Newspaper Page Text
Vol I. No. 49
•NEW R. F, D. PLAN
f CAUSES A STORM
Burleson Proposes to Abolish Pres
ent System And Let Work
By Contract
? THINKS CARRIERS OVERPAID.
Postmaster General Says It Would
Mean a Naum; of $18,000,000 Kaeh
Year. Would Pay on Mileage Basis
For Rural Mail Delivery.
Washington, D, C„ —Postmaster Gen
eral Burleson has made a proposal to
<’ong’.-ss to abolish the rural free de
livery carrier force and have the work
thev now perform done hereafter by
contract. His action has stirred up a
storm of opposition.
A Tin mail of members of Congress
is being filled these days with com
munications from letter carriers and
thqir friends along the rural routes ob
jecting to the new r scheme being car
ried into operation. There are now
43.695 rural delivery routes and the
carriers on these routes have come to
wield a considerable influence in pol
itics. A strong fight would be waged
in Congress against such a change be
ing made.
Postmaster General Burleson sore
ly disappointed the rural carriers
when he declined to allow a maximum
salary of $1,200 this year, as the car
riers had been led to believe they
would be paid. Instead he worked out
a scheme whereby the salary of car
riers w'as based not upon the length
of route, but the number of packages
handled and the weight of the mails
transported.
Would Save $18,000,000 a Year.
In a letter to the Senate committee
on postoffice and post roads Mr. Bur
leson emphasises the fact that the
government now faces a deficit of
$100,000,000 and that addiional taxes
must be levied to make up for the
amount. He says if his proposed
ohang were put into effect there
would be no impairment in the service
and the government would save
> $18,000,000 a year on this branch of
the service.
“When the rural delivery service
was first established the annual com
was S3OO per annum,’’ said Mr. Bur
leson.
“There were hord3 of applicants
for those places. Within a year or
two the pay was increased to $400;
in another year it was increased to
$500; in another year it was increas
ed to $600; in another year it was in
creased to $720; and year by yaer it
has increased until the maximum sal
ary prior to this fiscal year was $l,lOO
based on the length of the route. Now
we reached the conculsion that the
1 compensation of the rural carrier was
out of proportion to the compensa
tion allowed others engaged in »the
(Continued on page 8)
ONLY ONE ELECTION
BE HELD THIS YEAR
' It will doubtless be news to many
that by recent act of the legislature,
the time for holding the State election
lias been changed to Tuesday after the
first Monday in November. As the law
formerly stood, the election for gover
nor and other State House officers, for
superior court judges, solicitors-gen
eral, senators, representatives, would
have been held to-day, which is Wed
nesday after the first Monday in Oct
ober, but under the new law r , we will
vote for ail of the State officers and
for United States senators and con
gressmen on the same day.
We publish below' a letter from Sec
retary of State Philip Cook to Judge
W. P. Ward, ordinary, calling atten
tion to the change:
Department of State
1 Atlanta, Oct. 3rd, 1914.
Hon. W r . P. Ward.
Douglas, Ga.,
Dear Sir:
The election for Governor, State
House officers, County officers, etc.,
will, by recent Act of the General As
sembly, be held on Tuesday after the
first Monday in November (Nov. 3rd).
Blanks for the purpose w r ill be mailed
from this office on Tuesday or Wed
nesday next.
Yours truly,
PHILIP COOK.
Secretary of State.
Per Johnson.
<MT*« jjJrng rcss.
VO PART OF THE PROGRESS IS MADE OUTSIDE OF DOUGLAS EXCEPT THE PAPER AND INK—IT IS AX “ALL HOME" PAPER, AND “UNION-MADE" BESIDES.
NO GUY COURT WILL
BE HELD THIS MONTH
Lankford, Heeding Request
of Many Citizers, Will Not Hold
October Term City Court.
Owing to the condition of business,
a great many citizens of the county
have expressed a desire that there be
no October term of the city court, and
also the county commissioners, feeling
the pulse of the people, repuested
Dudge Lankford to take the matter un
der advisement, which he has done,
and announces that there will be no
term held this month.
Judge Lankford also states that the
jurors drawn for the October term are
excused, a new panel will be drawn
instead.
The fact that there will be no term
of the city court this month seems to
meet with the hearty approval of a
large portion of the citizens of the
county. The general condition of bus
iness, coupled with the fact that the
farmers are being hampered in har
vesting the cotton crop, owing to the
frequent rains and scarcity of labor,
makes it more a reason for the post
ponement of the term.
LETTER TO CORN BLUB
To the Corn Club Boys of Coffee
County:
The Boys’ Corn Club contest for
your county will be held at the Court
House, Douglas, on Saturday, October
10, at 10 o'clock, am.
I know you will remember your
promise to “stick to the end regard
less of how much or how- little you
make" and that you will be there with
a ten-ear exhibit of your corn and re
'port of how you made it.
Every boy who goes to his county
'contest with ten ears of his corn and
a report of how much he made on his
acre will be given a free ticket into
the Georgia-Florida fair, to be held at
Valdosta, and a beautiful badge. Be
sides he will have a chance to win
some of the many prizes that are offer
ed all over the State as well as the
county prizes.
' Select a committee of two disinter
ested witnesses (not kin to you), and
gather and measure your corn in their
presence. Have them also measure
Vour acre. If possible also submit a
list of your committee to your county
behool superintendent for his approv
al before gathering. This is especial
ly important if you think you will
brake over 75 bushels per acre.
Some time ago I wrote you to plant
an acre in peas where you will plant
Vour corn next year. If you did this
and cut vour peas for hay, make.a
small bale of the hay and take it to
your contest, also give yield you got.
Make your bale 3 this size: 4 inches
Vide, 4 inches deep, and 8 inches long.
Use picture wire if you can get it, to
bind it together. Then I suggest that
'you get some red baby ribbon to tie
in two bands around your little bales.
"Your mama or sister can best tell you
'how to do this, or will do it for you.
' If you planted oats last fall after
corn, make a bale of your oats the
'same size as the hay and carry it with
you also.
Now, I want you to be sure and sow
'oats where you have corn this year.
Do this in October. If you can get
hairy vetch, sow 30 pounds of the
Vetch seed to two bushels of oats per
here. If you sow' vetch with your oats
inoculate the vetch seed before sow
ing. Vetch will not grow without it
You can get the inoculation for the
Vetch from the Commissioner of Agri
culture. Atlanta, Ga., for 25 cents for
enough for one acre. You can get the
vetch seed from any of the seed hous
es. I you can’t get the vetch seed,
'sow oats anyway.
' I know you will keep your word to
“stick to the end" and that you will
'be at your county contest on the date
named.
• Sincerely
G. V. CUNNINGHAM,
District Agent
■WILSON OPENS FARM MEET BY
WIRELESS TO-DAY.
Washington, Oct 6.—President Wil
son to-day opened the International
Farming Congress at Wichita, Kan
sas, by wireless. The congress will
be one of the biggest ever held in the
middle west.
The man who smiles at adversity
can always keep the world guessing
Douglas, Georgia, Wednesday, October 7th 1914
LEE COUNTY PLAN
MEETS APPROVAL
ENDORSED BY GEORGIA CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE AS A GOOD SOLU
TION FOR REDUCING ACREAGE.
Atlanta, Ga.— (Special)—lt is be
lieved that the plan for reducing cot
ton acreage endorsed by the Georgia
Chamber of Commerce at its annual
meeting in Macon, which it has nam
ed the “Lee County Plan" because»the
basic idea originated in Lee County,
Ga., where the farmers are now being
organized and a charter applied for,
will prove to be the solution of the
South's cotton problem.
Robert F. Maddox, a vice-president
of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce,
~and one of the most widely known of
Southern bankers, stated in an ad
dress before the annual meeting that
he believed this plan to be the only
one so far advanced that is both prac
tical and legal, and that, if it is gen
erally adopted throughout the cotton
states, it will raise the price of both
this year’s and next year's cotton to
normal level.
This plan provides a contract be
tween farmers to limit production to
ten acres of cotton to he mule, or
plow, and makes it absolutely legal
and enforceable by injunction, by in
corporating a county association of 75
per cent of the farmers, with the right
to establish branch associations in all
'other counties of the State on the ap
plication of 75 per cent of the farmers
'of the county, thus avoiding the ex
pense and delay of incorporating in
more than one county in a state.
Skilled lawyers pronounce the plan
absolutely constitutional, and say that
".National and State governments can
not legally, under either the Federal
or State constituions, restrict cotton
acreage or tax excess production.
The “Buy-a-Bale” committee of At
lanta has endorsed the plan in a let
ter to the Georgia Chamber of Com
merce, and the work of organizing the
counties of Georgia will probably be
on with a rush within a few days.
’ The “Lee County Plan” will be pre
sented to the delegates to the South
‘astern Foods Crops Conference, which
the Georgia Chamber of Commerce
and the commissioners of agriculture
of Georgia have called to meet in At
lanta, October 5 and 6, and it is hoped
that the plan will be adopted for all
the southeastern cotton states.
President Wilson telegraphed the
Gorgia Chamber of Commerce during
the annual meeting as follows:
“I congratulate you upon your
‘ work during the last year. The
’ effect of the European war upon
cotton confirms the wisdom of
your campaign for the increased
1 production of food crops. I heart
' ily commend the purpose of the
Southern Food Crops Conference
1 called by you to meet in Atlanta
October fifth. The people of the
Southeast can do nothing better
for their permanent welfare than
' to produce food supplies at least
' sufficient for own use. (Signed)
' WOODROW WILSON.”
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Is urging the increased planting of
food crops and particularly the fall
grain and winter cover crops, and is
preparing to furnish the farmers infor
‘mation on the standardizing of the
preparation and marketing of grains
and hay. on lines prepared by a com
mittee of experts, with the view of
putting Georgia grains and hay on a
parity with the Western products in
the markets and as a basis for the
advancing of supplies by merchants
and money by banks.
Chickens $4-5 a Piece
Atlanta, Oct. 6.—Forty-five dollars
each for chickens is a price that
would appeal to the fanciest fancier,
but that's what an Atlanta woman got
for two of her’s this week, and they
'were not registered stock, either.
She lives on Highland avenue, and
'just before dawn she heard a squawk
from her chicken yard. She screamed
'and the noise of a man scrambling
'over a fence followed. Then silence.
’ Early in the morning the lady went
out to take an inventory and found
two chickens missing, but just inside
the fence lay a pocketbook containing
ninety dollars, evidently dropped by
the thief in his rush. He has not call
ed for the money yet.
THE QUALITY AND STYLE OF
PRINTING THAT THE PROGRESS
T>OES CAN NOT BE EXCELLED.
HOME COMING AND
FAMILY SERVICES
The nature of the services to be held
at the Methodist church Sunday
should attract the attention of all
Douglas people.
Home Fouling.
Vacation is over and the “hot sum
mer” is past. The fall time is on.
“Everybody,” says Rev. Morgan, pas
tor of the church, “ought to go to the
House of God and render devotion to
Him.”
Famih Seri ice.
Rev Morgan sets forth the fact that
families sitting together in God’s
house is an inspiring scene. He asks
that every man come and bring his
\vife and children and occupy a seat
together. Let the widows come, also,
and bring their children and all sit on
the same seat.
Appropriate music and singing and
a special sermon for the occasion will
be features.
CORN SHOW HERE
SATURDAY OCT, 10
We call special attention to the let
ter of Mr. G. V. Cunningham, district
superintendent of farm demonstration,
and corn club work. The letter urges
‘every member of the clubs to stick to
the last and report at the show to be
held here next Saturdy. We trust that
the boys will heed Mr. Cunningham’s
request, and that they will be on hand
next Saturday to participate in the
show. Not only should the Corn Club
members be here, but their friends
should attend as the show promises to
be very interesting and instructive.
The adult farmer should come early
and take in the show. In fact, the
whole family should come, for in ad
dition to the exhibits of corn and hay
by the boys, the County Canning Club
Vill make a display that will, no
fioubt, be one of the interesting feat
ures of the day. Some wonderful re
sults will be shown and much enthus
iasm aroused in improved farming by
having the show here Saturday.
' Everybody come!
WILL GIVE WORLD
SERIES AT GRAND
Arrangements have been made to
receive the detailed reports of the
games' played in the world series be
’twen Philadelphia and Boston, at the
Grand Theatre. The first game will
begin to be reported at 1:30 Friday
afternoon and a wire will be run into
the theatre connecting direct wuth the
bal park. An admission of 25 and 50
cents will be charged to see the re
ports.
If there Is enough interest manifest
ed, all the games will be received in
detail, but it costs about SSO to get a
detail report of each game, and unless
the public cares enough about it to
turn out to witness the bulletins, the
ones working the matter up will be
compelled to discontinue giving the re
ports after Friday.
APPLING COUNTY SETH THE
CORN GROWING RECORD.
Following the diversified crops plan
there is one county in Georgia which
has not only raised enough corn for
its own use, but will be able to sell
between 20,000 and 25,000 bushels this
year.
The county which has made the rec
ord is Appling.
Roy Rogers, farm demonstration
agent for the county, has announced
the “tidings of comfort and joy” in a
letter to the Atlanta Chamber of Com
merce.
Mr. Rogers states, according to the
Atlanta Journal, that the Appling crop
will soon be ready for shipment and it
will probably be placed through the
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
SUFFRAGE CLUB TO BE FORMED
IN SAVANNAH.
Savannah, Oct. 5. —The organization
of a suffrage club w'ill take place here
at an early date.
T. Mayhew Cunningham and Dr.
Craig Barrow are the principal sup
porters among the men, but the orig
inal list of members will include prob
ably 200 of the most prominent men
and women in the city.
AVERAGE VALUES PER
ACRE OF LAND GIVEN
Interesting Data bY Baltimore
Manufacturers Record-Money
In Growing Almost Anything
The present unpleasant predica
ment of the cotton-grwoers in the
South illustrates most forcibly the
lack of wisdom in one-crop farming.
There is no region in he world
better adapted to the production of
a great variety of agricultural prod
ucts than the South. Cotton, howev
er, continues to be “king" and a great
multitude of farmers are too faithful
in their allegiance for their own good.
Georgia is a great cotton state. Its
farmers produce a tremendous amount
of cotton, but it lacks many millions
of bringing them enough money to pay
for the food supplies that are import
ed from other sections. The Atlanta
Journal declares there must be a re
duction in the cotton acreage and an
increase in food crops or “the com
monwealth will face) staggering mis
fortunes."
Under ordinary circumstances, cot
ton brings more money than wheat,
corn, oats or hay, acreage values con
sidered. At times when cotton is sell
ing at a good price, the cotton money
does not last long where the farmer
has to buy substantially everything
that is consumed on his farm. At
times when cotton is bringing a low
price or not selling at all, the conse
quences may well be imagined.
The Manufacturers’ Record recently
collected some interesting figures as
to the average values per acre of food
crops in the United States for the
year 1912. The table shows the value
per acre of garden vegetables to be
$78.19; of sweet potatoes, 68.61; of
orchard fruits,s3s.23; of small fruits,
$110.19; of sugar cane, $84.68, and so
on through the long list of products.
The Record makes some comparison
showing that even under ordinary cir
cumstances. rice is worth $2.06, or
chard fruits $10.59, Irish potatoes
$37.49, sweet potatoes $43.97, and the
small fruits $85.55 more per acre than
lint cotton; while garden vegetables
worth annually more than $216,000,000
average more than three times as
much per acre as lint cotton, and some
of these vegetables, taken individually
have a far greater acre value —for in
stance, tomatoes $61.38; carrots
$118.25, onions $139.77, peas $39.80,
and cabbage $77.14.
The cotton crop of 1913 brought an
average of $24.64 an acre. Including
'the value of cottonseed the average is
raised to $28.96 an acre, but the fact
remains that thousands of farmers
Who grow cotton could have made
more money by devoting their atten
tion to other crops. Southern farm
ers in pursuing the one crop idea
largely are neglecting the live stock
industry and the development of truck
gardening and fruit growing. In fail
ing to diversify their crops they are
inviting impoverishment. In rural par
lance they are putting all their eggs
in one basket. —Louisville Courier-
Journal.
ANOTHER STATE
WANTS A. D. OLIVER
ANOTHER STATE WANTS OLIVER
Atlanta, Oct. 6. —A. D. Oliver, of Lee
county, who several years ago, ten of
Decatur county, was the center of sev
eral sensational cases in Georgia and
Mississippi, is once more the cause of
correspondence between the governors
of the two states
! Governor Slaton has received a tel
egram from the governor of Mississip
pi, asking the arrest of L. Charles
Harding, alias A. D. Oliver, and that
he be held pending the receipt of req
uisition papers.
Oliver is now in Lee county jail,
from where he has written Governor
Slaton requesting that he issue no req
uisition paper.s until he has been giv
en a hearing. Oliver claims that he
was not the man wanted and that he
has been cleared of all charges against
him in Mississippi courts.
Meanwhile a charge of cheating and
swindling against Oliver is awaiting
the consideration of the November
term of the Lee county grand jury. He
is wanted in Mississippi on charges
of going under false pretense and jail
breaking.
IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST
FLATTERY.
$1 Per Annum
HARDING SEES GROW
ING DEMAND FOR COTON
More Will Be Needed as Season
Advances, He Says, in Lenox,
Mass, Address.
Lenox, Mass., Oct. I.—An increased
demand for cotton which will grow as
the season progresses, was predicted
here last night by W. P. G. Harding, of
Birmingham, Ala., a member of the
federal reserve board and a thorough
ly posted studnt of economic condi
tions in the South.
Mr. Harding made this prediction in
the course of au address to the Nation
al Association of Cottou Manufactur
ers, which, in the main, was devoted
to a discussion of cotton problem
as viewed from the standpoint of the
South.
Mr. Harding's address was in part
as follows:
“I shall not undertake in the pres
ence of the foremost experts to haz
ard any guesses as to the probable
consumption of cotton within the next
few months, but I will be bold enough
to predict that as the season progress -
es there will be a steadily increasing
demand for cotton goods by the con
sumers with a corresponding demand
for raw cotton by the mills, with a
marked increase in the demand for ex
port.
“Of course," he continued, “as long
as present conditions continue the de
mand from Germany. Austria-Hunga
ry, Belgium and France will be great
curtailed, but there should be a good
demand from Great Britain, Spain,
Italy and from Russia, which can ob
its supplies independently of routings
through the Baltic sea. Ship room is
now available, prompt action by con
gress has enabled our government to
provide marine insurance, the Bank of
England is again discounting bills,
and practically all the obstacles in
the way of exports to all foreign coun
tries, except Germany and Austria-
Hungary, have been removed, Foreign
exchange conditions have within the
last few days been vastly improved by
the formation of the gold fund as ap
proved by the secretary of the treasu
ry and the federal reserve board, and
(Continued on page 8)
Mercer Gets Appointment
Atlanta, Oct. 6.—Jesse E. Mercer,
for many years a Georgia editor and
until recently state game and fish com
missioner, has accepted the govern
’ment appointment of administrative
'assistant in the biological survey and
has taken up his duties in Washing
ton.
The appointment came about in rath
er an odd way and unlike many was
hot due to political friendships or in
'fluence. Some time ago, at the re
quest of the department, Mr. Mercer
prepared a thesis on migratory birds
for the government, and afterwards
was informed that his name topped
the list in a competiton for a place.
A week ago he received notice that
the vacancy expected had occurred,
and was offered the place, which he
accepted.
Mr. Mercer’s bright political weekly,
'The Empire State, has discontinued
publication and its subscription lists
have been taken over by The Call of
The South, a well-known Atlanta
monthly.
4,101 MORE BALES GINNED IN THIS
COUNTY THIS YEAR THAN
LAST IN SEPTEMBER.
The following from the Department
of Commerce, Washington, D. C., is a
letter to F. M. Appleby, special agent,
and shows that there have been 4,104
more bales of cotton ginned during
this season, up to September 25, than
were ginned out of the 1913 crop up to
the same date.
Washington, Oct. 2, 1914.
F. M. Appleby, Special Agent,
Douglas, Ga.
Dear Sir:
, “The tabulation of the separate re
turns from the ginners for September
25 report shows your telegraph sum
mary to be correct. There were 9,622
bales of cotton, counting round bales
as half bales, ginned in Coffee County
from the crop of 1914 prior to Septem
ber 25, 1914, as compared to 5,526
bales ginned prior to September 25.
1913.
Very respectfully,
(Signed) W. M. HARRIS,
Director.