davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29

freight traffic when this traffic moves over two or more railroads operated and owned by the same corporation. When the Southerh, for instance, transfers freight to the Northern Ala bama Railroad for transportation to the Muscle Shoals cities this is to all intents and purposes a one-line haul, because the Southern owns ninety-five per cent. of the stock of the Northern Alabama and the latter is practically part and parcel of the Southern sys- tenn. It is not right that the South- ern should charge two local rates for a continuous movement over its own lines, but that is done when the South ern treats the Northern Alabama as though it were an independent line.
 It is claimed that the shippers of Florence alone pay tax of $2O,000 year by reason of the two local rates over the Southern and the Northern Alabama. Other communities are taxed in the same manner when other railroad systems charge a two-line haul for what is really one-line act of transportation. The railroads can not logically oppose the contention of the citizens of Florences Their ground would be purely artificial one. They cannot avoid the responsibility of the ownership of connecting lines. They secure these connecting lines for the advantages of economy of opera tion which their possession presents and for the elongation of their single line haul for the purpose of rtvenue. The people are entitled in like man. ner to have the single-line observed in their case as part of the transac- tion when the parent road is allowed to absorb the connecting carrier.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
TAKING THE DISCOUNT
Illinois State JournaD


 Business men who are able to pay cash acquire respectable savings in the course of the year. Discounts mount rapidly. Govern ment Is learning the lesson. It was long tima in waking up to it.--
 According to the federal budget bureau the war department has so thoroughly established the cash spayment practice that 1t discounts more than 9s per cent of all bills that are discountable. On a recent report to the budget bureau the department showed that, in all it's divisions throughout the country. there were unpaid only 25O bills that were more than thirty days old.
 During the first ten months of the last fiscal year the departme nt gained $150.00O in discounts.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
CONNECTS AND REVENUE

There has been so much of an of cial smoke screen thrown about the convict leasing situation with view to fixing the public mind upon the revenue involved to the exclusion of other considerations that it may be we'll to discuss the revenue side in it's real aspect. While the primary ques- tion is not one of revenue, yet if the state takes a revenue through convict leasing, it is evident that those who hire the convicts take far greater profit. If the state receives half a million a year from this source, is It not reasonable to suppose that those companies who are willing to continue to employ convicts in spite of the ac- companying burden of public reproach make many millions of added profit through use of such labor?
 If the question of revenue is upper most in the minds of those who are supposed to represent the public in this matter, why do they not develop such a policy with respect to convict labor as will bring to the state the utmost of revenue from this source? It is because their reasoning is at fault, and because ,sthey choose the easier way out-that of leaving things as they are, rathern than actively striving to assume their full responsi- bility of bettering conditions.
 There is no stigma attached to the working of convicts by the state. It is done in almost every state. Work is recognized as one of the chief re- formatory and most healthful adjuncts of penal administration. Only, such work must not be primarily to the private advantage nor principally for the sake of public revenue. The work must be subordinated to a penal pol icy that follows broad, humane and modern practices and in accordance with the discoveries science has made with regard to the criminal and the causeA of crime. Alabama's policy partly embraces such policy, and partly is a stupid following of wrong and discredited practices.
 If private firms can make a profit out of convict labor, the state of Ala bama can also reap a similar benefit by working this labor for the state and taking profit on it's product. This has been proved by the showing of the state convict farms, the facto- ries at Kilby Prison, and the other productive activities under state con- trol. State road work by convicts is profitable owing to it's lessened cost. Practically all of these activities show a profit on operation. It is likely that a more comprehensive operation of existing and additional productive prison occupations would greatly swell the revenue. Whether it would or not, public opinion demands it.
 Let the legislature and the execu- tive of this state forsake the present lazy and publicly disapproved attitude towards this question, and give it the intelligent treatment it deserves and which the people call for.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29

common pasturage and common ground for gardening), and sell { ing these homes to their employes upon the monthly payment plan, whereby payments, slightly larger than regular rentals, are applied to the original cost, an employe in time to receive title in fee simple to his home. I shall be interested to ascertain the effect upon the health, happiness and citizenship of this new idea in economic life. l hope we shall be enabled to learn under which plan, whether under benefactions handed down from above or in the individual striving to obtain title to one's own home, comes the better re- suit to the republic, whether the reflex action upon the individual is better in one or the other in- stance, whether the conduct of the laborer is more or less satisfac- tory, whether the relations be- tween employer and employe are friendlier or otherwise, whether the output is increased or de- creased.
 Pn the course of a long life I have met up with a few egotists who were proud of what they were, and with as many timid souls whose regret was that they had done much in his name, but the vast majority of all the men I have known have prided them selves on what they have made for | | 1I,1 they said was their own. I do not stop to consider whether their own" was justly or unjustly ac- quired; I content myself with mere expression of the belief that it is the almost universal desire of man to have something which he may call his own as the result of his own efforts. It may be his honor, his reputation, his opinion, his home, his influence. Whatever 1t Is, in lands or goods. in manners or in morals, man, gregarious as he may be, desires to separate himself from the flock. and, like Mrs. Sweeney's goose, to go in gang by himself. Whether regret table or admirable. the one proud boast of. the average American has been: This is mine. I made it by weary days of toll. I made It, by thrift and economy. I made 1t in face of opposition. fought for it in fair field. I was the vic- tor. It is mine"
 I am rather inclined to believe that until the new heaven and the new earth shall appear, the in- dividual will continue to glory in his own possession and fail to be content with benefactions.
 Copyright 1923, by Twenty first Century Press)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
FRANCE SHOWS sAGAcITY

Although France has been severely criticised for lack of vision in her projects of national and international moment, yet there are evidences that her wisdom has been underestimated by the most unrelenting of her critics. While England and Italy are urging new measures for dealing with the reparations question, France calmly refers them back to the Versailles treaty, the terms of which have not vet been complied with. It is appa- rent that France considers it useless to enter into new covenants when there are manufactured all sorts of reasons why the old covenants should not be adhered to. If existing agree ments are not enforced, France sees no prospect of enforcement of pro- Iected agreements.
 At the very moment France is ac- cused of militarism she is seeking a more substantial and practical peace policy than any of her European crit ics. Not only is reconstruction and industrial reorganization going on throughout France, but she perceives the necessity of economic assistance for other nations. Her attention is directed particularly to the nations of Central Europe, notably, Jugo-Slavia, Czecho-Slovakia, Austria and others who are in desperate financial plight and who apparently need some out side encouragement in order to effect a recovery. France has already been instrumental in securing, through the League of Nations, substantial loan for Austria, proportionate part of which was floated in the United States. Now France would have similar loans extended to the other central and Balkan states. There is no doubt that this policy is a constructive and sa- yacious one, for it not only restores commerce and production in important centers, but 1t also cements into a pcaceful alliance nations that now are
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
By THOMAS R. MARSHALL, Former Vice President of the
 United States

Honest men contemplating their remote, are ever seeking ways in which to lift the better up to best. Within certain limitations this IS well. It is not good for a people to be too content, for progress may then cease. On the other hand, general discontent Is just as bad. On many of the walks of life 1t Is perfectly safe to experi- ment in going in this. that or the other direction, but not on all. There Is no universal rule of eco homie life or social order which can be presented as infallible in it's workings. Irrigation Is life giver to the arid plains of the West, but to proclaim irrigation as an unvarying law for the worlds agriculture would be the height of folly.
 We are vain enough to imagine that we are living in scientific age, but is our economic life as hooked up with governmental ac- tivities and political theories so very scientific? A scientist dis covers what he believes to be a cure for some disease, but he does not put 1t on the market at once. He tries the effect of it, first, upon some animal. He frequently admits that his discovery is ex- perimental and refrains from de- manding that his cure shall be made compulsory. The beauty about this sort of science Is that you can take 1t or let 1t alone: you can try 1t and stop 1t if it doesn't do any good.
 , Unfortunately. In the business and economic life of the people ther are too many doctors who are not pursuing scientific methods. They are not first trying their remedies on the dog before giving the people a chance to take them. They are saying upon mere theory that they have discovered a cure all, and they are demanding that it's use be made compulsory. While it is true that the law of the land is not permanent and legislative reforms are repealable, attempts to apply seemingly sound princi- ples to tho entire country may wreak untold damage. A little more science in our lawmaking might be valuable. Political doc tors may well join themselves to- gether for tho purpose of experi- menting upon economic theories. and the rest of us may stand around and await the reaction. but until all the people are quite assured that the reaction Is the thing sought by them. 1t will be
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
YOUTH MUST BE SERVED p.

There is an old saying, "Boys Will Be Boys," which has been employed from time immemorial to explain or excuse the pranks, vandalism or "gen- eral cussedness" of youngsters need ing postgraduate courses in the wood- shed. Now comes the more up-to-date apology of Youth Must be Served" for the high-strung young fellow in dads high power car who drives to the door of his chosen one, honks his horn, and releases his siren until the neighbors, who imagine that they are entitled to protection from public nuisances, are compelled in self-de- fense to leave the veranda and hunt cover elsewhere. To the youngster this is free country where nobody possesses rights or privileges that others need respect. Why should he be required to walk several feet to the door-bell? Why should he consider babies or perhaps the seriously i'll who are trying to go to sleep? Youth Must Be Served"
 And when he returns at 8 a. m. from the "peppy" dance with his adored, why should he not churn his motor half an hour while saying good night? What right has any old fogy to protest if he slams his car doors, grlnds his gears, and stirs up the whole neighborhood with a few loud bawls, deafening back-fire or two and other4 startling sounds? Should he be restrained from raising all the cain his impulse and lack of breeding suggest, because there are some dumb bells who prefer to retire before the small hours? Youth Must Be Served"
 There are good many out-of-date folks in every city and town whose patience is sorely taxed by youngsters who imagine that the world was made for their special and personal benefit. pleasure or convenience. These young sters cannot understand How anybody else should possess nerves, much less rights, moral or legal But the peo- pie are not at all opposed to the idea that Youth Must Be Served" pro- vided that it be in the form of police summons to pay for damage while un- der the spell of enthusiasm or mania to attract attention. It matters not that this sort of spirit is long step towards the development of that dis respect for law and the public peace. so widely charged against the Ameri- can people. Youth Must Be Served"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
Buying Homes Better Than Free Pleasures

well. so far as the law of the land Is concerned, to let the old order stand. Experimentation may be wise or unwise, and not necessar- fly vicious. Bad results may flow from the best purposes. It is only at the practical test that real value Is ascertainable.
 Many large corporations in America are erecting model will lages and furnishing to their em- ployes model sanitary homes in which to live at a reasonable rental. They are erecting school houses and employing the most competent teachers for the young. They are building hospitals, equip ping them with the appliances of modern surgery, and examining the eyes and noses, the teeth and the tonsils of the children. They are erecting churches and supply ing ministers, building Y. M. c. AS, furnishing playgrounds, open ing up movie picture shows-in short, surrounding their men and women with comforts and luXu- ries.
 It is a great and valuable ex- pertinent in the economic life of these people and the industries that they serve.~ At first blush one is inclined to say, This is the thing we have long sought. The corporation laws of our country should be immediately amended so If capital as can and will do such things" Maybe so, but let us give it time to be tried out and to as- certain certainly it's effect upon the mental and moral fiber of the people that come within it's influ- ence, and learn what measure of contentment for the Individual, re- spect for the law. of the land, and good will toward the employer it may furnish. Human nature is queer. About the only man who never forgives you is the man who has done you an injury, and the man you are most likely to be envious of is the man who has contributed to your comfort. Ben efactions handed down from above other than by the hand of God may be received with less grati- tude than resentment It will be time enough to legislate when this experiment has been found to be thoroughly satisfactory. Interested, as most of us are, In the economic life of America as governing it's progress, prosperity and perpetuity, we are watching another experiment.. Employers of labor are purchasing land, lay ing it out in garden plots, erect ing modern and convenient homes Gin some instances furnishing
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
WOODROW WILSON'S VISION

With that clearness of vision which has always enabled him to put his finger in the center of the core of na- tional and international disease, for mer President Woodrow Wilson, in an article in the August number of the Atlantic Monthly under title of "The Road Away From Revolution" again addresses to this nation and to the world one of those striking appeals to the conscience of men that has al ways stirred them to higher thought and clearer conception of the essen tials of the human relation. Russla's state is rightly described as the logical sequitur of "a systematic denial to the great body of Russians of rights and privileges which all normal men desire and must have if they are to be con- tented and within reach of happiness. :" Corscousress of these rights is lndi- renous to mankind. Hundreds of years of denial cannot remove that sense of what IS due the human being. In the end the denial provokes revolution, whether in Russia, France, England, CT in any nation where these rights are denied.
 There is only one way of arriving at what is right and that will stem any revolutionary tide. MT. Wilson sums it Up in these words: "The road that leads from revolution is clearly marked, for it is well-defined in the hearts~of men and of organized so- ciety. The sum of the whole matter is this, that our civilization cannot sur vive materially unless it is redeemed spiritually. Here is the final chal- lenge to our churches, to our political organizations and to our capitalists to everyone who fears God or loves his country" The sense of justice is in the heart of every, man. By justice he means those equal rights which were promised him when he became mem Der of the social compact and equal rights were substituted for the right ,of ax and club. This sense of justice dates back to the beginning of man, and is not to be obscured by any ar tificial contrivances built up by men.
 Nor is Mr. Wilson merely academic and theoretical when he refers to redeemed spirituality" Men have gotten beyond that narrow viewpoint where the spiritual was thought to be omitted from the weekday scheme of life and to have it's part only on stated occasions of worship. They have realized, as MT. Wilson points out, that there can be no real material progress without the spiritual and no real ma terial safety without soundness in the spiritual aspect of life. The autonomy of nations is not only material; it is spiritual, and that is why Europe was remapped when MT. Wilson proclaimed that great truth. What is well-defined "n the hearts of men" cannot be safely ignored, because what is in the hearts of men will surely and in the long run find not only expression, but vindication. Prevention of great upheaeals rests on recognition of what Is going on inside a man.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
Berrinx for an Education

(Oneonta Southern Democrat
 The boys and girls on the farms in this county are calling for help to get common school educa- tion. They and their parents have produced the wealth that has been produced in this county and those who have used this wealth for their own benefit ought to be willing that some of 1t go back to these boys and girls in the way of educational advantages.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
Value of Consolidation
(Alabamian-Dispatch)

 If Tuscumbia and Sheffield were made into one town it would do away with the jealousy that now exists between the two towns. Henry Ford believes in co-opera- tion, and if we want Uncle Henry to be with us and help us, we must show our willingness to do the big thing. Albany and Deca- tur see what a consolidation will mean. It seems that such a ques- tion, once before the people. would not die until such a move had been fulfilled. Many visitors who come into this section ask why Tus- cumbia and Sheffield have not con- solidated. Outsiders can see the benefits to be derived. Why is 1t we home folks cannot?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
Naturally Endowed (BOSton TranscrintN

The woman said she wanted a book to give her little boy on his birthday something useful and in structiVe.
 Here's an excellent one on Self Help,'" said the clerk.
 Self Help" she exclaimed. He doesn't need any instruction in that line-you ought to see him at a party"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
SMILES
Careful

Careful
 (Judge) The cake had been passed to everyone at the table but Robbie. three and half years old. Robbie: I'll take a piece of cake. please"
 Mother: No, dear, banana cake Is too heavy for little boys" Robbie (after several seconds of thoughO: Well, I'll use both hands,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
Weevil Giving Trouble

(GreenVlIIe AdVoCateJ
 A good many farmers were In the city from almost every part of the county during the first of the week. Their reports of the condition of the crops were as a whole pessimistic. Many reported weeyil infestation greater than for some years, while in some sec tions they were not general, but only in spots. The continued damp weather Is very favorable for their spread.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29

her good name any longer The. system is wrong in every way and easily paves the way for inhu. manity, such as was revealed in Florida by the Investigation of the treatment of convicts in lum- Der camps. We wish no such mo- toriety for>Alabama as that which Florida received. Opponents of the lease system are continuing their efforts to have the system abolished. Besides being the right thing to do, abolishing the lease system would put a stop to the unfavorable criticisms being made in other parts of the country.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29

robbery or an act of burglary, ant assists the robber in making his escape, he, too, Is an accessory before the fact, and may be prose- cuted. If man sees another Vio- late the prohibition law, or en- courages him to do so, and then shields him from prosecution, IS he, too, not an accessory before the fact? Is there any reason why he should, not be punished for the crime?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
The Truth fin Advertising

The advertiser should know the goods that he offers for sale and the public cannot be protected against fraudulent advertisements unless the law presumes that the seller knows the quality of the ar ticle he offers for sale. This is the theory of those who are urg- ing the passage of the bill and it would appear that they are right. It is necessary to take the word knowingly" from the statute in order to render it effective.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
A Pertinent Question

If man sees another commit a murder and takes no step to aid the law in apprehendin the slayer. or If he gives aid and com fort to the murderer. he is an ac- cessory before the fact, and may be prosecuted for the crime. If a man sees another ommit highway
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29

A contemporary observes that poli- tics should step aside for a while and make room for business. The right kind of politics is the business of every citizen who is sufficiently thoughtful to realize that business is largely a product of decent govern ment.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29

Changing the number of Birming- hams city commissioners from three to five and. back from five to three suggests that the question of quantity cuts little figure; quality is the thing that counts.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29

Announcement that the Prince of Wales changes his clothes four or five times a day excludes him from the self-nade class, but suggests that he is at least partly tailor-made.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29
THE ALABAMA PRESS
sugsesttons on Diversity
 (Dothan Eagle)

Of course. If everyone planted tomatoes in Alabama too many might be made, but this Is a good tip. Plant one acre and try IT, ana try another in cantaloupes and half an acre in strawberries, and many other things could be raised and sold in the local market or Shipped
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-29

Mississippi has five candidates for governor, all claiming to have only the interests of the state at heart. The voters of that state may enjoy having so large an assortment to choose from.