The Birmingham age-herald. [volume], May 04, 1915, Page 4, Image 4

About The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950

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THE AGE-HERALD
E. W. B.AHRETT..
Entered at the Birmingham. Ala.,
postoffice as second class matter un
der act of Congress March 3. ISIS.
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hot responsible for money sent
through the mails. Address.
THE AGE-HERALD,
Birmingham. Ala.
Washington bureau, 207 Hlbbs build
jng,
European bureau, 0 Henrietta street.
Covent Garden, London.
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to. Inclusive, Tribune building, N«w
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elgn advertising. ___
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Weed your better Judgments
Of all opinion thill grows rsnk.
—All You I.ike It.
BEGINNING THE DAY—Grant to
me. (> my God. u warm gratitude
tnduT for government nnd liberty
and peace. Give me thankfulness
that my country nnil my home are
not trampled nnd torn by wari that
my father, my brother noil my hoy,
my mother, my wife, my sister and
my child are spared the bullets nml
the passions of buttle. Amen—
H. M. E.
Great Britain and the Drinking Hahit
The drinking habit, which was for
merly widespread in Great Britain
and is still a troublesome problem to
the government facing ft great war, is
traced to England’s intercourse with
the so-called “Low Countries.” During
prolonged wars in the Netherlands
the Historian Camden says the English
“first learnt to drown themselves with
immoderate drinking, and by drinking
others’ healths to impair their own.
Of all the northern nations they had
been before this most commended for
their sobriety.”
Isaac d’lsraeli, in his “Curiosities
of Literature,” points out that many
drinking terms, such as “carouse” and
“half seas over,” are of German,
Dutch or Danish origin. However, the
early Anglo-Saxons were much given
to hard drinking, as the annals of
those days show. Many quaint and
curious customs resulted.
It is said that at the instance oi | f
St. Dunstan, archbishop of Canter- ^
bury, King Edgar ordered that pegs j.
or pins be inserted in the large drink- j
ing vessels then used, so that each
' man’s consumption might be regu- r
lated. The first person who drank f
lowered the contents of the takard to ^
the first peg from the top. The next £
drank down to the second peg, and so f
on until the tankard was emptied. By t
:1 this method each man was allowed
abQUt half a pint. There was a penalty (
provided for anyone who went beyond ,
one pin. The phrase “putting in the f
pin” seems to have been derived from ^
this practice. I
At a later period globular glasses ^
Were introduced which would not
Stand, thus compelling a person to
drain them to the bottom. Some of ■
i| these glasses held a quart or more. (
During the sixteenth, seventeenth,
eighteenth and the first part of the .
nineteenth centuries drinking among
Englishmen was excessive, but a de
cided change has come about in the
past fifty or sixty years and recently
there was talk in England of enforc- ■
ing prohibition by government author
ity while the war lasts.
National Characleristics
A war correspondent who has de
voted a great deal of attention to the
“human” side of the war in Europe
recently gave his impressions of the
different nationalities engaged. The
Turcos he found the most composed
of all the soldiers he has seen. “With
them their fate seemed to be all in
v the day’s work.” But even their
\ stoicism deserted them in cold weath
er and we are informed that they \yeve
| very miserable during the winter,
? when they suffered greatly from the
cold and the rain. The Belgians he
thinks the most excited, although the
average mind has pictured these val
iant people as making the best of their
deplorable situation with the calm
that comes when the worst has hap
pened. The correspondent pictures
them as a “voluble, distrait kind, with
the question ever on their lips, ‘Where
are the English?’ ”
Hie poor Frenchman, it seems, cries
a great deal from the torture of his
wounds, but no one seems to think
any. the worse of him for that. It is
Just “hi* way." There is no braver
■r soldier in the world than the French
man, but he hasn’t the physique that
gives a man fortitude in suffering, nor
the temperament to endure without
complaint. Crying relie,ves the Freneh
\ man just as swearing helps the Eng
lishman or the American, although
. the latter think it much more prefera
ble for a man in trouble to rip out a
14 *
few choice oaths than to weep copious
tears.
I The English, the corespondent de
I scribes at “just stunned. ‘Can this
be?’ writen all over their chopfallen
countenances.” But he was referring
this time to English prisoners. The
British soldier, according to all ac
counts, is quite a different person un
der fire, or resting between battles.
The Russians show their character
istic resignation. A ‘‘kick-me-again
way” no doubt accurately describes
their stolid indifference. Weary and
forlorn, they probably think that a
kick or a blow, more or less, patters
little. __
The Education Campaign
The legislature at is 20-day ses
sion passed all the education bills
seeking to advance public school work
except the one requiring compulsory
attendance on the part of children of
school age.
The school tax amendment bill met
with virtually no opposition; and the
bill providing that women might serve
on county school boards and city
boards of education was carried by a
large majority. And so it was with
the measure creating the “illiteracy
commission” for the removal of adult
illiteracy in Alabama, and other meas
ures aiming at progress in the line
of education.
Vigorous agitation against prevail
ing ignorance on the part of thousands
of whites as well as negroes will re
duce the percentage of illiteracy in
this state; and in a few years after
school districts shall have the right
to levy taxes for school purposes the
conditions from an educational point
of view will be greatly improved; but
illiteracy will not disappear rapidly—
will certainly not disappear entirely—
until every boy and girl is required to
attend school. Without a compulsory
law thousands of parents would allow
their children to grow up in ignorance,
no matter how good school facilities
might be.
The compulsory bill now pending
should be passed by a decisive ma
jority at the July session.
A National Ballroom
Cures for the divorce evil have been
many and varied, but a new one has
made its appearance.
The new cure is dancing, and, ac
cording to press reports, is prescribed
by Mrs. Walter Pulitzer of New York.
According to Mrs. Pulitzer’s diag
nosis discontented wives and jealous
husbands are the most frequent seek
ers i after divorce. And according to
her theory, husbands who become en
grossed in learning the latest glides
and dips, with some charming young
society belle, forget to be jealous and
fault finding with their wives. The
wives in turn, instead of moping at
home, renew their youth and gayety
in the ballroom.
iUlfl. X UUt&Cl j/iupuoco W 11CO.U <X
movement to establish a national
dance palace in San Francisco, where
mismated couples from all over the
country can dance themselves into a
state of forgetfulness of marital con
tention.
No suggestion, however, is offered
for the morning following the ball,
when both husband and wife, it would
seem, may be wearied by their
terpsichorean efforts of the night be
fore, and inclined to vent their irri
tation upon one another.
Many practical obstacles appear in
the working out of Mrs. Pulitzer’s
idea, which at least has the virtue of
originality.
Small things, apparently surface
things no doubt, combine to bring
about a situation which terminates in
the divorce courts. Unkind words,
fretting and nagging, that day by day
wear away the respect and affection
lack of consideration in the home, may
lack of considreation in the home, may
seem small things, but in the aggre
gate build a barrier that cannot be
bridged even by dancing feet, in the
latest glides, dips, swirls or shuffles
that the dancing craze of the hour
mav dictate.
Power of Conscience
“Conscience makes cowards of us
all,” is an adage which seems to be as
pertinent today as it ever was.
Phillip White, a former manager
of a paint factory in Brooklyn, is on
trial charged with complicity in high
way robbery. Messengers of the com
pany for which he worked were robbed
of money with which they, were to pay |
the workmen.
Evidence was introduced to show
that the former manager had con
spired with the highwaymen and had
participated in the loot. But so high
did White stand in the estimation of
his employers that they refused to
believe him guilty, and not only sup
plied his bail, but secured counsel for
him and otherwise assisted him.
In the midst of the trial White
sprang to his feet, exciaimingl
“Stop! I am guilty. I want to con
fess my guilt to God and before the
world.”
Seldom has a more dramatic inci
dent occurred in a courtrooA, as
! White, trembling with emotion,
1 plucked from his coat the emblem of
sprang to his feet, exclaiming:
“I am not* worthy to wear this
emblem.”
' Such is the power of a guilty con
I
science over the mind of a sensitive
man. White had, it seems, lived be
yond his means and had occupied a
prominent place in Brooklyn society.
Being unable to meet the demands
upon his purse legitimately, he took to
embezzlement and highway robbery,
according to his own confession.
Unprincipled as he was, to betray
the trust reposed in him by his em
ployers, there yet remained within
him a sense of honor that made his
guilty conscience unbearable. Possibly
he might have been acquitted for lack
of conclusive evidence, possibly the
guilt might have been wrongly fixed
on some other man, yet White knew
that for him there would be no peace
until he had rendered such reparation [
as lay in his power. ,
Many a clever man has engaged in 1
criminal pursuits, which must even- 1
tually end in disaster, not taking into .
consideration that the same amount i
of effort and intelligence applied to '
a legitimate enterprise would net
many times greater reward in a ma
terial way, beside the blessing of a
conscience that fears no accuser.
A woman sued the leader of a sun cult
for money Intrusted to him and a jury
awarded her $5 more than she asked for,
evidently being under the impression that
the priest worshipped Mammon more than
the sun.
School children of Ottawa, Kan., dug
up two tons of dandelions and turned
them over to the mayor the other day.
And yet they say there Is nothing yellow
about the mayor.
It was a mere coincidence, of course,
that some of the fiercest fighting in the
European war began about the time the
women peace delegates met at The Hague.
The success of a St. Louis stenographer
in winning a $10,000 prize for a moving pic
ture scenario has made 10,000 stenogra
phers dissatisfied with their jobs.
According to the newspaper reports, Mr.
Barnes' usual attitude during the trial at
Syracuse was that of a man who says,
"Do my ears deceive me?”
The^sausage shaped "kite" balloon used
by the Gertnans looks like a big fat
frankfurter, a sight to stir the patriotism
of the Kaiser’s soldiers.
Walter Brookins, an aviator, was
robbed of $900 in Chicago the other night.
He is reported to be very much up in the
air over the occurrence.
“Italy gets nearer to war,” says a news
paper headline. If this keeps up much
longer, Italy will have to wake up to keep
from stumbling over it.
Having passed a eugenics law and hav
ing tried to get an anti-tipping law on the
statute books, Wisconsin has qualified as
a state of optimists.
The quietness of General Hderta may be
due to foxiness, and then, on the other
hand, it may be due to the fact that he
has nothing to say.
Formerly the war reports from Berlin 1
and Petrograd seldom if ever agreed. '
Now it's the reports from Pondon and ]
Constantinople. 1
- ■* ,
Aristocrats will toll in the ammunition .
factories of Glasgow to show their pa
triotism. War sometimes works wonders.
The Taft boom for the presidency al- i
ready shows signs of needing a pulmotor. 1
Might blame the "big show” at Syracuse. 1
Dr. Dernburg seems hard to please, but
America Is doing the best It can to keep •
him reasonably cool under the collar.
Some people seem to think that the spir
itual uplight can wait until prosperity’
gets firmly seated In the saddle.
Persons who keep the fly from breeding
will never smash any bric-a-brac while
trying to swat him.
“All of Kansas soaked," say press re
ports. Don't be misled—it only Indicates
a heavy shower.
The Chicago Whales recently beat the
Packers 7 to 0. That must have been their
Jonah day.
Ben Carwater lives at Running Water,
Tex No wonder the state has been vieited
by floods.
There are men who can do everything
about an automobile except pay for It.
TRY IT, BROTHERS
rrom the National Monthly.
Two men were talking of hard times.
“Does your wife ever grieve because
jhe threw over a wealthy man in or
ier to marry you?*’ queried Hall.
“Well, she started to once," was the
reply, “but I cured her of that without
ielay."
“I wish you would tell me how,” said
Rail.
• I started right in grieving with her."
leplied the other, “and I grieved hard
er than she did!"
ALABAMA PRESS
i•
Anniston Evening Star: Business has
been "looking up" for some time, and now
It's gone to climbing where It's been look
ing.
Selma Times: Teaching school In Ala
bama Is getting to be a labor of love, as
the pecuniary end of It seems to be uni
formly slighted by those responsible for
paying salaries.
Huntsville Mercury-Banner: The state
treaeury Is behind two months with the
teachers’ salaries and the old Veterans' ]
pensions will he reduced one-half this
quarter, yet the Comer-Lawrence combi
nation In the legislature, under the leader
ship of Lusk & Co., spurned the gover
nor's business-like proposition to escape
these conditions. Politicians and prohibi
tion is a bad combination.
Dothan Eagle: It Is said that the fig
1 crop Is a sure one every year. Outside the
Iflgs then, most things that grow In this
section are effected by the dry spell w»
have had for some time. April showers
haven’t made good.
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Capital Seeking Investment Here
“Business is improving steadily—all
ines of business—so far as my observa
tion goes,” said Otto Marx, “and as for
capital seeking investment Birmingham is
getting Its share.
“Since March 1 I have brought $2,500,000
>f outside money to Birmingham and
Placed it in the way of various loans,
tt is a well known fact that capital
gravitates easily to Birmingham. Cor
jorations and Industries with big money
0 lend have faith in the great future
>f this city.”
Great Chautauqua Attractions
"Last year's Chautauqua and the chau
auqua of the year before brought ex
;ellent attractions to Birmingham, but
n looking over the folder setting forth
he attractions for this month I feel
lafe in saying that we are to have a
veek of most delightful entertainment,
lurpassing In many respects anything
>f the kind ever offered here," said a
>rofessional man.
“We are to have distinguished men in
jopular lectures, and what appeals to
no especially men of science in up-to
late scientific demonstrations.
“As for music, Alice Nielson alone in
ler one recital, should be worth almost
he price of a season ticket. There are
nany fine musical attractions, including
1 particularly fine chamber orchestra of
dx players—string quintet and piano.
Pellaria’s band of 30 pieces comes high
y recommended. It will give two con
certs—afternoon and night. The aft
ernoon programme is very light but the
light programme is up to symphonic
itandard. I hope the local management
tfill fnsist on Pellaria confining his ‘ex
ras’ to music of some artistic merit,
rhe people who go to hear a good pro
gramme are disgusted if the extras are
iltogether trivial. Krill, a Chautauqua
’avorite, made a mistake by playing a
jreat deal of trashy stuff. He evidently
iad an idea that Birmingham chautau
lua audiences were made up of hay
seeds.”
The Norwood Methodist
“We certainly have a live Sunday
school organization at the Norwood
Methodist church, Thirteenth avenuo
and Thirty-first street," said E. F. Mor
gan.
“The warm weather seems to have
no adverse effect at all on our attend
ance. In fact, I believe it has increased
since the temperature has begun to
iise. Last Sunday, for instance, our
attendance was fully 350 out of an
enrollment of 400. Perhaps I should
state by way of explanation that the
officers identified with our Sunday
school organization are men who be
lieve in putting forward their best ef
forts in behalf of the organization. Mr
E. J. Howe is superintendent and he
has two exceptionally competent men
as assistants in the persons of Frank
Hammond and J. D. Porter. Our Sun
day school is said to be the only body
In the city fully organized in accord
ance with the plans laid out by the
Birmingham Sunday School associa
tion. The different classes are made
up of pupils who believe in being so
cial and regular.
“I have the pleasure of teaching the
Brotherhood class, which last Sunday
had 60 men in attendance. These mon
demonstrate great loyalty to the class
organization and appear to take much
pleasure in the social features of the
Sunday school.”
Reantlfnl Scenery
“The scenery along the Warrior river
between Salter's bluff and Lock 17 Is very
beautiful, and is surpassed in granduer by
none In the country.” Said Capt. E. V.
Pickley of the river boat “Hannan,”
which will haul the Birmingham excursion
party to Lock 17 on May 13, when the
formal opening of the lock is held in the
presence of Secretary of War Garrison
and other distinguished officials.
“The excursion May 13 will be an excel
lent opportunity for many Birmingham
people to take a little outing at practically
no expense, and of a kind heretofore im
possible in Birmingham without going a
considerable distance. I venture to sug
gest that before many years there will be
regular excursion boats and many resorts
along the canalized Warrior which will be
largely patronized by Birmingham people
who wish to break away from business
and the city for Just a day or two.”
I
The Presidential Campaign
"I have always considered myself a ,
stanch republican, but I voted for Roose
velt In 1912 and would like to have the
privilege r/t voting for him again In 1916; ,
but he will hardly be a candidate," said
L*. K. Atherton of Chicago.
“Not being a politician myself, I have
heard very little discussion of candidates. ,
I was In New York two weeks ago ami
did hear some mention of Hughes as be
ing by far the strongest man the repub
licans could nominate. If he becomes the
republican standard bearer, I believe the
Roosevelt progressives will give him cor
dial support, which I suppose would mean
his election.
"The republicans are counting on un
settled business conditions for their tri
umps at the polls next year, but if busi
ness continues to improve and if it re
mains active during the spring and sum
mer of 1916, President Wilson will have
some chance at least of succeeding him
eelf.”
The Public Library's Popularity
"Under the direction of Carl H. Milam
the public library system of Birmingham
has witnessed wonderful development in
the pact two years. Its development has
not only been in its own ahility for public
service, but in its rendering of public
service through the means of a rapidly
grotving popularity,” said a member of
the Board of Trade.
"Above all things, Mr. Milam by force
of his own personality, tact, energy and
Ingeniousness, has brought the publlo li
brary to the attention of thousands of
people who never'before had given it a
thought, with the' result that where one
person two years ago was a library patron
there now are dosen today. As in all
young towns, Birmingham’s library ays- |
tern is still in its embryonic stage. It has
many shortcomings. But its director and
the staff he has gathered about him are
not among them.
"It is interesting to note that Mr. Milam
ia a southern bred man. He Is an Okla
homlan by birth and a graduata of the
Oklahoma state university. He received
his preliminary education in the aouth.
but took special courses In library work in
schools of the north and east. His grand
father was one of the largest slaveholders
of the early days of Missouri.”
EASY CONDITION
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Busy Club Mother—What 1 want is a
nmse who will devote as much ttrie
and care to the children as I do.
The Applicant—Well, if I didn’t do
that ma’am, Id expeot to be arrested
lor neglect. How much do you pay?
/
New York World: Admirers of the fath
erland who have viewed with anxiety the
military situation in Europe will he re
assured by the news from Milwaukee.
Led by the gallant General Pearson of
Boer war notoriety, the German Alliance
has boldly assailed a local establishment
which is said to be making ammunition
for Great Britain and France. Not on
the stricken field but In a state court
are the dread issues of this contest to
b© settled.
Nothing will be asked of the Wisconsin
tribunal except that it shall override the
constitution, statutes and treaties of the
United States. It is to save German
lives, property and institutions, even
Prussian militarism, by due process of
law. It is to accomplish for Germany
by writs of mandamus, injunction, certio
rari and replevin what all the Kaiser’s
ships and all the Kaiser’s men have not
yet been able to do.
As a preliminary to this great move
ment a court commissioner is expected to
compel the manufacturers to furnish evl
dence against tuemselves. Then all that
will be necessary to give General Pear
son's lawsuit more force than a subma
rine or a gas bomb in shutting off Brit
ish supplies will be a decree of prohi
bition duly signed by the circuit judge.
<Yith Wisconsin thus occupied as effec
tually as Belgium and Luxemburg, the
German Alliance will move on Illinois, In
diana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and
New England in turn, putting all the
fabrlcatprs of war supplies out of busi
ness as it goes along.
It is possible, of course, that the Ger
man empire is going to be saved in Amer
ic an state courts, which are justly cele
brated for their wisdom and authority,
but no enemy of that country has yet
ventured to insinuate that its cause Is as
hopeless as this suit would seem to in
dicate.
Pittsburg Sun: Gen. Nelson A. Miles,
once head of the military forces of this
country and noted aB one of the great
est of frontier fighters, was in the city
recently and delivered a lecture here.
While adhering to the injection of the
President that army offivers refrain
from talking war, _he did hazard an
opinion or two. "There should be a
congress of nations," he said, "to settle
and adjust international controversies.'
The idea is not new with the general,
but nevertheless it contains much that
appeals to those who are advocates of
permanent universal peace, and in our
hearts most of us are such. But—and
there is always a "but’’—Is such a thing
as permanent international peace possi
ble? General Miles says that such a
federation among nations is Just as
feasible as it was with our colonies.
True, and how did it work with us? We
got along fairly well until a sectional
question come up, and then like a wave
of fire the war spirit spread over the
country and no power in the world could
stay it.
Just so with nations. The war spirit
starts from a spark: it is fanned into
(lame and before anyone realizes It the
conflagration is raging and men are
back to the primal state, destroying
lives and property In the name of pat
riotism and principle. Permanent peace,
whether in the association of individual
with individual or nation with nation,
is possible only after the human heart
has been despoiled of the qualities that
make for emotion and passion. "Seeing
red” is an expression of continental ori
gin, but it means a great deal, and when
a man "sees red" or when a country
"sees red” all the peace protocols in the
national archives hecome "scraps of pa
per,” and it cannot be denied. War is
alwaysc deplorable, a fight is to he de
precated and a quarrel is regrettable,
but as lon^ as the heart has passions
they will follow each other, and in the
Interim the human family will dwell in
harmonious accord-—and dream about
the coming of the millennium—when
peace shall reign permanently on earth.
GOSSIP IN LONDON
The exploits of a young Russian scout
named Vassili received prominent mention
in the Petrograd journals. Vassili, who
was a volunteer, was first in every bold
adventure and received the St. George's
Cross for conspicuous bravery.
After taking a prominent part in some
severe fighting Vassili and a party of com
panions spent the night in a barn, Vassili
sleeping on a heap of hay. In the middle
of the night the young volunteer awoke
and shouted, “Mamma, there’s a rat!”
The other soldiers laughed uproariously.
“Here’s a pretty St. George's hero,” they
shouted. “Afraid of a rat!”
Then, to their astonishment, Vassili
wept bitterly, could not be consoled, and
eventually had to be taken to hospital in
hysteria. The young hero continued to
cry, and a doctor then discovered that
“he” was a pretty girl of 18. When she
recovered she was taken to the com
mander, who elicited from her the admis
sion that she had run away from home
with her sweetheart’s papers. “I fear
nothing, your excellency, but mice and
rats,” she said.
Vassili is now acting as a Sister of
Mercy in a Red Cross hospital.—Central
News.
Sir William Treloar has received a tele
gram from Queen Alexandra congratu
lating him on the opening of a new ward
at the Alton Cripples’ hospital and asking
him to convey to “his poor little sufferers"
her earnest hope that they may soon be
restored to health and strength and be
able to take their part in the duties and
pleasures of life. The message was read
by Sir William to^g party of little cripples
at Waterloo station, who were on their
way to the hospital, and an interesting in
cident wag the presentation of roedaia
granted by Queen Alexandra to two little
cripples whose fathers are serving with
the Coldstream guards and Royal Scots
Fusiliers respectively.
INVOCATION
From the Atlantio Monthly.
O Thou whose equal purpose runs
In drops of rain or streams of suns,
i And with a soft compulsion rolls
, The green earth of her snowy poles;
O Thou who keepest in thy ken
The times of flowers, the dooms of men,
1 Stretch out a mighty wing above—
■ Be tender to the land we love!
\ If all the huddlers from the storm
Have found her hearthstone wide and
• warm;
1 If she has made men free and glad,
- Sharing, with all. the good and bad;
■ If she has blown the very dust
From her bright balance to be just*
Oh, spread a mighty wing above—
Be tender to the land we.love!
When the dark eternal tower
i The star clock strikes her trial hour,
_ And for her he’p no more avail
Her sea blue r field, her mountain mail
But sweeping .vide, from gulf to lakes
0 The battle on her forehead breaks,
a Throw Thou a thunderous wing abova
Be lightning for the tbnd wa ioval
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES
THE STAY-AT-HOME
The world la wide,
But on this side
Is where I'd rather be.
Those foreign scenes
On picture screens
Are all I care to see.
In lands afar
Grim-vlsased war
Strews gory fields with dead;
The desolate
Deliv’rance wait
And children cry for bread.
A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION
"I see where a young woman advertises
for a roommate of 'advanced thought’."
“What's the Idea?”
"I can't imagine, unless she’s pretty
herself and wants a roommate who la
homely.”
NONE WHATEVER
Sign in front of a vaudeville theatre,
headlining a toe dancer: “The most tal
ented pair of feet that ever appeared on
our programme."
But of what use are "talented” feet If
the lower limbs are not also gifted?
CROWDED OUT
“I understand you are planning a new
house."
"I started to."
"Why did you drop It?”
“I didn’t drop it. My wife and the con
tractor got together and I haven’t been
able to put in a word since.”
SYMPATHETIC SANDY
Though .a terrible foe, the Highland lad
Is a tender-hearted chleld,
For when the battle is done, egad!
He carries his kilt from the field.
’ —Boston Transcript.
He carries his kilt from the field, 'tis true,
And, indeed, he could not do less;
He'd be a most shocking sight to view
Without that part of his dress.
PART OF THE SCENERY
“Why did you"move away from Bingle
hurst?”
"The ride to and fro was too much for
me.”
"Why. It's only 15 minutes by trolley.”
"I know, but I’m a strict teetotaller now
and every time I looked out of the car
window 1 s^w a beer sign."
SENSIBLE SOOTHSAYER ,
"You are going to have a great deal of
money some day,” said the clairvoyant.
"Am I going to marry it or earn it?”
asked the pleased client.
"You are going to marry it, but you’ll
earn it, all right!”
A FOOLISH CUSTOM }
"I'm sorry, madam,” said ihe cashier, i
"but we can't cash this check of yours. •
Your account is already overdrawn. You
have no money in this bank.”
"But *1 still have one of your check
books.” 1
“Certainly.”
"Then, wl?y do you let me keep a check
book if I can't use it? I’ll never have
anything to do with this mean old bank
again!”
As she flounced out the cashier sighed
so audibly he woke up the second vice ^
president who sat In his mahogany of
fice dreaming of golf.
CYNICALLY INCLINED
"Genius is said to be an infinite ca
pacity for taking pains," said the near
philosopher.
“Just so,” replied the man with a
grouch. “And my definition of optimism ^
is an infinite capacity for taking pun^
ishment.”
HARDING’S FARM LOAN PLAN j
From the Mobile Register.
GREDIT for consumption is the road
to poverty;
Credit for production is the road
to well being.
How to pr%vide the honest toiler with
what he needs, and at a rate that he
can afford to pay, and that his produc
tion may increase and his economic situa
tion be bettered? This question has been
asked in every land, and has been an
swered in some. It w'as the burgomaster
of an obscure little town in barren Wes
terwald of Rhenish Prussia who first
thought of a plan to help the farmers
hopelessly ground down by debt to the
money lenders. It occurred to Raiffeisen
that by combining to borrow a moderate
sum of money on their joint responsibil
ity, and afterwards to lend it out among
themselves in small sums at slightly
greater rate of interest, the peasants
might obtain relief from their burden of
usury, and at. the same time get the
capital necessary to make their labor re
munerative. The plan worked; and the
Raiffe:sen system is knowm as a public
benefaction.
Another system was the invention of
Frank Schulze of the same region of
country, and is known as the Schulze
Delitzsch bank system. In this case there
is co-operative credit, as in the other, but
among people who become stockholders
for profit. The great objects of the bank
are security and a good return on capi
tal. A very wide extended bank sys
tem has grown from small beginnings.
The Raiffeisen banks are designed to
help the very poor, the farmers who
need an ox or a cow, or to fence and
fertilize a field, etc., while the Schulze
Delitzsch banks work primarily among
townsmen, and for profit, and confer
benefit upon the middle classes.
A third form of help is given by gov
ernment indorsed banks, such as the
Central Co-operative Bank of Prussia,
that is designed to bring capital within
the reach of th^ co-operative banks, or,
in other words, the people.
Succinctly, then, there are three well
recognized ways of helping the people:
By strict co-operation, with such capi
tal as their own frugality can provide;
second, by co-operation of the fairly well
to-do who lend to themselves, and bunch
their credit to obtain capital from out
side sources; and, third, governmental aid
and credit. We see in the case of France
a loan by the Bank of France of $6,
000,000 free of interest and a gift ol
$600,000 per annum to the support of ag
riculture. In Austria and other coun
tries similar help is given.
Conditions in our country not being sat
isfactory many of our best men are seek
ing a way to betterment. President Wil
son has shown special interest in the mat
ter and has pressed upon Congress the
. advisability of providing legislation au
thorizing some form of rural credits
Some there are who believe that the
states can do much to assist in this di
rection, and one of the most prominent
is Mr. W. P. G. Harding, formerly pres
ident of the First National bank of Bir
mingham, and now a member of the fed
eral reserve board. Mr. Harding recently
submitted a plan for state aid in ex
tending rural credits, and this has been
received with so much favor as to be
made the basis of a bill prepared by a
subcommittee of the Mobile Chamber of
Commerce, which bill the legislature of
Alabama may be asked to legislate into
law.
Mr. Harding’s proposal briefly described
is that the state of Alabama charter a
land mortgage bank, with headquarters
centrally located; the paid-in capital to
be $600, qpO, and the authorized capital
seven times that amount; capital stock
to be exempted from taxation; capital
stock distributed as equally as may be
in the counties of the state.
The directors are to be chosen, one- ^
third of the number by the governor and '
two-thirds by the stockholders; and cer- ft
tain state officers may be ex-officio di
rectors
The business done is to be upon farm 1
mortgages, the loans to be limited to 50 \
per cent of actual values, and approved '
in each instance by two or more stock
holders living in the county where the
loan is sought.
When the paid-in capital has been
loaned, the bank may issue collateral
trust bonds, based upon mortgage paper
held by it; not to exceed, however, four
or five times the actual paid-in capital;
these collateral bonds to be retired an
nually in proportion to the amortization
payments.
It is recommended that the charges
upon loans be sufficient to cover interest
on the money loaned and the repayment
of the loan in installments reaching over
a period of 25 years, such repayment being
known as amortization. The charges
should not exceed altogether the legal
rate of 8 per cent.
Dividends of the bank are to be lim
ited to 6 per cent, and all surplus earn
ings go to support of the public schools,
to the building of roads, etc.
The state to guarantee principal and
interest of all collateral bonds issued oy
the bank.
The drafted hill follows these sugges
tions of Mr. Harding’s very closely, but I
is worked out in greater detail. Its con- »
eluding section or clause embodies a pro- I
vision that the powers contained in the
bill be authorized by the people; that is ■
to say, be indorsed as an amendment to
the state constitution. The clause is a
recognition of the fact that the con
stitution forbids the legislature to au
thorize the lending of the state’s credit
to an association. That there will be dif
ficulty in accomplishing this amendment
is well understood, but the framers of
the bill place much hope in the general
utility of the bill, and say that the bene
fits to accrue will speak eloquently in
its favor.
Mr. Harding is to be thanked for the
initiative he ha# shown. Whether this
particular plan is practicable or not. it J
will open the way. and will keep things I
going until some avenue of relief is dis- "
covered.
.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••■•••••••••a*
ANNISTON’S GROWTH
From the Anniston Evening Star.
NE of the most encouraging signs
on the commercial horison in An
niston in recent years has been
the constant increase in the strength of
the local banks, and there has been no one
thing to take place recently of greater
import in this connection than the con
solidation of the City Bank and Trust
oompany and the Oxford National bank,
an acoount of which la published In the
Star.
Both of theee banka have enjoyed pros
perity since their organisation a few years
ago, but consolidation for greater effi
ciency through union of strength la one
of the tendencies of the age, and it prob
ably was thle principle that actuated the
men behind the merger in question. It is
of significance, also, that the increased
capital represented in this transaction
> should be centralised in Anniston, for
trade follows the dollar, just as dollars
gravitate toward the centers of greatest
activity.
I Hence this transaction means that the
men behind the merger recognise in An
niston potentialities for growth, and there
is no man better qualified than the banker
to judge of these possibilities. This deal
alone Increases the capital of local banks
to nearly *1,000,000, and will increase
money on deposit to the amount of nearly
*2,000,000. For this reason, we say ad
visedly that local financial tendencies offei
^ encouragement to the thoughtful citisen.
^ Furthermore, Anniston banka wer<
_ never better managed than they are today
Tha mao at the head of our financial 1
a
t
stltutions are forward looking and far
sighted, and they are building for thfc
future. A noteworthy step in this dlrdlw
tlon was taken when this city was se
lected as the permanent meeting place |
for the northeast Alabanta bankers, or the
members comprising this group of the
state association, for with the develop- 1
ment in the regional reserve bank system
and the accompanying growth in wealth
and population of this section, there are
possibilities of Anniston's becoming a
financial center of more than passing Im
portance.
Nor are the Anniston bankers of today
mere hoarders of money, but real devel
opers. They are backing Anniston Indus
try and are rendering commendable serv
ice to this community in the encourage
ment they are lending to promote better
methods of agriculture.
K we will all co-operate to this end—di
versify our crops and our industries, trad#
at home and thereby keep at home the
hundreds of thousand* of dollars we send
to other sections every year—we will soon
secure cheaper money, which le one of
the paramount needs of Anniston and the
south, but we can never make cheap
money by patronizing mall order house*
nor by adhering to a single crop or a sin- i
gle line of industry.
Money begets money, and much money
means cheap money; for It la as, true to
day as ever that "unto every one that
hath shall be given, and he shall have
abundance; but from htm that hath not
shall be taken Away even that which he
hath,” an economic fact stated by th*
•Naxcreiie 3000 year* aga.
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