Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-09-28
WHY Mr.. WOODWARD
SHOULD BE DEFEATED
(From The Atlanta Jonrnan

mead OF the municipal government. Whoever is nara
10 tns onlce WILL by the fact of his election hear A
stamp OF the communitys approval true tyne Of it
ougnt and purposes he will stand before the state and
the countryatlarge as the chosen representative of ~
people business interests their social standards and bo
CIVIC IDEALS By his department at home and abroad b
MS record and his character the people of Atlanta will very
largely be judged; and properly is within be
power to say what manner of their mayor shall he
II he is of good repute and worthiy the bonor
accorded him, his election will then be credit to thu
community But if he trails his high office through w.
that are foul and smirches the public honor with hi
private misdeeds then his election becomes shame Owl
rebuke to the city that ntrusted its good mama ~ H.
keeping Nor is this ALL For, mayor who is moralIv
unfit and who fafthless to social and official
not only stains ctys reputation but also menaces its
very character From the prominence of his noston b
bad example becomes thousandfold worse in its effect
His office itself is degraded in the public mind and tb
man who should be inspiration good citizenship b..
comes snare of cynical disrust Any city where snch
spirit prevails is built fateful sands and will fall
mayor of Atlanta should embody the best traits =,
the people he is to otherwise he could not really
represent them do their will He should be manner,v
highminded, dependable competent and, above ALL his
iE
that wanton and notorious disregard of decency in pub
and private life utterly disquaes any man for the re-
sponsible office of Alanta's chief executive
In the forthcoming mayoralty election The Journsa
has no more interest than that which any true citizen
should feel in his communtys welfare We are NOT even
remotely concerned with the individual or political for
tunes of any candidate Only to the that these cam
ddacies bear public interests and public honor is it
our business or our to discuss them We should
very much prefer to let this election and go without
word of personal comment But can not escape the
fact that the city of Atlanta again decision on
which its continued prestige and we'll being vitality de-
pend and at such uncture silence would be nothing
short of treachery.
1t is a regrettable circumstance that Mr. James a
Woodward should again have embarrassed this city BY
seeking the mayorship in defiance of the communities
emphatic opinion recorded the last two elections
Let US make it clear in the outset that we are dis
cussng Mr. Woodward as an individual but solely an
candidate mayor He has qualities that well deservs
the regard and friendship those with whom he deals in
business and personal relationships For all such traits
we cordially give him credit
But the stubborn fact remains that through his own
conduct Mr. Woodward has fatally disqualified himself
recalling the circumstances under which the people Of
Atlanta rose virtually unit four years ago assert
their civic conscience and sefrespect But Mr. Wood.
ward himself has provoked very issue that existed
then Evidently Needless of the peoples Judgment as it
rendered in 1908 he thrust himself into the lime
light two later and forced campaign to be
fought over with just the same result.
Surely that should have suiced in the
regard of the communys sentiment expressed at two
successive elections he forward for third
time asking the citizens of Atlanta cancel their former
pledges and in fact repuate they have taken
upon an issue that has its beginning and end in cues,
ton of civic decency
The facts and reasons that barred Woodward from
the suffrage of good citizens 1908 and 1910 are as inn
peratve today they were and disregard Of
those facts would be calamtous Atlanta as
1t is not question of whether the moral record on
which he was repudated has been atoned 1t is simply
question of whether mayor who has repeatedly dgraced
the city at home and abroad should again be
trusted with that high Office placed before the world
as the representative of Atlanta people
If Mr. Woodward has forsworn ways through which
he dragged the citys when he in Office is
distinctly to his credit but no wise changes
his status a candidate
In no circumstances the people of Atlanta afford
to recommit their ctys interests and reputation to
ocial who made himself notorious throughout the Union
by fragrant disregard of decent and moral conduct.
For, to do this would be to invite the censure and
scorn of upright citizens everywhere again expose
this community to the humiliation it so bitterly suffered
in the past
The Journal repeat has no interest in the mayors
race in any of the candidates except insofar the
puoics welfare is concerned. But it evident fact
that the election of Mr. James G. Woodward would be