Newspaper Page Text
H taa VALDOSTA fdOib VALDOSTA, GA, SATURDAY, JULY 1, 1011.
m.
GOV. BROWN SENDS MES
SAGE TO LEGISLATURE
Some of the Salient Features of an Unusually Strong State
Paper—Retiring Governor Discusses Affairs in Georgia
in a Patriotic Manner.
Haltering. Evil must be recognized
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Ga., ' before it may be undone. Under our
June 28, 1911. ay&tcm of government, the force of
To tbe General Assembly: public opinion being necessary to tb e
During the past year our people consistent enforcement of law, there
hare been W«»ad by benign Provl- 8r « whe “ moused local
sentiment leads to actions violently
donee with bounteous crops, with an
extraordinary volume ol general
business, and with freedom from
plagues or other dangerous infectious
diseases. Health, happiness and
prosperity have been our portion.
Thanking our Heavenly Father,
therefore, for all these blessings of
Hie mercy, let up pray His protection
and guidance during th« future.
I deem it a matter of congratula-
in contempt of law; and there are
, laws, in the letter applicable to all
|tbe State, which are ignored In the
spirit in some communities where
prevailing public sentiment does not
approve of them.
It may be argued that public
opinion is the highest law. In a way
this is true; for the written parch
ment Is nothing—it is the spirit of
Hon that our' State ha* had vritbln whlch th ° wrlt, »K 18 tha embod1 '
tho pout few months more freedom jmont that posees.ee power,
from agitation than boa been her for-j Tbe State owee It to It. own dis
tune for several yearn past, and that nlty to have no law, which are not
In all quarters our people have enforced. If they cannot be en-
Bhown more of the spirit of co-opera-1 forced they should be repealed or
y on- I substituted by some that can he. If
And let me here observe that con-' they are necessary to the protection
•rvatlon doe. not mean inertness, of society, machinery should be pro-
It doe. not mean lack of progreas;
but it means progress In an orderly
course. It means tbe upbuilding,
not on a foundation of musbrooms
or sand, but upon one of stone; not
denunciation; but deliberation, not
vlded if necessary by which they
mny be enforced.
Law enforcement Is the bed-rock
of civilization. Bespect for the law
lessens no cltl.en’s freedom but Is
his badge of admission Into all the
pendlture must ba avoided, or a de
ficit of embarrassing proportions
may Lave to ba faced within a few
years.
The general conditions brought
about by the legislation of your pre
decessor, In office have tailed to aid
In bringing a condition of affairs
wherein the school teachers can be
promptly paid. I especially call your
attention to that status sod urge
your attention to the Justice of mak
ing prompt, payments of the salaries
of the teachers.
Our entire fiscal system Is out'of
agreed to advance Georgia ahead of
any other State for the above In
formation, and completed It about
April 30.
The official figures show that
Georgia, In 1910, had 353,062 white
men of voting age.
Now, recalling tbe fact that the
total number of white voter, report
ed by the Tax Collectors lnjhe coun
ties of the State as registered In
1910 was 261,007, we find that 92,-
545 were debarred from voting.
It is fair to say that possibly 2,000
were disfranchised by crime, and
tp tbe national conventions of tbe
dominant party.
. The national convention Is held
usually In June or July, and It is fair
to assume that the one of next year
will take place some time before the
regular primary can bo held legally,
11c which should come under the reg
ulating power of the state. We-
ahnuld hold In mind that their pri-
mary duty Is thst of common car
rier and that the basic principle in
volved In carriage 1b the furnishing
ot full and equal facilities to all with
Therefore, how are delegates who!comfort, safety and promptness,
will virtually decide the course of | it is frequently forgotten that the
this state In the matter of selecting | owners of the railroads are just as
a president to be choeenT Unless | much citizens of this and sister
some provision Is made for overcom-! states as are the owners of farms
mg this effect of the law there will and factories, of banks and business
have to be a special primary, or con- houses, of newspapers or any other
vrntlon, which would mean two pri-; kinds of property: and, such be-
rtarles and two conventions the same ing the case, they are just as much
date and cumbersome. The financial something like 6,000 were foreigners year. As It stands, the small num- ei,titled, as are all other investors, to-
year beginning in the midst of thej not naturalized (the number In 1900
tax-gathering period, and appropria-j was 3,004.)
tions often being made two and one- Therefore, it Is undoubtedly true
half years In advance, and the State! that upwards of 85,000 ot Georgia's
lacking n modern method of accorint-
lng, there is no way of determining
beyond all question the present or
prospective condition of our finances.
The confusion resulting may he
Illustrated by the fact that we al
ways begin the year with a substan
tial balance In tbe treaaury; but are
white men were initially disfranchis
ed In 1910 by the operation of the
Registration Law, which, however,
placed the names of more than 12,-
000 negroes on the voting list.
It Is more tbsn probable that the
exact number exceeded 90,000, since,
under the law, registrars, appointed
compelled to seek loans In order toi fol . the counties by the judges of the
tide affairs through late summer and' superior courts, "purged" the lists
early fall when collections regularly f ur i 8 hed to them by the Tax Col-
are meagre. Figuring from one ] oc tors.
cross purposes, but confidence. It'liberties and benefits of government,
means, not the scintillation of the No law can be Ignored without In
sparks, hut the welding together of jury to government and danger to
the material warmed In the fire of the liberties and well-being ot the
patriotic accord. It means Impar- j people.
t nl and complete protection of all R U t enforcement cannot he secured
classes of people and nil species of by the mere enactment of more laws,
property, tbjit /labor and capital unl ^ by tbemi machlne ry. possibly
each hnv. rights, and that honest obnM , oul t0 tbe principle ol local
government bold, the scale, so a, to ' lf . government> 1. created,
balance equally In weighing those. Tber#toro> y0Ui t ho ^.mtive
rights, hence, we have progress that bod|w delef , atKl dlrectly by u* peo .
brings results that stand with con-' 1# of tb0 counUe , and unato rlal
servatlsm and deliberation a, balanc, 4utricU do tb8lr wll ,_y OU> who
wheels.
Jnay with properlety he termed the
crystallization of peoplp—have upon
, ;• : you In many Vezpects a more weighty
Bn „ l? 0 ‘^ 'responsibility than ha. any co-ordl
A trill strengthen In their earthly . „ bnkncll of tb „ But# goy ,
Let me hers Impress upon
iwovor, thst It Is our duty to i
, - >B|
duties those ^ho help themselves, ^
It should be your atm to place our
treasury' In (hat 'condition wheri
each obligation of the State may
, each obligation of the State may no . ^
: met whenHwij It this can be doto Syj
‘ beat by a policy of retrenchment you 0{ v{
government.
t . t. - - . - iou Initiate, you onset; you, within
hence. In looking bach over the < j onlUtutlonal boun< i, ( empower'or
"I*”!? * B * T ’ 1 deem 14 limit. You are elected to represent
°f. **** the people hi the matter of enacting
attention to the fee* that In nothing Ie * iIat|on tbey dealre . You cr6at »
can our State so make herself a ston. . .. should not harken to the many pleas
Hard of attraction to responsible men “ wh , cb , t ^ n m0VOi Th „ for ne*;.6r to*rea.ed appropriation*,
a. In the enforcement of her ***-/„ and Judlcla i dep . rtm ent. but In coniectlon 1 wou,d
Lazlty In this mpect Invite, crime. - » mov|ng the groovet pr ^
Crime not only dertrey. or Impair. therefore, urge
the power ot the good people of the mn ln „„ n „ rvl
State, but. It unpunlehed, brings a
lack of security, which will mean a
you to conservative and patriotic
deliberation whereby you will enact
, . . , , , ,, v . only such lews or perform only euch
°“ of ■* m " el)r «» PoPitatlon, but wUbln 1#w of your
in property value. I therefore urge „ w „, b , upbeld by tbe
upon your honorable bodice the sup- conient Rnd 6n(orcsd „ the Mtr
ervlalon of tho- law. which parm.t ^ co . operftUon 0( th . people .
And I charge Jrou to differentiate
technicalities, which too often de
feat juetlce. These encumbrances
to safety should be removed.
And upon tha Subject of the mak
ing of the laws and their enforce
ment allow me to say that the peo
ple of Georgia, more than posalbly
those ot any other State In the
American Union, have held to thsm-
selvea n control which they have ab
stained from delegating to those who
are termed their general officers. The
greatest amount of freodom possible
to the individual citizen, with me
least authority compatible with good
government In the hands ot officials
(and that authority bullded pyramid,
eally, reserving to those In closest
contact with the people all that It
Is possible to withhold from those
higher up) Is the keystone of our
governmental structure. Local self-
government Is the essence ot author
ity In this State. Practically all laws
affecting the personality of the dtl-
tens must he administered In tha
county of his residence. The Gov
ernor ot the State has no essential
authority over the officers of tha
counties, and virtually none over
other, officers ot the 8tote govern'
ment For Instance, It has been the
policy of tha electorate to
to Itself the power of removal, not
even permitting the suspension ot
officers except In rare casco and even
thlb reserving approximately the veto
fraction. Thus It Is thst the people,
Jealous of their rights, by the man
datory and coercive powers of publto
yontnlon. compel the enforcement ot
town 'hey approve or make of no
elfeetV Joes they condemn.
Georgiane Inherently an law-abid
ing and Our State takes second place
to none In the general observance of
taw and the preservation of orflei.
Tint It would he the acme of self-
stultification for ns to close our eyes
to tacts that to themselves an not
betwcon spasmodic passolns, usually
circumscribed and often mistaken for
concrete public sentiment, and that
'crystallized public opinion which is
now nnd ever will be, so long as the
republic stands, higher than any Ink
and paper statutes. Do not labor In
fear of the first and forget not the
ultimate sovereignty of the latter.
Financial Conditions.
From the exhaustive and clear re
port of the Comptroller-General, you
will note that the general valuation
of properties in tbe Slate Is now
greater than ever before In our his
tory. The Increases ot the past year
attest the growing prosperity ot the
commonwealth. At no period has
the future been brighter or the Im
mediate past more encouraging.
Nevertheless, rigid economy should
ever be your watchword In dealing
with public funds; and the present
condition ot tho Stato's finance! re
quire special care on your part In
this respect.
I muet urge upon you great cau
tion in making appropriations. Dur
ing the post several years expend!
tures have crept upon Income so
closely that the State has been un
able to Increase Its "working capi
tal,” on tho contrary, It has proba
bly decreased. Inasmuch as appro
priations are made tar In advance of
collections, leek ol harmony between
the two often results. During the
pest several years Increases In ap
propriations very likely have exceed,
ed gain. In revenue. The State has
been falling behind In meeting many
obligations. During the past year
Increase In appropriation* for 'two
purpose* alone—schools end pen
sions—have been greater than the
additions to tho nennl revenues.
Therefore, unless abnormal growth
In Income la assured. Increase In ax-
premise a large and growing deficit
Is patent: on another, the State be
gins each year with a gratifying
surptue.
But the necessity for borrowing
funds has become pressing earlier
and earlier each year,; excepting
those yearB wheif the situation
relieved by the receipt of e
ordinary revenues; thus Indicating
that Instead of the condition of the
State's finance. Improving, we are
further behind as time passes.
I would suggest that your honor
able bodies take steps to loam the
true condition of affairs In order that
you may he guided by the foots os
they are,, v At the same time, it
plight be well if you would take ac
tion looking to a complete reforma
tion of _our fiscal system by the sub-
sltution of methods and means that
In Gilmer county, for Instance, the
United Sta&s census shows 1,906
white men 21 years of age and up
ward. Of these the Tax Collector
registered 1,771, which number the
registrars "purged” to 1,474. The
partnership of the registrars which,
In this county removed from the reg.
will:’enable' jou' and this Department
t« becotne advised of true condltion|. ot pulton county, viz.: Total
at any time.'
This Department can only disburse
that which is' raised by means Ini
tialed by you, and then appropriated
by you.' Skillful disbursing of reve
nues means much,
In tl)a end make
appropriation
amount
much, but skill cannot right Jot fra
lake a dqHa^WW$ > '.!W rc ft t your
ot mope than * at slGlng- today.
yofa'r attention to the crying need of
aitetter system of auditing accounts.
Neither tha* Comptroller-General’s
nor this office has the clerical force
necessary to make that minute In
spection ot bills and claims which
the demands of plain business re
quire. I am confident »n auditing
department, with authority to super
vise all expenditures, would save
many times lta cost each year. _
Drtefly, I direct your attention
the need of a more bustnese-llki
method of assessing property fol
zens of Georgia was probably
repeated In counties other than In the
Judicial Circuit In which Gilmer
county Is located; but the various
technicalities of this law, and the
power over the electorate given the
registrars, almost assuredly added to
the lint of the disfranchised white
men an aggregate of several thou
sand more than those shown by the
lists furnished by the Tax Collectors
In further proof of the astonish
ing effects of this law upon the white
manhood of our state, I give the fig-
Gl. . Tnlol
vvjfjte men of voting age, 36,861 ;|
total registered, 14,272; total not
registered, 21,689. Therefore, only
lap voters.out,qf every live .were en
abled, under,this lawjo exercise tho
1 ’ ' L - ■ franchise ’ in the county
I will sJNftbat.. aa v a: Justification
of-this law, It was'contended by Its
vocates that In' the ’ prlmaray of
ftO'S 4,000 fraudulent names were
'placed on the registration list In
Ion county. The total number
votes cast In the above county In
that primary was 14,776. Therefore,
(he above Atatement leaves as legal
voters In Fulton county In the pri
mary In question 10,775.
But the average yearly Increase
fiom 1900 to 1910 shows that In
1908 there must have been more
than 32,000 white men of voting age
In Fulton county. Hence, if the as
sertion be! true that only 10,775 of
the votes cast In that primary were
legal, how will we separate the 4,000
alleged fraudulent voters from the
16,000 to 20,000 undoubtedly legal
who did not vote 7
no more interest In the
an has any other reputable
Georgia, far less than have
taxation. Tho present voluntary eys- upwarda 0 [ 90,000 of her white man-
tern is productive of lnequnl.tlcs |, 00( | wbo bave been deprived of the
that Inflict eerlous injustice. Every- of the franchise; but honored
species ot property should be forced,
to boar Its proportionate share of the
lax burden. There is no other feat
ure of our State government In
greater need of re-adjustment. If all
property which Is escaping, partially
wholly, the payment of taxes wero
forced to bear Its share, revenues
sufficient to dispel every financial
cloud would be drawn Into the treas
ury of the State.
Registration Laws, -
In my annual message to the Gen
eral Assembly which convened June
1910, I took the position that
the Registration Law enacted
1908 was more drastic than that In
any other State In tho Union, nnd
that aa the result of Its operation a
vast number, which I estimated ap
proximately at 100,000, of tho white
men of Georgia were deprived of
their former right to vote. Hence, I
recommended the removal of those
conditions for the franchise which In
our law are more stringent than
those In like lawe'Of any other State,
In some circles this proposition
was seriously questioned.
t, therefore, during the latter half
of the past year, requested the Cen
sus Bureau'at Washington to furn
ish to mo at an early data the total
number ot white men, II yean of
age and upward. In each county In
Georgia, aa determined by the con-
■ns In 1910.
The request was at first declined,
with the statement that the fignne
In qneetlon could not bo furnished
before September, 1(11; hut, later,
-or of men In control of the party the guarantee of our state constltu-
irachlnery may supplant the people tlon, viz.: "Protection to person and
In dominating the situation. I property is the paramount duty or
Understand me. I am not opposed government, and shall be ImpartlaP
to a law preventing early state pri- an q complete."
n-srles, and I do not desire this law’s | Furthermore, we are prone to lg-
repeal, so far as It relates to that no ro the rights and deserts of the
question. But tho Individual voter tens of thousands of Georgians, and'
has a right to In expression aa to |0 f the sections In which they live,
whom he desires nominated on that 1 who are without any or adequate
ticket and the formation of the plat- railroad facilities, but who are as-
form of that party which It has been muc h entitled to the assistance -or
the Invariable custom for many years the state In procuring those advan-
for the majority of our white cltl- tages of transportation as are those
zeus to support. A Democratic nom- who, more fortunate, nre entitled to-
inatlon amounts to election so far tho protection of the state against
ns we are concerned. I unjust exactions from public service- •
It has been customary to name corporations whose facilities they-
United States senators by popular baTe
vote; by that method we nominate J jt may therefore be asserted that
virtually all of our state officials, j we have reached the time wherein
Therefore, I submit that something our own Interest demands that we-
should be done wherefby the voters Bbould ask lf tbere ^ not 80me _
will he guaranteed some voice In the; thing for attention in the state’s
selection of the one who will receive j policy toward the owners of the com-
istration list nearly 300 of the citt- tl,6l f BUPP ° rt ,0r WgheSt “"i? r '° n carr Ie r » more Important than
- c,nr,ia w.. nr n i«hi. not . ln the country ’ and to ""T*” 4 tbl “ 1 continuous and almost exclusive
Important matter being left to the j consideration of how much Income
personal wishes or whims of tho j they shall be permitted to receive on-
few men composing or dominating j tbelr investments,
an executive committee, I respect-j In otber words. Inasmuch as It has
fully recommend that you enact such ' been pr0Ten beyond the powers of
legislation as may be needed to guar- denla] tha t reductions of rates on
antee an expression of the will of. many articles do not reach the mass-
the voters. - eB of the people but lodge with cer-
Railroad Commission. | tllln clases , t would he proper to con-
I respectfully renew the sugges- „ uc fnture reductions to such as
tlon. made In my two preceding mes-; W0 uId benefit the masses, or would
sages to the general assembly, that prevent or correct avoidable unjust
the number of members of the rail- discriminations, nnd make "protec-
road commission be reduced to three, t lon to person and property the par- '
nnd that the office of special attor. am ount duty” of the common car-
ney for the said commission 'be aboi- r i ers
l shed * I In the Latin maxim: “Salus pop-
There is really nt> more reason ull Bup rema eat lex,” i.e., “The safe-
vrhy there should be five railroad t y of the people Is the supreme law,”-
commissioners than that there . we^flnd the cardinal end to foe ac-
* houW be flve P rl80n commissioners, coiiipllshed by government. And that
honorable bodies are 7 of ofHcert in jmyVother aho tiM be sought for on the rallroadW^Te
department of th e state government., track equally as in the Jury box or
Only one of the railroad commls- i n any other fomm where govern- A
sloners Is required by law to devote ment exercise* its functions. And It ■
all of his time to the duties of the should thereon, as In the other fo-
offtce. It Is merely a matter or rums, be “impartial and complete.’- •
choice with the other four as to I it is a matter of record that the
whether they are in the capltol build- Pennsylvania railroad last year
ing as many as a dozen times a year, handled 183,000,000 people without
and yet the taxpayers must pay their killing or Injuring one. A like rec-
saiarles whether they do or do not ord on the railroads of Georgia 1*
^ork. our, desideratum. We wish every
I recommend, therefore, that the citizen of this state who travels or
number of commissioners be reduced sends members of his family on
to three, elected with regard to geo- railroad trains, to have practically a
graphical location, and that each be guarantee of safety for life and llml>
equired to devote all of his time and of prompt arrival at the destlna-
to the duties of the office. Even it tfon toward which he or they may
it 'becomes necessary to advance the start.
salaries of the other two than the i And second only to the question '
chairman, the expenses could still be of safety and convenience to person
n ade less than at present. And, in- Is that of such facilities as will fur-
asmuch as a farmer is elected com- nish to our people the power to trans-
missioner of agriculture, and a geol- ®ct business In accordance with the
ogist is named for the office of state demands of the age.
geologist, it should be required, as I Tim state of Georgia is today
Ava* formerly the case, that one mem- standing on the threshold of a de
ter of the railroad commission have velopment, If her people will It, more
technical knowledge of the opera- marvelous than was dreamed of 'by
tions of the vast properties placed in i our f at * ier8 *
h?3 charge. Tho state of Illinois, with less than
4h» Georgia’s area has nearly double
For thirty years the attorney-gen- _ . , .....
i t ^ . »Georgia’s railroad mileage. Many
era! advised with the legal member “ .. . , '
, , * . of the railroads in Illinois were built
of the railroad commission when . „ „ ... - lo „. . .. „ .
mi.. _ by the aid of land grants by the Fed-
necessary. The same course could • T „ o
% . . , . . , — _- , erai government. In Georgia we can
,,U r: “ fU Ure ’ hU8 dl8, ’" n ‘" 1 h. 1 ve no land grants, but must at-
-ngwlth he surplus office ot specs.. for development by s
at orney for the rairoad commission, j „„„„ „„ re801)rces and the guar _
After December 1. ^xt-barring con. ^ of lmpartla , and compIete pro _
tingencies, there will he four law- tec . l0IL
yers on the commission; already
there are three.
Policy Toward the Railroads.
And, In connection with the fore
going subject, permit me to say that
In dealing with the railroad corpora
tions for the last twenty years or
n.ore, our people, our legislators, ex
ecutives, and, to a degree our Judges,
have had their ideas, utterances ana
acts directed almost exclusively Into
one channel, viz., that of rates. The
problem as to how much toll on per
sons and property these corporations
•hall be permitted to charge hae been
the burden of the general song. The
variations have been an occasional
violent note on the building of bet
ter depots, or fine* for failure of the
owners of the carriers to furnish
cars to shippers.
All this trend which has given
direction to tho application ot the
lews, nnd has, furthermore, caused
the enectment of new laws which
have gradually become more rigid,
has been characterized by the appar
ent loss of eight of the fact^that the
factor ot rates on the earnings of the
capital Invested—both of which
snonld ho controlled largely by the
lew of supply and demand—Is not
tho only Important phase of the re-
wlth their confidence as I have been
by the people ot this state, I would
be recreant to duty were I to fall to
ImpresB upon you my conviction that
the honest white men of Georgia are
entitled to foe protected, not restric
ted, In their rights.
The total figures on this subject
fur each county In the state, 1 will
give In nn appendix to this message,
which will be printed for the Infor
mation of all who desire to know
the status In their own counties.
Aside from the Injustice which the
fault I protest Inflicts, I think all
■•ill agree that the law as It stands
B too complex, In many ways too ob
tuse, and entirely confusing.
For Instance, It would be exceed
ingly difficult to establish the voting
Status of any citizen In case of a
(date-wide special election In a non-
Jtneral election year. The law pre
sents the remarkable anomaly of re
pealing Itself tor practically the first
six months ot such off-years nnd of
leaving the balance In n mfczo ot
complexities which probably would
lead to tha disfranchisement ot
thonsands who were qualified for the
elections of tha previous year.
In the name category of laws I
think It my duty to direct attention
to another confusing situation that
will arise next year unless you take
steps to prevent tha seme.
Under the Act approved August
15, 1908, no regular state-wide pri
mary can take place before August,
or within sixty days of tho general
state election In October. Conven
tions always follow the whlta Demo
cratic primary, and In these conven-
tho Superintendent of the Census^Gone have been chosen the delegateejlatlone ot the railroads to the pno-
Georgla needs fifty per cent, more
of railroads,—new railroads—to
place her in oofitlon to stand upon
the Imperial plnue which Is right
fully hers. Her people must have
all the present main line double-
tracke'l bo as to enable them to
safely, promptly and properly han
dle the expanding commerce. They
need a multiplication of the present
appliances for handling the people
and property with greater dispatch
and security.
But we will get these facilities for
progress oulf 88 'hey can limp into
position lf we do not guarantee to
capitalists who would furnish them
that tbe protection which the Const!-'
tutlon say* “shall; be Impartial and
complete’’ applies to their Invest
ments.
The people of Georgia, therefore,
are'more Interested In the Wt and
broad-minded solution ot this prob
lem than ere the capitalists, for, lf
Georgia will progress, she It obliged
to have Investments within her bor
ders, whereas capitalists are not ob
liged to locate them In Georgia.
Other Matters Touched Upon.
TLe message deals with all of the
(Continued on Pago 11.