Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6
ohn S. Pate, Cats Paws, and Water Power
(EDITORIAL)
““Under the name of Hon, John 8. Pate, after which they have strung
1 the honors the people here have conferred on a citizen with a long and
weful career among us, the power company lawyers who are fighting to
event the people of Crisp county from developing and enjoying the riches
‘their own God-given blessings, have fired another of their guns at the
x-payers to defeat the power plant bonds which the people are going to
ste on November 2nd, Although they have used his name ag chairman
the committee, Mr. Pate did not write this circular. It was written long
0 and used in other fights against the people, may be, as far away as
(Mfornia, The power trust uses this as a cut.and-dried argument on all
casions. They have simply inserted new names here to fit the Crisp
unty project, It is their stock argument. They use it everywhere to de
at the people when they start out on their own resources,
We do not know how Mr, Pate feels about it, but he ought to feel cheap
out allowing himself to be made the cats paw of the power company
(08¢ every ounce of energy is going into an effort to keep the people from
joying one of their own greatest riches in the development and use of
alr own water power, Left to his own better judgment he never would
ve done that, we are quite sure of it. We want to remind him now that
+ majority of the people of Crisp county want to vote these bonds and
t within their own hands both the earnings lof nature’s storehouse in the
sat volume of electric power they will have to sell with only the music
the river attending in the form of other costs than the money it takes
build, Other costs are so small that the power in all the future use of
will be almost a gift from Flint river—ours to sell and enjoy, ours to use
building and developing, ours to make a public benefaction at our own
1 without let or hindrance. Mr. Pate must certainly not feel at home after
7ing been used in this manner by the power company to fight the well
ng, prosperity, and future weelth of his own people who have in many
+yB honored him in the past.
The power company lawyers—who, by the way, make up the other
'‘sonnel of the “committee opposed to bonds,” warn us that this is a radi
departure from a custom which has bheen followed for half a century in
yrgia, We admit that it is a departure, We are seeking industrial
wth, and if anything of that kind has been done here since first man
d came to possess and enjoy this land of opportunity we do not know
it. Fifty years ago—Mr, Pate was a young soldier in that conflict, but
v be he has forgotten—the carpet bagger and the negro were imposed on
and they bonded Georgia in debauchery and drunken exploitation of the
Mc treasury till when the white man came back into his own, fearing
sturn of the Yankee oppressor, it was written into the constitution that
üblic debt of over seven percent could not be made for anything. That,
} the reason. Today all over progressive sections of Georgla that limit
-0 has been set aside and public debt has been made wherever the peo
have found in their good judgment that progresg could be made,
;Tho laet regular session of the Gemera) Assembly of Georgia in a two.
ds vote of both houses, granted to the people of Crisp county the right
whive the measure which was established agaipst the negro legislator
.the carpet bagger who were bankrupting the gtate. That measure is
. \g published daily for the benefit of theta X-payers, that they may see
. 4t is, If it were pernicious or dangenous in the least, they would not
.8 given it to us. If it had been that in the least, at Jeast half the large
= perty owners and representative progressive citizens of the couanty would,
bave gone to the legislature and expended their money and time in an
rt to get this very legislatfon provided. It is the law they wanted. They
'1 it here at home in cool moments of deliberation and asked for it. They
large tax payers. Why did they do it if it is so dangérous as the law
~of the power company say it is? Friend, it isn't dahgerous for anybody
‘the power company which is throttling industrial growth in this county,
', 4 our competition which will shut them off from their unjust charges.
| And the power company is a group of the sons of the carpet-baggen
i kees who marched through Georgia in the sixties. It is a group of the
. er trust Yankees who own the industrial east. It is the same eastern
3 kee crowd that twenty years ago lobbied a measure through the Georgia
slature which made it possible for them to lay their hands on all the
or sites in Georgia and prevent just such development for industrial
rth ag that now planned in Crisp. They overlooked one site—they didn't
k the people of this section would tackle it and build. The site Orisp
gelected was pointed out as long ago as 1826 in a Georgia water powen
ey. They know it is a gold mine for those who develop it. They don't
. us to do it. They are spending all their energies to do it—and they
_hidden themselves behind the name of a local citizen in an attempt
'i‘lnt same group of up-east Yankees own all the mills. They control
prices of cotton goods, Cotton is selling under ten cents today. Go
one of your stores and try to buy a yard of yellow homespun or pajama
kg if you will. You'll find your cotton éoming back to you at seven to
dollars a pound in the finished product. The up-east Yankee fixes the
:s. He owns the mills. He owng the water power here—and he fixes
price of it in the same manner. He isn't going to let plain Georgians
e foundations in developed water power for bringing the mills to the
m fields here, He is going to hold to his hundred percent dividends
1@ mills on the cotton which we are producing at a loss.
Jur land owners have found that they can Gevelop the power and run
mills. They have done so in the Carolinas. They are seeking to du
ere—and the up-east Yankee has said that he will be damned it we
do it, Now, that is the challenge. Shall we knuckle and truckle?
we lay down and walk out, whipped into submission? That wasn't
our fathers did for them in the war—and as for us. we mean to stay
1@ battle lines and fight, We are in an industrial war with these same
.ees and they control all the water powers in Georgia that are devel
} Here is one that doesn't belong to them. It is ours—a great unde
ed mine of gold, if we but use our own credit and go after it.
Jver the state people are enthusiastic over our wise move for Flint
power. Georgians are willing to help us. The power company agents
‘rleghtened, They think we are going to win—and we are. But wo
have to stand together here in Crisp—man to man. The fight is a large
Yankee money is being thrown into the effort to whip us into sub.
on, It isn't any secret about the advantages which have been given us
e measure which legalizes our power development. Georgia legislators
ad to lift the restrictions which were placed on us by*the lobbying
r trust, It isn't true that we have been under the present provisions
§ sueing bonds for fifty years, Only in recent years have we been forc
- & two-thirds vote to carry an election, and that provision went lntol
{ onstitution at the hands of the power trust Yankees who put in tho‘
sion to keep us from building and developing on our credit. |
4 'he people of this section are endowed with plain horse-sense in abun
# ). They are intelligent. They are energetic, but none of us have
y enough to go out and build in the large for the good of all. The
1 1 are the only sensible thing. Our county has good credit, Its public
f rs are careful, conservative, and in every way capable of handling any
-4 we undertake without waste and unwise investment. All that has
§ taken into account before we made one move—and the insinuation that
'3 will be waste is a reflection on the good sense, the honor, and the
! judgment of these officials and those who trust them—have trusted
® every day they have given such splendid service to making Crisp
¥ business affairs what they are today. Every man on our board of
y commissioners wants the bonds for the power plant. They are will
) continue their good efforts—they have faith in whay can be done with
aveloped power. And we are not afraid to trust them, We must trust
sody among our good citizens if we get any public improvement in
@ aeasure in keeping with that growth which we should be enjoying.
ver Mr. Pate’s name the power attorneys say that we are now taxed
8 ath—that added obligations for the power plant will absolutely destroy
M d'drive away future investors. With a power supply at one.twelfth
8 the power company is now charging us—and with a sane promised
@ of half a million a year on that rate for the public which owns
Bower plant, we can wipe out all our taxes, pay public operating ex
-5 out of these profits, have no taxes at all, and sell power at the same
@to investors here at one-fourth and less than what it now costs. Is
‘B¢ wise to provide that power when it assures us such returnst We
by all means to do this, since it gives into our hands a vast working
e over the power compuany and their efforts to carry investors
elsewhere. They do not want invest
ors in Crisp county, They are bring.
ing all the power here they have to
|aparo and they get as high as twelve
cents for it. Investors will not—can
'not pay, twelve cents for it, We have
R 'lplendld local industry today pay
ing them more than a hundred dol
lars a month more than the same
power would cost in Albany, Colum
'bus or other good Georgia towns.
lEventually that industry would go
iol-ewhore——hava to do it to meet
icompetmon. We have another— an
;lndustry vital to the farmer—which
ils forced to maintain a steam plant
ibecause the power rate now —
present charges - are too high.
‘The power people own and con.
;trol our public service commis
sion. When we go there we have to
take a ruling in favor of the power
trust. That has been the case for
twenty long years. We have tried
’lt over and over again—and the same
attorneys now working here for the
Ipowm' company have served to beat
us before that public service com
lmlulon when we sought a reasonable
rate for lighting and power,
Mr. Pate’s power company com
mittee charges that our plant will
cost vastly more than we have esti
mated. We expect to spend less than
three-quarters of a million dollars on
first cost. As we expand and grow
in volume of business we may install
high tension wires—or our customers
will do it to get the power. They
talk about ridiculous clearing of the
pondage lands—their cost. The plant
at Albany was built, pond and all,
for Jess than six hundred thousand
dollars, When that plant was ready
to go, they offered to construct a
line to Cordele—forty-two miles—for
less than twentr-four thousand dol
lars. The first owners of that plant
offered this—not the power trust
owners who are operating it now.
That's first.-hand information on the
cost of power lines, less than five
hundred dollars a mile—and that can
he doye today. Anything to the con
trary is just a power company line
of misrepresentation to keep ug out
of our own investment in power de
velopment,
~ We haven't planned for a steam
‘power plant. The county will nott
'need one, But we have planned for
‘n double equipment in this river pow-t
‘er plant which will give us two low
‘water machines and two high water;
‘machines—both flood-stage and low
}wuter stage, equipment that will de-‘
liver 365 days and nights in the yeari
‘——and on till we have more than fif
ty million kilowat hours of electric‘
current year in and year out for
steady use. And that plant thus
equipped, according to engineers who
spend their time in constructing and
operating such plants, with the lines
it will take to carry the power to our‘
neighbors, wil] come at a total cost
to us of not more than seven hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. If it
doesn’t, we are not going to invest—
and we will not invest till we know,
The contractor who builds will be un-!
der unshabable bond to deliver whati
we buy—and then the plant will be
insured against washouts and other“
mishaps—just like the power com
pany gets them built without losses.:
Please do not worry about what the
federal government will require of
us, Uncle Sam has already sent en
gineers and helped us to determine
whether we have a safe project.
These have approved our site so far
that the government has issued a
preliminary permit which authorizes
‘us to go ahead, If we had failed
to get that, we would not be out ask
ing our voters to approve. If, after
they have already approved, we find
one thing unsafe, we are not going
to invest & dollar of the money—
we are not going to sell a bond. We
are going to take care of our public.
Again, we appeal to our voters to
stand firmly fixed upon this great
public improvement and see it
through. We have been used long
enough by the up-east Yankees who
are at this very moment exploltlngj
us industrially—using our cotton at
less than it cost to produce in the
fields and declaring dividends in the
mills at over a hundred percent, and
then boasting about it. The Albany
plant which is used to serve us now;
s overtaxed, We get low curtent
every day and every night—and pay
THE CORDELE DisPATCH
'hlgh prices for it. Tlhov sunaliment
with every machine they lhave *in
their field and then cannot meet the
‘needs, Soon that power will bhe tak
en in the Albany field. Where will
we go fo rours? :
Agaln, the Albany piant was built
by local capitalists at less than sev
en hundred thousand dollars cost, The
first sale of it put the price up to
fifteen hundred thousand dollars, or
double first cost. It lately went in
to the Stone and Webster power com
bination at a valuation of three mil
lion dollars and thq people who sold
it to the power trust at that price had
to go into courts and fight for their
money for it, Now, we are paying
for current from that plant on a val
uation of three million dollars. We
have to pay a high rate that will earn
dividendg for our Yankee power own
ers on that sort of valuation for a
plant which cost originally a little
more than half a million dollars,
That's the kind of abundant power
we have., Industry isn’t in the re
motest mind of those people. They
want lights—more lights —at high
cost. We can never build industrially
and they know lt'. Their program def
initely decides that we shall not
build and compete with their power
supply and their eastern cotton mills.
All we need now is the vote of our
own people for our power develop
ment. The future is secure. Our
own people may decide it in the
right way. We firmly believe they
will write progress on their own fu
lture in their vote for the power
| bonds. 4
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SO TR A I
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R membranes. H. C. C. is antiseptic, %
3 P healing and eothing, no pain or injury. ¢
iy Package contains zll needed.
C‘ ) $l.OO at Druggists or prepaid.
(’ e MARUPACTURLD BY X
T ACHE CHEMICAL I¥G. (0, Lid., New Orlenss, L 2, (]
(FRUSOIRY 000 PR OOHECORDOL G MG
WE WILL BUY YOUR
OLD HATS
And pay vou the CASH for
them. Or we will CLEAN and
BLOCK them for you. Call us
and let’s see if we can't trade.
Let us do your CLEANING and
PRESSING,
WE DO REAL TAILORING
BRIDGES
ASK YOUR NEIGHBOR
Phoune 154 7th Street
1 A\ ' ) N\
EVERY OUNCE OF ENERGY WE HAVE
Y ,
IS IN THE FIGHT TO WIN
WE WANT THE CRISP COUNTY POWER BONDS BECAUSE WE WANT
a greater growing community and section. We were built that way when we started
business. We have wanted more business all the time---just cannot help it. The cost
of the power plant will be but a pittance as compared with the great earnings it will
bring back to us in actual dollars But what it earns in that direction will be but
another pittance in comparison to the wealth and prosperity which we will be bound
to garner in because it has added new population, new business: new inflgst;ike’s,
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RISP COUNTY POWER PLANT
CORDELE AUTO SUPPLY COMPANY
CORDELE. GEORGIA
Industrial Development For This
' i
~ Section Is Assured.
‘N? E see in the new abundant cheap power de
velopment in Crisp county a greater indus
~s+—| trial center and a section that has been re
e | vitalized as though it were done by the
<@> touching of an electric button---in an instant.
"2 | The cries of tax burdens need not worry.
The hum of the electric dynamo---the whirl
ing of the great electric motor in the power plant on
Flint river with millions of kilowat hours of energy
available for us and incoming industrial users---these
are the things which bear messages of growth and
expansion. This is what we ought to have. It is
what we are wisely seeking to have in the November
election. :
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CRISP COUNTY POWER PLANT E
We pledge our hearty support and co-operation
to this cause because we think it the greatest worth
while undertaking that has ever been ours to enioy
in this community. We will gladly stand by our
friends in this cause to the very end. We want our
friends by our sides in the battle for the power de
velopment. There is but one argument---build and
and build as quickly as possible, and then tell the
world. The world will come and use it---for hydro
electric power is a basis need of all modern industry.
Watt & Holmes Hardware Co.
CORDELE, GEORGIA
éreater éarning power for everything we
have from the farm on down to the ma
chine shop.
We are for it---never have seen a
peaceful moment that we remem
ber when we were not for it. We
will meet you at the polls on Nov.
2nd to render a day’s good ser
vice in helping to win.