Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, July 23, 1914, Home Edition, Image 14

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EDITORIAL PAGE Southerners Are Strong Letters Indorsing John Temple Graves’ Sug gestion From Gen. Andrew J. West, Joseph A. McCord and Mrs. W. L. Peel. In last Sunday’s American an article by John Temple Graves was printed suggesting that a grand monument to the Confederacy be carved in the side of Stone Mountain. Following are some of the indorsements of Colonel Graves' idea which have been received by this paper: Shaft Would Inspire Youth Of South, Says Gen. West By GEN. ANDREW J. WEST. Editor The Georgian: MORE unique, original, pa- A triotic and appropriate suggestion never came from the pen of man than the re markable pro duction from Te R Colonel Graves TR in Sunday’'s e ; ",:?.,‘_;F_ American urg- ‘)’ At ing a Confed- % b erate monu- [ENEEE T e ment on Stone l (f Mountain, ' “"'-*?--"j“ .‘ ‘ Such a mon- h . ument would e not be sur- RS passed by any L @, e in this world, not even equaled by GEN. A, J. WEST, Cleopatra's needle, which has stood on the banks of the Thames, in the city of London, for nearly sixteen hundred yesrs Such a monument would attract the attention of travelers at home and from abroad--not overlook ing the fact that this tremen dous plilar would be unlike other equally high columns, as this one would not be built up to Its great height by stone being lald upon stone or block being placed upon block, but would be hewn out of the great quarry placed there by the hand of the Almighty. Could Net Be Excelled. Such a monument would not he excelled by the one ancient Athens erected twenty-four cen turies ago over the graves of her warriors who died for her glory. Atlanta's widening skirts al most reach now the base of Stone Mountain, and Greater Atlanta and this proposed monument would be the first to greet the dawn in the east For a thousand years such a monument on Stone Mountain as Colonel Graves' fertile brain orig inates will answer such questions as these: Can you wear rags? Can you eat crusts? Can you endure bitter «old? Can you know sleepless nights? Wil you give in exchange your youth, your health and all you love? If to STEVENSON N tinkling verse and limpid prose I He sketched the offspring of his brain And left a heritage for those Who love to read and read ngain.l The boy whose uncle wrought him ill, Brave Alan with his sword adroit He gave us—and the cunning will Of Alain, Sire de Maletroit. We read “A Lodging for the Night,” And greedily we read it o'er— The cards, the knife:thrust and the flight, And Villon tapping at the door. He wrote in siekness and in pain, And all too soon his work was done; But what he left was golden grain, Dear Robert Louis Stevenson! A skylark fluttering against the blue, Beating the air with all its feeble might, Eager to try its wings so small and new, Pain lessened in the quickening joy of flight. A pale soul groping in the wide unknown, Called by some force to tread the wider way Qut of the knowledge it had made its own, Think you that soul was not full glad to pay? these qu'eatlons the answer ‘“yes” is given, then this wealth and this niche in my Temple of Fame is for you. Such a monument will inspire the youth of to-day to emulate the great deeds of yesterday. Men are moved by tales of suc cess and inspired by tales of love; but such a monument would transform and redeem them by its tale of heroism. The stories of herolsm that crowd our memories, as told by the rapidly lessening ranks of the Confederate soldiers, would be retold agaln and again by the Stone Mountain monument, Time, nor age, nor death can diminish the radiance of the tra ditions handed down by the Confederate soldiers whose deeds and virtues this monument would perpetuate. To Glory of Valor. Yes, build it! Such a monu ment would proclaim to genera tions yet unborn the unfaltering devotion of the Confederate sol dier to the cause of the South. Such a monument would pro claim the glory of the matchless hero of the past, who, with a heart of oak and nerves of steel, rode in majestic splendor upon the lurid crest of battle undaunt ed by carnage and death. It will proclaim that the Con federate soldier, actuated by sen timents of purest patriotism, un hesitatingly threw himself upon the sacrificial altar of his country and died in the sublime faith that her cause was just, Such a monument will perpet uate the deeds of the soldlers who wore the gray. It will stand through succes sive ages, unharmed by winter's blast, unscathed by the summer's forked lightning and unshaken by the deep-toned thunders of the earthquake's shock, proudly pro claiming to the world that the manifestation to the young men of the country of such man as John Temple Graves, who origi nated the ldea, is no small com pensation for the cost of its erec-, tion. A SONG THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Enthusiastic Over Stone Mountain Monument Plan Suggestion . !ppeals to the W hole South, Declares Mrs. Williaa Lawson Peel By MRS. WILLIAM LAWSON PEEL. .. 2| My Dear Colonel Graves: " il © A S the danghter of a Confederate g veteran and a Southern woman o ‘;‘ i whose kinsmen without excep e4 ~ tion followed the great Lee, I thank Bee W vou for vour noble suggestion, which P should he well under way before an i) other day. Nomeniet All the universities of earth could MRS. W. L. PEEL. 10t tell such a story, nor teach such a lesson, nor paint such a picture of character and lovalty and deathless courage, as that figure stand ing there before which even the celebrated Lion of Lucerne would hide his head. McCord Urges an Association To Carry Out Memorial Plan Editor The Georgian: READ in last Sunday's Amer- I fcan, with a great deal of interest, the most excellent editorial of our good friend, Hon. John Temple Graves, in ] which he sug : gested the cre- M 4 ating of a : memorial to :’ ‘ the Confedera- ) ;’ S cy by placing N . peilibn a statue of Robert E. Lee ? v on the steep 3 ! side of Stone 2 < Mountain. b 2 e 4 st We are iln- it debted to Mr. Graves very JOS. A. M'CORD. much indeed for this splendid thought and suggestion, and 1 do hope that our people will take up this prop osition at once and erect this well thought out memorial to the “Lost Cause of the Confederacy.” Truly, the prophecy made by our lamented Senator Benjamin H. Hill Is coming to pass. 1 will briefly call your attention to thg The Strange Worship of Kings HE Old World worship of Kings and Queens is a very wonderful thing. We who live under a republican form of government and have to lock across continents and oceans be fore we can see it at its best are famillar with it. Not many of us have taken the trouble to under stand it. Some few American men and women—only a few, a mere handful lost among ninety mil lions—hate with a perfect hatred the whole business of monarchs and courts and adulation and sycophancy, and the lowering of the ideals of manhood and wom anhood which goes with it. The great majority of persons rather like it—at a safe distance. It is picturesque, quaintly interest ing, mildly amusing. Few persons know to what length the worship of Kings and Queens has been carried by the brawny Dbrained, Iliberty-loving nations from whose loins we have sprung. It is safe to say that not many people nowadays read Spencer's "Faery Queene,” and those who do probably skip the dedication. But there it is, an offering to that red-haired, imperial, but de cidedly bad-tempered lady known in fable as "good Queen Bess.” The “Faery Queene” is dedicated to “the most high, mighty, and magnificent Empress, renowned for piety, virtue and all gracious government, Elizabeth!" . - - This is nothing compared to the language in which the bish ops and other notable divines who gave the Authorized Version of the Scriptures to the KEnglish speaking world dedicated their work to King James. This dedi cation is a curiosity of litera ture. Editlons of the Bible print ed in this country and editions imported from England have been prepared without it. But for two hundred and fifty vears British printers would just as soon have omitted the Beatitudes as the dedication to King James, This James, it must be borne in mind, was as contemptible a per son as the world ever saw in a conspicuous position, and illus trations of this kind of worship abound. The explanation is pleasing rather than otherwise. King worship supplies proof of one of the brightest and happiest, even if at times pathetic, traits of our human nature. It represents the idealistic interpretation of life. We see the good which is not there, which we should like to see there. The good which is there we exaggerate and magnify and glo By JOSEPH A. M'CORD. first lines of this utterance, which reads thus: “When the . future historian shall come to survey the charac ter of Lee, he will find it rising like a huge mountain above the undulating plain of humanity, and he must lift his eyes toward heaven to catch its summit. He possessed every virtue of other great commanders without their vices,” etc. We could not select a better subject or a better place in which to perpetuate the memorial of a cause so dear to us all. I.et me says, with Father Ryan, that “A land without memory is a land without liberty.” If we have done nothing which we can memorial ize, certainly we can not look for ward to liberty; but in this case we certainly have every reason to memorialize the gallant deeds of our great and good men who lost their fortunes and lives in per petuating Southern rights and Southern liberty. I suggest that this matter take on tangible form; that a memo rial assoclation be established; that public subscriptions be taken to carry out the plan and purpose as outlined by Mr. Graves. rify almost beyond recognition. As time goes on we forget the terrible discount to which it was subject, It is beautiful, exqulsitely beau tiful, and that man or woman is to be pitied who does not see and feel the beauty and come under the spell of it. “Think of me at my best” says poor Seaforth to David Cop perfield on the eve of his flight into darkness and guilt—"think of me at my best!” It is the cry of dur frailty; it is the pitiful prayer of weakness conscious of {tself. Yea: but it is the cry of the reality wlithin us which knows that our “best” is there, and feels it grope for a ‘best” beyond that will reinforce it ‘and bring it one day to Its own. “Think of me at my best,” our human nature cries through the vears and the generations and the centuries; and the ages an swer back that the selfishness, the cruelty, the sin, were accl dents, born in time, now dead and buried; the “best” was the es sential ME, and it Is this which endures. 1t is depressing to live only amid moral defeats. It is devi talizing to move constantly among broken vows and broken hopes and broken lives. If the cve of, the soul forever looks upon the obvious fact and failure and never sweeps the vast horizon and rests in the far distance upon mountain peaks of promise, ‘a spiritual near-sightedness resuits. The soul itself is threatened with blindness. . . . We live by aspiration, awe, wonder, admiration, worship and Jove. A deep damnation has fallen upon the young man or young woman who is cynical, blase, contemptuous of virtue ard aspiration and beautiful sen timent. It is life to love. Idealization is not misrepre sentation. It is not prevarica tion. It ils not suggestion of the false by suppression ef the true. It is a transference to a person whom we know or have known of {deal charms and graces which, though we do not possess them ourselves, we know to be the real wealth of the worid and the abid ing glory of humanity. The old King worship is not for us. We have passed beyond that stage of evolution. But that man needs to cry with Robert Louis Steven son’ “Lord, thy most pointed pleasure take And stab my spirit broad awake, if he has lost the capacity for idealization out of which such worship grew, Some years ago 1 came in an automobile tour from New York to Atlanta, seeing many grand and beautiful sights. But here on the threshold of my home there broke upon our ravished gaze that matchless declivity of which you spoke, and with awe, veneration, almost ecstasy, I felt like taking off my hat, although I was only a woman! I have often seen and ever cherished Stone Mountain, but never that northern side. Surely the whole Southland will rise up and adopt your suggestion. 1339 Peachtree Street. : Suggests That People Have Chance to Erect Monument Editor The Georgian: EADING your inspiring ed!- R torials from day to day and week to week—in prose, poetry and pictures— which are endeavoring always to encourage, entice and exhort men and women everywhere to lift up their heads and THINK, with the thoughts filled with ENTHUSI ASM; and we realize that when a thought, even though partly developed, is more than half the battle in securing the work of realization. Why had not SOMEBODY be fore to-day thought of the GRAND IDEA OF MAKING AN ENDURING MONUMENT TO OUR CONFEDERATE DEAD FROM (RATHER ON) THE GRANITE SIDES OF HISTORIC STONE MOUNTAIN? The pub lished article in the last issue of The Sunday American by Hon. John Temple Graves, we believe, will go down in history as the beginning of one of the world's great achievements. To say it can’'t be accomplished is mere talk, for when did Atlanta in re cent years “go after” anything that she has failed to land? Not only is Atlanta in this deal, me thinks, for if I am not much mistaken the whole State will wish to contribute something to so grand and glorious an enterprise. While there are some of us who are not in position to help much financially, we could not resist the enthusiasm of try ing to write some of the things in our minds for the noble under taking The IDEA' of Colonel Graves, or anyone else who might have helped him in formulating said IDEA, is the great thing in this deal; and we believe the NAMES of the parties, with that of Colo nel Graves, who makes such an IDEA a realism, should be placed More Truth Than Poetry The Tellers. H E’'S always glad to see you; it seems well worth the while, To hear his softly cordial voice and watch his genial smile. He calls you promptly by your name, which deftly flatters you, And how it does delight you when he calls you “Mister,” too. You feel that for his tactfulness you never quite can thank The man who takes your money at the bank, BUT at the other window is a fellow with a grouch, Who can't fulfill his duties without seeming to say, “Ouch!” He looks at you suspiciously, as gne with the belief That you must be a forger, a “con-man' or a thief. He always is a misanthrope, a doubter and a crank; The man who pays out money at the bank. FELLOW SUFFERER. The New Haven stockholders are not the only victims of bad judgment. Over in Ulster a mov ing picture man bought the rights to photograph the war. EASY ENOUGH. All those college professors who want more pay need to do is to add the tango to their curricu lum and they will soon be going to and from their classrooms in their own automobiles. JUST THE PLACE. Perhaps when Mr. McAdoo re turns from his honeymoon he will have the Treasury Building fitted up for his residence. It is large and roomy, and right across the street from the residence of his father-in-law. BEGINNING RIGHT THIS TIME. WALDORF ASTOR TO SELL PAPERS IN LONDON.—Head line. There is a descendant of John Jacob who may make a name for himself. in some place upon or within said monument, whereby the names fmight be preserved to the future generations for their information, and possibly to encourage the un born genius of the future to “be up and doing.” Let the names be preserved so long as the gi gantic monument shall be recog nized as the work of a loving people. Talk of a popular sub scription years ago for the memo rial to the late beloved Henry Grady, and the response which came from the people! Let them have a chance at this through the daily and weekly newspapers, and watch the result. "Tis a pity that more of us can not achieve some of the lasting gratitude of the human race, for we believe the GREAT RULER OF THE UNIVERSE, with His all-seeing eye, will sanction such great accomplishments as our people are to-day doing. When we do the great things that are being done, and give to Him the glory of allowing ug to do these things, we believe it will meet with His blessings; especially such gigantic things as building the Panama Canal, the wonderful flying machines which are now {n the process ot deveiopment, the desires of leading nations to set tle their dificultieas without war, and a GEORGIA LEGISLATURE WHICH WILL GRANT AND DEMAND LIBERTY FOR THE CHILDREN OF GEORGIA. We may not be like the funny man in the Legiclature or like some Socrates, Homer of Dante of ancient times, but we could not resist riting a letter to you upon a subject which is so pro foundly interesting to us. Here's hoping for great suc cess, and may the financial re sponses be all that you could wish. Yours truly, Atlanta, Ga. 4. B 8 MODERN ACHIEVEMENT. Time was when the cow was content to jump over the moon. Now, judging by the new beef prices, she has got the craze for altitude records and is cavorting over Arcturus. FAIRLY GOOD MEASURE. Organized baseball may have nothing to fear from the Fed erals, but that 21-inning game in Pittsburg shows that they at least have been forced to give specta tors their money's worth. MORE TROUBLE FOR THE A B. C. Now that Huerta has quit, it will, of course, be necessary to call a special session of the Me diation Court to determine whether Villa or Carranza shall have the looting privilege in Mex ico City. CALL A CONSULTATION. The prospect of a suit against the New Haven directors indi cates that Willlam Rockefeller's doctors will have a fairly pros perous season. THE HOME PAPER Big Business and Publicity by Default By ELBERT HUBBARD Written Especially for The Georgian. E big business men of this ’l‘HCOuntry should get togeth er and take lessons in the fine art of publicity from Dr. Raitman and Colonel Berkman. In the way of publicity pur veyors these parttes certainly de serve our sincere admiration. It big business is willing to ac cept the services of Ida Tarbell, instead of hiring a good publicity agent of its own, it must expect to be put in a slightly prejudiced light before the world at large. The thing that lives in history is not the event. It is the writ ten account of it. Just let epough of the voters of the United States become' con vinced that Judge Haywood is a great and worthy man struggling for the good of the downtrodden masses, and they will elect him President of the United States, and then we will get this: President, Willlam Haywood. Vice President, Charles Moyer. Secretary of State, Upton Sin clair, Secretary of War, Mother Jones. Secretary of the Treasury, Em ma Goldman. Attorney-General, Frank Tan nenbaum. And when this comes about, do not forget that the gallows tree will bear fruit, and that you can listen anywhere and hear sounds as of men with hammers building a scaffold. And the men who will hang first will be big business men. Haman’s plant will run time and a third, and hemp will com mand a price as never before. * * - THE stupidity of big business in being perfectly willing to leave publicity to its enemies is almost past belief. When it comes to educating the public to what intelligent organi zation can do, big business sleep ily says, “Let George do it!” The press of the country is willing, T believe, to tell the truth, but if the men who have most at stake will not pay for the paper and ink they will see the opposi tion get to the public first. Because men have money is no reason they have bralins, Most millionaires have spent thelr lives in a circumscribed sphere. They are speclalists. They know finance, but they do not know psychology. And psy chology is a matter of the tides that play through the great hu man heart. To-day civillzation s sitting on the crust of a crater, dangling its heels and whistling “Annie Laurie.” - Big biusiness would do well to come out of its comatose state, organize a bureau and teach the world a little economic truth, in stead of delegating pedagogics tQ. the prejudiced and the unfit. Leaving things to George is a sure way to let them go by de fault. If big business is a beneficent thing, why not buy pages in the dally press and advertise the fact? History is reaching a pivotal l Could We Live Without Dust? OW does dust diffuse the H sun's rays? How does dust give the blue appear ance to the sky? How does dust act on the sca? Could we live without dust? It was not known that dust has an importance almost beyond conception urntil within a few yvears. But now a number of the ablest physicists have made re fined and very accurate investiga tions. Here is their startling dis covery: If there were absuvlutely no dust in the earth’s atmosphere, there could be no fog, mist, dew or rain. Without dust we could not live. Fog, mist, clouds are made of separate spheres of water. But in the center of each there is a particle of dust. Without dust as a central nucleus, no separate particle of water can form. When very minute, these globes of wa ter float in air as mist and clouds. point. A new deal is at the door, and as Alaric overran Rome, so is anarchy ready to engulf us. Attila, the “Scourge of God,” with his whirlwind of fire and sword, i® not far away, but this time he comes with the ballot as his bludgeon. His minions are even now at the capital, and we see Ostrogoth sentiments incor porated into statute laws. P 9 R POLI’I‘ICIANS who wear their opinions pompadour read speeches into the Congressional Record and mail at public ex pense a million coples to the pee pull at a cost to the taxpayers of many thousand dollars. But big business is so inert, so obtuse, so obese, that it dare not state its own case, lest it be ac cused of malintaining “an insid ious lobby.” . There is no legal reason wWhy big business should not hire ready writers and publicize its position, just as the Government does its attitude. But big business pleads guilty before it is accused, and fears the fact will come out that it has paid for legitimate services ren dered. Let Brandeis jump out of a dark corner and shout “Boo!” and big business blubbers for mercy. It is idle to berate Washington. The men at Washington reflect, chameleon-like, the opinions of the people who sent them there. The only way to reach Washing ton is to effect a change in pub lic opinion, As long as a majority of the voters imagine that the employer is the enemy of the employee, big business is going to have fire crackers attached to its coat tail, and eventually it will be driven by its tormentors into nervous prostration. Already it is suffering from monetary senilis. * . . O‘.\l the backs of their time-table folders, the New York Cen tral and the Pennsylvania carry a page of peevish apology. This is about the extent of their advertising, save that they have tacked up in all stations a whin- Ing placard begging that the pub lic will interfere in their behalf and importune Washington to give them forty lashes instead of a hundred. They will never get a fair deal until they meet the falsehoods of the agitators and give blow for blow. : If the railroads are going down in the general crash and wreck of things, why shouldn’t they go domwn with colors flying and band a-playing, instead of peeking around searching for a dishon orable grave! There is no going back to “the rule of the competent few.” Popular government is here. llf we are ruled by the worst, we must, through education, evolve that “worst” into the best. As a matter of self-preserva tion we must make the “worst” tolerable and tolerant. Also, we must be tolerant. : But when the spheres become large enough they fall as rain.’ But at times the sky is red, vellow or violet. Then blue is sifted out, does not reach the eye. Water, vapor and dust cause the dispersion or quenching of waves. But air is slightly blue even when pure. This problem is ohscura for there are waves both shorter and longer than blue, and the sizes of dust particles must be careful ly determined by Nature to allow only blue to traverse the derial envelope and reach the earth, The fact is: Science has net proved all causes of the blue of a pure noonday sky. There may be very light gases high above the air as composed of oxygen and ni trogen; so rare that they rest in layers on the upper air; go light that they can not fall to earth by gravitation. If so, then these gases could not be known te chemists, SN SR