puts
al! of the blame nn the sinner,
and yet, so sadly often. it is the
stupidity of the good that leads
the weak into temptation.
A Case in Point.
Here is a case in point: A man
marries a pretty amusement
loviner, light-hearn- girl. He puts
her down into a little flat, and
expects her to be happy and sat
isfied. with nothing livelier to do
than the housework, and looking
forward to his coming home of an
evening.
When he does come he is tired
and grouchy and sits around all
evening without speaking, scarce
ly. If she proposes to go to the
theater or to a friend’s for a game
of cards or to merely take a walk
on the street he growls out a re
fusal. If she wants a new dress
nr a new hat he bats her extrav
agance. Gradually he comes to
atand in her mind for a killjoy,
and her home seems a sort of jail.
She is young and full of the jov
of living, and her natural instinct
for pleasure is not to be denied,
so sh*» begins to find it on the
outside of her home. She begins
to buy finery of which her hus
band knows nothing; to go to
places of amusement of which he
never hears: to make acquaint
ances with men of whom she
never speaks to him.
The women who write mash
notes to artnrs. who dance with
strange men at afternoon t*a
rooms, who carry on clandestine
correspondence, who lunch with
other men than their husbands at
restaurants, and who are always
looking out for a flirtation are In
variably women married to men
who do not realize that some
amusement is as necessary to a
woman as the air she breathes or
the bread she eats, and that if it
Is not given to her legitimately
she will take it illegitimately.
I never see a pretty, silly, friv
olous young woman married to a
stick-in-the-mud husband with
out feeling like shouting to him.
•Lead her not into temptation.”
for that's exactly what he’s do
ing. And when she goes wrong
he « more to blame than she is.
There is this other case also: A
man marries a tender, loving,
warm-hearted girl to whom affec
tion is as the sunshine to a flow
er. He may be perfectly devoted
to her. but he is one of the clam
type of men who keep every emo
tion shut up in their own souls.
Never Praises Her.
Up never pays her a compli
ment. or does or says a senti
mental thing to her, and he shook
off all love making with the rice
and old shoes after the wedding.
He expects her to understand that
he admires her from the fact that
he picked her out for hia wife;
that he is pleased with her be
cause he doesn’t criticise her,
and that she will infer that he
loves her from the evidence ad
duced by his working to support
her.
Os course, if the woman had a
calmly judicial mind this would
be sufficient, hut she isn’t judi-
Habits By RABBI NATHAN KRASS (fb
H
ABITS may be either good
or bad. and often good
habits have bad results.
A man with temperate habits,
refraining from extremes and
from anything that is likely to
stir him from an equilibrium, may
ultimately become superlatively
static, good It is time, but not
good for much.
Another may have Intemperate
habits. He may drink too much,
or fiance tnn nr work too
m u Some sensational episode,
such as a religious conversion, a
swift and sudden twist into a
new path of activity, such as so
«4ai sarrg a may uaactona tte
1 Ja I
An £* $ kr
A
clal. She Is a creature of warm
human sensibility, of hungry
craving for tenderness and love.
She wants to be petted, to be
flattered, to be told that she’s the
sun, moon and stars to her hus
band, and that he would die with
out her.
She is heart hungry. She is
starving for affection, and along
comes some man who makes
fervid and violent love to her.
and as a result, there’s another
domestic tragedy. Yet is such a
woman any more to blame than
the starving wretch who steals
the loaf of bread that Is put
within her reach? Isn’t the coid
and callous husband who has
been too busy and too much ab
sorbed in his own pursuits to show
her any real affection the one
who is most guilty? Hasn’t he
led her into temptation?
Doesn’t every man who does
not deliberately try to make his
wife happy lead her into tempta
tion? Lots of wives are unfaith
ful to “good men," but I never
yet heard of a woman who w.
unfaithful to a husband who w. s
really good to her—and being
good to a woman doesn’t mean
merely refraining from beating
her and giving her food and
clothes. It means ministering to
the wants of her soul and heart
just as much as her body.
Avoid Temptation.
And take the case of where th®
man is the sinner: A young man
who is genial and broa4-minded.
and generous, marries a woman
who is narrow and prejudiced and
stingy. The first thing that she
does 1s to drive all of his old
friends away from him. The next
thing is to terrorize him so he s
afraid to ask even his own mother
to come to the house. Everything
he wants to do she puts the veto
on. If he takes her out to a res
taurant she Is afraid they’re
spending too much. If he takes
her to the theater she’s worrying
lest they shut the cat up in the
pantry. She makes home the
most unpleasant spot on earth
to him, and so naturally he begins
to stay away from it.
When he wants to enjoy him
self he goes to some place as far
from his own domicile as possible
and he doesn’t take wife along,
either. He has no companionship
in the woman to whom he is
married, and he finds it in some
other woman, and wife goes to
Reno, and considers herself very
much misused, when, in reality,
she is the sinner.
And there is the other caat of
the woman who nags. She may
really love her husband and b®
doing it for his own good, only
none of us ever recognize th®
value of persecution. She tor
ments him about everything h®
does, and leaves undone, until he
flies to some other distraction
simply for self-preservation. You
may be sure of this, that very
few women whose husbands go
wrong have failed to be acces
sory before the fact.
“Lead us not Into temptation ”
says the most beautiful of all
prayers. The married might well
add to it another supplication,
' Preserve me, O Lord, from lead
ing my husband or wife into
temptation.”
individual whose former habits
were bad into a power for real
good.
Now, too much churchgoing
may become a good habit that
resolves Itself into a state of
static nullity. And thus it. is
just as harmful as too much
dancing. For both here lead not
to salvation but to self-gratifi
cation and indulgence.
Compulsorv churchgoing is bad
Voluntary churchgnlng count'
.Men need to be converted, n '
so much that they ought to go •
church, as that they need a grea’
I and healthful stimulus for their
lives and that the only piaa*> to
get ft >• tae nbnwtsi