davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
HIRAM JoHNsoN's PLATFORM

In his opening campaign speech for the Republican presidential nomination at Cleveland Senator Hiram Johnson in effect outlined his personal plat form. There was nothing new in it, as compared with numerous interviews and public statements from him of late. What he said at Cleveland he will repeat in substance in other places. His open break with the Cool idge administration and his sharp criti- cisnls of administration policies were expected. His appeal is to political malcontents irrespective of their party affiliations or alliances. Assailing the leaders of the Republican party, he bid for favor from members of either party who may be dissatisfied with their leaders and wavering in party loyalty.
 On half a dozen issues Senator ,Johnson's break with the Repub blican administration is complete. He is dia- metricaily opposed to President Cool idge's rejection of adjusted compen- sation for veterans of the World War; the Mellon plan of taxation; American participation in the world court; the administrations foreign policy, and permitting the sale of arms to Obre- Ron. At the same time, MT. Johnson expresses abhorrence of the action of the Republican party organization in restoration of Southern representa- ton to the national convention. To Call of these the Coolidge administra- tion is openly committed. There is no suggestion of conciliation from Sena- ter Johnson. He presents the gage of an open fight within his party, and evidences no patience with the policies and tactics of it's leaders. His atti- tude and language show that he has no idea of pursuing a pacific policy with view of strengthening his position from the main wing of his party, but has resolved to fight out the issues in a campaign founded on the strenu- ous tactics of frontier politics.
 Among the issues to which Senator Johnson attaches special importance is that of the world court. In his open ing gun he fired broadside at Presi- dent Coolidge's position on this ques- tion, in which Johnson's own we'll known irreconcilable attitude was reit- erated. Striking inconsistency appears to have been revealed in his discussion of this issue, because, while condemn [ ing the world court on the ground that it carries no power to compel submis-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
AGAIN, THE VOICE OF WILSON

That Woodrow Wilson is experienc- ing an access of vigor is indicated by his recent message of greeting to the Democrats gathered at the annual Jackson Day dinner. The former pres ident expressed the sentiment that those there assembled. "are to be con- graduated on representing the party to which must be entrusted the re- demption of the nation from the degra- dation of purpose into which it has in recent days been drawn. An aggres- sive fight for the establishment of the high principles and just action will restore the prestige of our nation as nothing else could" And the great author and exponent of the high p1. J. ciples he praises significantly adds: q shall be glad to take part in so dis l tinguished service" In these words, for the first time since he was stricken down, as MT. Wilson sounded a note as to his own personal participation in politics.
 The nation, and not only the nation, but the whole world. has felt its de- privation during the sordid period within which that clarion call to high duty has been mute. No sooner did Woodrow Wilson involuntarily retire from the arena of world affairs than the whole world slumped back into the depths whence he was lifting it. He had not quite fulfilled his mission when his strength failed. Although the world has slipped back, it has not for gotten the wide prospect upon which it gazed for memorable moment. That intellect which stimulated the whole world to a moral awakening from which it has not yet entirely departed is still with us and still dwelling on the same high plane of lofty thought and ideal. If 1t will only be spared to further service, the whole, world may look forward to another period of sane counsel.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
COURTHOUSE AND CITY HALL

The third important proposed pup lie improvement on the list of protects included in New Year resolutions which the president of the city com- mission declared would command se- rio1,s consideration from the official body is the erection of an adequate city hall building. The commissioned stated that joint building for the city and county would be preferable, pro vided the city commission and the county board of revenue could get to- pether in such an enterprise. It ap- pears from receat statement by member of the commission that this can be done, with majority of the board and the entire commission In favor of joint project.
 There are sufficient benefits to be derived from a joint structure to make it worth while for both official bodies to give serious consideration to the project. But whatever decision be reached, it should be submitted to a vote of the people for their approval or rejection. Both the board of reve- nue and the city commission are tenn porary official bodies which are sub- iect to frequent changes. What one board or commission might think wise and proper in this important public project might be wholly repugnant to the views of it's successor. Construc- tion of county courthouse or city hall or a joint administration building is a permanent public improvement which affects the peoples future as well as present interests. Hence the question, with legitimate alternatives, should be referred to the people.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
DID NOT BORE ME Rv Th0maR I. nIaaNOU.

am one of those fool American bromides who go about praising American women. For genera tions now Englishmen have been accusing us of being too nice to our women, and the American hus- ban Is pictured as the most supine slave in the world. We are SUD- posed to be too scared to say any, thing derogatory about women. leaving this mostly to the women themselves-who beat up one an- other regularly.
 But all that is only envy. I am always glad to get back to America, for the reason that our girls, no matter where you meet them, are flossier than any other girls. There may be some vamps and flappers among them, but even at that they are all dolled up and don't have to be dusted off. or their faces washed with the wet end of 8 towel.
 Mrs. J. Borden Hartman. one of our girls, has just written a book about herself, called From Pima fore to Politics." and, after read ing it, I couldn't help but contrast 1t with that other book of Mar got Asquiths, written some years ago and which (Her Diary) was the precursor of so many intimate books of memoirs with which we have since been inflicted. {,
 Mrs. Asquith's book was g brutal book. It was sarcastic, and per- haps the title given to her. "the woman with 8 serpent's tongue" while rather extreme in itself, does. In a way, give an idea of her diary. How different Is this book of our Mrs. Harriman's. She tells about her life as a young girl, about New York society, about her husband and his family, about all the notable people she knew and knows, about Roosevelt and Wilson and House and Brad ley Martin and Morgan and a pile of others, and does it all in such a way as to make us see that. 6Ac ID jhcS oh can. girl-that money hasn't spoiled her; that vulgarity hasn't touched her. and that society hasn't soured her. She has a fine sense of humor. and her ac- count of speech-making Is not only naive, but very human. She has quite a lotto say about Woodrow Wilson and the Peace Conference. and I didn't like this part so much as the beginning. possibly because I don't quite agree with her.
 But that doesn't matter. What matters is that prominent Amer lean woman, both socially ana po- litically. has written a book with out rancor. with the best of humor and with a kind of comradship for everybody she knows, which real ly gives a better idea of what our democracy is than lot of long winded essays on our 'institu- tions" by pompous professors. I have put her next to Lillian Gish, with the famous superscription that Richard Harding Davis is said to have written on the photo graphs of certain ladies he loved; namely. She did not bore me-"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
THE MIDWEST AND
 THE GULF PORTS
Houston Post)

Commenting on the growth of American commerce with Asia, the Milwaukee Journal says: "The Mid Western manufacturer, to meet Asiatic demands. must ship by rail across the Rocky Mountains, or eastward to the Atlantic coast. Either rail route is costly"
 Evidently, the Journal needs to study It's geography. more thor oughly. It appears to be entirely unaware of the presence of the gulf ports-the logical ports for the exportation of the products Of Middle manufacturers, destined for any part of the world.
 It is neither necessary nor ad- vantageous, as a matter of fact, for shippers in the Midwest to send their products either to the Atlantic or the Pacific ports. Ths proposition of sending products to the Atlantic and shipping them back through the Panama canal to Asia is utterly unreasonable. The gulf ports would shorten the haul by more than 1000 miles.
 Houston and other gulf ports are equipped to handle both agri- cultural and manufactured com modities, and they have the ship lines radiating to all parts of the world to insure prompt deliveries. They are nearer the Panama Ca- nal, the gateway to the Pacific, than any of the Atlantic ports, and they doubtless offer saying in freight over the shipments through the Rockies by rail to the Pacific ports. This is indicated by the great growth of intercostal traffic through the canal. But, perhaps we are partly responsible for the indifference of the Mid-Western shippers, especially those in the Northern districts, to the advan- tages of the gulf ports.
 The way the Milwaukee paper leaves the gulf ports out of con sideration in the discussion Of fa- cilities for exporting from that section, shows that gulf port ad- yantages are not sufficiently well known there. The omission sug- gests immediate action by those interested in building up our ports in the way of better advertising of these ports in the Mid-Western in- dustrial districts.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
Detrimental to the State (Florence HeraldO


 It now appears that our sus- picions were we'll founded and that Brandon's reform" gesture is in the interest of the coal oper- ators only, and detrimental to the state and to the convicts. If con- victs are to be worked in the mines (and there Is no good req son why they should not dig coal under proper conditions), theke mines should be owned by the state and the state should be free to dispose of the product to the best advantage. Convicts could be worked for the benefit of the state if the administration had the will to find the way. The way will not be found so lor~ es Ala bama's govern0r renains' hand .in- glove with the cDatict-isasiaz coal operators.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
LEARNING POLITICS
Washington Post)

The trouble with those schools of politics that the women are starting here and there through out the country is that the branches of the subject in which they really need instruction are taught only in the school of expe- rience. Schools of politics may be useful for instruction of feminine voters in the A B C's of politics, but as to the x Y z's of politics, the stuff of experience, the grad uates of those schools will still have to learn.
 Those who really know the in- side of politics are not telling what they know. Others must learn as they did-from experi- ence.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
THE BOIL WEEVIL AND ZERO

Limitations from both official and unofficial sources that .he recent zero weather will have any result in de- creasing boil-weevil damage next sum- mer are unfortunate, an9 their effect can only be harmful Ii they cause cot ton farmers in any degree to relax their efforts at control. Insects go into winter quarters in such a pro- tected manner that even in the Arctics cold has no appreciable effect upon their ability to reproduce their usual numbers the following summer. It is well known that the densest swarms of mosquitoes, the insects that are chilled into inaction by the slightest drop in temperature, are found in Alaska and tho far-northern reaches of Canada, wi.erc even man himself is hard put to it 10 survive the winters. Cotton planters may recall that last winter, after the severe cold of Feb ruary, they we're tolG that they might expect some lei'cf Iort summer from the weevils. The planter by now knows how unreliable that assurance proved to be.
 For longtime it was thought by the cotton planters of Arkansas who live north of the mean winter zero line that they would never be troubled by the boil weevil. Two years ago the insect made its appearance in ravaging quantities north of that zero line, and for the past two years has been stead fly working its way still further into the prohibited zone. There is good reason to believe that the boil weevil will be able to survive wherever cot ton is grown, zero or no zero. The boil weevif>Narries no thermometer and he has no imagination. All he knows is that cotton is indispensable to his existence, and he means to extend his frontiers to the very limits of cotton growing, unless halted by the intelli- gent and concerted attack of cotton producers. The best advice that can be given to cotton planters is to pre- pare for the worst siege of boil weevil they have ever experienced. It's safer.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09

hold the elections, and if the elections are cchdr'ted in fair and legal man ner, it is doubtful whether his success sors will ever be faced with such de- fiance of established authority. De la Huerta's rebellion is called in Mexico the unpopular revolution, and per haps the time is at Hand when revolu- tion generally will be unpopular in that country. With such sentiment will come that stability of institutions and that protection of civil rights that underlie good government.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
MORE TRUTH THAN POETRY

Some day the city and state
 Will be well ruled by righteous men; l; No demagogues will find that hate | Can be aroused with profit then; The clinging parasites no more Will clog the payrolls, as of yore. Some day the daring bandits all
 Will pack their kits and disappear; With justice for the great and small, There will be little to fear; Rum pirates will attempt no more To bring forbidden stuff ashore. Some day the klans will all disband, No man will wish to wear hood; The bootleg kings will understand And choose the art of being good {; The bigots, having learned to see, Will wisely turn from bigotry. Some day the .pessimists will cease To see disasters out ahead, And possibly the love of peace 7. Will deepen and grow strong and
 spread; .... The reckless drivers everywhere May learn to drive with decent care. Some day the landlords may reduce The rent on novels that are mean; ; The guns may all be out of use,
 The shows may all be sweet and
 clean;
 All this may come to pass, but, gee, How unexciting things will be!
 -S. E. Riser.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
Fame

Iris sweet to be a caveman with a large and hairy frame And swing a huge and deadly club in many a baseball game. Iris sweet to hear frenzied crowd Repeat your name in accents loud
 While hill and dell
 And brake and fell Re-echo with your name. 'Tis sweet to stand above the throng, as does a noble tree, And tower like pine above the bushes on the lea; And while the wild and eager throng Acclaims your deeds with shout and song,
 Some stranger cries
 With puzzled eyes: "Babe Ruth? And who is she?"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
Market For Home Growers

There is here, however, a con stant home market each summer and autumn for great quantities of home grown vegetables and home produced eggs and chickens, and this market should be supplied by home producers. Too much money Is being. sent away each year for things that can be grown here to as good advantage as in anypart of the South.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
PEOPLES FORUM
As to Convict Leasing

To the Edftor or The Age-Herald:
 Editorially in your issue of to- day (January 4), you say: With abolition of convict leasing to pri- vate interests in Florida at the close of 1923 under provisions of recent law, Alabama becomes the only state in the Union where this nefarious system is legally in operation" A few days ago you said editorially that 8 certain pri- vate company in a certain large northern city had not only certain of the convicts in Kilby prison em- ployed. but you also named one Eastern. one Southern and three Western states in which they were also using certain of the convicts. In addition to the states named by you I can name almost a dozen states in which the convicts are being used by private interests. Only yesterday was talking to a man who told me he recently went through the shoe department in a certain prominent Northern state, where the convicts were employed making shoes; and he showed me G~ PoAA ol uOCi6 OAk iiA0 6hO66 put on by a man who had recently completed his term. The system there he described as pretty much the same as in Alabama.i The brother of this man with whom I talked is one of the leading poli- ticiaNs of that state.
 A few months back . salesman was here; and I knew his line, and asked him if his line was still penitentiary made, and he said no, that the last time they let out the convicts another company out bid them," and that they were then usnig free labor. Later the salesman representing the com pany who "out-bid" the other com- pany and got the, convicts was here and sold here several orders of the convict-made goods; and both men represented private con- cerns. and both men travelled and sold the trade in this state. Later still. met another manFf from that state, and he vouched for the truth of the statements made by the other two and added that the same system was in vogue in one state adjoining his own, the sys- tenn being described as approxi- mately the same as the system In vogue in Alabama. Yet, only recently I read where part of one of your editorials had been copied by leading paper in that state the stRte now using a convict sys- tenn almost duplicate of our own, and our people and our system were roundly condemned. Why not now give us in detail the systems in vogue in Massachusetts, New York, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri Kansas and a few. other prominent states, so that we may know just how these states employ their con- victs and market the goods they produce? Mere '1pse dixits," even from The Age-Herald. will not be accepted possibly by the people as a whole.
 ED. D. HAMMER.
 Attalla, NAla., Jan. 4, 1924.
 The "ipse dixits" of The Age
 Facts supporting The Age-Her- aids statements have been appear ing in this and other newspapers throughout the country for years. That Alabama Is now the only state leasing it's convicts to pri- vate concerns is not contradicted by any sources open to this news pAper. There is also a practice of contracting the output of prison industries which The Age Herald has criticiz""v ~Nund that Alabar- let too chez 'tion of thu 2 con tra ts out
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
ICRELIeHTS faM AG1 h\NATIONA1 61
 NCAPITALH

Senator Magnus Johnson or Min nesota came to Washington firm ly convinced that in many manly arts he was the superior of his colleagues.
 It was suspected. likewise. that he believed he had the only fair and honorable legislative program in the interest of the people.
 Regarding the first stated con- viction, he already knows that he made a fearful. mistake. Secre- tary Wallace defeated him in a milking contest, and Senator Fra zier proved him comparative weakling in chopping wood.
 If the senator entertained the idea that he alone was able with out bias to legislate. or that every other senator had no considera- ton for the poor man, or that he, of his own force of character, could bring about reform which he regarded as essential. he Is des- tined for another rude awakening.
 There is great hope expressed for Magnus Johnson. When he went down in formal contests be- fore Secretary Wallace and Sena- tor Frazier. he was overcome with surprise. But he took his defeats with as good grace as ever dis played in Washington.
 f If, when he runs up against a brick wall in the senate, his, con- duct is equally as exemplary, be- lief is entertained by those who daily observe that the Minnesotan win settle down and become an able legislator.
 He has convinced everyone that he has a nimble wit and a big heart. ~
 Congress is generally criticized, always criticized. 1t is probable. Some of the criticism, 1t is denied by members, is just. Some is ob- vfously based on ignorance. |s For instance, there is member of the house who promised his people that when they sent him to Washington he would require congress to begin its daily grind at o'clock.
 At that time he did not know that the most important work of a member was performed in his off, flee and in the various depart ments; he did not know that the bulk of lawmaking is done in committee rooms. But he soon found out, and 1t is to his credit that he did not introduce a reso- lution providing for the conven- ing of the house at o'clock.
 It is not known how he ex- plained his failure to make the attempt. Perhaps he passed it over with a mighty wave of his hand Or perhaps he was game enough to declare with frankness that hIs criticism had been made in igno- rance.
 There is a senator who came to Washington few years ago with determination to reform the world by the blows of his own right hand. He came and made and Is still making his fight. But he hasn't done any reforming as yet, and probably never will.
 He does not view the situa- ton with the equanimity of philosopher. but Is apparently bit- ter and sour. It is feared that he will never be able to win to his cause, or anyone of his causes, the necessary aid of others. If that proves true, he will prove a fail ure.
 Now, Magnus Johnson. if he takes his defeats in the senate as he took his defeats in the barn yard, will win friends, and. by his good nature. will hold them.
 That he will display the proper mettle Is clearly indicated.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09

sion or to force decrees, he vigorously
 opposed American entrance into the
 Laugue of Nations for contrary req sons, in that, as he says, it inyolves force and surrender of American free dom of action in possible serious con- tingencies. Just how Senator Johnson will reconcile these two attitudes is something of puzzle to the average
 voter
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
Rirmingham's Growth fMohila RaCisfArN

It is estimated that Birming- ham, with a census population of 17s.000 in 1920. has now a popula- tion of 225.000, and by 1880 will have at least 325,O0O. The figures are conservative. They are likely to be exceeded, onNthe principle that growth attracts growth. There is good reason to believe that Birmingham Is on the way to be the largest city in the South. and that but few decades will be needed for the accomplishment of such a destiny.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
The Votes win Appraise 1t
(Monroe Journail

It is evident to all thoughtful people that MT. Musgrove's an nouncement for the Democratic presidential nomination was prompted not by the remotest hope of achievement of such an ambition. but by a desire to sm- barrass MT. Underwood. who has a reasonable prospect of winning the nomination. Alabama Demo- crats will appraise at is true value the motive which prompts the ac- ton
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
Don't Be a Stumbling Block
tsand Mountain Banner)

In this year of 1924 don't be a stumbling block to your neighbor If you can not help him boost for his and your community then be sport enough to stand aside and let the other fellow boost--at least do a part of . mans part by re- training from swinging the ham mer against any good cause.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09

An exchange says that administra- tion of the income-tax will be simpli- fled. In other words, 1t will be changed from major to a minor oper- ation with no reduction in cost.