Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-03-13
THE TRI-WEEKLY EDITORIAL DIGEST
National Nonparsan Summary Leading Opinion
How Government Peters Out

HON. Government Peters Out
The distemper that is doing this country
more harm than all it's other Affections put
together is besotted craftsmanship. Except in
public life, men consider and usaully agree
upon matters of the utmost Importance with
out giving a thought to political associa-
lions. In congress committee made up Of
three Republicans and two Democrats may
be depended upon to divide three to two on
the simplest proposition.
We had a painful example of this the
other day in the reports on the aviation
service. Now the senate naval sub-commit-
tee gives a dreary repetition or it in it's
findings on the medal controversy. We
shall have the same thing, no doubt, from
the scores of Investigations that have been
in progress for months past. Where party
ism is uppermost, facts are as hopelessly in
dispute as conclusions.
This is the disease that is paralyZng gov
eminent at a time when there is desperate
need not only of good citizenship and wise
craftsmanship, but of common sense and
common honesty. 1t is holding UP the ncace.
! 1t is delaying reconstruction. 1t is prevent
ing the reform and reduction of expenditure
| and taxation. 1t is exposing our industry
| and commerce to serious perils. On the ques-
ton of what is black and what is white our
| legislators vote three to two with the ex-
| tied at the presidential election.
No great nation can prosper or progress
under such system. Somewhere and some
how men must be found who will be at least
ordinarily intelligent and at least commonly
self-reliant. Representative government
which is so fixed and hardened in PARTISAN
ship as to be incapable Of decision, incapable
even of agreement any subject is no gov
eminent at all.-NEW YORK WORLD
! (Dem)
The Supreme Courts Protection of Property
What the supreme court has decided in
holding that it is unconstitutional TO tax
stock dividends is simply that if man owns
a dollar bill and splits it into two silver half
dollars or into four quarters or into ten
dimes, divides it as many times as you
please, he has not a penny more and not a
penny less than when it was in the single
dollar bill.
Stock promoters and gamblers have made
the mistake themselves or have led gullible
investors into the mistake of thinking you
| could multiply the value of property by
| multiplying the certificates of stock covering
that property. But no clear brain, whether
on the supreme court or anywhere else, ever
| made such mistake of reason and of fact.
| You might as well say that you could in
crease the value of property by changing
the color Of the ink in which the stock GER
! tificates were printed. The late James J..
Hill, in fact, said after the Northern Secrri-
ties decision that it couldn't make any diff
| ference to the stockholders, as to what they
| really owned, whether the supreme court
| told them they must have five yellow tickets
worth two green tickets or two green tick
cts worth one red ticket representing exact
ly one and the same thing
| If a stakeholder with one share of stock
in a company holds one-thousandth part
of all the plant, equipment, cash. good will
and other assets of that company he will own
exactly the same proportion, and therefore
exactly the same value, of that property,