The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1904-01-15
WELL DOE.

battle Is half won Wnen tno hucs a.
well draTn. And so Mayor BrownloW
is over the hardest part of his work,now
that he has his lines we'll drawn.
In his message last week and hi'
official acts he justified the good Opinion
and satisfied the expectations OF his
friends, and disarned any who NIGH
have been looking for serious faults tt
find.
In his appointments he could not have
done better, and few men would have
done SO well. 1t is easy enough to sa,
that man ought to disregard persona
friendships and appoint the best men
But that is easier said than done when
some of the best men in town are ask
ing for some very questionable q, 'oint-
ments. 1t is easy enough to say mo
once, but it Is not so easy to keep on
sa7ing mo" when some of your best
friends keep on after you to save this
man. and reform that man, and
sshelpr another man for sweet charity
sake, utterly regardless of their suitable.
ity for the places they are seeking.
Little as those tho do not know, may
think it. it takes strong man to hold
any sort of public Office and do his duty.
No man knows what he will do until be
Is tempted and tried. No U'an knows
his own weakness or his own strength,
until he is tested And no man can
hold public Office without being tempt
ed and tried and tested, in ways innum-
cradle and unknown to the general pub
lie. Ard when man stands bold up
right and ,es straight forward to do
the right as God gives him the POWER 70
see the right, he is a strong man and q
courageous man, and one who reflects
honor upon his office. And such man
Columbia has in its new Mayor.
Mr.. Brownlow's appointments had
previously been agreed upon and made
known to the public, and heretofore
commented upon. They are new men,
and Of course will need q little time to
.scatch ON But they are eober, relia-
BILE. ii ustworthy men, all of them, and
we believe will do their duty.
His accommodation for new
system Of book keeping is perhaps the
most important part Of his message ana
should receive the most careful consid
Grafton Of his cabinet We believe his
suggestions are sound. The present
system, though it has substantially been
in vogue since the memory OF man run
meth not to the contrary, is lamentably
loose and utterly unsatisfactory. Inc
corporation's books ought to show where
avery dollar comes from and where 1t
poss to. and there should be some sort OF
voucher for every transaction, ana me
books ought to balance every night JUST
as hank books or the books of private cor
norations do. And an exact statement OF
the c,ty's financial condition should be
as easily and accurately ascertained
from the books, as the condition OF
any bank from it's books. That is the
Mayor,s idea, as we gather it, and GER
tainly that is condition deyoutly to be
wished.
The reference made in the message to
lawlessness in general and TO lewdness
in particular, the Herald most heartily
endorses. "Flatrock is sin and shame
and disgrace to Columbia. We have
a deal more sympathy for the women
than we have patience with the men who
make it what it is. Some people
will seek to justify it, as thev do sa-
looms, on the ground that it brings
"trade'' to the city. Some people would
make hell OF this earth for trade"
To call it necessary evil" as some
in authority have been won't to do, is an
insult to refinement, to culture, to
christianity. to decent living, to all res
pectable people. We do not know what
action the Board will take against this
evil. 1t is subject we shall not dis
ouss through our columns often or at
length. But we assure the Board OF
the Herald moral backing In any and
every righteous effort they may make.