Newspaper Page Text
Wtp Utmttiunnmi Monitor*
VOL. XXXII.
Questionable Methods in ■
New County Scheme
Details of the summer row in
Atlanta never reach the country
people. They only know, in a
general way, that the business
men of Soperton, aided by Mr.
N. L. Gillis of Emanual county,
president of the Bank of Soperton
and owner of other interests in J
that town, have for several years ’
endeavored to have the Assembly i
give them the upper part of
Montgomery county. For many
years the citizens of this county
were wont to assemble in Atlanta
to defend their rights, and after i
spending thousands of dollars in
the effort to gain recognition,
seem to have reposed enough con-!
fidence in the Assembly of Georgia
as to feel that their rights will
yet come to the recognition of the
Assembly, and that the county
may be spared from final ruin
ation.
Os the intrigues resorted to,
year after year, some are of the
most diabolical—some beyond
mention. Some seem favored
with success; others stupefied
with rot, aid in the downfall of
the promoters of the new county
schemes; and while similar in
stances could be recited in con
nection with the new county ef
forts in general, (there being not
less than half a dozen pending) a
brief reference to the hearing of
the Treutlen county bill before
the senate committee July 25, in
which the bill was given a favor
able report, will be of interest to
the country people who have lit
tle or no opportunity of knowing
how their rights are being robbed
by outsiders.
The Treutlen county promoters
had their argument presented by
Judge B. T. Rawlings of Sanders
ville, many other employes
standing by to see that it was
done according to approved meth
ods—an outsider telling the Sen
ate what should be done and
what should not be done with
Montgomery county, and an
argument to which the committee'
assented by a vote of nine to
three. As far as could be judged
by impartial spectators, Judge
Rawlings’ plea contained but two
points, as follows: That Mr. D. |
A. Mcßae of Mt. Vernon, one of
the wealthiest men in Montgom- j
ery county, while in Atlanta at
the time, had refused to attend;
the hearing, thereby giving his j
consent to the creation of Treut
len county, individualizing the ■
plot as formerly, and absolutely j
ignoring the wishes of the people, j
The second point enunciated
through the vaporings of the
Judge was that Montgomery
county was 20 miles wide and 50
miles long (equivalent to 1000
square miles). This fake idea as;
to the area of Montgomery coun- •
ty was also rammed down the
throats of the House committee a
few days ago by the Judge.
Arguments against the Treut- 1
len county outrage were made by
Senator M. T. Rhiner, Represen
tative I. S. Woods and Dr. C. E. l
Rhiner of Emanuel. The Mont
gomery county side of the argu
ment was presented by H. B.
Folsom, who, after showing the
enormity of the scheme of ruina-i
tion, presented the committee :
with a written statement from
the Hudgins Co., Atlanta, show-j
ing that this company surveyed
Montgomery county in 1914, that
it contains 374.5 square miles, 1
and that the same company had
just measured the proposed'
Treutlen county part, as stated
in the bill pending, and that the
new county, if made, would take
from Montgomery 131.57 square
miles. Editor Folsom recited
how the county had been cut:
three times in the past twelve
years, together with other statis-;
tics, which should be of interest
and value, and with which the
Assembly, as a body, is familiar,
by reason of the years of presen
tation.
Evidently the issues have been
lost sight of: it is simply a ques
| tion of lopping off the northern
' part of Montgomery county for
the benefit of Mr. Gillis (of
Emanuel county) and his busi
ness associates in Soperton, or al
lowing Montgomery county, or
rather the pauperized remnant,
to remain, with the feeble spark
of vitality still burning.
No representative has been
elected by Montgomery county on
the new county issue, while the
people at one time voted against
the creation of Treutlen county.
In last year’s campaign there
were promised that the question
would be voted on in the Novem
ber election, but after the present
representative was nominated,
this privilege was withdrawn,
and as a result the people of
Montgomery county were again
victimized, and the special inter
est again placed in the saddle.
If these facts are disputed,
against the presence of about
thirty or more men, The Mont
gomery Monitor will reveal to the
Montgomery county public, and
to the people of Georgia, some of
the dastardly schemes put forth
by the advocates of Treutlen;
county, sparring neither the rich
nor the poor, including bold efforts
at bribery, political chicanery at
the expense of the people ot Mont
gomery county, and graft in gen
eral. Whether or not Treutlen •
county is made, by whatever
methods, The Montgomery Mon
itor purposes to see that the peo
ple, who, heretofore, have been
misled to the extent of having
been deprived of their rights,
have some voice in the matter.
Must this injustice still exist?
How long can the Assembly tol
erate falsehood and injustice?
| How long must the people of
' Montgomery county be made to
suffer for the greedy whims of a
few individuals? Georgia has
; seen Montgomery county people
j hemmed in by corruption and in
; famy, her people maligned beyond
; measure, with a loss of her terri
: tory year after year, with thein
j fernal demand still existing in
! the face of truth, liberty, and
patriotism? Does Montgomery
j county care, or is she still en
| titled to some consideration ?
1 Yes. Does Georgia care, or does
she still consider Montgomery
county worthy of preservation,
to the extent of snatching her as
a firebrand from iniquitous hands?
I God save Montgomery county,
I and Georgia, from the new county
'craze—from the hands of men
who would rob a commonwealth
j for individual gain.
Macon Man Ends
:
Life with Pistol.
j Macon, Ga., July 29. —W. O.
Wright, salesman for a local
wholesale grocery concern and
former city license inspector,
shot himself through the right
; temple at his home, 712 Main
| street, East Macon, and died
within ten minutes,
i Since , last May, when Mr.
i Wright underwent an operation
1 for appendicitis, he had been in
poor health and recently he had ;
suffered with malarial fever
1 which is thought to have affect
:ed his mind.
Members of his family say he
had been worrying recently about
the loss of his home, which was
| destroyed by fire.
Mr. Wright was widely known
• in fraternal circles, especially the
; I. O. O. F.
MT. VERNON, GEORGIA. THURSDAY. AUGUST 2, 1917.
| FLANDERS TRENCHES LOST BY THE BRITISH
•••• : ' . ..v........ ■■ ■ -W.\ —v.-.v-x— .. ... ---• ■ - \„V.. ~V..v■:(^
Ouo of the trenches lu West Flanders from which the Germans recently
drove the British.
Married at Parsonage
Last Tuesday Evening.
Tuesday evening at the Method
ist parsonage in Mt. Vernon, Mr.
Willie G. McDonald of Ailey and
Miss Vela Thompson, residing
south of Ailey, were happily mar
ried, the Methodist minister, Rev.
John Hudson, performing the
ceremony.
While the event was in the na
ture of a surprise affair, some of
the Ailey friends received a wire
less message announcing the ap
proaching marriage and drove
! over in time to witness it. The
bride is a daughter of the late
G. J. Thompson and Mrs. Thomp
son and a sister of the Messrs.
Thompson, well known business
men of Ailey and vicinity. She
is a young lady of grace and un
usual domestic attainment. Mr.
McDonald is recognized as one of
the best men in Montgomery
county, being a successful farmer
and business man. For about a
year he has resided in Ailey. He
is to be congratulated on having
won so estimable a bride. Success
and happiness to them. They
left yesterday morning for a trip
after which they will be at home
to their friends in Ailey.
Services Sunday at
Presbyterian Church.
The pastor, Rev. D. A. McNeill,
being absent in South Carolina on
account of special services which
he conducted at his old home,
Red Springs, services at the Mt.
Vernon Presbyterian church next
Sunday morning will be conducted
by Mr. Ben D. Brantley of Black
shear. The public is cordially in
vited to attend.
Mr. Brantley is recognized as
one of the strongest Presbyterian
laymen in the South, and his dis
courses are listened to with gen
eral interest, not by the Presby
terian alone, but by church peo
ple of all denominations. Regular
morning service at 11 o’clock.
It Ought to Lose Out, Gentlemen.
(From Wrightsville Headlight.)
Your honorable body will commit an unmistakable error if you
allow the creation of Treutlen county. You will do a grave in
justice to Emanuel, to Johnson and to Montgomery counties as a
whole and to Montgomery county in particular. You will do a few
a great political favor to pass |he bill at the expense of these three
counties but let us encourage the hope that in your wisdom and
judgment you will not be misguided, deluded and lobbied into such
a disastrous move.
Paid lobbyists are at work, wealthy citizens are spending the
cash and innumerable efforts are being made to take almost all of j
Montgomery county, a tremendous {slice from Emanuel and 35 j
square miles and a half million dollars of taxable property from the i
good old county of Johnson. The people of Emanuel and the citizens!
of Johnson, 95 per cent, of each, bitterly oppose the creation of
Treutlen county no matter what anybody says to the contrary.
Adrian, Scott, Swainsboro and Stillmore want to see you defeat
Treutlen county. Montgomery is gasping for free air in which to
breathe, Emanuel desires no more cuts and Johnson is already too
small to be cut and slashed and the whole Treutlen proposition is a
direct slap iu the face of all three counties. Therefore for these
reasons, gentlemen, and for many others which the people are ask- j
ing you to give a listening ear to, beg of you that you do not pass |
the bill creating Treutlen county. I
Making a Tour of
South Georgia Counties.
Messrs. D. H. Burney and
John T. Brantley of Blackshear,
representing the A. P. Brantley
Co., of which Mr. Brantley is the
junior member, were here a few
hours yesterday, mingling with
friends and patrons. This is one
of the largest manufacturing
plants in South Georgia, making
fertilizers and handling sea island
cotton in every form, as far as
crude product is concerned.
This business, established by
the late B. D. Brantley, Sr., has
been in existence since 1857, being
now in its sixtieth year, and is
well and favorble known through
-1 out the South.
Mr. Rurney has been with the
company for thirty-five or forty
years, and is a regular visitor to
Montgomery county. These gen
tlemen are making a tour of the
South Georgia counties, casually
meeting their patrons, and view
ing the croD prospect, which they
consider very good.
Reported Seaboard
May Buy G., F. & A.
Bainbridge, Ga., July 30.—The
threatened strike on the Georgia,
Florida and Alabama railway may
result in the sale of this line to
the Seaboard Air Line, according
to report in circulation here.
The report has been widely cir
culated, but as the officials of
both lines live elsewhere it has
been impossible to confirm the
report.
The sale would mean the loss
of the general offices and shops
to Bainbridge and with them
would go a payroll amounting to
several thousand dollars a month.
Most of the trainmen also live in
Bainbridge and the change would
take them to other places. The
sale would, however, benefit the
section covered by the Georgia,
Florida and Alabama in the mat
ter of train service if the Sea
board would use it to connect its
line from Columbus to Richland
with the one from Tallahassee to
Jacksonville, thus giving through
train service, as it is said is con
templated in the event of the
purchase by the Seaboard.
WILL THE ASSEMBLY
SAVE MONTGOMERY?
Will You Allow Montgomery to Exist?
To the General Assembly of Georgia:—
The people of Montgomery county plead for the existence of
the county. They cannot curb the ambition of a few business men,
seeking a vast amount of its already scant and impoverished terri
tory, but as Georgians, with the same burdens and patriotic obli
gations as other citizens, respectfully ask the mere privilege of ex
isting as the small remainder of that which was ONCE one of the
best counties in South Georgia. The people of Montgomery county
have SOME hope left, despite the ravages of the new county craze,
which, in the past twelve years has circumscribed its bounds to
374.5 square miles, with the Oconee river swamp the entire western
boundary line, leaving approximately 300 square miles of tillable
land.
Montgomery Has Done Her Share.
Any conservative man will agree that Montgomery county is al
ready small; and likewise any Georgian should know that Mont
gomery county, after having been cut THREE times since 1905, has
already done more than her pai t toward supplying counties for the
benefit of a limited number of business men and office-seekers.
What more could be asked? Has as much EVER been exacted from
any other Georgia county? Verily no! Toombs was created partly
from Montgomery, with 80 souare miles in 1095 and 15 square miles
added in 1907; in 1912 the ENTIRE county of Wheeler was made
from Montgomery, taking 293 square miles, all of this AGAINST
the wishes of the people. And now, without opportunity of re
gaining these losses, it is proposed to rob the county of 131.57
square miles toward the creation of Truetlen county —a movement
promulgated absolutely by former Senator N. L. Gillis of Emanuel
county, who owns considerable property in the northern part of
Montgomery county.
Where are the Rights of the People?
With the issues worn threadbare, with a horde of paid lobbyists
howling for the creation of Treutlen county, an institution which
would mean nothing to them, aside from the dollars turned over
during each summer, where do the rights of the people of Mont
gomery county enter? There is no avenue of approach save through
the conscience and manhood of the General Assembly of Georgia,
who, in refusing to be made parties to this travesty, have not only
served Montgomery, for a number of years without impartial rep
resentation, but will have served Georgia, in preserving one of its
counties which has already been victimized until the very mention
of another new county has become a nightmare to its people.
Individual Benefits or County Progress.
Gentleman, do you stand for individual interests, against good
roads? Are you willing to benefit private individuals instead of
aiding Montgomery county to maintain a good system of schools?
Must the increased values of any one man be put above the progress
of a county? The further division of Montgomery county, accord
ing to the demands of the Treutlen county advocates, would most
certainly sink it below the self-sustaining mark; likewise the crea
tion of Treutlen county would establish an insignificant common
wealth, the present generation of whose people could not put it in
tangible civic form by reason of a lack of tax values. Montgomery
county, exclusive of the railroads, has far less than $3,000,000 in
tax values, the northern part of the county having one railroad
and some of its best towns. This means that the remainder would
be left with practically nothing—five or six thousand people and
less than two million dollars worth of property.
Vital Interest or Local Squabbles.
It matters NOT if the people are divided politically, with nine
tenths of the offices filled by Treutlen advocates; it matters not
what methods have been resorted to to gain this power; let the
people of Montgomery county labor for their own salvation, if by
methods too questionable to unfold. The Assembly of Georgia has
ALREADY been called on to settle more Montgomery county
squabbles than have gone up from any other county in the state.
These questions are but childish prattle, compared with the life of
a Georgia county, such as Montgomery still is.
Which the Winner—Power or Virtue.
Gentlemen: The question is simply this: Can your body, un
der oath, having the interest of Georgia at heart, afford to turn ov
er the fate of Montgomery county to the whims of a few business
promoters because they employ smooth-tongued men from other
sections to ask it of you, while our people, gagged by superior fi
nancial powers, have to remain at home and wait their fate? The
law of God forbids it; the law of the land is against it; the soul and
conscience of the Assembly of Georgia should NOT allow it. Mont
gomery county, as a shorn lamb, pleads for the last drop of its life
blood. Will you take it, or will you bind up her wounds, that she
may still exist?
17th Engineers On
Way to Board Ship.
Atlanta, July 28.—The Seven-j
teenth Regiment of Engineers,
Colonel John S. Sewell command- j
ing, Friday was speeding to an |
Atlantic port preparatory to em
barking for service in France. ;
The regiment left Atlanta, where;
it trained, Thursday afternoon.;
A crowd of some 800 saw the
boys depart and bade them god
speed.
Mrs. Sewell, wife of the colonel,
following the departure of the
regiment, told reporters that she,
too, was going to France in a few
weeks to be near her husband.
A Fine Suggestion.
This town should have a home
market place for every single pro-j
duct of the farm, large or small.
It should be a place where the
farmer can dispose of his produce
at market prices and for spot
cash, without the trouble and
) waiting incident to shipping to
|outside points.—Fayette ville
News. j
Services at Ailey.
The protracted services at the
Methodist church in Ailey will
! continue through the week. Ti e
pastor, Rev. J. N. Hudson, is be
!ing assisted by Rev. M. W. Car
michael, pastor of the Methodist
church at Vidalia, and consider
able interest has been shown in
1 the services.
The presiding elder, Rev. L.
W. Colson, will preach Sunday
morning, 11 o'clock and at night.
The quarterly conference will be
held Monday morning.
Macon Lad Killed
By an Automobile.
Macon, Ga., July 29. Riley
Lindsey 6-year-old son of Mrs.
W. F. Lindsey, of this city, died
early today of injuries received
when he was struck late yester
day by an automobile driven by
Dr. J. W. Cowart, of Walden.
The boy’s skull was crushed,
He was crossing a street near
his home, when the car struck
him. Witnesses said the acci
jdent was unavoidable.
NO. 14.
