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About The Montgomery monitor. (Mt. Vernon, Montgomery County, Ga.) 1886-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 1913)
ifenfcjmnmj ifflomto. VOL. XXVIII. Mr. Johnson Asks For an Explanation PEOPLE OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY AROUSED OYER SECRET PLANS TO DIVIDE REMNANT OF COUNTY TO PAY POLITICAL DEBT. NEW METHODS USED. Mr. Johnson Explains. Atlanta, July 19, 1913. Mr. H. B. Folsom, Editor, Montgomery Monitor, Mt. Ver non, Ga. My dear Sir: I note in your last issue of The Monitor an item, or a portion of the same as refers to the bill I have introduced in the House of Representatives relative to Treut len County, with Soperton as the County site, you stating “That the first official act of mine was to introduce a bill creating said county from the remnants left of Montgomery county,” stating “that it is claimed by my friends that this was one of my campaign pledges while it was not publicly stated by me during the cam paign.” Now, in justice to myself as well as some of the citizens of Mt. Vernon, Soperton and other parts of Montgomery county, beg to say that it was publicly stated by myself and concurred in by a number of the citizens of Mt. V- rnon at Soperton on the day of the picnic or rally at that place during the campaign last sum mer. Further, there was a pub lic meeting held at Mt. Vernon just prior to that at Soperton in which a number of the citizens of Mt. Vernon assured the people of the territory to he effected, that there would be no fight or resistance on the part of Mt. Vernon or any other section of Montgomery County as far as they could avert. I then agreed to introduce and work for the passage of such a Bill and intend to keep my pledge so far as I am able, believing it to be the only honorable thing to do. I trust that you will see fit to give this space in youi next issue for which please accept my thanks in advance, I am Yours very truly. J. C. Johnson. Must tell the People. The above letter by Mr. J. C. Johnson is published not only in accordance with the request therein contained, but by a ver bal request made by Mr. Johnson in person. In reply we would gladly have spared the aged rep resentative some exposures we are compelled to make of his acts and the remarkable attitude he bears to the people of his native county who sent him to the legis lature. A part of this letter was fully fully answered in this paper of the 10th inst, and Mr. Johnson’s statemenc before the picnic at Soperton fully explained. Our words in regard to publicity of the matter had reference to the fact that Mr. Johnson had NOT intimated in his PUBLISHED platform that he would work for a further division of Montgomery county. In the only published state ment you made, Mr. Johnson, on July 11, 1912, in this paper these two paragraphs appear: “I am running as a farmer and an honest man, and need no more solid platform. The The record of my entire life has been made in your midst. My only absence from Mont gomery county was occa sioned bv several years of service as a Confederate sol dier.” * * * “The eyes of Georgia have been fixed upon your county, - but not by any act of mine. A matter of principle is in volved in the selection of your your representative, and your vote must help to build up public respect for your county’s interest and moral standing, or be thrown away in senseless factional ism and strife.” Before we get through, Mr. Johnson, Montgomery county people will know just how near you have lived up to your pub lished statements. It is our plain duty as the county paper to give the actual facts in the matter, notwithstading the fact that we have often refrained from giving publicity to things purely in the interest of peace and harmony. Had Gagged the “Ring.” In your letter above you state, “there was a public meeting held in Mt. Vernon just prior to that held at Soperton in which a num ber of the citizens of Mt. Vernon assured the people of the terri tory to be effected that there would be no fight or resistance on the part of Mt. Vernon or any other section of Montgomery county so far as they could avert.” As a matter of fact, Mr. Johnson, NO SUCH PUBLIC MEETING WAS EVER HELD IN MT. VERNON. When SIX men of Mt. Vernon met you in a secret caucus in the presence of a few men from Soperton, behind closed doors and made a trade to divide the remnant left of this county to pay for your seat in the legislature it was in no sense a PUBLIC MEETING. When Trade Was Made. Public meetings are held in the court house and the public has some kind of notice to attend. The people of Mt. Vernon, outside of these men who met with you, knew NOTHING of such a scheme until quite l'ecently, and your remarkable letter above will result in finally letting the cat out of the bag. It is fortunate for you that this “public meet ing” in the law office of Col. M. B. Calhoun of this place was not heard of until after the election, : for instead of being elected by a small majority you would have been left at home by several hundred votes. If you will come to Mt. Vernon again and consult these SIX men they will tell you they were ACTING FOR THEM SELVES and NOT for the people of Mt. Vernon; and your ridicu lous statement in your letter above that they contracted with you and your Soperton friends that “there would be no fight or resistance on the part of Mt. Vernon OR ANY OTHER SEC TION of Montgomery county so far as could avert, ” comes as perfectly astounding to several hundred men who helped to put you where you are. Your friends here are wondering why you and that “number of the citizens of Mt. Vernon”—number SIX did not create the county of Treutlen and turn over the finished product to the energetic business men of Soperton, who are simply trying to build a city at the expense of the tax payers of this badly bur dened county, and who are today laughing in their sleeves at find ing you and your SIX fellow traders such an easy mark. You had as much right to take away the job from the legislature as you had to SELL half the county you are sent to represent, with out a word from its tax payers. Half Not Told. But, as the Queen of Sheba said when she beheld the glory of Solomon, “the half has not been told.” A few days ago Mr. Johnson, before the House com MT. VERNON, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1913. mittee on constitutional amend mendments, when this matter was called up out of its regular order by a paid attorney for So perton on the committee, you got up and stated that you knew of but one man opposed to the di vision of the county—Wm. B. Kent —now a citizen of another county. After finding the stand you had taken, and seeing by a mere accident that you were will ing to have the matter RUSHED through without hearing from the opposition, man> of the citi zens of your county have signed petitions against its division, among them your own brother, Hon. Peter Johnson, of your own district. Some Plain Facts. If you are open to the PLAIN TRUTH you can easily ascertain ; that hundreds of citizens of the ; territory which the Soperton peo ! pie are clamoring for are deci dedly against the final disruption of old Montgomery county, and that almost every man in your own end of the county has signed petititions AGAINST its final destruction as a county. You are well aware, Mr. Johnson, that outside of the fact that Soperton business men are trying to build up their town, and the further fact that you are willing to carry out your part of the scheme to pay for your seat in the legisla ture. the proposition to divide the small strip of this county which has already THREE TIMES given up its territory,—first, to help form Toombs county; sec- I ond, to cut off the Normantown district to Toombs county; third, to form the ENTIRE county of I Wheeler, —is preposterous in the extreme. The People Will Know. Your plan of doing business with a half dozen men behind closed doors and expecting your constituents to acquiesce in any kind of a trade you may make when all their rights are ignored, might do all right enough in Senegambia or some other Afri can province, but you may rest assured that the tax payers and honest farmers of Montgomery county, whose interests are at stake will be heard from. And you are further notified that when the people are AROUSED to the enormity of this scheme, the whole state of Georgia will be apprised of the real condition of affairs here. In all kindness and candor, Mr. Johnson, we did all in our power to help put you in the Georgia legislature, and in com mon with the humblest citizen of your county, we have a right to know how you are looking out for our interests. High Price for Seat. A seat on the New York Stock Exchange is worth anywhere from SIOO,OOO to $200,000. If you were to stay in the legisla ture the balance of your life and the sessions were to bold contin ually, your services could not possibly be worth the DAMAGE you would do the small remnant of old Montgomery to divide it again into two small counties, the weakest in the state, where taxes must forever remain exorbitant. The people you left outside of your little six x six caucus are A Few Questions. neither slaves nor fools. In behalf of the people who are asking for the light to be turned on, we respectfully pro pound a few questions: When you found that you were not strong enough to win in the race for representative, without pledging away HALF of your county, why didn’t you come down and give your friends a chance to put up a stronger man ? What argument CAN you ad vance for cutting off all of Mont gomery county territory except a bare fourth, beyond the desire of Soperton to have it, and your desire to FAY the debt you owe them for your seat in the general assembly? Can Six Men Do It? When did SIX men in Ml. Ver non, or the whole of Mt. Ver non, acquire the right to divide up the territory of the county and pledge that NO other section of the county should say anything against the scheme? Have you ever told your col leagues in the legislature that Montgomery county has been cut THREE times already and that, the territory you propose to leave has only 135 square miles of land roturned on the tax di ' gest? With Montgomery county prac tically wiped off the mapof Geor gia, what NEED have we for a representative in the legislature? Will you stand up in the legis lature and tell its law makers who rely upon your statements that the story of Mt. Vernon’s “public meeting” and the unan imous endorsement of the people of this new county scheme is a FAKE pure and simple?. Has not the towns of Alston, Uvalda, Sharpe’s Spur, Charlotte, Ailey and Longpond . about as GOOD a title to the land and people of this county as Soperton and Mt. Vernon, and the SAME right to a voice in county matters? New Life Insurance Agency Opens Here. The advertisement of the Com mercial Life Insurance & Casual ty Co. appears in this issue, rep resented by the Fred C. Wallis Agency of Savannah as general agents, with Mr. T. D. Boothe of Mt. Vernon as local agent. Mr. Boothe recently moved to Mt. Vernon, and his success here in writing life insurance has been remarkable. Although corning as a stranger in our midst, he has kept things humming in the insurance field, and his connec-, tion with the Commercial Life will add to his increasing busi ness. Read the agency’s adver tisement. You don’t have to see Mr. Boothe—he will see you good and strong. Mr. Ricks Paralyzed. Mr. West Ricks of this place, residing with his son-in-law, Mr. R. S. McLendon, suffered a slight stroke of paralysis on Sunday night, 13th inst., but rallied from its effects. On Sunday night last, while visiting his daughter, Mrs. Gillis, near here, he had a second attack. His right side is paralyzed and his condition is critical. Mr. Ricks is in his 83d year, and is one of our most highly respected and best known citizens, and many will hear with regret of his illness. Notice. One of the oldest Cotton Com mission Houses in Georgia wishes to arrange with one or more in fluential citizens of Montgomery County to canvass the County in its interest. Will be pleased to hear from parties prepared to take up the question. Good chance for a live worker. Address “Cotton,” P. 0. Box No. 406, Savannah, Ga. ad EXPERT ROAD Bt 11.10 SENT BY GOVERNMENT Montgomery County to Have j_ Road Built by a Road Expert. Our County Commissioners, through Col. W. L. Wilson, have made application to the Depart ment of Public Roads of the De partment of Agricultural for an expert road builder, and Senator Hoke Smith and Congressman Hughes have made application for an expert to come here, and their requests have been com plied with. Mr. C. R. Thomas, Highway Engineer, recently engaged in Mississippi, has ar rived, and is having the county road force construct a sand-day road from Mt. Vernon to the Toombs county line, via Me Gre gor. We will give the matter more extended notice as the work progresses. Col. Wilson Replies. Editor Montgomery Monitor: I potiee in today’s papers that Mr. W. B. Kent stated on yesterday before the Senate Ju diciary Committee, when they were considering the bill intro duced by his nephew, Mr. Kea, to reinstate him to the practice of law, that 1 had promised to support this move, for his influ ence in my behalf as a candidate for the Legislature the next time, from this county, I wish to say is absolutely untrue. I have never made any such state ment, had never thought of such an offer, and would not consider such a proposition even if 1 was certain that it would elect me! without any opposition. 1 will go further and say that Mr. Thompson has never written such a letter as this because he and 1 have never discussed Kent’s disbarment at any t ime. This is just a repetition of his old tricks, lb; could not show the letter, and if he did ! am satisfied that Thompson never wrote it. While I have been asked about the reinstatement of Mr. Kent, and the merits of the hill n ’ under consideration, I have i. ver, at any time, lead any one to believe that I would favor any move that would put him hack into the practice where we would have the same acts to contend with that we did before his trial. As for my making the race for the legislature, 1 have not considered that at all, and if I were to, it would take more than his influence to elect me. I hope that, no one in our county will believe for a moment that I would enter into any promise to secure any part of his influence I here. This July 22d, 1913. W. L. Wilson. •TTfVVTTTTTfTTTfTtVTTfTTTTTyfTfTTTfTTTTTTTTTTTTTfTfT [ COMMERCIAL LIFE INSURANCE CO. ► SAVANNAH, HA. ► ► Organized along legitimate business lines, conservatively ► managed by business men of tried and known judgement, £ the COMMERCIAL LIFE has steadily progressed, content ► to build slowly, but surely and solidly. : OUR MOTTO: t SAFETY—FIRST, LAST AND ALL THE TIME ► Financial Statement, Dec. 111, 1912, Shows: t $6.49 in Available Assets for l livery $l.o() of Liability to Policy t Holders. ► ► The officers and I Joard of - I)irect,ors of this Company, have, £ through long years of toil and honest dealing, won the confi r dence of the business and financial world, and are today giv ► ing this Company the benefit of their time and experience. £ Naturally, it is taking its place as the foremost insurance ► Company of the South. £ If you contemplate taking life insurance, you will do £ yourself and family an injustice unless you let our agent ex ► plain our policies. £ Mr. T. I). Boothe is our Local Agent for Mt. Vernon and £ vicinity. When you see him, INSIST on his showing you our ► new “G. P. It.” Guaranteed Premium Reduction Policy, or £ write us, and we will send him to see you. ► ► Fred C. Wallis Agency £ 409-10-11, National Building, l SAVANNAH, GA. ► •AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA • AAAAAAaAAAAAAm.m.*AAAAAAAAa. W. B. KENT IN ; THE LEGISLATURE WOULD AGAIN PRACTICE LAW Bill To Remove Disabilities Calls Up Notorious Case Again. j W. B. Kent, who was disbarred in 1910, is making an effort through Senator Fred Kea of Laurens to have the Legislature remove his disabilities. A High ly sensational hearing of the matter was had before the Sen ate Committee on the Judiciary on Monday. Judge Eschol Gra ham of Mcßae presented a peti tion 'from the Oconee Bar As sociation asking the general as sembly to refuse to reinstate Kent. In the 21 counts on which Kent was convicted in Mont gomery county of wilful miscon duct were charges of defrauding clients, altering court records, abstracting and concealing court, papers, procuring and using fals- affidavits, and false swear ing. In his defense before the com mittee Kent stated that the Bar 1 Association used 250 bottles of beer at the barbecue when this petition was drawn, that he had a petition with 2,500 names asking for his reinstatement, that he would soon be judge of the Oconee Circuit, denied that he continued to practice law af ter being disbarred. He made j the startling statement that C. F. Thompson had written him “that W. L. Wilson a candidate for the legislature next session, would see to it that I was rein stated to the bar if I would lend him the Kent influence at the next election.” We quote above from report in ihe Atlanta Constitution. Meeting at Erick. The meeting conducted at the Presbyterian church at Erick by l)r. A. L. Patterson of Black shear came to a close Sunday night. Rev. Chas. Montgomery of this place is pastor of the church at Erick, but was ably as sisted by Dr. Patterson, who is well known and beloved by the people of this entire section. He lms visited Mt. Vernon and other points in this section, and is al ways heard with interest. He is a profound thinker and a man endowed with real spiritual pow er. NO. 13.
