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The Fitzgerald Leader
ENTERPRISE AND PRESS
~ Published By
LEADER PUBLISHING CO.
Isidor Gelders _______________Editor
S. F. Gelders ____________Man’g Ed.
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NO VIOLENCE IN A. B.
AND A. STRIKE— The one out
standing feature of the present
“vacation” of the Atlanta Birm
ingham and Atlantic employees is
the splendid reserve which the
men have maintained and their
strict observance of the spirit of
the law. Whatever else may come
out of this strike, these men are
winning a great victory fer union
labor in proving to :he world that
union labor has developed to a
plane where it “zan fight its own
battles according to law and, re
gardless of what the cther side
does, remain peacealle, law abid
ing citizens.
In the past the word “striker”
too often has had a dangerous
ring. It has too often meant “dir
ect action” and temporary out
law. That has been probably
because in the past the laws
were not made to protect the
hights and interests of the
working man. The statute law
in most instances favored the em
ployer, no matter which side was
favored by moral law. To en
force moral law the men some
time felt that it was necessary to
break statute law. In this strike
things are different. Courts grind
slowly, it takes time for them to
reach decisions. In a situation
like the present one, however, they
work faster than ordinarily when
the comfort and convenience of
many people depend on quick ser
vice. If the strikers maintain the
attitude of fearless, law abiding
citizens that has distinguished
them thus far, the Leader has
enough confidence in law and gov
ernment to believe that they will
come through with one of the big
gest clean victories union labor
has yet won.
Col. Bugg has been playing his
hand well. He has Seemingly
been successful up to a certain
limit. He can not pass that limit,
The United States Government
has, in a way, taken the side of the
strikers in ordering the United
States District Attorney in At
lanta to defend the Newlande Act
in Federal court. The Railroad
Labor Board is at least fair. Any
act of violence would entirely
turn the tables. Violence, at who
ever directed, affects the public
and would throw organized auth
ority against the strikers.
MORE PEA GREEN JOUR
NALISM—The Leader publishes
herewith an editorial from the pen
of our esteemed friend and fellow
booster for Georgia, J. Kelly Sim
mons of the Nashville Herald.
This editorial was embodied in a
news story in the Leader of last
Saturday and yesterday was prin
ted, without credit to Mr. Sim
mons or the Herald by another
newspaper of the same name,
In the newspaper world the
practice of publishing the handi
work of another without giving
credit to the other is looked upon
as plain stealing and considered
the lowest ebb of newspaper eth
ics. Pea Green journalists who
have not the imagination to con
ceive ideas as Mr. Simmons and
others of his kind can conceive
them, or the ability to express
them as well as he, may frequent
ly be tempted to steal credit for
good ideas well expressed. No
criminal laws prevent such prac
tices but very few men in the
Fourth Estate ever stoop to them,
The Leader publishes Mr. Sim
mons editorial from the Nashville
Herald first because it is well
worth reading twice and thinking
over several times and second be
cause some people who did not
see it in the Leader Saturday may
be interested to know how it hap
pened to be in the other paper
Tuesday. The editorial follows:
WE SHOULD HAVE AN
OFFICIAL HIGHWAY ,
It is a lamentable fact that the
section of country from Valdosta
by way of Ray City, Nashville,
Alapaha, Ocilla, Fitzgerald, Ab
beville and on direct to Macon is
not represented on any of the of
ficial highways. And this very
section is one of the finest sec
tions of Georgia .
The editor of the Herald has
recently discussed this with par
ties who are taking in'a -"Directl
Route” from Valdosta to Macon.
By creating a route as indica’ted,‘
it would save many miles and
pass through a most desirable
section of Georgia. It is not the
fault of the hundreds of thous
and of tourists from the North
who come this way to Florida
every year that they do not get
to see any of the country just
named above. They would only
be too glad to come one way and
go back another if they had the
road to travel.
People in the towns named
above should get busy and let’s
have a road as above outlined
charted. By consulting the map
it will be seen that such a road
would be an air line. It is the
one thing that the section of
country named needs. None of
the tourists coming this way an
nually see this section. ,That is
what we want. That is what we
must have. The very section
along this route should be given
more publicity. A road as out
lined should give it that very
thing. All it needs is to be seen
by the outside world. The best
way in the world to let the out
siders see it is to provide a way
for them to pass through it com
fortably.
There is no use acknowledging
this is a fine idea and then sit
down and let the matter drop.
If you think it is worth while and:
you would like to “get on the
map,” then let’s be up and doing.
We will never get it dntil we go
after it. So let’s be up and doing.
AND NO TRADE WITH
RUSSIA— If the opinion of Her
bert Hoover, Esq., secretary of
Commerce under Harding, that
the United States cannot trade
with Russia while the Bo! » iki
are in control, is to taken Pt
ially expressing the attitude < tie
Harding administration, the jco
ple of this country are due to in
dulge in some hard thinking
about who really elects their pres
idents.
Two gigantic interests clash in
this question of Russian trade.
The financiers, the dealers in
money, those who leech a share
of what others have produced,
have large syms sunk in the bot
tomless pit of old Russia, the Rus
sia of the Czar. They want to
collect. The real big business of
the country, the creators of wealth
from the biggest operator to the
most unimportant workman, from
the biggest farmer to the last little
dark skinned cotton picker, have
no interest in collecting the bad
debts of the financiers and a very
great interest is sending new
American goods to Russia in ex
change for good new Russian
gold and oil and wheat.
If the Harding candidacy had
been fostered by the real big bus
in¢ss of the country, trade resump
tion would have " followed If
what Hoover says goes, then it
must be that Harding was pick
ed by the financiers. !u order to
continue the hopeicss effort ‘to
collect a few hundrel million
dollars in money loaned to tie
worst government in recent his
tory, that of the T ussian Czar,
this Harding administration mas ‘
prevent the sal: of hillions of dol
lars worth of goods to Russia,
shipped C. O. D.
England whose government
seems to be in the hands of the
productive business interests, has
resumed trade relations.
The Bolsheviki are never going
to pay the money lenders the
sums that were sent to the Czar,
for the purpose of prosecuting,
persecuting, killing, these same
Bolsheviki. And there is very lit
tle possibility of the Bolsheviki
regime ever being overturned.
There is no possibility that Russia
will ever have another govern
ment which will consider the ob
ligations of the defunct Czaristic
government.
Russia wants our cotton; we
want Russian gold. Will Hard
ing forbid?
L S
JOURNALISTIC COWAR
DICE— This newspaper, any
newspaper, every newspaper, car
ries three classes of erading mat
ter. It carries advertising, which
is bought and paid for by the ad
vertiser and which tells anything
the advertiser chooses to tell as
long as it conforms to standards
of honesty, good taste and decen
cy. It carries editorial matter,
written by the editor and, in ef
fect, published over hig signa
ture. "Whatever appears in this
newspaper in the editorial col
umns is written by the editor,
unless otherwise credited, and ex
presses the editors own beliefs,
ideas, and ideals. Editorial mat
ter is offered to the readers of
this newspaper as matters of
opinion, to be accepted and weigh
ed as such. :
The third class of reading mat
ter is news. News is supposed to
be facts, is offered to the readers,
THE LEADER-ENTERPRISE AND PRESS WEDNESDAY, MARC H23rd. 1921
as facts, and unless it consist
ently proves to be facts, the
newspaper becomes of no value
to the reader, editor or adver
tiser. The reading matter of
fered in the Fitzgerald Leader!
is fact and the Fitzgerald Leader‘
is at all times prepared to prove
with sworn testimony the truth
of any statement which the Lead
er makes as a statement of fact.
However, there are two ways
in which news can be handled by
a'news writer or editor. It can be
handled for the purpose of 'in
forming the minds of the readers,
as it is consistently handléd by
the Leader, or it can be handled
to influence the minds of readers
in aydirection chosen by the editor.
It is difficult to “handle with
the gloves on” the kind of news
paper editor who prostitutes his
news coldmns to the purpose of
poisoning the public mind. It is
difficult to find the proper adjec
tives and nouns with which to
describe an editor, who because
he IS an editor is expected to in
form the public fairty in his news
columns, who deliberately closes
them to one side of any vital
question and searches in all sec
tions, however remote for things
to print on the other side. :
The Leader has been accus
tomed to taking a positive stand
on any question of “vital impor
tance. That stand has beén taken
in the editorial columns, argu
ments and reasons in support of
that stand written and printed
over the signature of the editors.
The news columns of the Leader
have been kept always:open to
both sides. The Leader has had
the courage to print news that it
realized would damage the cause
for which it stood, not because it
WANTED to hurt the cause it
was advocating, but because the
Leader wants to be and intends to
be FAIR, fair to all parties to a
controversy and, most of all, fair
to its readers who have learned to
believe in its fairness and trust to
that fairness.
Some self-styled newspaper
men without the courage to pub
lish over their signatures, fight
their battles on the front pages of
their papers, filling their col
umns with only one side of a con
troversy and thereby poisoning,
rather than informing, the minds
of their readers.
It is beggin the question to
plead that what is published is
true per se. There has never
yet been a controversy in
which both sides didn’t ~have
some good points in their
favor. Probably there never
will be such a controversy. Peo
ple in general know this, but how
ever fairminded they may be they
cannot help getting biased opin
ions when only one side of a con
troversy is given them. The ed
itor who wilfully tries to influence
the minds of his readers by offer
ing them only half the facts in a
case is betraying his trust to his
readers no less than he is betray
ing the people at whom his cam
ouflaged attacks are aimed.
(From Yesterday’s Dally)
ENEMIES OF LEADER AT
TEMPT TO DISCREDIT IT
BY LYING PROPAGANDA;
~ The enemies of the Leader and
the cause which the Leader has
‘espoused have begun an insid
ious propaganda against the
Leader in an attempt to discredit
it. Afraid to openly oppose the
stand the Leader has taken and
to attempt to openly fight against
right and justice, these rascals
have resorted to insinuation,
whispered aspersions and back
handed lies to weaken its posit
ion and to make the unwary be
lieve that the Leader is a liar and
that its sources of news are liars.
The Leader publishes here all
the data -obtainable in the first
attempt to discredit the Leader
and its friends by a direct charge.
Read the affidavits below, all
sworn to bythose who made them
You know the parties concerned
well enough to know who to be
lieve. :
SOMEBODY HAS LIED!!!!
Who has lied we leave to the fair
judgement of our readers. Why
he has lied we leave to our read
er,s imagination. The only cer
tain conclusion that the Leader
can draw from the following is
THAT THE LEADER HAS
NOT LIED BUT THAT SOME
ONE, OR SOME INTERESTS,
ARE DESPERATELY IN
TENT ON TRYinG TO MAKE
IT APPEAR THAT THE
LEADER HAS LIED. S
(From Fitzgerald. Leader ofl
March 17th, 1921.) 1
SAYS STRIKE BREAKERS
CUT TIRES OFF AUTO
Douglas Taxi Man Alleges
. “Breakers” He Transported
Damaged Car, |
A taxi driver from Douglés had
bad luck while in the shops yard
at Fitzgerald. He had delivered
an automobile load of strike
breakers to the A. B, and A. of
ficials in the shops and while he
was getting his bill okehed he
left his car inside the shops, and
on his return he found that the
strike breakers in the shops had
cut three of his tires entirely
from the car and punctured the
other one.
He passed through Fitzgerald
on three rims and one flat tire on
the way home. He stopped and
reported to Conductor A. M. Bar
rett and said he knew too much
about the class of men employed
by the A. B. and A. officials to
again ride them in his car.
_The taxi driver, according to
iMr. Barrett, was paid $l5 for his
trip and estimated the damage 'to
his tires at $90.00
’ Turner’s Denial
GEORGIA, Coffee County.
i Personally appeared before me
rE. D. Turner who after being du
ly sworn, deposes:and swears
‘that he has seen the article on the
front page of the Fitzgerald
Leader of the date of March 17th,
wherein it is stated that he (Tur
ner) claimed that the men whom
he carried to the shops of the A.
B. and A. railway at Fitzgerald
on the 16th instant, were the ones
who injured and damaged his car.
Deponent swears positively
that he has made no such state
ment; that he has not contended
that the men whom he transpor
ted to Fitzgerald injured his car,
but on the contrary this deponent
swears that his tires were cut by
}a bunch of men, apparently out-
Jaws that met him on the road
’from Fitzgerald leading from the
‘A. B. and A. shops; that there
was a gang of ten or fifteen men
)with flashlights stood in the road
and waved this deponent down
‘with said flashlights, and after
making inquiry as to where he
and the other men were going,
became enraged, and represented
themselves as being union men
and cursed the parties in the car
to being “Scabs” and every other
thing that is in the vocabulary of
people of this description, and out
laws generally. '
That then and there part of
gang were behind deponents car
and the air began to come out of
the tires; that he rushed on to the
shops as quick as he could and
upon his arrival investigated and
found the tires on the rear of his
car had been slashed with a sharp
instrument to an extent that they
were practically worthless; that
although deponent did not see
these union men cut said tires,
and with the threats they were
making against this deponent and
the people in the car with him,
together with the fact that the air
came out of the tires while they
were there where this bunch was,
these men are the ones that cut
his tires and the contention made
in the Fitzgerald Leader of the
date above mentioned to the effect
that this deponent stated that the
men who went with him on the
trip were the ones that cut his
tires, is absolutely without foun
dation; as a matter of fact, and
it is a contrary statement of the
facts, and is done by the Fitz
gerald Leader either by being
misinformed by some other per
son or else a wilful statement of
something that is absolutely un
true.
Deponent further swears that
he did not see Conductor A. M.
Barrett and does not know that
there is any such man living and
have never had a conversation
’with him or any other person, as
stated in the second paragraph of
‘thc article contained in the Fitz
gerald Leader that “Deponent
‘knew too much about the class of
‘men employed by the A. B. and A
Railway to again ride them in his
car.”
~ That if Mr. Barrett made this
‘statement. it was done without
any statement of this deponent to
him at all, and a statement, if
‘he made, which the Fitzgerald
Leader claims he did, in the sec
ond paragraph of said article, did'
it kowing it was absolutely false.‘
Deponent further swears that
Mr. Crosby, agent of the A. B.
and A. Railway. at Douglas, Ga..
paid him $lO.OO for this trip and
that he has not been paid any
amount for his tires, and he has
never made any statement to Mr.
Barrett with reference to what he
got from this trip or dimage to
the car, and his statement as al
leged in the last paragraph of arti
cle in the Fitzgerald Leader of
March 17th, is totally false and
is absolutely without foundation.
Signed E. D. Turner.
Sworn and Subscribed before
me this 18th day of March 1921
E. L. Tanner, Notary Public,
Stdte of Georgia.
Barrett’s Affidavit
GEORGIA, Ben Hill County.
~ Personally came betore me A.
M. Barrett, who after being duly
A Thought for the Evenpng
A VERSE AND A VIGNETTE ‘
By Dan G.Bickers 3
TO A MAN I KNOW
This may be said of him each day
As he continues at his task___
From none a favor does he ever ask___
“He is a man” on every mile along the way.
And this__in all he may essay to do,
In life-work, in the little act
Of kindness or of courtesy, this fact: -
“He is completely clean___and true!
TWO NAMES
In one country it was known as “Morale”___
And in another it aswered to the ame of ___
Esprit de corps.
It was the same by either ame. :
'sworn, deposes and swears that
on March 16th, 1921, a taxi driver
whom he did not know but whom
he since that time has reason to
believe is one E. D. Turner, of
Douglas, did state to deponent,
in the presence of others, that the
tires of his automobile had been
cut while his automobile was in
the premises of the A. B. and A.
railway shops and did iurther
state to deponent that he helicved
said tires to have been cut by
strike breakers whom said E. D.
Turner had transported. into said
premises.
Deponent further swears that
said E. D. Turner did state to
him, in the presence of third par
ties, that “he knew to much ahout
the class of men employed by the
A. Bsand A. railway to again ride
them in his car,” or words to that
effect the purpose and substance
of which were quoted by the Fitz
gerald Leader, issuc of March 17,
1921, %
Deponent further swears that
if said E. D. Turner did at any
time subsequent to March 16th,
1921, deny that he made this state
ment hereinbefore mentioned, or
did question the veracity of de
ponent in quoting him as He was
quoted in the Fitzgerald Leader,
that said E. D, Turner made
such denial knowing that such de
nial was absolutely false.
(Signed) A. M. Barrett.
Sworn and subscribed before
me this 21st day of March, 1921.
Cathrine Blum,
Notary Public, State of Georgia.
Suppm;ting Testimony
GEORGIA, Ben Hill County:
Personally appeared before me
T. M. Bradshaw who after being
duly sworn, deposes and swears
that on March 16th he heard a
man whose name at that time he
did not know but whom he has
since had reason to believe is E.
D. Turner of Douglas, Ga., a
taxi cab driver, tell third parties
that tires on his, said Turner’s
automobile had been cut while
said automobile was in the prem
ises of the Atlanta Birmingham
and Atlantic railway shops.
Deponent further swears that
the man whom he now has rea
son to believe is E. D. Turner of
Douglas, remarked further that
“it had cost him, about $9O worth
of tires to make $l5 from the rail
road,” or words to that effect.
Deponent further swears that
if at any time subsequent to
March 16th, 1921, he (Turner)
denied that he had stated that
said tires on said automobile
were cut while said automobile
was in the Atlanta Birmingham
and Atlantic railway shops, said
Turner made such denial know
ing that such denial was in it
self a false and untrue statement.
(Signed) Tom Bradshaw. |
‘Sworn to and subscribed before
me this 22nd day of March, 1921.
Catherine Blum, Notary Public,
State of Georgia.
RAILROADS CANNOT RE
JUNKED—This section of
Georgia need have no fear of los
ing the service of the Atlanta,
Birmingham & Atlantic Railway
permanently or for any great
length of time. The declaration
of Col. Bugg that"the road might
be junked was made probably
for “moral effect” but it can go
!no farther. :
> uln spite of a great many things
‘that have happened, law is still
based largely on justice and the
United States really has law, al
though recently many people
have been led to wonder whether
law amounted to anything or not.
The Transportation Act is still
held to be valid and under that
act, railroad corporations are
bound to fulfill the contracts they
make with* the public, with you
and me, when they accept a fran
chise to build tracks and operate
trains. :
The provisions of the Trans
portation Act of Congress which
insure this section against the
“junking” of the Atlanta Bir-
'mingham and Atlantic railroad
follow : i
' “(18) After ninety days this para
graph takes effect no carrier by rail
road subject to this Act shall ?mw
take the extension of its line ofY rail
road, orthe construction of a new
line of rajlroad, or shall acquire or
operate any line of railroad, or exten
sion thereof, or shall engage in trfhs_-
portation under this Act over or by
'means of such additional or extended
line of railroad, unless and until there
shall first have been obtainkd from
the Commission a certificate‘ihat the
present or future public convenience
and necessity require or will require
the construction, or operation, or
construction and operation, of 'uch
additional or extended line of rail
road, and no carrier by railroad sub
ject to this Act shall abandon all or
any portion of a line of railroads, or
the operation thereof, unless and un
til there shall first have been ob
tained from the Commission a certifi
cate that the present or future public
convenience and necessity permit of
such abandonment. $
“(19) The application for an® is
suance of any certificate shall be
under such rules and regulations as
to hearings and other matters as the
Commission may from time to time
prescribe, and the provisions m this
Act shall apply to all such proceed
ings. Upon receipt of any ' applica
tion for such certificate the Commis
sion shall cause notice thereof to be
given to and a copy filed with the
governor of each State in wiich such
additional or extended line of rail
road is proposed to be constructe{? or
operated, or all or any portion a
line of railroad, or the oper ‘.
thereof, is proposed to be abard&gßd,
Iwith the right t 6 be heard as terein—
iafter provided with respect to the
&hearing of complaints or the issuance
;Of. securities; and said notice shall
lalso be published for three consecu
! tive weeks in some newspaper of gen
eral circulation in each county in or
| through which said line -of railroad
is constructed or operates.
“(20) The Commission shall have
the power to issue such certificate as
prayed for, or to refuse to issue it, or
to issue it for a portion or portions
of a line of railroad, or extension
thereof, described in the application,
or for the partial exercise only of
such right or privilege, and may
attach to the issuance of the ce'/t-?fi
cate such terms and conditions as in
its judgment the public convenience
and necessity may require, | From
and after issuance of such ce¢fificate
and not before, the carrier by rail
road may, without securing approval
other than such certificate, cofnply
with the terms and conditions con
tained in or attached to the issuance
of such certificate and proceed with
the construction, operation, or aband
onment covered thereby. Any con
struction, operation, or abandonment
contrary to the provisions of 4" this
paragraph or of paragraphs (18) or
(19) of this section may be enjoined
by any court of competent jurisdic
tion at the suit of the United States
the Commission, any commission or
[rcgulating body of the State or St‘ies
}afiected, or any party in interest; and
}any carrier which, or any director,
}officer, receiver, operating trustee,
lessee, agent, or person, acting for
or employed by such carrier, §who
knowingly authorizes, consents to, or
‘permits any violation of the provi
sions of this paragraph or of pgra
graph (18) of this section, shall upon
conviction thereof be punished by a
fine of not more than $5,000 or by
imprisonment for not more than
three years, or both, e
e, p——————— 1
SPLASH ME /
NEWS ITEM— Class in swim: ng
for married couples will be orga'xgcd
Monday. Ladie’s suits furnished' if
desired.—Baltimore Sun.
PLAY BALL q
NEWS ITEM— The local basket
ball team will wear their new shirtvn
Friday night. The trousers have not
yet arrived— New York Herald.
bl i e B e
SUN KISSED :
NEWS ITEM— At Clay Center
yesterday several persons got their
tonsils sunburned watching an air--
plane disappear. K\a_nsas City Star\f.'