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HIGHWAY DEPT
IS EXONORATED
BY LEGISLATURE
Pursuant to the resolution introduc¬
ed in the House at the 1923 session
by Representative E. H- McMichael,
of Marion, and concurred in by the
Senate, providing for an investigation
of the State Highway Department, the a
committee of five members from
Senate and ten from the House was
appointed, with authority to subpoena
witnesses anti an authorized expend!
ture of $750.00. held in the.Sen¬
At public hearings wliicb
ate Chamber, every criticism
had been made of the Department
through the press or otherwise, which
was brought to the/Commlttee,- includ¬
ing those listed in the Resolution, was
thoroughly investigated, special^atten
tion being given to the Elbert Quarry,
the Equipment Depot at East Point,
likewise to the titles and leases cover¬
ing ed. land The on entire which “committee buildings visited are er^t- amd
made searching inspection of the
State Highway Department's property
and shops at East Point.
At conclusion of hearings the com¬
mittee appointed a sub-committee
composed of Mr. G. W. Lankford from
the 15th District, Messrs. J/B. Moore
of Appling county, and C. M. Head
of Cobb county, to draw up tentative
report for consideration by entire com¬
mittee.
Following this,plan, the sub-commit¬
tee’s report was read to ■ the Commit¬
tee at its final meeting and with but
one dissenting vote, that of Mr. Mc¬
Michael of Marion, was adopted.
This report was adopted in the Sen¬
ate unanimously and in the House by
a vote of 95 to 17.
Following is full report of findings
by committee as approved by 1923
General Assembly:
“To the President of the Senate,
“The Speaker of the House,
“The General’Assembly:
“Your committee a'ppolnted under
the terms of house resolution No. 15
by Mr. E. H. McMichael, of’Marion,
respectfully submit the following re¬
port:
I.
“The Hon. Stephen Pace acted as
chair-man and D. F. McClatchey acted
as secretary of the. committee. Your
committee helcl various meetings and
also .inspected headquarters the highway depart¬
ment’s at East Point.
Your coiilmitttee had before it officials
of the highway department and all
books and papers and reports for
which your committee called. Every
request made for information by your
committee was promptly complied
with by the highway department, and
exhaustive hearings of witnesses were
conducted.
II.
“Your committee under the resolu¬
tion were instructed ‘to investigate
irregularities, mismanagement, ineffi¬
ciency, extravagance and burdensome
overhead expenses, which were alleg
ed to have consumed the greater part
of the state funds,■“'leaving a small
percentage of the said state funds for
the actual maintenance of the state
system of highways'.’ Your committee
finds thatathe highway department of
Georgia has'.been managed honestly,
intelligently and efficiently. Yourcom
mittee- failed to discover any irre^;:
larities, v mismanagement, extvava
gance, or burdensome overhead ex
pense. On the contrary, your commit
tee reports that the Georgia highway
department has a smaller'percentage
of overhead expense than the depart
ments of many of the other states
and is conducted in as economically
a manner as is consistent with the
best results.
ru.
“Your committee finds that the
state highway board has invested the
proceeds-of some of the war materials
given to the state m warehouses arid
general headquarters in East Point
Ga. That the state highway depart¬
ment has a most excellent and effi¬
cient plant and one absolutely essen¬
tial to carrying out its work and by
building said plant in a suburb of At
lanta the board is saving in office
rents alone more than enough te pay
the state 10 per cent on such build
ings, not even considering the ma¬
chine shops and storage acreage. Your
committee commends the action of
the state highway department in refer¬
ence to the East Point headquarters.
IV.
“Your committe finds that the t4tles
of the real estate on which said build¬
ings are erected are In good’shape
and that, the interests of the state are
fully protected.
V.
“Your committee made a full and
complete Investigation of the pur¬
chase of the granite quarry in-Elbert
county, and found the following to be
the facts in reference thereto:
“Negotiations for the purchase of
this property were made by Dr.
Charles M. Strahn, *then chairman of
the highway board, and Mr. *H. L.
Wiggs, of Elbert connty, Ga. Mr.'H.
L*. Wiggs and W. A. Crossland, a
United States officer, never in , the
employment of the state highway
board, had employed Mr. R. C. Alston,
of Atlanta, to procure for 'them a
charter for a company to be known as
the Granite Products ccmipany. While
Mr. Alston was preparing the papers
for this charter negotiations for the
sale of the -Elbert county quarry be¬
gan between Dr. Strahn and Mr
Wiggs. When Mr. Wiggs informed
his associate, Mr. Crossland, that he
desired to sell said quarry, Mr. Cross¬
land objected to the sale on the
grounds that he and Mr. Wiggs, by
keeping said quarry, could make it
pay a fair return . on two . hundred
.
thousand dollars ($200,000). Mr.
Wiggs insisted on selling 'the quarry
to the state and Mr. Crossland 'then
stated to Mr. Wiggs that he could
not sell anything to the state, as he
was ’a United States road official as¬
signed to work in Georgia. Mr. Wiggs
then purchased Mr. Crossland's in¬
terests in the quarry for the sum of
$15,000. Mr. Wiggs then sold the
quarry to the state for the sum of
$90,000. Subsequently, Dr. Strahn took
the position' that the state only ac¬
quired th e .m inera l inte rests in the
SQ IJJ EF- KDGEGATE “Henry Exercised Great Care in His Testimony
property and illaT this would ue Es¬
sential for the slate to hold a fee
simple to the agricultural and all
other interests in the land. Dr.
Strahn’s reason at the time was^that
under the terms of the law abolishing
the convict lease system convicts
could not be worked ,in Georgia on
privately owned property.
“Mr. Wiggs was called upon by Dr.
Strahn to*furnish a deed to seventy
acres of this land and Mr. Wiggs tes¬
tified that this relations with owners
of the land were such that they would
not knowingly sell to. him, that he
employed Judge -W. D. Tutt, of Elber
ton, Gar, to buy the title intthis seven¬
ty acres of land in the name of W. A
Crossland. That Judge Tutt succeed¬
ing in buying this seventy acres „of
laird for thirty-five hundred dollars
and took a deed to same to be held in
escrow 4 by thirt^five an Atlanta bank till the
suih of hundred dollars
should ,
' have been paid. Mr. Alston
testified that he loaned thirty-five
hundred dollars to H. Il-Wiggs with
which^to paid* take,up for raid deed seventy ajid which
money said acres.
That after .the thirty-five hundred dol¬
lars was paid the title to this seventy
acres was in W. A. Crossland,. and
that W. A. Crossland deeded the said
seventy acres to the highway board
for ‘a consideration of one dollar
($1.00); the memh *-s of theistate high¬
way comnnssion a"that time to-wit:
Dr. C. M. Strahn, Judge S. S. Bennett,
and R. C..Neel-y, testified that the title
papers were taken and passed upon by
Mr. Quincy, then the attorney for # the
highway board, ai d that no member
of the state highway board had any
dealings -with Mr. Crossland, or any
knowledge of his connection with the
matter as they did not read the deeds,
but left that matter entirely in the
hands of their attorney. *
‘There was no evidence before the
committee to show f that any member
of the highway board fhad any knowl¬
edge of Mr. > Cros.s’and’s * connection
with the transaction. Mr. Crossland
ht the meantime«t( ndered hisTesigna
tion'as a United States engineer, but
this resignation was not accepted and
Mr. J Crossland remained continuously
in the 'service of the United State's
government and i. now in the United
States service as its road engineer in
Georgia. These are the facts as^pro
duced k at the'hear ing In reference to
the purchase of this quarry.
VI.
“Your committee is convinced that
the quarry^was w U worth the. money
which the "state paid for it and from
evidence your oo:umittee is of - the
opinion that same is how worth “con¬
siderably. more t^.an the price*»paid.
It^was 4 brought o it in the evidence
that all the dealt -s in crushed stone
in the state were holding up the price
and as soon as it became known that
the state had be ight a quarry they
immediately materially reduced their
prices, tm-rehy saving the state large
sums of money. Your committee
finds that the purchase of the quarry
was at a fair price,* and that the state
highway department was wise in ac¬
quiring this property, as the holding
of it absolutely protects the state
against any possible combination of
dealers in crushed atone.
VII.
“Your comrakt e carefully investi¬
gated all the charges of discrepancies
in the bookkeeping department of the
state highway department and the
board furnished your committee the
information requi sted at great labor
costs mi its part. The highway de¬
partment furnishe d a list of the names
of every employee of the whole* de¬
partment, in every county of the state
covering every c< nt’ which every em¬
ployee'had received, and this list con¬
tained between five and six thousand
names, covering r II positions from the
humblqst laborer* to the chairman of
the state highwa board. Your com¬
mittee finds that, the books of the
state highway d partment had bee*
carefully audited by Dawson & Edi
son^-appointed by the governor of the
state so to do. * A ad* that report'of the
said auditors sho.vqd no discrepancies.
moneys*recelved Your committe 1 rther finals'that'all
by the state highway
board and expended by them are audit
ed by the United States government
as the state high way department uses
federal funds along with state funds.
The-audit of “the United States gov¬
ernment shows’that the books of the
state Highway board are'/kept in a
manner entisely satisfactory to the
United States g overnment and with¬
out discrepancies.
“Your coiumittje finds that in ad¬
dition to the two audits the state
aud*iied_ highway department has its own books
and the report of the state
highway df parti.ient%auditors demon¬
strates -no’digert fancies.
“In view of t iese three reputable
audits your coi -nittee did 1 not feel
justified in putt :ig the state to the
expense of havi ^ still another audit
made, deeming the same superfluous.
vin.
“Your committee 'finds that the
State Hiyhway*(’epartment covers the
entire slajte c.f Gteorgla in its opera¬
tions. and that itss chairman, the Hon
John N. Holder, la3t year visited ev¬
ery county in the'state and many of
them several ti:ne6. in general super¬
vision of construction and mainte¬
nance work, and in securing proper
cooperation cf the various county au¬
thorities
IX.
Your £o:.. ittee finds that wontier -
the COVINGTON NEWS, COVINGTON, GEORGIA
ful progress has befeu made by t¥e
State Highway department in
eration of. the fact that it is less than
five years old. Its system of book¬
keeping has always been well
ed and correct, and the State High
way department has now adopted the
same system of bookkeeping as requir
ed by the" Interstate Commerce'com¬
mission in its reports. An'immense
department like the highway depart¬
ment must go through, a certain form
®f evolution before it reaches perfec¬
tion. Your committee believes that it
has make remarkable progress and
lias no suggestions to make«to the
officials at the head of the same
X.
“Your committee finds that an
earnest effort is being made to re¬
duce the number oEexpert employees
to a minimum, compatible with full
efficiency. The "Impress”, system ,of
bookkeeping is coordinate with the
budget system and every possible ef¬
fort is made to prevent any finan&ial
irregularities. All employees are be
lug put .upon positive limits as to ex¬
pense accounts, and every effort is be¬
ing made by the State Highway boar.d
to cut expenses In*every possible way.
From carefully listening to all the
evidence your committee is unable to
reach any conclusleg other than this.
“Although everything covered ia
this investigation was investigated by
a legislative committee two years Nrifly ago,
Mr. Holder, Mr. .Bennett, Mr.
and Mr. Neel, through their attorney,
raised no objections whatsoever to the
second investigation, but in fact urged
same, and insisted that it be conduct
ed in the most thorough manner,
further stating, that if anything irregu
lar’could'be discovered they were ex¬
tremely’anxious to ascertain and cor¬
rect it. The committee was given full,
hearty and courteous co-operation by
every ene connected with the State
Highway department with whom they
came in contact, throughout the in¬
vestigation.
"Your 'committee recommends that
a vote of confidence and co-operation
be given this department which 1 b un
dou’ ahtedly doing a magnificent work
for the state of Georgia.
“In the opinion of your committee
the co-operation between the chief era
ployees of the State Highway depart
ment is as complete as could be
w-anted and your committee feels
it would be remiss 'in its duty^if it did
not give full commendation to
State Highway depa'rtm%nt.
“Respectfully PACE, submitted,
“STEPHEN
“•13th” District,
“Chairman,
“H. H. ELDERS,
“Tattnall County,
“Vice- Chairman,
“GEO. W. LANKFORD,
“lothtDistrict,
“C. D. REDWINE,
“26th District,
“H. E. COATES,
“14th District,
“E. M. SMITH,
“35th District,
“FORMER BARRETT,
"Stephens County,
“TOOMBS DuBOSE,
“Clarke County,
“J. H. WRIGHT,
“Jones County,
“C. M. HEAD,
“Cobb County,
“J. B. MOOIE,
“Appling County,
“BEN. J. FOWLER,
“Bibb County,
‘‘G. F. WORTHY?
“Quitman County,
“L. L. GRINER,
“Ben Hill County.”
If you are looking for an im¬
possible task just try to convince
a woman she is wrong when she
knows she is.
j
1
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120 16th Sc, New York (Dept. &)
THE SEED OF SUCCESS
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extent realizing on their agricul¬
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“I believe the trouble is with
our young white men,” he said.
“They seem to have lost the
sense of thrift and the ability to
save money. They nearly all
seem to prefer a job of some
sort about town, and whatever
they make, mine out of ten spend
as they go. Instead of saving and
buying land and helping to make
our idle acres productive, their
thoughts run mainly to flivvers,
bad whiskey, and what they
think is a big time. In conse¬
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negro tenants, without compe
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HOW TO READ
BLUEPRINTS
A practical course that will help
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f I1HE building tradrs are booming
_|_ There is a shortage of trained
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1 In demand.
i It isn’t hard to learn to read blue
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C Architect
□ Automobile Work
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□ Contractor and Builder
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Q □ Foreman Heating and Plumber Ventilation
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V»a>».........................................
Address ...........................
Occunatlon..............................
Local Kepresei^alive, P. H. (iibsen,
27 Arcade Bldg., Atlanta, Georgia.
tent direction, with the
showing in an extremely
tractive countryside.”
I believe this man laid his fin¬
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economic sins—lack of thrift.
When old James J. Hill said, in
effect, that the index to material
success is the ability to save
money, he spoke a great truth.
There is, as a rule, simply no ma¬
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however, too many who can af¬
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vers, and those who can afford
only flivvers ride in six-cylinder
cars. We need more six-cylinder
earning and saving capacities,
rather than our present predom¬
inance of flivver incomes and
multi-cylinder appetites.—B. L.
Moss, in The Progressive Far¬
mer.
L. W. JARMAN
IMISS EVA STEPHENSON
Announce the opening of their
FIRE INSURANCE OFFICE
IN STAR BUILDING
We want a share of your business.
This department is under the capable man¬
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LIFE INSURANCE
FARM LOANS
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L [CHEVROLET
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AGENT FOR
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CARS
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Gasoline and Motor Oils,
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Como in and let us show you the best cars
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AT THE SAME OLD LOCATION
CASTOR IA
For Infants and Children
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Always bears
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TRANSFER CO.
Passengers, .Freight
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Household Goods Moved
Phone 126
J. O. BRADSHAW
Manager
There is no surer way of get
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to follow the neighbor’s pace.