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EDITORIAL RAGE
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published by THE GEORGIAN COMPANY *
At 20 Eaat Alabama Street. Atlanta Ga.
Enter**! ea wend-rloM matter at poatnfflr* at Atlanta, under art of Marrh I. 1ITX
Common Sense, Not Politics,
Should Determine the Status
of Atlanta’s .Schools
It is gratifying to note, and it is a testimonial to the com
mon sense and intelligence of the committee, that the Finance
Committee of the City Council is fully awake to the fact that
through a radical change in the Atlanta public school system
from eight to seven grades (instituted through the influence of
Major R. J. Guinn, the Chairman of the City Board of Educa
tion,) a tremendous increase in expense to the city likely will
be incurred.
It is true that in the wisdom of such men of education and
experience as Governor Joseph E. Brown, Samuel M. Inman and
A. W. Calhoun, now deceased, and of Senator Hoke Smith and
Luther Rosser, the eight-grade system was preferable to the sev
en-grade system—but the more or less matured wisdom of Major
Guinn seems to have been sufficient to set aside this combined
wisdom and experience of the past, with the result as stated for
the Finance Committee of Council to grapple with.
The result shows just what damage may be done to a school
system when it is treated as a vital and highly important de
partment of a city government by men of experience and learn
ing, on the one hand, and when it is treated like a plaything by
a man who is neither experienced nor learned, on the other.
Double sessions, which have vexed and fretted the hearts
and souls of Atlanta parents for the past year, constitute an
other result of Major Guinn’s erudite manipulation of the school
system.
It is true that these changes inaugurated by Major Guinn
j make the Atlanta schools more like the country schools of Geor
gia, which are under control of Major Guinn's friend, 8tate Su
perintendent Brittain, and State Superintendent Brittain has
recommended to the Legislature in nearly every annual report
he has submitted that the country unit system should prevail in
handling the schools in both rural and urban communities.
, What he means by that is that the city schools, as such,
< ought to be abolished, and county schools instituted in their
. stead.
This would mean that the taxpayers of Atlanta would be
called upon to support the county schools, and that all of the chil-
1 dren in the city and county would be under the control of a
<
| general State Board of Education.
So far as The Georgian is concerned, it dissents emphatically
» from all of this. Such a change would mean inevitably a
heavier burden upon the Atlanta taxpayer, requiring as it would
j larger appropriations to keep the county schools up to the pres
ent Atlanta standard—and this expense would be heavier still,
i if DeKalb and Fulton Counties should merge, as has been pro-
' t posed.
If the Guinn-Brittain suggestion were adopted, the schools
«■ of Atlanta inevitably would be inferior to what they now are,
1 or tremendously more expensive—one or the other.
The Georgian believes that the rural population of Georgia
* (the so-called country counties and communities) desire sincerely
£ to manage their own affairs, without dictation from city people.
Wo believe they desire to adjust their school terms and such
i matters as their OWN necessities appear and not the necessities
r and desires of the city, and we think they are perfectly right so
~to desire. They ought to have full and complete authority to
manage their own business.
Atlanta, The Georgian feels assured, does not want to be
part of a centralized school system subject to the domination and
c| arbitrary authority of some State official in the Capitol—thus
„ making the Atlanta school system a piere cog in a State machine.
The Finance Committee of the Council is entirely right. One
sided partisan surveys of our public schools, resulting in revo
lutionary procedure, under the guise of "reform,” which tends to
“ impair (whether deliberately or not) a system established by the'
c wisdom of our wisest citizens, acting from no political motives
nor from personal ambition, should be watched with alarm and
’{ genuine concern by the people.
The people of Atlanta certainly are NOT going to vote bonds
for their schools if their schools are to be taken over by poli-
£ ticians and faddists, to be used at their whims and pleasure—and
* the people of Atlanta OUGHT NOT TO VOTE BONDS IN SUCH
- CIRCUMSTANCES.
It is to be hoped that the Finance Committee will vote the
“ money necessary to accommodate all of our school children in a
ri common-sense way, and we believe the Finance Committee will
„do that, but the people can not afford to pay enormous sums for
f the purpose of exploiting the fads and experiments of an inex
perienced person—particularly when one of his first suggestions
y (that is, reducing the number of grades from eight to seven and
m abolishing the city schools) brings about a situation which, if ad-
p'hered to, means that Atlanta’s public schools will be more expen-
1 *ive than they ever have been before, without compensation in
5, service or improvement.
J It has been stated that, in the event the present Superintend
ent of Schools, W. M. Slaton, is ousted and State Superintend-
V: ent Brittain is put in his place, that the salary of the City
<“ Superintendent not only is to be raised considerably, but that
c - supervisors at large salaries also will be engaged—some of
2 whom may or may not be scheduled for the positions stated.
The taxpayers of Atlanta, if they are wise, will take into
n serious consideration the situation as outlined here.
The Finance Committee ought to set its face like flint against
the faddists and politicians, and require that they let our educa
tional system alone; and while the committee should go the limit
—of reason and common sense in making provisions for a seat for
«®ach child, in a comfortable and sanitary schoolroom—it certain
ly should put a stop to the Giynn idea of makfng the teacher and
/'the child attend school all day long.
The Georgian believes that the people of Atlanta have awak
ened to some of the perils now besetting their school system.
. An effort is being made to convert our school system into a
“political football and the means to a political end.
It Atlanta wishes to see her public school system demoral-
“ ized from top to bottom, and made the laughing stock of well-
i—balanced educators throughout the country, Atlanta will sit
^quietly by and permit the politicians to take hold of her schools.
If, sin the contrary, Atlanta wants to see her school system made
.the equal of any school system in the Union, she will without
Airther loss of time frown down the politicians and faddists, and
" A that her school system be made a common sense and busi-
institution.
The Atlanta Georgian
Motor Terms: One Cylinder Missing
THE HOME RARER
..'S.'Ss'S ' -- ' '1 -
Wife Must Stand ]
Easy for Average Man to
Marriage by Displaying
Attention
First in H
Make Average
a Little Tact
Which Is Her
usband's Heart
Woman Happy After
and Showing Her
Due.
U NLESS a woman Is utterly
devoid of reason and good
sense, It Is the simplest of
matters for the mnn she loves to
make her happy after marriage.
A little tact, a little self-denial,
a little patience, much considera
tion, many small attentions and
unfailing kindness will kelp the
average woman as nappy as ner
days are long.
But in spite of the simplicity of
the undertaking the world Is filled
with domestic failures; and tlte
discontented and disappointed
wives seem to outnumber the sat
isfied ones.
Most men begin married life
with more real lave in their
hearts than most women bestow
upon their husbands; yet, after
a few years of domestic life It
Is the woman who gives, and the
man who seems to fall In bestow
ing the proofs of affection which
are so necessary to the happiness
of most women.
The leading desire of a wom
an's heart is to feel always, and
under all circumstances, that she
Is first In her husband’s thoughts.
The next desire is to feel that
he likes to be with her; that he
enjoys her society, and that he
comes to her joyfully, and goes
from her regretfully, even as in
the dayB of courtship.
It la just in these two matters
that so many men fall.
Most decent men give their
wives dutiful attentions. They
provide for their wants and are
anxious to have them enter
tained; but too frequently they
are satisfied to provide amuse
ment and entertainment which
does not necessitate their personal
participation.
A woman who had received an
expensive New Year gift was,
nevertheless, made unhappy by
having her husband sit In an ab
sent-minded manner through the
dinner hour with friends, and to
hear him ask to be excused as
soon as decency allowed, and to
see him hurry away to watch the
old year out and the new in in
his club.
Her unhappiness over this in
cident seemed unreasonable to
him; yet had he given her that
hour of his undivided attention
and shown pleasure in having her
at his side as the New Year came
in, he could have finished the
night with his club and left no
scarring memory on the heart of
the woman he had chosen from
all the world to be his companion.
It required only a little self-
denial and a little tact to make
this one wife happy.
Unless a woman is obsessed by
the demon of jealousy, which
makes her Incapable of sane rea
soning and good Judgment, she
does not object to having her hus-
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
take this view of life, the man
must be tender and tactful enough
to make his w T ife feel ALWAYS
that she stands first In his heart.
He must look In her eyes when
I she is talking to him; not past
band show other women gracious
attention. She Is, indeed, proud
of him when other women ad
mire him and find his society
agreeable.
But In order for any woman to
The School Superintendency
(From The Atlanta Journal of
Labor.)
It has been announced that
William F. SlaLton is to be deposed
from the superintendency of the
public schools and that his suc
cessor has been duly chosen In
star chamber, and this without as
signing any reason for the change,
thus placing upon the present su
perintendent the onus for the
existing deplorable condition of
affairs in the public school sys
tem of Atlanta.
It Is sadly reminiscent to learn
that the proposed official has de
clared that if the board w’ants a
CLERK, and not a SUPERIN
TENDENT, he will have none of
It.
Now, that Is the one thing Wil
liam F. Slaton has vainly sought
In the period of his incumbency.
He has sought to be the SUPER
INTENDENT; he has endeavored
to make his scanty resources and
his scantier powder produce the
best possible results; he has pro
posed reforms and Improvements
only to have his proposals fall on
deaf ears; he has demanded bet
terments at the various schools,
physical and pedagogic, and has,
because of these very things, in
curred the enmity of those w r ho,
by the strange Irony of fate, pro
pose a successor who demands as
a condition precedent to his ac
ceptance of the office the pow er to
do the very things urged by Wil
liam F. Slaton and refused to the
latter.
Now he apparently is to be made
the scapegoat. It is all very droll.
We confess our inability to under
stand the mental processes of
those who have brought about the
condition and now' seek to cor
rect it by the sacrifice of Slaton.
They are to save their official
faces by giving another all that
the present superintendent want
ed.
But of one thing the incoming'
authorities may be sure. The peo
ple are going to demand results,
results forthwith, whether the
proposed incumbent be clerk or
superintendent, and they possess
a new r and potential instrument—
the recall.
The schools will not be permit
ted to become the football of poli
tics, the teachers apportioned a la
Tammany Hall among the faith
ful who have “made” a new ex
ecutive.
The local forces of reform and
civic righteousness. Including the
organized and militant clubwom
en, will watch the unfolding of
events with jealous eye and de
termined mind. 'I’heir ideal of
w'hat the public school system
should be is a lofty one, and must
be at least approached.
And the vicarious offering of
William F. Slaton to the gather
ing wrath will not appease the
wrathful. These want results,
and will get therii. by the grace of
God and the possibilities of the re
call.
u
ONCE-OVERS
ft
Look out for the man who is constantly drawing attention to th#
weaknesses of others. Invariably he has a lot to cover up himself.
Are you helping to circulate reports of the frailties of your neigh
bor? Perhaps you think that your deficiencies are not known, but are
you sure that you are not as weak or peculiar as your neighbor, though,
perhaps, in a different way? Are there not as many holes in your char
acter as there are in hie?
Do not congratulate yourself that you have covered up your own
faults. You may find that your neighbor knows more about you than
you realize, and some of those little things which you think are not
known outside of your own family may be even now common property
of those on the other side of the fence.
Better for you to present some of the good points and features of
the one under discussion if you do not want him to show up some of
your bad points some day. You have them. Everybody has them. We
are all human and the perfect man does not exist
her to gaze at some other; he
must see her when she enters a
room, and come to meet her; he
must not forget her presence and
sit or stand with his back to her
while he entertains some other
woman; and he must be as ready
and quick to praise his wife as
he is to praise others.
When a man springs quickly to
the defense of another woman
who is criticised in any manner,
and at the same time Is prone to
think his own wife needs criti
cism, he must not be surprised if
she exhibits what Is commonly
called "Jealousy.”
The tactful man can and will
avoid such situations by keeping
his wife confident of her power to
charm and plea'se him; and when
ever he goes from her presence
he will make her feel that he goes
regretfully.
There are men who treat their
wives as good-hearted boys treat
their mothers when they first de
velop into young manhood.
A husband of this type tries to
do this duty by his wife; he looks
after her comforts; he sees that
she has someone to help her pass
the time; he gets theater tickets
for her and her friends, and then
he joyfully hurries away to find
his own pleasures, just as the boy
hurries off to his comrades and
his girl friends after being sure
that he has neglected no duty to
ward his mother.
But while the^mother is satis
fied with this kind of attention
the wife is not—not unless she
has ceased to care for her hus
band other than as a provider for
her physical comforts, and unless
she, too, has other pleasures more
congenial than her husband’s so
ciety affords.
A woman who possessed every
earthly blessing was envied by
her friends because her husband
came to her directly after busi
ness hours w'ith some plan for her
entertainment, and seemed al
ways solicitous about having her
enjoy herself with other people.
Yet he found all his pleasures
at the club or in entertainment*
apart from her. When she com
plained to him that she felt lonely
# and dissatisfied with her life, he
thought her most unreasonable
and unappreciative of a good
husband.
Did he not do his duty better
than most men of her acquaint
ance? He could not understand
that a quiet evening at home,
where he seemed to be happy and
contented because he was with
her, would have meant more to
her than all the pleasures he pro
vided her apart from him.
Alas, when it takes SO LITTLE
to make a woman happy (a lov
ing and reasonable woman), how'
needlessly sad it seems that so
many women are unhappy!
How Woman May Regain
Her Identity
the
the
an
By ELBERT
R EFORMS never come as a I
result of sentimental agi
tation.
However, reforms begin In that
way, because feeling was devel
oped before thinking.
A statement of facts makes an
appeal to the understanding.
If action follows, the result is
stable, reliable, persistent.
The appeal that sentiment
makes Is to feeling. The action
resulting from an emotion Is
often violent, Its energy going off
in unharnessed exhaust.
From Its nature, It must be
temporary, spasmodic. Incoherent.
Resolutions made when fever
runs/ high are usually not wise
ones, and they are rarely kept.
• • •
The normal pulse gives reason
an opportunity to act. The light
of the morning sun Illumines a
proposition better than any arti
ficial ray.
For example: A shoemaker In
the Duma at ^n opportune time
made a statement concerning the
cost In Russia of a year’s con
sumption of vodka, and showed
how much bread the money
would buy.
The calm statement did what
no amount of sentiment had ever
been able to do.
The great nation of Russia
abolished the manufacture and
sale of intoxicating liquors. And
this occurred In a country where
to the inquiry, "What Is the
greatest stream In Russia?”
answer was, "The Vodka.”
England Is now studying
strong drink problem from
economic standpoint.
Weeping wives, children and
mothers, eloquent orators for
many "decades have spent their
sentiment In vain.
The sale and consumption of
strong drink increased.
The tears irritated, ttfe elo
quence provoked.
But when men used reason and
saw the economic waste involved
they reformed it altogether.
These statements are made
here as constructive proof that
the basis of our enduring activi
ties is economic.
People of the twentieth century
think In terms of money.
Values are represented directly
in money, not in units of energy.
• * •
Our respect for a nation Is
founded on its economic ability.
The nation may have given to
us beautiful painting, music, lit
erature, sentiment, eloquence, but
unless it Is financially strong it Is
not considered a peer with the
first nations.
A nation must have within
itself the means to earn its own
living and have a bank account if
we consider it responsible.
The same is true of an Individ
ual.
No one asks advice of a de
pendent, a beggar, an Incompe
tent, a defective.
No one seriously asks advice of
a woman whose only claim for
recognition Is beauty, no matter
how beautiful she may be.
When we want what we call
vital help we ask for it of a per
son who has had experience in
economics.
This is natural and primitive,
because our primal want is the
hunger want.
Poets, painters, priests, musi
cians, soldiers, lovely ladies of
high degree, have no substantial
civic or economic value.
We ask wisdom from “a man
of affairs,” a man who can earn
his own living, and more.
The supreme power of the
world to-day, that which super
sedes all ether power, is a wealth
power.
This statement does not have
to be proved. It is axiomatic.
The poor men whose philos
ophy has influenced the world
have been a long time dead.
HUBBARD.
As to woman, no matter what
dignified experience, or how wise
a woman may be. If she is with
out Independent property she la
not economically Independent, her
Influence is limited to the walls of
her own home.
And her Influence in her own
home Is largely one of sentiment.
The basis of individualism is
economic independence.
As proof note the popular atti
tude toward a woman who has
recently fallen heir to a large
fortune. Discoveries of hitherto
hidden values are immediately
made.
She becomes a woman of pow
er, although she has earned none
of this money.
A widow, if through her be
reavement she has fallen heir to
property, assumes an Individual
ism, an entity, an Identity which
was never hers when she was
wife.
This new Importance Is wholly
on account of her economic en
tity. •
The property which a woman
had of her own before marriage
became the husband’s to manipu
late and control after marriage.
By marriage a woman has lost
her Identity when the "magic
words” are spoken.
Woman then ceases to be fem
me sole and becomes femme co
vert
The advantages of matrimony
for a woman should be many.
Love, companionship, responsi
bility, sharing Intimately the life
and all it brings of another life,
should mean enlarged life.
More than that, she more than
shares the lives of her children.
She anticipates their future, gives
herself to their development. She
is interested In all their interests.
There Is no phase of their life but
that she shares.
All these should be Induce
ments to marriage.
Married women do not usually
realize this anticipated, enlarged
life because of their economic de
pendence.
The first loss Is identity, and
concomitant with that is the loss
of individualism.
The only reason for giving spe
cific names in families is for
Identity.
Unfortunately, "Mrs. John
Smith” may not be Identification
for but one individual only, and
at best it would be only as one of
Mr. John Smith’s acquisitions.
The fundamental desire of ev
ery entity is to maintain that
entity.
The simplest cell and the high
est organism have this desire in
common.
A woman who realizes her in
dividuality must have pride in
that individuality, and she must
have desire to maintain her en
tity.
Nature implants this desire In
all life for her own purposes—
that this life may have perpe
tuity.
• * •
What Is of the most impor
tance to woman to-day?
It may be “votes for women,”
But v votes for women” Is not an
end; it Is only a means.
Underneath and beyond all
other needs that women have to
day Is the need for economic in
dependence. This need Is primal,
fundamental.
It 1? necessary for woman’s de
velopment.
It Is necessary that she may
have experiences which rtiake for
character building.
It is necessary for soul expe
riences.
It is necessary in maintaining
her entity, her identity, her self-
respect, her economic freedom.
(The foregoing article was written
for The Georgian by Mr. Hubbard
shortly before he sailed to his untime
ly and tragic death on the Lusitania.)
Old Wine in a New Bottle
News of Atlanta Five and Ten Years Ago
MAY 31, 1905.
W. S. Witham, losing fight
against paying professional tax
as president*of about 30 banks,
must pay $3,000 to State Treasury.
• * *
T. A. Hammond, of Atlanta, ap
pointed arbitrator for Seaboard
Air Line Railroad In tax wrangle
with State.
* * *
City Council finds that Carnegie
Library is without rules and reg
ulations. Will meet to providftp
them.
MAY 31, 1910.
W. S. Witham gives $5,000 to
Baptist Tabernacle building fund,
w r hich amounts now' to $28,462.50.
* * *
Council can not find location for
crematory to which citizens will
not object.
* * *
Engagement announced of Miss
Emma Hyatt Morton, of Portland,
Oreg., to William V. Zimmer, of
Atlanta. Wedding June 15..
• * *
Engagement announced of Miss
Katherine King Pendleton, daugh
ter of the Rev. and Mrs. H. K.
Pendleton, of Atlanta, to Robert
Kaddow, of Tacoma, Wash. Wed
ding June 1.
• * .
Mobile and Atlanta split dou
ble-header, Bill Chappelle, of Mo
bile. trying to pitch both games.
Scores: Mobile, 3; Atlanta, 3. Mo
bile, 3. Atlanta, 4.