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gether in extra session, and the Ma
con Platform put into statute law.
“No true friend of Governor Smith
will advise him to run for another of
fice until he redeems the promises on
which he got the une he now has.
“Nobody can do the work which
he is pledged to do but himself. To
call him off from that, when he has
just begun to get started, would be a
public calamity.’ *
Mr. Watson is right, but he should
have gone further.
He should have called upon the
railroad commission, as The Consti
tution does now, to answer those
questions which of necessity it must
answer, and settle beyond doubt those
policies which it must settle, under
the powers and the authority with
which it has been vested.
Are we or are we not to have the
port rates and further general or
material reductions in freight rates?
The commission alone must answer.
It cannot reply that petitions for
these things have not been placed be
fore it. The Macon platform has
spoken upon the port rates and oth
er propositions relating to its diPies
in emphatic terms, and the law has
made it obligatory upon the commis
sion to investigate and act of its own
motion. Where better to begin the
application of that presc/u.bed duty
than upon the demands of the people
made in the Macon platform?
The railroad commission has not
yet settled, or indicated when it would
settle, a single one of the great gen
eral questions with which it must
deal.
Gentlemen, let’s have an end of
this dangerous, dilly-dallying policy
of suspense, and let us know what
you are going to do!
Generalities of the glittering or any
other sort will not suffice; the knowl
edge of your purposes upon these
questions must be specific.
Let the governor call the general
assembly in extra session, and let it
say just how far it proposes to go
and just where it propose sto stop.
Let’s get down to bedrock and take
up building where we left off; for
that this suspense has caused a ces
sation of industrial expansion along
certain lines there can be no ques
tion. Railroads have abandoned ex
tensions and discharged many of
their employes; projected trclley
lines which are to open up new sec
tions are waiting to know what sort
of treatment they are to expect: cap
ital, ready for many enterprises, is
held back until there can be no far
ther question of its status.
Let us know the worst or the best,
whichever it may be, but—let us
know.
Let’s have an end of the doubt, the
suspense, the delay. Knowledge of
the conditions to be met will enable
all to fall into accord with them and
bring speedy readjustment.
Georgia’s continued progress and
prosperity, and that of her people,
depend upon this knowledge which it
is the duty of her public servants to
give without more unnecessary pro
crastination !—Atlanta Constitution.
FARMERS, GO SLOW.
Much agitation is heard these days
relative to fifteen-cent cotton. The
Times is unqualifiedly the farmer’s
and the poor man’s friend, but this
thing of asking and holding cotton
fbr fifteen cents will work irrepam-
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
ble injury to the masses. It’s bound
to jome socner or later, and the cla
moring for such prices is going to be
the cause of it all. Several years ago
when eight and a quarter cents per
pound was received for the fleecy
staple, every one was perfectly con
tented. Then they demanded ten
cents, and then a cent per pound more
still, and finally last year thousands
and thousands of bales of cotton
brought as high as thirteen and thir
teen and a quarter and a half. What
has been the invariable result of such?
Cotton goods, threads and everything
with which cotton has the minutest
connection has taken a jump, and to
day the public is paying seven cents
for a spool of thread that 12 months
ago could have been had for 3 and 5
cents.
If the planters are paid fifteen
cents per pound for their cotton this
season, these goods will go still high
er and higher, until eventually the
poorer classes of people will be abso
lutely unable to buy anvlhing with
which to clothe themselves. It cer
tainly does not appear logical to im
poverish one in order to add to the
bounty of another. —Memphis Times.
SIN OF CONTENTMENT.
The advice is often given for the
farmer to be contented with his lot
whatever it may be. Some even think
it is a sin for a person, especially a
farmer, to have ambitions—to desire
to assist in the improvement of meth
ods and conditions. We believe that
this is a mistake, that it is not only
a mistake to advise any one to be con
tented with existing conditions, but
it is a sin for anv one to be so con
tended. Ever since the Creator com
manded man to “subdue and replen
ish the earth” men have possessed a
divine discontent—have had the am
bition to better their condition. The
person or class of persons who have
been the most discontented have made
the greater progress and had the most
to do with shaping the world’s his
tory. The sons of Japheth selected
Europe as their-home and there be
came noted for their discontent. This
meant much internal strife, much
bloodshed, but each civil war only re
sulted in the improvement of condi
tions. As their numbers multiplied
and the germs of discontent became
firmly established in the hearts of
the people, the Atlantic was crossed
and this nation, the most discon
tented of them all. was founded. The
sons of Ham took up their abode in
Africa and there became the most
contented of all people. During the
rise and fall of Greece. Rome and
the nations of central Europe, the
descendants of Ham were contented
with the straw huts, the crude wea
pons and the methods of living which
prevailed when Ham and Noah were
making the history of their day. Dis
content made the great advancement
in Europe while contentment left the
continent of Africa undeveloped for
centuries. The farmer can never
hope to attain to the heights possible
for him to reach if he is contented
with existing conditions. He should
have ambitions to acquire more
knowledge of fanning, to improve
conditions which regulate his markets
so ne can obtain more for the prod
ucts of his efforts and to possess
more of the luxuries that make life
worth living.—Advocate.
WHAT IS THE BOY WORTH?
QUESTION FOR TEXANS.
Crying Need in Dallas for an Insti
tution That Will Protect Many
Youths Now Surrounded by
Demoralizing Influences.
By Walton Peteet.
What is a Texas boy worth?
Many statisticians have lately been
making estimates of how many dol
lars it costs parents to feed, clothe
and educate a bov, the figures rang
ing from $5,000 to $25,000.
But these statisticians deal only
with the cost in dollars of raising a
boy. They do not consider what a
boy is worth. And it is well that they
do not. for the worth of a boy is not
to be measured in dollars. To prove
this, try to reckon the worth, in dol
lars and cents, of your boy.
True, the mortality tables of insur
ance companies will tell us how long
any bov may be expected to live, and
other tables of statistics will inform
us hnw manv dollars he mav be ex
pected to receive as wages, if he al
wavs remains a hired man.
Bus these figures do not answer our
question. What is a bov worth? They
take no account of him as an intel
lectual. moral being: thpv cannot
reckon the of his becom
ing a great thinker, statesman, scien
tist, clergvman. artist or reformer,
nor compute in dollars the value nf
such a man to the state, to society
or tn hnmanitv.
Nnr can the statistician compute
what a factor of dpstr”ctinn. pbvsi
callv. mnrallv and snciallv a bov mav
become. for he mav not nnlv wreck
h’s own life and that of dozens of
other bnvs. but hp mav do irrepara
ble injury to government or to socie
ty.
So. while the real value nf a boy
ennnot b«» reckoned, none wBl donv
that it mav h*» v°rv. verv great: and
so. likewise, his pnwpr for evil and
wrong is beyond our power to calcu
late.
And ypf we are suffering scores
and scores of bnvs to he lost—lost to
themselves and to society—every
year in Dallas.
We have no exact figures at hand
of the number of bnvs there are in
Dallas whn are without the environ
ment and training necessary to make
them honorable and useful members
of society, but wp fpp| certain the
number will not fall below one hun
dred.
As members of an elightpned. civ
iliz’d. Christian communitv we can
not escape nor share nf respnpsrbil
itv fnr the future of these bnvs. The
Great Book has for all time ans
wered the question. “Am I my broth
er’s keeper?”
Not nnlv does The Book enjoin
this duty upon us. but an enlightened
self-interest should prompt n« to
look after the welfare of those bnvs.
Grown to criminal manhood they fill
our jails, take up the time of our
eoiuts and make necessary a large
and expensive constabulary, thus im
posing heavy tax burdens upon us.
But great*! than this in importance
is the fact that by precept and ex
ample they may corrupt and lead
astray OL’R OWN BOY.
Last year the legislature passed
some wise and salutary laws relat
ing to bad boys. Rut the keystone of
the arch is still lacking. This is a
home or place where these boys may
be removed from bad associates and
surroundings, where they may be
taught to do useful work. and. great
est of all. where they may come un
der the counsel and guidance of good
men and women who can awaken in
their hearts the latent spark of man
liness and ambition and develop in
them a desire and purpose to become
honorable and useful men.
We note that our law officers aie
lamenting the lack of such an insti
tution. The grand jury, recognizing
this need, recommended that, if the
present county farm is to be sold,
a portion of the proceeds be devoted
to the erection of such a home. We
understand that the city government
has indicated its willingness to share
in the expense.
The need of the hour is a few act
ive. puHic-spirited lovers of human
ity to take the lead, work out feasible
plans and build a bovs* home.
R°mnmher that, when you save
SOMEBODY ELBE’S boy,’ you may
hp saving 5 OT'R OWN bov from the
danger of being led astray by him,
and certain if is that von contribote
to the safpfv and wr-11-being of so
cietv and obey the Divine command
and merit the commendation: “Tn
asmeeh ns ve did it nnto one of the
least of these my children ye did it
also unto me.”
Who will take the lead? —Dallas
Democrat.
A CORRECTION.
Through an oversight, the article
on “Bimtmg flip Paper Trust” which
appeared last week was not credited
as it should have been, to Watson’s
We°klv Jeffersonian. Such an injury
as this to a fellowman will never oc
cur in our columns except by an ov
ersight. Wp look upon it as no more
dishonorable to steal a man’s prop
erty than to appropriate without
proper credit the production of his
brain. Tom Watson is one of the
very best writers in this nation, and
the man that does not get one or both
of his periodicals will never know
what he is missing. Watson can in
ject brilliancy. logic, and fascination,
that interests one in every subject he
touches on. No one. and especially
an old time Populist, can afford to be
without Watson’s Jeffersonian Maga
zine. Every issue is stamped with
the earnest, honest individuality of
Tom Watson, and is a treasure with
in itself. —Scott County Chronicle
(Kan.).
The Atlanta Journal accuses the
Constitution, of the same city, of
sweating purple adjectives at every
pore. The near approach of the dry
season in Atlanta must be affecting
The Constitution editors very much.
“The fall millinery styles are dis
tinct Iv striking,” says an exchange.
That may account for the especially
vigorous manner in which the wom
en aie touching their husbands for
tlie price.
Says the Wilmington (N. C.) Star:
“When Congressman Hobson hears
that Japan is buying Missouri mule*
he will be certain to prick up his
ears.’* Why should he?. Hobson ia
not. from Missouri.
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