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THE WAYCROSS WEEKLY HERALD HIES MBS’ Waycross, Oa., May IS, 190S. TO THE PUBLIC:—DUTY AND JUS TICE REQUIRES THIS STATE MENT: The case of the State vs. Harry E. Lyles, charged with murder, was tried at the April Term, 1907, of Ware Su perior Court, wnen notwithstanding the overwhelming public esntiment and strong prejudice existing against Lyles, there wus a mistrial, but imme diately following upon the second trial of the case, when it was apparent that every influence was exerted to con strain the jury to convict without a recommendation, a straight verdict of guilty was rendered and Lyles was sentenced to be hung. A motion for a new trial was made end promptly overruled and the case carried to the Supreme Court lor re view, where it was argued in Octob. aud after being held under consider- tion for several months tQ the surprise not only of Lyles' counsel but to oth ers because of previous decisions of the court, the judgment of the court below was affirmed in March. Thereupon petitions in favo commutation of the sentence of Lyles to life imprisonment were circulated and after being signed by several hun dred of the good people •>? Waycross nai Ware county, and a majority of the members of the bar who near*! the case tried, and certain of the county olllcers, (members of the Jury convicting Lyles being willing also to recommend a commutation of senten ce provided they thought it would meet with the approval of the esurt,) were filed with the Prison Comtni3- (iovernor from Lie Executive ofliee on his campaign tour every day during said week, being engaged on said Saturday the Sih Inst., in making a campaign speech in Washington, Wil kes county, and although we presume lie spent Sunday in Atlanta at the lyx- ecutive Mansion and leaving that nignt for Augusta where he was on Monday tlie 11 inst., making a speech there that night and goin^ from there to Savanna:), yet on Tuesday the 12th, we received the following communication: “Atlanta, Cia., May 11, 1908. Messrs. .1. L. Sweat and John T. Myers, Waycross, Ga., Gentlemen: — In the matter of the application of Harry E. Lyles for a commutation of his sentence, I bey to advise you that after a very careful consideration of this case, the Governor has passe*! an order declining to grant the applica tion. Very truly yours, C. M. HIT(?H, Secretary Executive Department." Realizing It would require some time for Ills Excellency the Governor, to carefully read and consider the voluminous report and that we would be accorded the priviicdgu of appearing before him to urge commutation on behalf of Lyles, ami understand the pressing engagements of the Governor, while we were ready to go to Atlanta upon any- day fixed by him, we supposed that if he could not conveniently find ie pending the campaign to give :ase the consideration its import ance entitled it to with a human life THE MILD HOKE SMITH RALLY JOE DROWN MAN CORRECTS STATEMENT PUBLISHED. HUTCHINS SPOKE JIT PHOENIX PARK. IS ABLE ADDRESS WAS IN IN TEREST OF JOE BROWN. JOKE The report of the big Hoke Smith rally at McDonald, Ga., reported in a Waycross paper on last Wednesdaj brings forth the following correction from Mr, Joe McDonald: McDonald, Cu., May II. Mr. F. IL McDonald, Way Ga in favor pool wa Brown, sion and a formal application made* involved, that If necessary he would 1*1 presented by his counsel to said | grant a respite for thirty days with Prison Commission and the t argued before them. Whereupon they took view of enabling him to have I portunity to do so. under | As will be seen, howe consideration, and us the Judge and i been denied the privilege * have ?d for Dear Frank: Yours received. There was a Hoke Smith rally here last Saturday and Col. Dart and Col. Lankford came over and spoke. There were very few people here. The crowd was poll* .1 several times aud was always Brown. The average ; to 12 In favor of no can readily sfeo that tho GO enrolled that dayds untrue, as there were only 25 people here In all —two of diem from Douglas and '■> from Clinch county, 'lloke Smith's crowd asked us not to report tho meeting and they wouldn’t report it, hut you see they have reported u u» suit themselves. You can bet your life we are ahead so far and we tiro going to slay ahead. Even the names you see marked (six names marked) were not at the meeting at all that 4 1 day, and they tell me that they have It not signed the Hoke /Smith Club, and j v there are only two Hoke Smith i hero that 1 know of. Yours truly, JOE McDONALI GOV. JOE BROWN. Solicitor General opposed-'commuta tion of the sentence, the Prison Com mission recommended that tho same be not granted, and on Friday the Sth Inst, transmitted the record to the Ex ecutive office where It was received and was on file on Saturday the 9th. On said Fridny tlii* Sth inst., we addressed the following communica tion to His Excellency the Governor, which reached the Executive office on Saturday morning: . "May 8th, 190S. * "His Excellency, Hoke Smith, z Atlanta, Ga. Dear Sir:— We see by today’s paper that tne Honorable Prison Commission of the State has declined to recommend a commutation of the sentence of Harry E. Lyles, convicted of murder In Ware Superior Court, to life imprisonment an application therefor having been recently presented and argued by us as counsel appointed by the court to represent said Harry E. Lyles. Now the record In £a!d case is very voluminous and while it seems to be hoping against hope for us to further press the matter, yet we not only deem and commutation has been refused in the manner and under 'the circum stances as stated. While public sentiment is still against Lyles, yet tin* most prejudiced think lie was entitled to have his duly considered and his counsel nt least given the same privilege that was accorded Tom Watson in the Glover case, and although Lyles’ stands upon a different footing, there being no direct a:.d pcaLive evidence to show toe shci/.In? was intentional there would' r. t »:i.vo l „*<*n the same ground fer cr.n.plal.it, if commutation had then betn refused. Under the law, th? Prlaca Commis sion can only make a recommendation to the Governor and bv the Constitu tion of the State the Governor alcnc is vested with the power to commute penalties. While commutation was urged main ly upon tho ground that inasmuch as there was no eye witness to the shoot ing and as Judge Warren Lott aud wihers testified from actual experi ments made, that it was possible for it to have bceu acidental as Lyles always claimed it was, and that he On last Saturday, both through word mouth and through (‘no columns of the News we spread broad cast the honestly-felt opinion that Joe Brown could not carry Baldwin county, but that Gov. Smith would have a mighty II majority. We were sincere in this opinion until Sunday, when utter ances of tho Hon. Seaborn Wright and the Rev. W. W. Landrum, of Atlanta, were made known through the dail, . ers. Now we believe ( Brown will bo the title of our chief executive In 1909 and carry Baldwin county by a safe majority.—Milled vllle Nows. An audience of between 400 and 500 people, among whom were several i ladies, greeted Hon. G. U. Uutchin . f Ccdartown in Phoenix park today Many people who had ti«*eii : | that there would he a joint debate at tin* court hose, \v< nt there, while nun hers of Joe Brown supporters, deal ! ins to hear the famed politician, ltob • i t I.. Berner in IUh defense present governor, also a tended the speaking at the court house. Those who hoard the adress of M Hutchins, wore not disappointed, in fact it is generally conceeded to have been one the greatest speeches ev before heard in this city—not except ing the go rat oratorical addr< lloke Smith. Mr. Hutchins is from the mountains of North Georgia, and brings the new ihat the voters of his section have ris en on masse against the policle lloke Smith, and on June 4th will give overwhelming majorities to Little Joe Brown. Mr. Hutchins tells that the thirteen counties in the Ninth Dis trict, with possibly one exception, wTH it their ballots for Brown and 1’ Ity, and that of the eighteen coun- [ties of the Seventh District at tho I very least sixteen can be placed In tiie Joe Brown column without a doubt Tho speech was n convincing argu ment to the hearers as to why the voters of Georgia should give up the policies of the present administration and join under the standard of Joe Brown and a return of prosperity. Mr. llutchln’s address was listened to with gr«*nt Interest and thero much enthusiasm. Ho will take tonight certain isucs of the campaign which were not niehtloned today, those who atoml the speaking in Phot ni Park great hi sd of hear- •T ROT. , Go It otir bounded duly to the podr ihA!l.j nhould therefore be given the benefit to do so but we have such a strong!of at least this element of doubt as I ^ j g Augusta Chronicle. It Is printed chat, at V, erncr Smith tnl:! that he was not cam paigning for - .*er.jn.inatLa—that was not necessary—hut his whirlwind fly through the state, “was solely for the ntrpose of making his majority so great that thero would bo no combi nation of the Joe Brown, negro and re publican forces to defeat him with independent candidate in the October electlcn." Rot. Surely Governor Hoke Smith doesn’i really believe, like Mr. Rube Arnold, that there urs a pile of "d.tracd fools” in Georgia, It is hard to believe that Governor Hoke Smith made such a statement. It is certain that every man in Way- cross who beard any such statement pronounced it the rot and buncombe ur thousand dolln offered for Mrs. n't got her. Brown in Georgia aud Gilchrist in Florida. Looks like things are coming No matter who is elected governor, vo will all be in Jt together—Alb* >amee. E. To the Editor of i .Wre x\V. Telegraph: A ago we began upbuilding the known as the - began without •res of Georgia only asset, be ll ml love of our for labor over kr of the business, te ying twenty til tlid twice a capital, only a f»- pine lauds being sides young mania section of the state. At the beginning or our career wo, imong other enterprises, became as- iclated with the manufacture of lum ber and "naval stores. To those who ire not familiar with this line of busi ness we will say that it necessitat ed a huge outlay of money; hence the majority of us who has followed this line of business have always had to seek outside money. Wo could •pontine op id coining i id twice i •dlate eds timber lino lease* Among purchase often in large to secure a sufficiency of ;ua ran tee us in investing in saw mills and turpen- fixtures, etc. I** many other draw hacks o our business in those days were o* I era of railway facilities; henco to o a large extern wo had to build our iwn railways to connect with tho allway sjstem of Georgia. Just here dr. Editor, let iih digress a little and efep more minutely to the once "tram* oad In Georgia, especially South Geor gia. l»ok at a railway mup of South tirglu today and > the majority of our u< 11 way systems was ■orgia. Ty t‘.S'v ' pensc of build n cusily unde is to Interest I„* ntly to cause thei see tlmt new well equipped i once tram roads, c;::ratin cf South underwent the those tram roads, .ml how hard It Igu capital suffici- i to buy them up as much for timber ; vet We Were fllikH He found ev»ry ti with a smiling lace : All lough paying fror os much for limber i for labor, in fact tlie price of labor “cut no Ice," all he wanted awa labor give him labor ami lie would make money. He found the cross tie operators pay ing more for dead timber upon the ground than ho had ev. r paid for choice green timber; nLo ; ayiug twice as much for geitlngjiij ties cut as over was known in the trade, yet ho was making money and contented. He found our farmers prosperous and receiving the top notch price for every article they could grow upon tho farm. He found our towns and cities equlppng themselves with electric lights, water works, sewerage public school systems, etc. Also many of them building manufacturing enter prises which have since been aband oned. Mind you, Mr. Editor these is and cities which were taking o much life some of them aro standing where ten and fifteen years ;o the native Georgian pine stood. He foetid our banks full of money abiding conviction of his lnnocense | to his guilt and his sencencc commut- t’.'.at wo are constrained to believe j ed to Ulo imprisonment, believing when you coine to hear the case fully j that the law would be sufficiently via- and properly uuderstanji it that youj dicated thereby end Its aims and pur- will, notwithstanding the adverse ‘cir-1 poses in its punishments sufficiently cumstacces, commute the sentence ; accomplished, yet in erder to proper- to life imprisonment. We therefore desire you to.fix suca time as will suit your convenience when we may come to Atlanta to argue the case before you. Lyles is now under sentence to be hung on the 26th inst., and in view of the shortness of the time and your ether pressing engagements, we would respectfully ask that you grant u respite for thirty days and fix each day In the mcatime as will enable you to conveniently hear us and will *Ive you time to thoroughly and care- fully read and consider the record in the case. Please let us'hear from you. Very truly yours, J. L. SWEAT. JOHN T. MYERS.” ; Nolwithstandi ig the absence of the !y understand the care, a careful read ing of the entire record was necessary and there were special reasons we de sired to urgo upon the Governor as to why ho should commute the sentence, notwithstanding the opposition of the Jud.'c and Solicitor General and the adverse recommendation cf the* Prison Commission. If the opposition cf a Judie and Solicitor General is to defeat commu tation, then the law ought to be changed to that effect-an J there woulw be no -reason then to have the Prison Commission consider an application and make a recommendation or for the Governor to exercise the power of .ranting or refusing commutation as vested fn him by the Constitution; or if the opposition of a Judge and Solici tor General and the adverse reccra- Rot or not, Thero is a gentleman In Waycross who heard him make the Judge R. B. Russell insists that he Is not for Hoke 3mi.ii. Well then we know where to locate him. niendotlou of the Prison Commission is to control, then and In that event the power vested in the Governor by the Constitution to commute penalties becomes a nullity. It Is not our pun>o*;e to improperly cr unjustly criticise any one but as we have conscientiously endeavored to perform cur full duty In the case, we are constrained to roa*e this state ment in order that the public may un derstand that wo hava not been It; any wise remiss in pressing the ap plicaikn for a commutation cf the sentence cf Lyles to life imprison ment before His Excellency the Gov ernor. Respectfully submitted, J. L| SWEAT, JOHN T. MYERS. TrvE MEN SPENT A VERY QUIET DAY AFTER GETTING THEIR CAMP IN 8HAPE. Savannah, Go., May 18.J—The soldiers at Fort Screven who aro now comfortably situated for a ten days camp spent a very quiet day yesterday The men were very tired Saturday night after the labors of getting their Camp In shape and most of them slept soundly during the nignt. They were up at Sunday morning bugle call yes terday morning, however, and after puling their tenia In shape and attend Inv to other routine duties thero v.ai not much to do throughout the day During the afternoon the camp wai visited by a largo number of rlends of the troops. Many visitors went down from the city and there would have been many others except for the fact that it ruined fn the city during the afternon. The country companies are already well adopted to their now circumstances. Some of them are little puzzled over tho mysteries of the big "crick” upon the shores of which they are encamped. This Is an ideal time for an encampment at Ty- bee and the boys are finding it much more comfortable so far as mosquitoes and the midday heat is concerned than they did last year when the en campment was^in July. Major W. Stephens of the Savannah Volunteer Guards Battalion who is in command of the camp of Volunteers seems much pleased with the rapidity with which he camp was arranged, and the ease with which the soMicru adjusted tom selves to the life cf a regular. Wed nesday will be a big day In camp. There will be a series of field sports on the beach which will be participat ed In by both volunteer! and regulars. ud give us the flue system we have . One thing wo urc sure* of—In days the governors of Georgia not uiitl-forelgn capital demagog- >ut nu*n who held out the hand f friendship to those who wanted to hint their money in Georgia. Be this their eternal credit. Pile writer lias more than once bought that Ills little was all gone iiini for the lack of railway con- n. On more tliun one occas ion ho has Invaded'(he money mar kets of the United States in search of a helping hand, not always successful. Yet up until the election of Iloko Smith for Governor was the refusal that Georgia was looked upon as an unsafe field for capital. This Was the only time that my cheeks ever burned with chagrin and shame for my na tive state. We will say here that Georgia was not known to those capi talists as it was to us. 1* was known then ns Hoke' Smith's State nnd not the state of three million of people is honest and good as the God of this alvrrse ever created. Mr. Editor we have no desire to be •artlsian in the matter of the election f Governor of Georgia; It would not :e to cur interest. We only desire to ./jt ld:rc the world the condition of :ni Great South Georgia, bofore and tft r tithing the Hokelsm of two years ipo. When he came among us as he Moses of the twentieth century to lead us to reform, we iiossessed the garden spot of Georgia. What we needed was this nman Hoke’s refor mation. We havo had it. Let us look at It. Two years ago Hoke 3nilth found prosperity In South Georgia as it never existed before. Here are a few of the things he found: He found every saw mill In South Georgia running full time, paying the That near beer dosn't seem to be any ways near Waycross. —r—* John Johnson Is a very homely name but it may be the name of your next president. Who knows * Florida had her state primary yes- Airday, quite a strenous one. It looks is if Gilchrist would be nominated for iovernor. We certainly hope so. of them with more than they could use. He found our real estate at good prices and plenty of buyers. In fact he found South Gceorgla prosperous. Every railroad side track full of pro duce ready for tho market. All wo wanted was cars crying for cars. This ho (Smith) said he would remedy, no argument necessary to answer how well he has kept his word. Iloko Smith returned to South Geor gia uoiiio weeks ago seeking vindica tion. Let us see wbq^.b** finds. Ho finds (gliostb^ cry saw mill Glut Is not closed down running on half time und the poor laboring man orkim, at half prico, compared with two years ago. He flinds our turpentine operators' faces pinched aud drawn with pain crying out: ruined! ruined! (tho ghost of Hokelsm.) He finds our cross tie operators out of business, and the timber that once brought u good price burning up from forest fires aud tho laborer out of a Job. He finds our turpentlno operator! years older and giving mortgages to turn associations. Tho only business that we know that has increased has been these foreign loan associations. JJe finds our bankers gray-headed rom the oid« al of the panic. He finds .hem without funds to help the many legitimate enterprises now needing re lief in Smith Georgia. He finds them in such shape us they have nevor Seen before. He finds our towns oil a stand-still The only sign of progress being that they are uutl-IIoke to tho bone. Mr. Editor, the above facts are true and as we said from a non-partisan lew. We wish it was ao that we could keep the precedent of electing our Governor the second term, but cohimon sense will advise us all on soon as we possibly can to correct an rror. South Georgia will go for Little Joe by a large majority. ^ PIONEER, South, Georgia, May *12, 190S. ; The Charlottee Observer thinks that if In hell there were any marrying or flglng In mairtage Johann Hocb, professional wife-murderer, and Mrs. Bella Gulnnes, professional husband suitor—murderer, would make eminently fit soul-mates for each otb- That peach grower who claims Cobb county for Smith had better quit rais ing peaches and go into politics. JS&-1