Watson's weekly Jeffersonian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1907, November 07, 1907, Page PAGE SEVEN, Image 7

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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. PAGE SEVEN