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TL i Ilty p kJI SPIRIT 11 VI 1 Substance Address gy Ralph at 1925 Newton Peach Products Dinner
Peoples in their collective capacities
• have souls. The people of France fol¬
lowing the white plumed Knight of
Navarre in a struggle for religious free¬
dom, and the white robed Joan of Arc
in a struggle for political freedom and
rising as one man in the red terrors of the
Revolution in a struggle for human free¬
dom showed that they had a soul,—a soul
that lives to-day in a free and Democratic
France. England, molding the Saxon
Heptarchy into the United Kingdom and
by sheer genius in government extending
her rule to domain after domain until
the sun can not go down upon her tlag,
is honored and revered of her children
because she has the soul of a great Mother¬
land. Belgium, least among the tribes of
the earth, springing quickly and bravely
to stop the German hordes upon the
threshold to France, revealed a soul so
heedless of self, so devoted to liberty as
to command the homage of men every¬
where and for all time.
The new County of Peach has a soul.
Counties in this state have been created
before—sometimes simply upon the initia¬
tive of the Legislature, occasionally in
response to the agitation of some small
group within their borders, and often
as a mere matter of convenience, This
county, however, was born of the desire
of the whole people,—a desire that rose
stronger after each defeat—a desire that
knew no limits of sacrifice,—a desire that
found its justification in the age-old love
of the Saxon peoples for local self govern¬
ment and their belief in what Woodrow
Wilson so splendidly called “the privilege
of men everywhere to choose their way
of life and of obedience. ' ’
Ten years of united action has enabled
this new county to know its soul. The
united effort of the whole people brought
it into being and this same great spirit
of co-operation is to keep alive the hopes
and ambitions that gave it birth and
urge it forrvard along the path of progress
to a realization of its ideals of an honest
and efficient government and of a happy
and prosperous people. have
The English speaking peoples strongly
through all their history stood
L
Oh, long our hearts have sought for thee,
County Peach, my County Peach,
And truly have we wrought for thee,
County Peach, my County Peach;
We yearned for thy protecting care,
Desired thy lovely name to share,
We longed to breathe thy perfumed air,
County Peach, my County Peach.
THE LEADER-TRIBUNE
The County With a Soul
for local self-government. It seems a
strange contradiction that in America, the
greatest and freest of all the democracies,
the sore spots of our civic life are to be
found in our smaller units of government
—our cities and counties. The Federal
government has been almost entirely free
from corruption and scandal. Our state
governments for the most part have been
well conducted. Municipal and county
governments have been the victims of
greed and selfish interests and the easy
prey of the designing and unscrupulous
politician.
The spirit of the new county will surely
be able to command an exalted and un¬
selfish patriotism in its citizens, and this
patriotism will enable them to choose their
officers wisely, placing character and fit¬
ness for service above all other considera¬
tions, and it will unite them in a large
and generous program for education, realiz¬
ing that only an intelligent citizenship can
be economically productive and politically
effective, and it will draw them into a
close union in every effort to improve the
social order and to make Christian the
relations between races and classes, and
it will demand of them loyal support of
every movement that seeks the well being
and happiness of the people or that
promises to make life more abundant.
Had Belgium hesitated a single moment
between duty and expediency, she would
have lost her soul. The new county stands
at the crossroads—the pathway worn by
selfishness and indifference and factional¬
ism, strewn with countless wrecks of others
who chose this beaten track, lies before
her, but at this same crossroads is that
other way to which the best in her soul
calls her and, choosing which, she shall
finally come upon “those splendid heights
where shines unobstructed the light of the
justice of God. ) )
Peach County has the opportunity to be
a model county—a model in efficient gov¬
ernment, in enterprising business, in agri¬
culture, in schools, in moral well being,
but she can never do this except as she
shall keep the soul she found in the stress¬
ful years now gone.
My County Peach
Words by Mabel Swartz Withoft
Sung to the tune of “Maryland, My Maryland. > ) Dedicated to C. L. Shepard, general
chairman of the Fourth Annual Peach Blossom Festival. This song was first
sung at, the brilliant Peach Products dinner given by Governor Treutlen
Chapter D. A. R., on Tuesday evening, January 13, 1925.
II.
We dreamed of thee in years agone,
County Peach, my County Peach,
We planned for thee as time went on,
County Peach, my County Peach;
We fought thy battles bold and fair,
And gladly did thy banners bear
So now we hail thy presence rare,
County Peach, my County Peach.
CHORUS.
Oh, County Peach, thou hast my heart!
From thee I never will depart;
For thou the crown of counties art,
County Peach, my County Peach.
* PEACH COUNTY
GEORGIA
O n U r I r\ A I 1 IV1 \/I O S Ever Upward, SjiJMrs. Fair, Without Frank Vance Spot or Blemish
To think of a county with a soul we
must put a county in the realm of beings
into whom the “breath of life was
breathed,” and indeed when we consider
the words, isu’t that just what a county
is? A section or plot of ground? Yes,
but we would hardly separate the limited
land area from the peoplo dwelling within
the confines of a county, therefore we carry
with us the thought that this county is a
living organism with a soul.
A soul, thut vital and unoxplainablo part
of our being, that immortal part that lias
the divine prerogative of choosing either
good or evil.
And this child of ours, this Peach County
with a soul, a veritable infant in arms!
And to us is given all the wonderful op¬
portunity to train and guide aright—that
is tlie responsibility and privilege of the
progenitors of every child. And in recog¬
nizing and rising to our opportunity we
have the inspiration of her magnificent
heritage of stalwart men and loyal women
who gave her birth, and who had within
them that spirit of adventure, that breadth
of comprehension that enabled them
through the cloud of trials that beset the
way to catch the glowing vision of a
new and better country.
In our Utopian aspirations for 'this
county ideal of ours, we see her growing
ever upward, fair, without spot or blemish,
appropriating all that is good and noble
from these forebears of hers, discarding
all things weak and unworthy, producing
a citizenship whose creed will demand a
county without graft or dishonesty, office
holders elected on merit and ability and
not for political preference, and county
institutions whose function is not alone
to serve, but which must embody within
themselves those qualifications that make
them worthy institutions of a county with
a soul.
Our court house must be the most beauti¬
ful building of its kind, for we want
nothing shoddy or inadequate, and while
there will not be many criminal cases to
come before the court, there will of neces¬
sity be civil cases and other matters of
legal nature to be transacted.
Wo will have a small but modernly
III.
We visioned thee in wistful dreams,
County Peach, my County Poach,
And now thy truth but lovelier seems,
County Peach, my County Peach;
We gave our best to make thee true,
We toiled as loyal men will do,
And here we pledgo our hearts to you,
County Peach, My County Peach.
*9
W“
equipped jail to take care of the few
offenders, who are newcomers and who
merit incarceration before Peach County’s
beneficent influence has rendered them
superior to misdoing.
“By their works ye shall know them; > t
and in our Kind Farm wo find real evi¬
dence of this county soul. Instead of the
usual shabby structure designated as the
Poor Farm, and exhibiting its shame and
name to the passing world, wo see before
us three or four attractive looking build¬
ings with the loveliest of lawns, flowers
and vegetable gardens surrounding them.
And who are the residents of these houses?
The poor and unfortunate. There is no
getting away from the fact that the poor
we have always with us, but there is this
beautiful possibility of rendering aid in
a constructive manner and replacing the
sting of shame usually attending residence
in the county farm, by the happiness of
a home. Much of the work is done by the
inmates of this Kind Farm, making the
out-of-doors a beautiful scenic spot, and
aside from the regular liouso work many of
them make baskets, weave, quilt and do
various forms of handiwork, all helping
to make life happy and profitable. The
manager of this farm is a kind-hearted,
sympathetic man that is paid an adequate
salary, so there is no profiteering.
And so through all the institutions and
organizations of this county we find al¬
truistic thought and purpose the keynote
of her development, producing a wonder¬
ful place in which to live, a place of will¬
ing law observance.
The church, the school and all recrea¬
tional activities of the highest type, ever
extending their scope and influence and
keeping ever before them their mission of
service.
Too high an aim, you say? Oh! no, my
friends; we aim, you know, to reach our
Heavenly Home, and Heaven is higher
than the stars, more wonderful than the
universe and far more beautiful than our
minds can conceive; nevertheless, that this is
the goal we strive to attain, And
county with a soul is but the practical
expression of the principle, “peace on
earth, good will to men.