Newspaper Page Text
The Douglas Enterprise.
VOL. 18, NO. 15.
Justice is Justice.
There are many people and some towns in Coffee county that
fight Douglas and every time the Commissioners happen to pass
through this district with the convicts they go into fits. Most of these
people are honest and are willing to give justice, only haven't
stopped to think. As a matter of fact, Douglas district has never
gotten as much of the convict labor as it should have gotten. Ac
cording to the way the taxes are paid, Douglas district should have
them more than four months each year, as this district pays more
than one third of the taxes paid bf the county. When it comes to
perfect fairness, the convicts should stay in each district a time
proportionate to the taxes paid by each district. We do not believe
that there is a man in the county who would not agree to this
proposition who was perfectly honest with himself.
The 'Coochee Sun has had one or two fits, jumping on the
‘County Coummissioners, when it (poor thing) thought it was jump
ing on the Enterprise. It has unreasonably criticised the Commis
sioners, both the new and the old, and has published things that
its editor, Ilenry Futrell, knew very little about. He may be edi
tor, and responsible for what goes into the Sun, but there is some
one behind these articles that has spleen to vent, as we know that
Futrell has none, as we believe that he is a man that is honest and
would be willing to give justice and take justice. We do not care
who this voluminous writer is and do not care, as he is not at all
disposed to be fair or to deal honestly with the present Commis
.sioners not the old Commissioners. Both sets have always given
every district in the county more than Douglas district in propor
tion to the taxes paid and we have never heard Douglas kick, but
we will begin to insist on having what is coming to us if this thing
keeps up.
We were charged by the Sun as being, in a sense, custodians
of the Commissioners and the county matters. There may be
things that the Commissioners may do that we do not like, but we
have never had the nerve or the temerity to jump on them nor to
unjustly criticise them, and we will not undertake to do so. We
regard them as men of honesty of purpose, and sufficiently in
telligent to perform the duties imposed upon them without the in
terference of either the Enterprise or the Sun, unless this great
writer, who dodges behind Henry Futrell, editor, to strike the hon
ored Board of Commissioners a blow, thinks that he is able to take
charge and run the county affairs, and we do not doubt for a minute
that he thinks that he cbu'ld doit to a queen's taste, to suit himself,
at least.
We would like to know who Mr. Who-ever-he-is is, and then l
we could pass on his ability to do great things, as we are sure that
he has laid awake at night and planned out the whole matter in
such a way that it could not fail.
They are not Farmers.
If the class of foreigners that
are being shipped to the United
States by the million are of any
advantage to the farmer, why is
it that the great state of New
York has 12.000 abandoned
farms, and why has her farm
land declined in value $70,000,000
in ten years ? The majority of
these fellows are not coming
here to farm or work, but for
better opportunities our larger
cities afford them to pillage and
steal.—Cotton Journal.
There is a grim fact in the
above, clipped from the Cotton
Journal. This foreign labor is
not going on the farms, and
when the towns are filled with
this worthless class, what will
Coffee County Fair,
Nov. 5 6 7 8 and 9th.
Douglas, - - Georgia,
Write for Premium Lists.
MELVIN TANNER. Sec. and Trees.
The people decided at the polls
that they wanted Ocilla for the
county site of Irwin and the legis
lature confirmed the decision.
Let it be recorded, Mr. Clerk.
be the result of this influx of
foreigners. Large cities cannot
cope with it now, and smaller
towns and rural communities will
be absolutely at its mercy.
Georgia will develop fast enough
and we say down with any im
migration measure that tends to
fill our state, specially the south
ern portion, with this element.
The upper part of the state is
thick enough settled to take care
of it in any way, but it would soon
over-run southern Georgia and
render undesirable, as homes,
the finest section in the world.
Douglas, Ga., August 24th, 1907.
Shall Douglas Be the Dumping
Ground?
There are a number of lewd
characters that have come to
Douglas, having been run away
from other places- Shall we let
them get established he re or shall
they move on ? There are several
places in town that are not very
creditable to the town and that
should be broken up. The good
people of Douglas have spent too
much money and are too anxious
for the development of the town
to proceed along the lines it has
done here-to-fore to let these
matters crop in and disturb the
town as they have been doing.
Forbearance ceases to be a virtue
and the good people have made
up their minds to make some lit
tle changes and let these undesira
ble characters understand that
Douglas is not the place for them.
There are matters that we can
not handle in a newspaper but
those who are guilty know what
is meant and they will find it to
their interests to take notice and
desist from the practices that are
going on in some quarters of the
town.
There is not a town in the state
that has a higher moral standard
than the town of Douglas, build
ing new churches, fast becoming
the educational center of this
section of Southern Georgia, and
a place where there is less of the
objectionable side of life than
any other town in this country,
but with all this there are some
who over-ride the will of the
best people and violate the law,
and the good Deople here have
decided that this shall stop, and
it will not be so well for those
who are caught in the immoral
over-riding of the town and peo
ple.
Douglas is not the dumping
ground and will not become so,
and the sooner this is demonstra
ted to some people the better it
will be for them and the town.
People who cannot live in other
towns cannot live in Douglas.
In this connection we deem it
our duty to offer a word of warn
ing to some men in this town
who are the heads of families.
It is currently reported and gen
erally believed that they are re
sponsible for the immoral, and
we might add disgraceful con
dnct that tends to make possible
the presence with us of such
Disorderly Conduct.
On last Sunday, Ex-Sheriff
W. W. Southerland got a little
too full and went to a house on
Ward street occupied by one Mrs.
Watkins and proceeded to raise
a rough house. He attacked Tom
Starling, who was a boarder there
and in a fight, Starling received
a slight wound on his neck from
a knife in Southerland's hands,
and Southerland was struck over
the head with a thirty eight pistol
and a cut of about three inches
was the result. There was con
siderable excitement in that part
of the town and as it is in the most
thickly settled and prominent part
of the town, many good citizens,
women and children, were com
pelled to see this disgraceful Sun
day brawl.
On Monday Southerland and
Starling were called before Mayor
Dart and the former received a
fine of one hundred dollars and
the latter fifty dollars. Starling
is under bond charged with as
sault and intent to murder. The
woman escaped without any fine,
as she was not responsible, or at
least evidence failed to show that
she was, for the difficulty and
Dave Starling, who stopped the
fight was also turned aloose.
The Darien Gazette says that
“after January first, 1908 you
may expect a long, dry spell.”
That’s the indications now.
undesirable characters as we have
referred to. This is meant to
apply alone to those who are
guilty—and the guilty know—and
should heed for they are known
of all men and if it is not stopped
patience will cease to be a virtue
and an outraged public will arouse
itself and the consequences will
be anything but agreeable and
pleasant to tjiose who are guilty.
The above comes not only from
the editor of the Enterprise, but
has been said in by
many of our best townsmen in
the last few days and weeks, we
fully endorse what they say and
say the above as coming from us
and as our sentiments. The thing
must stop. Do you—who are
guilty, hear ?
P. S. Since the above was put
in type, we have been informed
that the city authorities have ad
vised some of these parties to
leave, which they did.
SI.OO per Annum
No Whiskey Advertisements.
We receive, every day, inquir
ies as to whether we take whiskey
advertisements, and our answer
is always the same, that we do
not allow advertisements of that
kind in our paper. We know
that these advertisements pay
well and that with them the pa
per would pay us and instead of
always being behind we would
always be ahead, but we would
rather loose our time and money
than to besmirch our columns
with matter that is damning to
the youth, and for that matter
sometimes the older ones, of our
land. Our columns are not open
to such advertising and while we
are in charge of the Enterprise,
we will use our best efiorts to see
that the whiskey laws are en
forced, in so far as we are able,
and we hope to see every one who
violates them in the chaingang,
where they belong, and where
they will go if every citizen
would do their duty and stand by
the courts in upholding the law.
Coffee county is comparatively
free from blind tigers at this
time and with the good work of
Sheriff Ricketson and Berry An
derson, we hope to see it even
freer than it now is. There are
a few left and they are spotted
and doomed and will soon find
their places on the roads of the
county. We will have no whis
key ads, Mr. Barkeeper and Mr.
Boozer, and if the barkeeper
persists in ruining your lives and
you will still insist that you have
a right to lay your selves liable
to be ruined and bring disgrace
and shame to those who are dear
and dependent upon you, it is up
to you, and the Booze seller and
the Booze killer will have to find
out each other by some other
method other than the Enterprise
while we are in charge.
We are agin whiskey and will
accept no whiskey ads.
The Coffee County News an
nounces in its last number that
it would begin active work on its
illustrated trades paper next
week. As the Enterprise hopes
to see this venture a success it
would be more than pleased to
set* every business profession or
calling of Douglas, represented
in this illustrated paper. You
have only a short time to make
arrangements for a place in the
picture, so look pleasant, please,
and step lively.