davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
A PROBLEM NEEDING STUDY

The reported jam at Ellis Island, and the discovery that, after the quotas are completed, thousands will have to retrace their voyage across the Atlantic, again brings to public attention a condition so bad and cruel that it has taken on the proportions of public scandal. Although the best judgment has long been that the sort ing of immigrants should take place on foreign shores, and that all who come here to apply for entrance as citizens should be previously certified, there has been the usual needless de- lay in enacting the legislation neces- sary to institute such a policy. The clamor at our gates indicates also the allurement of our land to those of other nations.
 The question in the minds of those who have given thought ana study to the subject is whether our gates should not be closed altogether to immigration until we have undergone
 
 kordes of foreigners already here. While some immigrants and some na- tionalities quickly amalgamate with us and become of us, there are other unassimilable elements that threaten the solidarity of our population. Sometimes decades of residence here do not give certain groups the Ameri- can viewpoint, but there is continual |schism unhealed by time. This is both unfortunate and uncalled for.
 Further development of this situa- tion can be arrested only by stopping the introduction of additional incom- patible clements, races and nationali- ties. It has been found that our melting-pot, like all other crucibles, cannot fuse ingredients too greatly unlike. Perhaps this is due partly also to the lack of any definite policy of welding all clements into a unity. It may be that our social elements need great deal of intelligent and con- scientious study before we proceed to the adoption of any such policy. Ger tainly it is the part of national wisdom to close our gates to immigrants in- discriminatory assembled.
 Under the present system the first corners rather than the best of any nation are the ones who are admitted. Indeed, so great is the scramble that the best of any nation are reluctant to enter it. With adequate agencies stationed abroad for the purpose of examining all applicants for admis- sion to this country there would be machinery for actual selection by quality rather than by quantity. This matter is not only important-it $ vital. There is no other nation con fronted with just our problem. It requires pioneering research and the discovery of principles of govern mental conduct such as have never formed part of any national policy. And while the study is going on, let the doors not admit more bo:sterous and confusing clements.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
MARKS AND GERMAN WEALTH

Although German marks have de- clined to the very zero of value, he would be poor judge of investment who would say that now is the time to buy marks on the theory that they can go no lower. Indeed, with marks quoted in New York Saturday at the nominal-rates of thirty to eighty cents a trillion, 1t is reported that no trans actions at all were recorded. If the German government deliberately set out to debase the mark, it may be said that the purpose has been achieved in eminent degree. If it did not set out deliberately to debase the mark it can point to no vigorous effort to prevent that debasement
 Business in Germany is practically at standstill, for the very bulk of the money needed for purchases or change is so great as to make it an insuperable impeachment. The car toons of few weeks ago showing GUS toners taking home their change in "AiSSASoAAOWo anu tHSll puICildSeS III pockets may have been burlesque then, but today they are no exaggeration, except that the customers don't buy if they can help it. The paper cur rency of Germany occupies the pecu- liar position of being neither an asset nor a liability. It is not an asset, for it is worthless; and it is not liability, because it can never be redeemed. The real liability is the reaction upon the credit and good intentions of the nation that permits itself to reach such nadir of financial impotence.
 Nor can the currency of Germany be taken into serious consideration when computing her ability to pay reparations, for the mark is not repre- sentative of Germany's wealth. It may have served the purpose of en- abling Germany to pay her internal debt in a debased currency, but the wealth and resources of Germany are not proportionately diminished by the manipulation of the mark.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
MOTHERS OF FAMOUS
 MEN
The Mother of Daniel Colt Gilman


 Eliza Colt, who was born in Norwich, Connecticut, felt the highest respect for her people and for her ancestors. Her people. as she saw, were prosperous. They had made comfortable home where they had not only all of the necessities of life, but a great share of the luxuries of life. The business in which her father had engaged had prospered. Honesty, energy, thrift and sound common sense had won for her father the respect of the community in which he lived. More than that, Eliza Colt knew that her family had long been established in the land. Old letters, old family traditions, old pictures and the old records of the family showed that her as early as the seventeenth cen- tury, when an adventurous John Colt had set sail In 1888 and found his way to the cold land of New England.
 Now there is a great deal of family pride. IL is an inheritance worth having, just as money or other property of a tangible na- ture, is an inheritance worth hav- ing. Family pride builds itself into the future and helps in the making of men and women of a fine and strong character.
 After time Eliza Colt, grown into a beautiful young woman hood, married a man of the very type of which her people most ap- proved. The Rev. MT. Gilman was a rdworking, conscientious, thoroughly devoted man. In par ticular he was active in building up institutions that might accom- plish good in the world. He saw the plight of the Mohegan In- dians-of whom Fenimore Cooper wrote in his novel that he called The Last of the Mohicans," and he did what he could to set in motion means for their relief. He became secretary of a benevolent society. and in many ways reached out his hand to do good. In all this work Eliza Colt Gilman gave him full sympathy.
 The fifth of their nine children they named Daniel Colt Gilman. That boy grew into the man who became the distinguished president of Johns Hopkins University.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
Nature Fake

There lived a shrinking violet beside
 a woodland road, And rural peace and quiet reigned
 about its dim abode. It went to bed when skies turned red
 and slept the 1ivelong night, And it awoke when morning broke
 and filled the world with light. Content to sleep in woodlands deep,
 it never, never, year.ned To lead a life of social strife where
 midnight lanterns burned. It was a rustic little cuss, as simple
 as a child; Its modest smile was free from guile,
 and yet men called it wild. There lived a dashing, blood-red rose
 beneath roof of glass, It never knew the morning dew upon
 the meadow grass. It never slept as moonlight crept upon
 a sylvan dell, It voted not a single vot about the
 curfew bell. A flapper of the floral tribe, along
 the Great White Way It lived life of social strife and se.
 dom hit the hay. Electric lights illumed it's nights until
 the dawning hour; A hussy bold, but we are told it is a
 cultured flower.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
POOR BOYS WHO
 BECAME FAMOUS By Frederick Houk Law
Marshal Lannes

The one man whom Napoleon Bonaparte loved! That was the proud distinction held by Jean Lannes. The one time when Ma poleon Bonaparte broke down and cried on the field of battlei That was when Marshal Lannes, forty years of age, lay dying on the ground before him.
 Seventeen years before that sad day in 1909 Jean Lannes had been only sergeant major. Look at him." said one of his soldiers. "Yes, look at him twice, and then regard him a third time,' said an other. See those shoulders. See that jaw. Think for a minute what he did to that big man the other day, just with his empty hands. Look at him, indeed, and beware" It was that sort of opin- ion that had made Jean Lannes, the husky dyer, sergeant major. More than once he had used his giant strength in a way that had made men fear him. He had had a rough bringing up, for his fa- ther had kept stable that was frequented by some of the rough est in France. The boy had been kicked about bit and then had begun to feel his strength. After that he did his own share of the cuffing and kicking and more than held his own. By the time he gained his full powers there was not a man who knew him who could equal him in strength. As sergeant major Jean Lannes fought hard and won promotion- only to fall victim to politics and become no one once again. That did not worry him. A tum- ble never worries a man. He promptly enlisted as a private m the army of Italy under young man called Napoleon Bonaparte. There were battles enough to sat- isfy anyone, and the stable keep er's son fought hard. Napoleon's s eye found him out-as it found out everything-and Lannes be- came a general.
 Lannes minded bullets no more than flies. Napoleon gave him a high command in Egypt. He sent Lannes to lead the first soldiers in the great crossing of the Alps. Wherever there was hard fighting, wherever fate stacked the cards against Napoleon, there the great conquerer sent Marshal Lannes- for he made him marshal of the empire. At Arcola, at Marengo, at Austerlitz,. On a hundred terri . bie fields, Lannes was the right hand of Napoleon, the one man of whom he was absolutely sure; the one man who never failed. He never cringed to Napoleon, but spoke to him as roughly as he had spoken to his associates in the stable. He looked Napoleon in the eye and told him the truth, no more afraid of the emperor than he was of death. In years of constant warfare. under the tute- lage of Napoleon, Marshal Lannes became the greatest of generals. and he remained as faithful as a dog. Then in 1909 he, was struck down in battle. Btter faithful ness had made him great.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
POLITICS AND VALUATIONS

Court opinion in the case of the Public Service Commission versus the Mobile Gas Company allowed a con- tribution to a political campaign as a legitimate item of valuation upon which the patrons of the company must pay rate charge the same as for other sums coming under the head of operating expenses. This allow ance sets a precedent that, in it's pos sible future applications to other val nations, might have far-reaching and sinister effects. If it may cover an item of five hundred dollars as po- litical contribution, it may, on the same principle, cover an item of five thousand or fifty thousand.
 Thus it is conceivable that utilities might band themselves together to de- feat candidates likely to stand for the public welfare as their primary duty and to cause the election of candi- dates even specifically pledged to sup port the program of the utilities as dSdlHSC CllS HiduilcSk BOO0 oHO ucoiA v of the majority of the people. To add insult to injury, the utilities could charge such sums so spent to their operating expenses and collect from their injured patrons the legal rate of eight per cent. or whatever other rate is allowed on valuations. This is so contrary to the general view with respect to the influence of corpora tions in politics and government that it strikes at the very heart of gov ernment by the people.
 If the law authorizes such charge as legitimate public burden, then the law is wrong and should be changed, whether it be federal or a state law. If the interpretation of the law is open to difference of opinion, then the outcome of the appeal to higher court is awaited with great interest and concern by the people of Ala bama, who have had conspicuous ex- ample within the past year of utilities seeking in every manner to impose upon the public a valuation for rate U0h1ng purposes out of all propor- tion to investment, cost of plants and legitimate operating expenses. The issue is a grave one, and may mean another fight to establish justice to the public.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
PEOPLES FORUM
An tn Rlne Lnms


 To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 In view of the almost universal demand being made on our legis- lative bodies for the enactment and strict enforcement of Sunday laws, I respectfully request lit tie space in your valuable paper to present 9 few statements from authoritative sources regarding religious liberty, as follows:
 God: Proclaim liberty through out all the land unto all the in- habitants thereof" Lev 25:1o.
 Christ: "whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them" Matt. 7:12.
 Render unto Caesar (the state) the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods" Mark 12:17.
 Paul: where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" 2 Cor. BIT.
 George washington: Every man who conducts himself as a goo6 citizen is accountable to God only for his religion, and should be protected in worshipping God according to the dictates of his own conscience.
 Thomas Jefferson:. Almighty God hath created the mind free all attempts to influence 1t by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations. tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are departure from the plan of the Holy Au- thor of our religion, who being Lord of both body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by CO., ercion on either, as was in His almighty power to do."
 Benjamin Franklin: When re- ligion Is good 1t will take care of itself; when 1t is not able to take care of Itself, and God does not see fit to take care of 1t, so that it has to appeal to the civil power for support, 1t Is evidence to my mind that It's cause is a bad one."
 James Madison: Religion is not in the purview of human govern ment. Religion Is essentially dis tinct from government and ex- empt from its cognizance. A con- nection between them Is injurious to both"
 Declaration of Independence: i: we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal: that they are endowed by their Creator with certain in- alienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pur- suit of happiness"
 United States Constitution: specting the establishment of re- ligion, or prohibiting the free ex- ercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press"
 The crimson blush of shame should mantle the cheeks of Chris tians today as they witness the efforts being made by the pro- fessed church of Christ every where to secure, by human legis- lation-Sunday laws, help to do the work given it to do. The great commission embraces teach ing and preaching (Matt: 2S:1S-20), but I have never yet been able to discover In it any possible grounds or Justification for the use of force by civil law. Gods method of dealing with hu- man beings is persuasion. Satans method is compulsion.
 J. M. BoYcE.
 Hernando, Miss, Nov. 2, 1923.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
WILL JOHNSON SPLIT OFF?

The apparent leaning of the pres ent administration towards a closer association in foreign affairs is ex- pected to cause revolt on the part of the irreconcilables, who have de- feated all proposals to participate in European discussions. Though MT. Coolidge cannot be said to be violating any of the actual party tenets, for the Republican platform itself embraces some sort of program for an associa-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
SMILES
Stamp for Literature

For weeks he had been i'll in the hospital. With the beginning of convalescence he called loudly for food. declaring he was being starved.
 "The doctor says you may have something to eat tomorrow" said the nurse soothingly. 4 On the morrow she entered and announced:
 Here's your dinner" And she gave him a spoonful of tapioca. adding: "The doctor says that everything else you do must he in the same proportion"
 Nurse" he gasped. 1T want ro do some reading now; please bring me 2 postage stamp"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
LOSSES FROM LIGHTNING

(Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin)
 The annual destruction due to lightning fires in the United States is estimated to be as much as s20.- 100000. In one state alone, Iowa, during the four years ending with 1922, the loss as givensby the stare fire marshal was $1,363,704, Of which 61 per cent was due to fires in farm barns. Very nearly all of such loss is preventable by proper rodding, says the. weather bureau in commenting on this tremendous loss.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
Bedtime Story


 Truth is good for age or youth;
 There is none can doubt it. It is we'll to tell the truth,
 But don't be rash about it.
 Romeo the Rooster stood up on the barnyard fence and crowded. Now growing was nothing unusual for Ro- meo the Rooster. In fact, it was the best little thing heIid.
 But Farmer Brown happened to De in a merry mood that morning, and when he heard Romeo the Rooster growing his fat sides shook with laughter.
 "Ho! ,Ho! Ho!" he laughed. "And what are you growing about? To hear you bragging about yourself per son would think you were the whole cheese. And yet you never done q lick of work in all your life. You are sheik, cake eater, a dressed-up bum. You go around growing while your wife lays eggs and raises the family. Where do you get that noise?"
 Now Romeo the Rooster was d cocky sort of bird, for all his indo- lent ways, and he came right back at Farmer Brown.
 'I don't see where you got any thing on me-" he said. "You strut around here making wise cracks while your wife is milking the cows and washing the flivver and rassling with the frying pan. You sit on the prune barrel at the village, store and tell Coolidge how to run the government, while the missus spends sixteen hours day cultivating a housemaid's knee. You ain't even got gumption enough to put new needle in the phono- graph. You"
 That was as far as Romeo the Roos- ter got, for the heavy hand of Farmer Brown had grasped him by the esopl- agas.
 According to all rules and regula- tions Farmer Brown should have ad. mitted the truth of Romeos asser- tions and profited by the lesson therein. But Farmer Brown was not that kind of guy. He had Rooster a la King for din ner.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
INCONSISTENCY
(Capper's Weekly

New York city fines a preacher for displaying an American flag 10 by 16 inches in size at a street meeting. instead of one three by four feet, as required by ord;- nance. New York is pretty fussy about. the flag for place that does not give a hoot for the con- stitution or for. the 10 command ments.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
LUCK OF A KANSAS TOWN
 (Wichita Reacon1

It just looks as though this town hasn't any luck. Mike Dmitry, whom the Kansas City police passed on to Wichita last July, is not d prince. We could enter tain royalty and we are panting to do it. Now he blows up like q bank that's been speculating in oil--and socially we are right back where we were.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
Heading off the weeviI

(Dothan Eagle)
 The farmer, like any other class. takes good advice or not, just as it suits him. Every farmer in the cotton belt, from the graduate of the agricultural colleges to the most ignorant tenant farmer, knows that there are certain things one must do to make a crop of cotton under boil weevil conditions. Some of them do this. when they have, time or the incli- nation, but some do not. They ais know that with the destruction of cotton by the weevil this year. the proper thing to do is to cut the stalks and blow them under now-before the Nost comes. and there are some doink that. bu1 oR as many as shouh&
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
Not at This Time

(Kansas City Star)
 Governor Pinchot and Secretary Mellon cannot seem to agree on the effectiveness of prohibition enforcement. but then, it is not probable the governor and che secretary could agree on anything. of a political nature, just now.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06

It is reported that Senator Kellogg, who was recently named as ambassa- dor to England, is lucky in politics. That view would seem to find confir- nation in Senator LaFollette's opposi- tion to him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06

It may be legal, as court decided, for bride and groom to vote by mail while on their wedding tour; but it IS hardly likely that at such time they would care who is elected.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
Teaching State Laws


 Our state board of education could not inaugurate B better fe9+ ture to the curriculum of oar schools. from primary to college. than the teaching of our state laws and the fundamental prin- ciples of our national laws. Not even a child is excused for not knowing the law, and there is more ignorance among all classes and ages along this line than any other in our whole educational system. And this study ought to begin in some form and reach from the primary to the college course. It would not only teach. but impress the student in the laws under which they must. live and act, but would finally eliminate in the repeal of bad laws and those that fail for the lack of enforcement, and prevent the en- actment of other than wholesome and needed laws.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
underuood,s Ability
fAlexander City Outlook)

Alexander City Outlook)
 It seems to us if there has ever been time in the history 0d country when a man of the aUssssH and poise of Senator Underwood was needed in the White House. that time is now. He possesses all of those qualities that fit a man for the office of president at that time. He would give the country an administration that would do much toward getting iC back to the principles of our fore- fathers and steer them away from radicalism, bolshevism and every other devilishism that is now af- flicting the world.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
LoricnI Ine~rcro.
(American Legion WeekI,

NAmerlcan Legion Weekly)
 Mrs. Bibbs (reading morning 'paper): His wife saw him faii into the river and Immediately rushed to the bank"
 i MT. Bibbs: f'Mighty poor taste she showed, being in such a hurry to collect his insurance money"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
Distance Lends Enchantment

Philadelphia Record) Some people go abroad to re- cover their health, and Lloyd George goes abroad to recover his popularity.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06

An exchange bromidically observes that opportunity knocks but once; but it is noted that many of those who were not awakened subsequently, be- came chronic wielders of the hammer.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
THE ALABAMA PRESS
Proof of Character
IFlnrence Timesl

The fine increase in home builds ing and home owning in the Mus cle Shoals district is the surest proof of the substantial character of growth that is going on here with the increase in citizenship of the right character. In a home owning community, churches, good schools, improved civic conditions and harmony and unity of purpose among the people are cheracter- istics in a marked degree.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
A Practical Amendment

(HOuStOn POSt)
 AS an amendment to the pros posal for selective immigration 1t has been suggested that emig-a- tion also be selective. We vote to amend still further by making se- lective emigration compulsory.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06

It may be only a coincidence that the announcement that Uncle Sam has some battleships for sale comes at a time when folks are warned to dc their Christmas shopping early.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06
It's Mutual

Washington PosO The United States navy needs the support of the people, but no more than the people need the support of the navy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06

At his trial on the charge of fraud Doctor Cook is said to have insisted that he discovered the North Pole. The oil stock business, however, seems to have offered him chance to make still more extravagant claims.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-06

Reports that Colonel Harvey will return home by Thanksgiving Day come when the American people had begun to enumerate the things for which they should be grateful.