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TUESDAY EDITION 'WEATHER—CIoudy tonght; Wed mesday, Showers and Cooler. : et eßy T TR TONCTIER ev g ALLIES ACCOMPLISH GERMAN INVASION EBERT SAYSHE Urges Germans to Remain Calm As Allied Troops Come SNIPING IS REPORTED Vet e ; Du.sseldgrf Is Occupied But Has “Business As Usual” : (By International News Service) LONDON, March B—A mixed force of French, British and Belgians occu pied the important industrial German city of Dusseldorf this morning with out incident. The Allied military ad vance into 'the Ruhr district began at dawn, The American Army of Oc cupation "did 'not participate. The occupation, of Dusseldorf was com ‘pleted at 9:50 o’clock this morning. “The Ij‘regeh moved on Duisburg and Ruhrort at 6 o’clock this morning “and expected to occupy both towns, which are importarnt industrial and coal cen ters, during the day. 84 There ‘afe - about 120,000 Allied troops on the Rhine, not counting the small ‘American Army. The French furnished most of the troops that ad vanced from the Rhine. Reports that France will mobilize an y of her mil itary classes were denied today. The advancing French were sup ported by light artillery, rapid fire guns and two squadrons of airmen, No real opposition was encountered although some sniping is reported. The Belgians were first to move into Dussulldorf. Great crowds gath ered in the streets- watching the ‘sol diers planting batteries to sweep all important squares. K The bridges are heavily guarded. !‘%RT APPEALS #6R caLM BERLIN, March 8-—Pres. Ebert has appealed to the German nation to remain calm in the face of the Allied advance from the Rhine. The Ger man Cabinet remained in session un til after midnight to receive the re port of the course of foreign minister Simons at London. GERMANY WILL NOT - YIELD, DECLARES EBERT BERLIN, March B.—Following the proclamation, signed by President and Chancellor Ebert was addressed to the people of Dusselldorf today. “Our opponents are occupying German soil. This is a breach of the Treaty of Ver sailles. Violence may trample down justice but the German Government will not rest until the foreign invader succumbs to our just position.” PEOPLE OF DUSSELDORF TAKE PLIGHT CALMLY DUSSELDORF, March B—Three thousand French, British and Belgian troops hold this city this afternoon. More troops are coming. The people are calm and no signs of hostility are in evidence. An Allied Flotilla entered Duisburg at noon. The occupation of Duisburg and Ruhrort by infantry and calvalry was completed at 11 o’clock with no hostile manifestations. Tanks were brought up during the day, entering Dusseldorf this afternoon. Business went on as usual. GERMANS GO HOME . LONDON, March B.—Germa/n conferees, headed by Dr. Simons, left for Berlin this afternoon. STOCK GAMBLERS DO NOT FEAR DEVELOPMENT NEW YORK, March B—Action on the stock market today was interpret—; ed as indicating that those on the inside are not in the least apprehen sive over the final outcome of the German Indemnity situation. i GERMANY TO MAKE | PASSIVE OPPOSITION g BERLIN, March B—lt was an nounced today that the Gerinan gov ernment will remain firm in opposi tion to the Paris indemnity decisions of the Allies. For the time being Ger many- will play a passive role await ing the next move of the Allies. The cabinet was informed that A Belgian and French troops were moving ahead hours before the Simons message was received annmouncing that the Allies Lwere putting the penalties into effect. THE FIIZ6ERALD LEADER COOLIDGE SITS AT FIRST HARDING CABINET MEET %.Intemahmal‘ ~Newsfliervice ASHINGTON, March B—. President Warren G. Harding met with his Cabinet for the first: time at 11 o'clock this morning. An innovation was ‘the ‘presence’ of Vice President Calvin Cool idge, who ‘was givén the seat at: the egd of __thg_ gabinet table fac-! ing the President. 3 A COUNCIL APPROVES |“' AUDITORIUM PLAN } T ] ¥ . Ladies Take Council by Storm at | ‘Meeting Last 'l\géht COMMITTEE AAPPOINTEP Will :Show Cost at Next Meet ing; To Call Bond Vote .. s i v e Fitzgerald will have a bond election for a ‘high school auditorium, ‘proba bly in May, it became certan last night after a committee from the Woman’s Club had appeared before ‘city ‘council to advocate the auditor ium cause. Council unanimously ap proved the project. The committee was accompanied by all the members of the board of education and President U. J. Ben nett launched the drive on council in favor of the project, briefly outlin ing the need for additional class rooms and an assembly room of ample size. : r Mesdames R. E. Lee, Georgé Brown, EEC.\Persons, E. J. Dormi ney, C. F. Shewmake, S. L. Smith and W. E. Yeatman appeared for the Woman’s Club, and most of them spoke effectively for the auditorium. The committee had been appointed by Mrs. Lon Dickey, president of the club, at the meeting last Wednesday when the club endorsed the agitation for the auditorium. ! Opposition Is Withdrawn Practically all opposition that pre viously had been expressed against the auditorium projegt was removed when it was stated by City Clerk D, L. Paulk that the city had a bonding capacity of $131,461 in addition to the $244,000 of bonds already outstanding Last year, when the 1919 tax réports showed the city valued at $3,891,000 the outstanding bonds pressed close to the limit. The 1920 valuation of $5,363,733 however, leaves ample room for further civic expansion. A joint committee representing the city council, the -board of education and the women of the city was au thorized to prepare definite plans and specifications for the new auditorium. The committee will meet some time next week. It is composed of Mayor J. L. Pittman, Aldermen G. L. Kil crease, J. C. Glover, Lewis and Miller; Mesdames George W. Brown, R, E. Lee, E. K. Farmer, E. J. Dorminey, C. C. Persons for the Woman’s Club; U. J. Bennett, G. A. Jolley, Lon Dickey, Scott Walker, Dr. W, D. Dor miney for the Board of Education. Would Add Fire Bonds W. C. Wilkerson, chief of the Fitz gerald Fire Department, suggested this morning to a’ Leader-Enterprise reporter that about $5,000 be added on the bond issue to the amount needed for the school auditorium and the money be used to make such needed extension of water mains. A large section of the city is practically un protected against fire because no*fire plugs have been installed and ‘the city has not enough money from its current income to make’ the improve-‘ ments. ¢ Chief Wilkerson declared himself heartily in favor of the auditor.ium‘ project and said that he believed its. chances for carrying the election would be largely increased by adding a few thousand dollars for better fire protection. CIVIC LEAGUE SPEAKER AT MT. OLIVE SUNDAY ~ Mr. Geo. P. Morris, chairman of the rural committee of the Ben Hill Civic League will speak at Mt. Olive church Sunday afternoon, March 13th. His ‘subject is “Good Citizenship.” VOL. I, NO. 2 Employzes And Operators Present Their Coritentions About Strike A.B. & A Wil '#‘é’gg;pfifiggfing Trains Soon é\; lew Men Can Be Recruited Operators . Assert Unions Are Wfli}pg To Break Road o Sate Avarice ’ ATLANTA, March 8. (By Téle graph)—B, L. Bugg, Receiver, sfated today while"as yet no trains had been started out of their terminals since the strike order took effect on Saturday at noon, arrangements are being made in an orderly manner to resume ser vice. 4 ; . The same proceedure will be fol ‘lowed in emiploying fien “for ‘service on the rdad ‘as is done ‘inder normal ‘condition’s when ‘additional 'eiii'?joyeb @ i £ BN s T eTNTREY are reduired. Some of the require- Jments _are that references shall be RBN $ Kt A W BOK X furnished showing previous . employ .ment,. character of service, etc. 'An other is that all ‘applicants for engine and train service shall pass 'satisfac tory examinations on train rifles, ‘phy sical, ‘colors test. Erginmén ‘in ad dition are required to give satisfactory ‘evidénce of ‘a knowledge of the care and operation of a locomotive. Just as fast as employes can be re< cruited to meet the conditions as des cribed above train service will be re sumed, beginning with passenger, mail and express, it being the purpose to provide for this necessary service just as quickly as possible} _Tried to Conform Law The /Receiver appreciates the facts that the greatest burden of the strike is -falling upon the public. The Re ceiver, both in his present capacity and formerly as president of the rail way, has endeavored to conform in every way to orderly and lawful pro cecedure and met the employes and their National Union leaders in six different conferences. He also met their contentions in their three differ- Labor Board, which was the tribunal of their own choice, and continued to meet them there until that Board in its decision of Febuary 21st declared itself without jurisdiction on the is sues as presented. | This declaration followed the posi tion taken by the Union representa tives before the board that the board was without jurisdiction and asked it to dismiss the case. i At no time either in conference or the hearings before the Labor Board have the employes or their union'rep resentatives ever met the issue square ly or suggested the possibility of ne gotiation of a more acceptable reduc tion than that proposed, notwithstand ing the fact they have never question ed but have admitted freely the con tentions of the railroad of its inability to meet its operating expenses hw one million dollars a year, Seventeen Points of Difference The public cannot be deceived as to these essential facts: First, that the labor unions are demanding an impos sibility, Second, that the strike has been called to compell the road to pay more than it can by any possbility pay. 3 ; Third, that the labor uniong I = admitted the inability of the road deccide earn operating expenses by one ?o have lion dollars a year under the viz Hi in scale they are demanding. %e was Fourth, that this wage scale | DArrin cost of living bronght about by ot this conditions. est de- Fifth, that this wage scale jsior this, highest ever known in the histor®Ch can the world. ireer, Sixth, that the war-time cost ofig - V¢ ‘ing has been materially reducedi; Mal . Seventh, that other wage earners N ¢ga \gether with farmers, merchants, ?"DO"‘ ~manufacturers have already met? Ralph new conditions. ,iglar vey. Eighth, that ‘the strike vote | taken a month before the happe WeEr of the event, because of which; city: strike is said to have been calle¢ Mann Ninth, Men who have met in . lanta who have no connection 'omf)h the A. B. and A. Jpiation Tenth, that the high rates, #° Bad passenger and freight, now preva® CPar do not help the railroals or the p/5° °"¢ but benefit the emplayes alone, U 0 the Eleventh, that the labor unions™” .t'he tend to want a hearing before "‘;;:" ’ (Continued on Page 2) fitved « #le and Mo Ay FITZGERALD, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, MARCH Bth, 1021. Says Receiver and U. S. Courts Disregards Laws in Wage - Reduction : Employes Charge A. B. & A. Is in Conspiracy To Smash ‘ ‘ ‘Labor Unions 1 The financial interests which con trol the A. B. and A. have disregarded ‘the taws of the land in the present wage controversy because they are in a conspiracy to smash the unions and force down the ‘workers’ wages, ac cording to an editorial in the current issue of Labor. The editorial is pub ‘lished below at the request of the press committee of the Joint Federa tion Committee representing the ‘thir teen crafts now on strike. The ed itorial sums up the 'position ‘of the men. . e ‘ FACTS IN THE j A. B. AND A. CASE The railroad managers contempt for any faw which does not profit them to respect, is well illustrated by ‘the case of the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic, ; This road undertook to reduce the wages of its employes without at tempting to comply with the pl‘ain let ter of the transportation act. The United States Railway Labor Board compelled the A. B. and A. to withdraw its illegal notice and, after a hearing, directed the officials of the road to confer with the employ es—as the law directed—an§ if an agreement could not be, reached to submit the points in controversy to the board. Instead of complying with these in structi%g,s,_the A. B. and A. entered into a “friendly” suit with an obliging creditor, and the road was placed in the hands of a receiver by a Federal Judge who acted without waiting to hear from any one who could fairly be considered as representing ‘the oth-‘ er side of the case. | The President of the A. B. and A, was named as receiver, and the first order issued to him by the court san tioned the reduction of wages which has been forbidden by the Labor Board. ; | This order was without warrant of law, because the Newlands act specifi cally deprives Federal Judges of the power to reduce the compensation of employes of roads which may be played in receiver’s hands, except af ter thirty days notice and a hearing of all parties in interest. It is to be presumed that the Judge did not know of the existance of the ‘Newlands act when he signed the order, because it is iniconceivable that he would have flouted the law if it had been called to his attention. The ' railroad attorneys who were directing the proceedings did not en lighten the court concerning matters which were adverse to their claims, and the workers were afforded no op portunity. to be hasmhchlg, O, Amongethe s Ny the senior class. play, “Assis s Sadie”, which i§ to be given &g, Grand Opera House, on Th rt March.lo. Humor, mystery, rd ot and adventure are mixed up i the right proportions to mak ; snappy comedy which will delighe theatre goers on next Thursday . Mrs. Shewmake, who is directinfe play, promises us one of the §e ‘plays ever presented to the po of Fitzgerald; and as it is bein on by the senior class of their high school the people will appreciate this lively comedy, o V., ELDER AT CHAPEL EXERCISE Tuesday morning, Rev, Jas. der of the First Methodist churcl sided at the chapel exercises. Elder made an excellent addr the students, and urged that ‘ student in the schoo! should } great effort for success in life. | TRACK WORK ‘ STARTS THIS WEEK Mr. Carter announced ¢t | }would like to meet all of th ‘ }interestcd in track work in hi g ‘at recess. He wishes to beginfl_ ‘practice as soon as possible, t we may also be well represe | the coming meet which will be - Asrburn, on April 22 and 23 ; The students wiil attend in re ROME HOTEL BURNS By International News Service ROME, Ga., March B.—Fire today destroyed the Armstrong five story hotel. The loss was $50,000, fully insured. No casual ties resulted. Will Cut Campaign Short and , Settle Race Quickly : 4 . R e e e TWELVE PLACES OPEN No Announcements ;. Matde Yet for Board of Education The city primary elecgim was called today by the cify Democratic Execu tive Committee to be held April 18th, which is said to ‘be the earliest the primary has ever been held. Regis ‘tration books ‘open Thursday, March 10th, and will close April Bth. A heavy registration of women is ex pected. ; In the field are Drew W. Paulk for mayor, without opposition; G. P. Mingledorff for city treasurer, with out opposition; G. E, Ricker, incumb ent, and Hubert Roush for the one place on the Water, Light and Bond Commission; A. H. Thurmond, Clay ton Jay, E. J. Dorminey, J. E. Tur ner, I. A. Cardwell, George L. Kil crease, W. R. Paulk for five places on the city council, No announcements nave been made today for the board of education for which a president and Tour members must be named. No contest is antic ipated for any of these places. - The official notice of the prmary, issued today by the executive com mittee, follows: . | Notice of Primary Election By the authority vested in the exec utive committee for the city of Fitz~ gerald, a primary election is hareby called to' be held at the City Hall on April, 18th, 1921, for the purpose of nominating a Mayor, five Aldermen at-large, a city Treasurer, a president and four members of the Board of Education, and a member of the Water, Light and Bond Commission. The registration books will open in the office of the City Clerk March 10th, at 8:30 A. M. and will remain open until 6 P. M. April Bth, 1921. The election will be held under the Australion Ballot system. ; The Polls will open at 8 a. m. and close at 7 p. m, The candidates are required to reg ister ‘with the secretary of the execu tivé committee on or before 6 p. m., April Bth, and pay the following as sessments: | Boy Whyor Soldslililol 81000 For [Beeastrer, (Lol 00l 10.00' For Alderthen Lol 00l Lliis7.so For President and members of Board of Education.___.___.__ 200 For Member Water Light and Bond Commission ._..._____ 10.00 By order of the executive commit tee, { N, N. LITTLEFIELD, Chair. S. G. PRYOR, JR., Secretary. Fitzgerald Ga., March Bth, 1921, i | Loans To Foreign | . o Powers Discontinued - (By International News Service) WASHINGTON, March B—Fur ther loans to European governments | upon credits established by former| president Woodrow Wilson were. stopped by the Treasury Department today. Secretary Mellen directed that action upon claims for additional ad vances be postponed pending a fur-1 ther study of committments and otheri documents. ] NEW HAVANA-MIAMI | ‘CABLE PASSES TEST S e ’ (By International News Service) ~ MlAMl,aMarch B.—Final test was made today on the new Havana-Mi ami cable of the Commercial Cable Company lowered last week,shows it was successfully connected. Sgr lvice will begin shortly, ~F SHORT AND SNAPPY NEWS OF THE WORLD BY TELEGRAPH ¢ COTTON-~Good Middling-....101/c No Sales, No Receipts CUT WAGES 12 PCT. Er;xfiloyes May Wilk O.ut‘ls Re port from Chicago Today - NO CHANGE IN A. B. & A. Sigtion REmae Uncisoged 'As U. 8. Mediators Enter (By: International News Service) CHICAGO, March B—The wages of employees of the Armour ‘and Swit p'ack'ing companies = were re duced twelve and one half per _ fent to.day_ A great strike is threatened. 'NO CHANGED IN . A. B, & A. SITUATION ATLANTA, March B—No change is reported in the Atlanta Birmingham ‘and Atlantic situation today. U.'s. MEDI, T%s‘f'AND , Ififl%fil ‘MEN CONFER Mediation Board Offers Services T unér Newidnds Act MEETING IN ATLANTA Grand Officers of ‘Seven Crafts "Are in Conference Following the report in the Leader yesterday that the United States Boax of Meditation, created under the Newlands Act of 1913, had arrived in-Atlanta, W. M. Martin, chairman of the Joint Federation Committee, stated that the mediators would be met by the grand officers of seven crafts who are now in Atlanta. The union conferees are Val Fitz patrick, of the trainmen, chairman, J. P. Hogsed, of the clerks, secretary, H. S. Huff, of the engineers, Lariscy of the conductors, C. J. Goff of the firemen, Denham of the maintenance of way department, who compose the committee representing the Brother hoods. ) Following is the telegram dis patched to. one of the general chair men of the A, B. & A. crafts when it became known that walkout had be come effective at noon Saturday. “Learning through the press of the serious situation threatening a strike of all empfoyees and cessation of train movement to the serious detriment of the public interest, the services of the United States Board of Meditation are hereby tendered in accorda ice with the act of Congress July 17, 1913, “Commissioner Chambers and As sistant Commissioner Klutz, will be at the Piedmont Hotel, Atlanta, Mon day morning, and all parties are ear nestly advised and urged to maintain operating status until they have had opportunity for conference. Please present to Chairmen Cargile, Martin and Hunter, - “(Signed) Martin A. Knapp, : “Chairman.” o 3 . S Pittman Says City Favors Employees Local Minister Invited By Union Chiefs to Talk at Mass Meets Majority of public sentiment in Fitzgerald is heartily in favor of the striking employes of the Atlanta, Bir mingham & Atlantic Railway, Mayor J. L. Pittman told the strikers at their regular morning mass meeting today. The mayor stated that he had canvassed many of -the merchants and . business people of the city. and had found the majority opinion to be that the strikers were entirely justi fied in the course and that Fitzgerald as a whole wants them to win. Mayor Pittman’s statement was made after ‘news had been received here of the resolutions reported to have been passed in Tifton, Moultrie and other towns in favor of the re ceiver. The men declare that such iresolutions could have been passed only through a misunderstanding of the facts in the :ase. . . Preachers Adaress Meetings Fitzgerald ministers are being in vited in turn to address the daily mass meetings of the stfiking employes of the Atlanta Birmingham and Atlantic railway here. C. A. Ginn of the Ken nedy Memorial Baptist spoke Sunday, |tJ. F. Singleton of the First DBaptist, 'Monday, S. A. Strawn of the Christ ian is speaking today, I. P. Tyson of the Central Methodist will speak )Nfdnesday. ¥ Gl