Newspaper Page Text
The People’s Party Paper
VOLUME IL
POLICE COURT JUSTICE.
HIGGINS, OF AUGUSTA, SCORES
THE POLICE COURT.
Augusta’s Mayor Says a Mau Does Not
Always Receive Justice in
Police Courts.
Mr. John Higgins, of Augusta
Ga., a whole-souled, intelligent Irish
man, against whom no one has any
thing except that he was so cranky as
to imbibe Pee-wee doctrine and voted*
talked and believed in the Hon.
Thomas E. Watson, has a grievance
against the Police Court and City
Council of the above named city.
From the shoulder with a vim,
freely and to all appearances deserv
edly, does he score the officials and
and Police Court Judge of this vote
repeating city because of the exist,
ence of these grievances—grievances
founded on the fact that justice and
fair play has not been meted out to
him as it should be to every Ameri
can citizen.
Now, it seems that Mr. Higgins,
sometimes in last December, had a
difficulty of words with a woman in
his store, out on Twiggs street, over
a small bill which she owed him and
was trying to evade by claiming she
had paid when she had not. Find
ing the dodge didn’t work, thi s
woman, who is of a most dissolute
and disreputable character, began to
abuse him in anything but choice and
“ear pleasing” terms. Mr. Higgins
took her by the arm and led her ont
of the store. She re entered the
store, and before she could be ejected
the second time, although his wife
and a visiting neighbor assisted, the
Amazon had clawed up his face
pretty badly.
A passing policeman took the
woman in charge, but upon her agree
ment to appear at the Recorder’s
Court, he release/! Ter, whereupon,
Higgins forever -nffiad his hopes ny
telling the said policeman that he had
failed to do his duty.
The morning following, in enter
ing the Becorder’s Court where the
case came up for trial, Mr. Higgins
was warned of his possible fate, by
the judge of said court saying, as he
indicated a negro woman: “Is
that your wife ?” A tableau. Mr.
Higgins was too much astonished at
the remark that came from the judicial
bench to make any reply, but his
wife, who was present said, “No, sir.
I am his wife.”
The judge of the court then an
nounced that he would make a cross
case of it, and without further notice,
put Higgins on trial, although he had
had no opportunity to summons and
have present the witnesses whose
testimony would have shown that no
case of breach of the law could be
made against him.
The woman's statement, although
she was of a dissolute and disrepu
table character, was taken in prefer
ence to that of Mr. and Mrs. Hig
gins. The policeman, evidently suf
fering from the rebuke given, stated
that Mr. Higgins was drunk and
that the woman bore a good char
acter. Both of the statements Mr.
Higgins stands ready to prove false.
He claims that the officer got his
idea of the -womans standing and
character in the neighborhood from
her kinspeople.
The judge ended the trial by
gracefully lining Mr. Higgins the
sum of twenty-dve dollars. Mr-
Higgins thereupon said he was in
sulted, and objected to the verdict.
The judge ruled that this was con
tempt to bis judicial dignity and
gave him in addition six hours in
confinement.
This is the case as it stands, in
verification of which Mr. Higgins
has shown to your correspondent the
sworn affidavits of several witnesses
which he now has in his possession.
This ceremony of police courtism—
or farce, as Higgins calls it—as pic
tured in this communication yet re
mains without public disputation.
After the action of the Recorder’s
court, Mr. Higgins, believing that he
had been unfairly treated, formulated
a petition, setting forth the facts,
backed by affidavits before a Notary
Public, and presented it to the city
fathers, asking them to impar
tially investigate the case, and
give him justice by placing
to -Sjz>esdeil to None.”
guilt where it belonged. The city
council referred it to the police com
mittee to investigate and report
back. This police committee gave
only credence to the Judge’s state
ment, paid no attention to the affi
davits of the and the
petition was quickly and summarily
dismissed.
Mr. Higgins having failed to be
heard here, soon afterwards had a
circular printed and distiibuted in
Augusta, which was headed as fol
lows :
“A Plea for Justice —The Vic
tim of a Tyrannous Court Ap
peals to the People.”
In this circular he set forth how
he had been treated, partially stated
his grievances and appealed to the
people for the justice he could not
get from their representatives. It
was a red hot circular, created some
little gossip, and even the Chronicle
woke up and very laboriously poked
fun at it. From this circular we
clip the following concluding para
graph :
“If the people of Augusta fail to
do me justice, then I ask the people
of Georgia to investigate this wrong.
Have I deserved such treatment,
simply because I took my stand to
help the people to secure their
rights? It was for this that I was
fictitiously tried, intimidated, robbed
by the law on the testimony of a
noted perjurer, and without any
charge against me cast into jail and
kept there like a felon until $25.00
was paid for my delivery. All I ask
is justice, and I appeal to the honest
men of Georgia to sustain me.”
Mr. Higgins is still very indignant
over the treatment he received, does
not have any idea of letting the mat
ter drop, continues to air it at inter
vals, and speaks in no uncertain
terms of the officials connected with
his treatment.
Mr. Higgins says that when he
went to see the Mayor about his
treatment a day or two after the
i. J made T.is '-omplainV ver
bally, that official gave him tht> fol
lowing sentence of solace :
“Unfortunately a man does not
always get justice in court.”
Mr. Higgins believes and states
that his experience emulated not
from facts, neither was justified by
them, but was the natural results of
the spleen they have against him be
cause of Populistic views or Wat
sonism. He does not believe that it
would have been as it is if he had
been a moss-back. Diogenes.
The Armies of Europe.
Washington Poet.
According to the Paris correspon
dent of the New York Herald, who
has been gathering statistics on the
subject, the various nations of Europe
have more than tripled the size of
their military establishments in the
last twenty-four years, not all in the
same proportion, but at that propor
tion in the aggregate. The armies
of Russia and Italy are four times as
large in 1893 as they were in 1869;
those of little Greece and Servia, six
times greater. France, Germany and
Austria have multiplied their armies
by three, more or less. England has
done least of the great powers in this
direction, showing only an increase
from 450,000 to 602,000. Yet while
Europe in 1869 had only 6,958,000
soldiers on a war footing, her eigh
teen powers, big and little, now have
22,248,000; and the burden of ex
pense has augmented accordingly.
The support of this vast armament
devolves a cost upon the people and
a drain upon the public resources of
more than $800,000,000, and yet
there are rulers in Europe who see,
or imagine they see, or for reasons
best known to themselves apprehend
a necessity for still larger armies and
still heavier taxation to subsist them.
it must be confessed that under
these circumstances the outlook for
disarmament is not encouraging. If
it requires 22,000,000 armed men to
preserve the peace of the continent
in this year of our Lord, the realiza
tion of the dreams of those who are
looking forward to the ultimate set
tlement of all international misunder
standings and jealousies by arbitra
tion is reserved for a. period far be
yond the ken of the present genera
tion.
In the mean time there are too
many old scores to be wiped out, too
many readjustments of the map of
Europe to be made, too many ambi
tious schemes of conquest in the Ori
ent and elsewhere to be disposed of
to warrant the belief that the peace
is always to be preserved. Sooner
or later some sanguinary crisis in
affairs must come. It is not an un
reasonable anticipation that it may
be precipitated by the people them
selves, wearied to desperation at last
by a yoke that conscripts their man
hood and paralyses their prosperity.
ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1593.
THE SOCIALISTS WIN.
THE FEATURE IN GERMANY’S
REICHSTAG ELECTIONS.
Many Startling Surprises Recorded in
Berlin—Women Helped Anii-Sem
ites and Socialist Democrats.
Berlin, June 16. At 2 o’clock
this morning returns from 70 dis
tricts indicate that 36 have been car
ried by parties opposed to the- army
bill, 15 have been carried for the par
ties favoring the bill, and 19 are in
doubt between the Government and
the opposition parties, with chances
in a majority of them strongly in fa
vor of the Government. The Gov
ernment parties have lost three of
their former seats, two to the Rich
terists, or Social Democrats, as the
second ballots shall decide, and one
to a South German Democrat. The
Government has won one seat from
the opposition. The Social Demo
crats have won two seats besides
having secured many chances for new
victories on the second ballot.
A curious feature of their two ac
complished victories in new fields is
that they won at the expense of the
Richter Radicals, also enemies of the
army bill, and not, as was expected,
at the expense of the National Lib
erals, the friends of the b 11. Al
though the Social Democratic gains
are undoubtedly enormous, they will
not prove bo large probably as the
reports so far have indicated.
The returns from the cities come
in first, and it is in the cities that the
Social Democrats always run best. »
SOCIALIST MASS MEETINGS CLOSED.
The police of this city closed up
Socialist mass meetings at the Ger
manian Hall, the Tnvoli, the Con
cordia, the Elyseum and the Wedding
Hall, owing to overcrowding. The
crowds poured, cheering, into the
streets, where they were quickly dis
persed by the mounted Dur
ing the day the distributed
half a million handbills here. They
spent 14,000 marks in the Fifth Di
vision alone—the largest sum ever
expended by a single party in a Berlin
constituency. The Conservatives and
Anti-Semites also worked hard.
Th* 1 Socialist v-. te ’u wdl
foot up 20.000 n-r.-or thev.ote cf 1890.
The -women rendered great assistance
in the Socialist canvass.
In Berlin not a single candidate
pledged to support the army bill has
gained even the barren honor of a
ballot. The prospects of a Govern
ment majority seem to be vanishing.
Roughly speaking the Socialist vote
shows a great increase everywher.
LATER.
Berlin, June 18. The election
returns were virtually coraple at 3
o’clock this afternoon. The report
from but one district was then lack
ing. The revision of the returns
may necessitate a few alterations, but
they will be trivial. The candidates
elected number 215; of these 101
will vote for the army bill and 114
against it.
la the following list, by parties,
the antisemite conservatives are in
cluded with the conservatives, and
the independents are treated as mem
bers of the parlies who will affiliate
in the reichstag.
Lieber-clerical, 68 ; social Demo
crats, 29; conservatives and agra
rian, 44; nation liberals, 18; radical
unionists, who favor the bill, 4;
Poles, 12; free conservatives, 10;
clericals favorable to the bill, 11 ;
Alsatians, 7 ; South German Demo
crats, 4 ; aati-semite, 3, two of them
favoring the bill; Bavarian agra
rians, 2 ; Guelphs, 1 ; Dahes, 1 ;
Bavarian separatists, 1 ; Richterists,
none.
Among the candidates in the 181
new ballots there will be 10 Poles, 52
conservatives, 9 agrarians, 7 free con
servatives, 72 national liberals, 30
clericals, 77 social Democrats, 11
radical unionists, 35 Richterists and
8 Guelphs.
As was expected, the latest re
turns have increased steadily the list
of members upon which the govern
ment can rely for support. While
the victories of the socialists Demo
crats have been regarded with alarm
upon the army bill, they will be more
than offset by the loss of Richter
radicals. After four hours in con
ference yesterday afternoon, the
ministers who had met the chancel
lor to discuss the results of the elec
tion, declared that, in view of the
recent returns, it would be super
fluous and inexpedient to issue an
appeal to the country before rhe
second ballot. On Friday several
ministers favored this mode of arous
ing rhe voters to support the govern
ment candidates, but yesterday only
two of them were still in favor of
the plan. The great majority of the
ministers are confident that by means
of the conservatives, free conserva
tive.! end national clericals they can
secure a large number of seats at
the second ballots from the Rich
terists and clericals. They depend
up<zi the general alarm excited by
the social Democratic victories, to
drive the clerical and opposition
clericals into the government camp
in constituencies where the contests
are between conservatives or national
liberal candidates and socialists. If
these expectations are realized, not
only will the government open the
reichstag with almost half the mem
bers on its side, but will also be
enabled at the final poll to keep the
social Democrats down to a total of
forty or forty-five seats.
Immediately after the election the
clerical leaders sent out a circular
letter to the constituencies to admon
ish Cathonc voters that under no
circumstances should they vote for
army bill candidates in the bi-elec
tions. Since then the socialist scare
has become so general that the lead
ers have revoked their first letter
and have sent out another calculated
to solidify the Catholic vote against
the social Democratic candidates,
even in cases where such a course
will lead to the election of a con
servative or national liberal. The
(rermtzma (organ of the clericals)
and several other Catholic dailies are
now urging the Catholics in con
stituencies contested by social Demo
crats to ignore the army bill issue
and vote solidly conservatives,
free conservatives or national lib
els. Where socialist successes are
in question, says the Germania, the
Catholic voter must subordinate all
other duties to the duty of doing his
best to prevent this. Social Demo
cratic triumphs must be prevented at
any cost.
Speculators on the bourse took a
sanguine view of the government’s
prospects in the second ballots. Im
perial and Prussian stocks, which
weakened on Friday, were strong
yesterday in consequence of the re
ports that the government would
have a small majority at the opening
of the reichstag. Semi-official infor
mation that the chancellor would
abandon bis latest proposals for taxes
on bourse operations and spirituous
liquors helped to strengthen the
prices. The official returns from
many constituencies have been re
ceived and will be published to-mor
row. They contain much interesting
information as to the votes polled by
conspicuous candidates. Count Her
bert Bismarck, who was elected by
the agrarians in the Jerichow dis
yoeeLed 11,669 xo
cast for Ferdinand Woellmer, radical,
who wds the last member ior the dis
trict. Gloeck, the social Democrat
candidate, received 4,341 votes.
Count Herbert’s majority over all,
therefore, was 480. He polled the
full strength o*' the conservative
vote, which, for the first ballot in
1890, was 11,182. The radical vote
in 1890 was 9,964, and the social
vote 2,487. These figures illustrate
clearly how the socialists sapped the
strength of the Richterists vote. In
Metz, Dr. Haas, Alsatian and clerical,
was elected by 9,655 to 3,436 cast
far Liebermann von Sonnenberg, the
anti-semite, and 3,428 for M ilhelm
Liebnecht, leader of the social Dem
ocrats. In Ragit, Count von Kanitz,
the high protection conservative, re
ceived 5,350 votes to 1,787 cast for
his opponent, Dr. Brassick, of the
radical union.
Rector Ahlwardt, the notorious
Jew baiter, now serving a sentence
for libel in the Ploetzenze prison,
swept everything before him in the
Arnswaldt district, his old constitu
ency. In Luenberg, the new ballot
will be between Herr Withoeft, free
conservative, and Freiherr von IV an
genheim, a Guelph, who last repre
sented the constituency. An erro
neous report was received to the
effect that the new ballot would be
between Withoeft and I ischer,
social Democrat. The vote was
Withoeft, 8,213 ; Wangenheim, 6,125;
Fischer, 4,132.
predicting a majority for the
BILL.
London, June 18. The Berlin
correspondent of the Daily Kev:s
says: There cannot be the slightest
doubt that the army bill will be
passed with a good majority.
The Standard's Berlin Corres
pondent expresses the same opinion
somewhat less emphatically.
The Sugar Bounty.
Washington, June 17.—Commis
sioner Miller has prepared a* state
ment which shows that the total
sugar bounty for the fiscal year end
ing June 30 will be $9,403,989.87.
The amount actually paid is as fol
lows : On cane sugar, $8,697,994.73 ;
on beet sugar, $531,363.81 ; on sor
ghum sugar, $19,817 ; on maple
sugar, $60,119.32. Total, $9,309,-
Amount involved-in claim*
approved, but drafts not yet issued,
855,438.05. Total amount paid and
to be paid, $9,364,732.92. Amount
iifvolved in claims received and not
acted upon, $39,256.96. Total, $9,-
403,989.87.
Persons owing allegiance to other
governments and none to the United
States own 22,000,000 acres of land
in this country —an area ten times
the size of the State of Massachu
setts and as large as all New Eng
land. What do you say about
America for Americans ?— Kentucky
Journal.
THE COAST SHAKE.
AN EARTHQUAKE SHAKES THE
SEABOARD CITIES.
A Sharp Shock at Charleston, But No
Damage Done—Augusta, Savannah
and Brunswick Tremble.
Charleston, S. C., June 20.—A
slight earthquake shock moving from
the northwest to the southeast was
felt here at ll:05| precisely to-night.
First there was a tremor, then a
faint roar and then came the wave.
The people got out of bed and ran
into the streets as they did in former
earthquake times.
A game of poker at the fashionable
Charleston Club was broken up, and
an opera troupe took the street in
great alarm. No damage to person
or property.
Some people are staying up all
night. On the night of August 31,
1886, Charleston was visited by the
famous earthquake, which ruined
many buildings and caused many
deaths under falling walls. That
shock came about 9 o’clock at night,
or rather the first one did. During
the night many other severe shocks
came, and, in fact, they continued
for months. Slight shocks are felt
here every few months, and it takes
a hard one to cause alarm and start
the natives running from their
homes. To-night’s was more severe
than the average shock in the last
three or four years.
The accepted theory is that they
are caused by the slipping of vast
parts of the strata lying beneath
this section.
QUITE SEVERE AT SAVANNAH.
Savannah, Ga., June
earthquake shock was felt quite se
verely here tonight. It lasted from
ten to fifteen seconds. Buildings all
over the city were shaken quite se
verely during th t-t time, but no
damage was done so fa-* as has been
learned. Telephone messages have
been received from all parts of the
city stating the shock was quite
distinctly felt. A message from Ty
bee light stated that the people down
there were all awakened by the
earthquake ana were badly scared,
but no damage was done.
AT BRUNSWICK.
Brunswick, Ga., Juno 20.—At
1-1 o’clock tonight an earthquake
passed under Brunswick.
At the Brunswick Club, Bruns
wick’s swell resort, the members
dropped their pool and papers and
hurried down stairs.
At 10 o’clock tonight reports com
ing from all directions of the city,
report the shock to be perceptible in
every section.
A LITTLE SCARE AT AUGUSTA.
Augusta, Ga., June 20.—Augusta
was shaken tonight by an earthquake
at 11:04 o’clock. It lasted several
seconds. It was quite severe and
generally felt. People rushed out
of their houses and lined the streets.
They were a little frightened, but not
seriously. N j damage was dene.
PEACEFUL REMEDIES.
Defyers of Law Rewarded—Respecters
of Law Despised.
Lex Loci, in San Francisco Star.
A few years ago, when the ques
tion of Chinese immigration became
simply a question of self-preservation
j to the white inhabitants of this coun
, try, and there was danger of the
I wholesale massacre of the Chinese
population of the Pacific Coast as the
only available means for freeing our
selves from the curse, it was urged
that relief might be obtained by law
ful and peacable methods. An ap
, peal was made to the country. We
did not ask for the deportation of
, the Chinamen already here, but only
| that no more be permitted to come.
Congress passed an act of ex
clusion, and the people rejoiced ; for
no one doubted that the majesty of
the law would be maintained and the
oncoming horde of coolie bondsmen
and murderous “hatchet-men” headed
: off.
That is, no one of the law-abiding
i white population doubted that the
restrictive measure would prove ef
fective. With them, obedience to
the mandates of the constituted au
thorities by these alien trespassers
was considered a matter of course.
They should be glad to remain on
any terms. But not so thought the
Chinamen. They despised our coun
try and did not hesitate to defy its
laws. Immigration was scarcely
checked. Bribery, perjury and fraud
of every kind were employed to de-
I feat the intent of the law. Our un
protected borders, both to the North
and the South, afforded admission to
thousands; and, when once in the
: country, there was no possible way
. to detect the intruders, for they all
NUMBER 40
look alike, and a Chinaman will swear
to anything.
So, what is known as the Geary act
was demanded, not for the purpose
of deporting Chinamen already here,
but to make effective the much
abused original exclusion act. Chi
namen were given a full year in
which to establish their lawful right
to remain, and on doing se they were
to be supplied with passports which
would secure them against future
annoyance or fear of deportation;
and had they even now submitted to
the laws of the land which regarded
their presence as undesirable, their
continued stay would have been dis
puted by no one.
But they placed their “tongs”
above the national Congress, and
obeyed their edicts forbidding regis
tration; at the command of their
leaders they defied the law, even
though they knew that in doing so
they incurred the penalty of depor
tation, and sixty-five millions of free
white American citizens were laughed
at and spit upon by one hundred
thousand coolie slaves at the instiga
tion of their two or three score of
lawless heathen masters.
Now,- -what an opportunity was
this to make manifest the majesty of
the law ! What a chance to teach
these despisers of our institutions
that their contempt for us as a peo
ple was not Well grounded ! They
had openly asserted that with plenty
of money they could “fix things all
right.” One of them illustrated the
whole thing, from his standpoint,
with two twenty-dollar gold pieces.
With a gold piece held before one
eye, he said, “Officer see a little.”
Then covering the other eye with
the second gold piece, he said,
“Officer see nothing.”
The decision of the Supreme court,
however, affirming the constitu
tionality of the Geary act, seemed
for a time to shake their faith in the
potency of gold. For once it had
failed them, and every Mongolian
face seen on our streets showed that
they were stunned by the blow. But
another assessment was levied and
promptly paid, and Chinatown
smiled again. It was evident that
they still hoped io purchase immu
nity from the operation of the Geary
act, but I thought these law-defyers,
when they had to do with the Presi
dent of the United States and his
chosen subordinates, would find that
they were not dealing with the San
Francisco police force. I confi
dently believed that a man, the
greater part of whose life had been
passed in assisting in some capacity
to apply the mandates of the law,
would now, in his exalted position,
with his oath of office so newly
pledged, hasten to teach this defiant
alien population that they were cer
tainly not more exempt from the
operation of our laws than were our
own people. Did he do it? No!
Why did he not do it? Well, that
would be hard to tell. It certainly
was his duty, and it should have been
a pleasant duty, inasmuch as it would
have freed his country from a
blighting curse and his race and re
ligion from a threatened danger too
apparent to be disguised.
And what of the relief which for
ten long years we have hoped and
striven to attain through peaceful
methods? Is history to record that
at the last, when apparently within
our grasp, it was snatched from us
by the hand of the man who, by vir
ture of his office and his oath, should
have done all in his power to assist
in its attainment? “Whom the gods
would destroy, they first make mad.”
It will be a mad act, on the part of
those most interested, to convince
the American people that there can
be no law enacted to stop the in
vasion of this country by China.
The fact that the Chinaman is a
moral and social leper will count for
nothing so long as he is needided to
“hold down” the price of American
labor.
31. D. Irwin
Will address the alliances at the fol
lowing places at times mentioned.
Monroe county, Moss Store, July 1
Pike “ “ 3
Gwinnett “ “ 4
Campbell “ “ 6
Troup “ Mountville, “ 7
Lowdnes “ “ 13
Laurens “ “ 15
Polk “ “ 20
Floyd “ “ 21
Haralson “ “22
Paulding “ “28
Earthquake in Greece.
Athens, June 17.—A repetition of
earthquakes is reported from various
parts of Greece. Serious damage
was done at Thebes, where houses
are in ruins and the inhabitants are
camping out in tents.
Dixon Fought a Drw.
New York, June 17.—The boxing
contest between George Dixon and
Jerry Barnett at the Academy of
Music to-night, resulting in a draw
after a hot contest.