Atlanta Daily World

A Plain Duty To Unfortunate Humans

The taking up of mental incompetents, that segment of human impaired unable to hold down any sort of job, and who find a little release in taking too much beer, and thrown into the county workhouse to serve short sentences for drunkenness or vagrancy, is not making any worthwhile contribution in that field from whence these unfortunate physical wrecks are taken.

In a short time, these human beings are turned loose from the county prisons and told to "behave."

They return to society and beg up enough money to get more beer or cheap whiskey and again ply their trade as usual.

The pity of it is that most of those we see on the street loitering around public places and the market are women. Women without friends or homes, let loose to run at large in a big city of many complications for even the sober and sane.

We know of a human being who prowls the streets of one of Atlanta's best neighborhoods all day and part of the night, working one side of the street going down, and the other side going up, gathering cigarette butts to smoke.

This person apparently came from a good family; some of her relatives or friends with whom she spends a part of the nights, keep her clean and she is no bad looking person.

She is able bodied and would make an excellent worker in some capacity if taken out of the street and given treatment.

In many sections of this Christian city are wards of human flesh, let loose to wander hither and yon until run over by an automobile or otherwise debauched.

These are our people and this duty assuredly also is ours.

Let somebody step up and do something about these cases.