Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-01-10
By REV. CHARLES F. AKED. D y

Is twice as large as the though,-
1ul vote, and 1t is made up part
ly OF the honest, but ITNCON-
WIN c ED, UNAMERICAr; TzPn
IMMIGRANT and partly r. N.
blackguardly elements Of N.
community.
Is there anything in DR.. Shaw,
policy which will convince and
convert these unthoughtful pen-
sons? A little there may b. br,
very little. and SO little that on.
should be very reluctant to tno,,r
the risks involved in the policy
for the purpose OF securing tbst
trtfling gain.
Is there anything in Dr.. shaws
policy which will change the CON.
victions Of educated and thought
full American citizens who bavs
discussed the question with
themselves and with their friends
and have decided to vote Nor
Clearly not: the spectacular
presentation in the courts and
from the prison Of the formula
Taxation without representation
is tyranny will not succeed
where quiet argument has failed.
The Real Difficulty.
The immigrant is the real diff
nculty. Five years are not
enough. He can not become an
American In SO short a time. If
he has come from a country
where for uncounted centuries a
| woman has been a beast Of bur-
den, where he has harnessed her
| In a cart, yoked her to a pillow,
compelled her to bear his chill
dren, and Of his sovereign grace
| permitted her to cook his meals,
he can not become an American.
accepting the American view Of
woman and learning the Ameri-
can attitude toward women. in
five years
| The noblest of American wor-
| en-, women who have contributed
to the greatness of America, and
highly cultivated women, physt-
clans, lawyers, professors in the
| colleges, teachers in the schools
all the hosts OF charming, grace
full American girls, the beauty
and the glory Of our ctties-all
these must stand before the new
citizen" begging for the votel
Meanwhile, other such pros
pective citizens are being poured
| upon our shores, a million year,
or thereabouts; and they, TOO.
| have to be Amerioanized and
convinced
An Endless Task.
1t is an endless and a heart
breaking task. But It has to be
done. 1t is being done The good
work goes on. Suffrage is com
ing. 1t is coming for every State
In the Union. Men who are no
longer young may live to see It.
And 1t will be a ghastly disap-
pointment, a hideous wrong. II
mistaken policy, inaugurated by
50 wise and brave a leader as Dr.
Shaw. should make the work still
more difficult and put back the
day of final victory.
For the danger of the course
suggested does not lie in this par
ticular act There Is no great
harm done If DR.. Shaw and a few
more refuse to fill in the sched-
ule and 80 to Jail. If 1t were to
stop there II would be e nine
days wonderland that is all. In
the nature Of the case, the re-
sistance to law will go from ons
thing to another, from the small
err to the greater, from bad to
worse.
They Are Human.
Militancy in England began
with nothing but the interruption
Of speaker at a public meeting
with the question, What about
votes for women1' It has al
ready reached the stage OF In
cendtarism. dynamite outrage, at
tempted murder. Blood has been
shed; lives have been lost; there
have been martyrs to the cause
And worse Is yet to come. NO
body foresaw It; nobody dreamed
Of It; nobody would have be-
lieved 1t was remotely within tho
bounds Of possibility for quiet
gentle, law-abiding English WON"
en-.
But there It is. And however
sound and sane the leaders OF tne
suffrage cause in America may
be, they are human. They are
Just as human as their sisters II
England. The fioodgates once
thrown open, no mortal can Is"
wha. the streams of lawlesSnsss
may destroy. And suffrasistS III
this country will do well to re-
fuse to Join in a policy, no mst'e'
how innocent looking the begin
ming of it. which, before II j.
many years old, may be SEIZE
upon by wild, ungovernaple az