Newspaper Page Text
The Fitzgerald Leader
Issued Daily By
LEADER PUBLISHING CO.
Isidor Gelders _______________Editor
S. F. Gelders ___._._..___Man’g Ed.
SUBSCRIPTION RATE
By Carrier ..............20c per wk.
By Mall. .~ .c..0i......288 pér wk
——
ADVERTISING RATE
Display Ad in Daily
30 cts per inch
Same Ad in Daily and Tri-Weekly
Both for 45 cts. inch
A T~ TD, A RP i A SRR
HIGH WAGE SCALE MEANS
PROSPERITY The Leader
published several weeks ago an
editorial from the Manufacturers
Record, the recognized, spokes
man for the operators of American
industry and an admitted and ac
knowledged “conservative.” The
title of the editorial was “Cheap
ness;” its theme was that cheap
wages make cheap citizens and
that cheap citizens make a cheap
country and a poor country.__not
only for labor but for all. China
and India were cited as examples.
The Leader wants to expand a
little more on that theme and
try to bring it home to Fitzgerald
business men if it can. Under the
1920 wage scales approprimately
$BO,OOO a month was paid to A.
B. and A. employes living in Fitz
gerald. It was sometimes a great
deal more than that. Under thel
new wage scale , which has not
been accepted and we sincerely:
trust will never be imposed, these
same men would have only about
$60,000 to spend in Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald merchants and law
yers and bankers and doctors
would have to share among them
a loss of $20,000 a month, nearly a
quarter of a million dollars a yeat
---more than the estimated value
of all the tobacco that will be
raised in the Fitzgerald district
this year.
That is a very narrow, very
small, and almost contemptable
way to measure Fitzgerald’s in
terests, or any city’s interest in
the wage question. When the
question of whether a class of men
shall be allowed to live as gentle
men Or as near-paupers is con
cerned} the Leader dislikes to
speak in terms of dollars and
cents to its friends.
However, it is easy to see the
force of this fact: if a cheap wage
scale means a loss of a quarter of
a million dollars annually to Fitz
gerald alone, in one industry
alone,, a cheap wage scale in all
industry will mean a loss annual
ly to all American business gtu
pendous in its proportions.
Here is another fact that is|
easy to see: If the millions
of men who work with their
hands and who eat corn and
pork, and wear cotton clothes,
and smoke tobacco, and wear out
Georgia cowhides in their shoes,
whose wives and children wear
clothes, and eat, have one-fourth
less food and clothes, or else in
sist on getting them one-fourth
cheaper, then the demand for the
tobacco and the cotton, and the
corn and the hogs and the cattle
in Ben Hill County is going to be
one-fourth less. It is gaing to sell
one-fourth less. It is going to sell
will, therefore, have one-fourth
less money to spend, and the poor,
worried, overworked business
man gets it in the neck coming
and going.
In the above discourse, the
Leader has tried to speak in words
of one syllable and in simple, eas
ily understood word pictures and
ideas. We hope to enable the
most untutored reader to under
stand what we mean. If we have
not, it is evidence of fault of the
exposition and not of the truth of
the point asserted. The Leader
welcomes questions and criticisms
from any reader on any point ot
argument of fact we try to make,
The Leader does not want to per
suade its readers into any certain
line of thought; it wants to con
vince its readers that its line ot
thought is right. -
GOVERNMENT OWNER
SHIP IS THE ANSWER—
If the present scale of wages
were unjust and unreasonable; if
they gave more than the work for
which they pay is worth, the pres
ent controversy would show a dif
ferent complexion. If it were
true that American industry could |
not AFFORD to pay the present
wage scales the controversy
would show a different complex
ion. . The justness and: reason
ableness of the present wage
scales has not been attacked; no
real evidence has been submitted,
to show it unjust or unreasonable.
And it is not true that it is more;
than industry can bear, although
it is more than the A. B. and
A. railroad, operated as it is at
present, can afford to pay. |
It is absurd to expect that a line
of railroad in an only partly de
veloped section of the country
can pay the same returns as one in
a fully developed section of the
same country. It is economically
unwise to make wage scales in
fully developed sections higher
than in poorly developed sections.
That would forever prevent de
velopment of sections like South
Georgia because no one would
come here to work, and the al
ready crowded sections ‘would be
further crowded. It is the econ
omically wise thing to have the
%wealthy, well developed sections
of a country share the burden of
developing the other sections of
the same country.
How?
What is government for,
Why do millions of people of
different religions, and business
interests, and different racial her
itages, ally themselves into a body
politic such as the United States?
Why do they pay taxes to support
the government and send their
fellows to jail yhen they break its
laws?
Why should not all the people
pay for what all the people get?
Why should the expense of mak
ing South Georgia worth ten
times as much as it is now to New
England and California, be born
entirely by South Georgia?
It should not.
Government ownership of rail
roads will make possible an equit
able distribution of the cost of
national. development and im
provement. Government o ¢ -
ship of railroads will ena.ie
transportation profits in one sec
tion to pay transportation losses
in another. Government owner
ship of rajlroads will make possi
ble the ‘payment of fair wages to
men of all sections.
HOW THE WEST WAS
DEVELOPED ‘
Perhaps the people of Fitzger
ald do not know that THEY, as
citizens and tax payers of the
United States, helped to contris
bute something like fifty billion
dollars ($50,000,000,000) ,in the
present valuation of government
land grants GIVEN, FREE,
without charge or strings attach
ed, to the seven great western
railroad systems that made it
possible to change the great west
from a desert prairie, peopled by
wolves and buffalo, to a region of‘
immense wealth and promise, a
section whose wealth is reflected‘
in every nook and corner of the"
grand old U. S. A, |
- The U. S. government has no
land in the South worth giving
to the railroads to help them to
develop the South. It has pitiful
ly little land left in the West since
the railroads got through with it.
But it still has the power, and the
right, if it will take advantage of
it, to make the wealth that was
created by YOUR gift and mine
to the West and to the North, to
in turn to help pay the cost of de
veloping South Georgia, and the
other undeveloped regions.
Government ownership of rail
roads is today no far-fetched
dream in radical minds. In
Washington, D. C. , last week, we
have it on good authority, was be
gun a series of conferences be
tween the money masters of thg
East, not interested in railroads
but deeply interested in national
qmsperity, and a federal judge.
I'hese conferences look toward
government ownership of rail
roads, not as a means alone of
insuring high wages to workers,
but as a means of insuring good
business and general prosperity
to America. ’
The man who has not awakened
to the realization that this Atlanta
Birmingham and Atlantic wage ‘
conroversy involves something
mere than a dispute between a
little group of fifteen hundred or
0 of men and the operators of a
single little railroad line, is cer
tainly a sound sleeper. It invol
ves all wage earners, in Fitzger
ald and elsewhere. The world
has its eyes today on the Atlanta
Birmingham and Atlantic, - and
a large part of America has its
eyes on Fitzgerald and a little
group of five hundred or so strik
ing railroad men in Fitzgerald.
: e e B
| Mesopetamia’s Old Glories.
- Nebuchadnezzar's vast irrigation
ilntem. which once watered alk Baby
lonia, can still be easily traced for
miles about Bagdad. One glant canal,
the Narawan. runs parallel with the
Tigris for pearly 300 miles; it 1s 850
feet wide, and all about it the takeoff
and laterals may’ still be identified.
Herodotus sald he found a “forest of
graphic Soclety Bulletin. Vi e -t
THE LEADER-ENTERPRISE AND PRESS TUESDAY, MARCH 15th, 1921
FACT, FIGURES AND
. FICTION
“. By Rev..B. 1. Pofter.) = .
There is one piece of work
that the present city administra
tion can do, that will live after
them, and the citizens of thetown
will point towith pride. Tha t is
to have some decent board cross
ings put in where the present ones
of mud are located.
The worst ones are where the
A. B. and A. crosses Central Ave.
and I believe that if the road’s at
tention was called to this matter
at the proper time the present
outrageous crossing's would be re
placed with guod ones.
COMPLIMENTS TASTE
OF CIVIC LEAGUE
If the present ticket put out by
the Civic league doesn’t suit
everybody in Fitzgerald, we are
awful hard to suit. A few may
“bolt a little” on some of the Al
dermen, but I can find no reason
why any one should hesitate on
the Mayor, assuming that he
suits the Civic League. But re
member this, the Civic League,
nor any other League, nor any set
of officers elected, will ever dc
anythingetoward cleaning up the
town, whatever that means, until
we can get some authority which
will make our arresting ofacers!
see more clearly, and smell more
acutely.
3IG CORPORATIONS
HAVE GREAT POWER
When the Georgia Railroad
Commisson opened up its heart
and gave nearly every Public Ser
vice Corporation the right to in
crease rates, said commission
started something that will be
hard to stop. The people will
eventually see that when a cor
poration gets large enough, its
influence becomes too great to be
controlled. Our Commissions are
nothing less human than the rest
of us, and are naturally influenced
by their friends. Corporationsl
soon learn the friends of the men !
with “whom they deal, and as
soon as possible get these men
into their service. For an exam- |
ple, one of the Attorneys for the
North Georgia Octopus happensl
to be a very close relative to one
of our Railroad Commissioners.,
[ am not saying this had any
weight with the deeision, but thel
Atlanta Gas Co. received a sub-;
stantial increase which the people
of Atlanta do not believe is jusll
and right. ]
Most assuredly, we are drifting |
towards Public Ownership of all
Public Utilities.
HAYS FOR MANAGER
OF RAILROADS i
Postmaster General Hayes us
es the following language: “Thel
Croxton Says Increase Made Under
United States’ Control
‘(Continued from First Page)
26, 1920. These increases became ef
fective in Georgia September 1, 1920;
so that you will observe both of the
recent increases in wages and the last
increase and freight rates and pas
senger fares were authorized by gov
ernmental agencies after the relin
quishment of Federal control on Feb.
29, 1920.
Yours very truly,
W. A. Croxton, Passenger Traffic
Manager.
We are glad to publish the letter
because it is our whole desire to keep
the records straight, and give our
readers the facts just as fast as we
can get them together, for this most
important subject of transporation
must be settled, like all other ques
tions RIGHT.
_ Our error, if indeed it is one, in the
editorial referred to lies in the fact
that we in common with the average
citizen had fallen into the habit of
thinking the government in reality
relinquished the roads on September
Ist, 1920, at which time, however, it
simply stopped its guarantee to make
good all losses.
In other words, the last increases,
both-of wages and transporntation
charges were made while the gov
ernment was paying the bills, and
those of us who remember the pressJ
dispatches of last summer when the
hearings were going on before the
Interstate Commerce Cornmission for
an.advance in both passenger and
freight rates will recall the fact phat it
was generally understood that these
increases would take care of the last.
increase in }wa_(e‘\t;vhich had become
effective on: May it, 1920,
We realiz :a-t the high freights
allowed ~,.& $ 2 heavy burden, for
In The Listening Post
PACTS, FIGURSS & FicrlON
Postal establishment is an insti
tution for service, and every effort
shall be exercised to humanize the
industry. Labor is not a com
modity. That idea was abandon
ed 1921 years ago. Next Easter
the 300,000 employes have the
hand and brain to do the job well,
and they shall have the heart to
do it well.. We are going to be
partners in the business.”
I arise to nominate Mr. Will H;
Hayes for the position of General
Manager of all the railways of
the United States. The transpor
tation of a barrel of flour from St.
Louis to Fitzgerald is as much a
function of Government as the
transportation of a letter between
those places. .
With such a man as Postmaster
General Hayes at the head of the
entire transportation system ot
this country, we could never see
such deplorable conditions as have
existed in this section for the last
week. Labor has always born its
share of the world’s loses, but
unfortunately has received very
little of its profits, and it stiil
seems to be the disposition of
Capital to keep the laborer down.
It is to be hoped that organized
labor will be strong enough to
withstand this last effort to crush
it . .
PUT THE ROAD TAX 0
ON GASOLINE
If you are so fortunate as to
own a Ford it costs you $11.25
for a liscence and tag this year.
The principle ‘underlying this tax
is that a Ford will wear out that
much road in one year, whether
you use the Ford or not. If you
ride 100 miles the tax is just the
same as if you rode 10,000 miles.
‘The injustice of this tax is so ap
‘parent that no one will attempt to
defend it. Why not levy a tax
on every gallon of gasoline sold
at.retail. This is wearing out the
roads.
SENIOR PLAY SHOWS
AUDITODIUM NEED
The result of the play given
by the Senior Class of the High
School only emphasizes the fact
that we should have an auditor
ium It was a good play well ren
dered and generously patronized
by the public. Everybody feels.
well paid for the amount inves
ted, but the rent for the building
took a large share of the proceeds.
Now these boys and girls go to
lots of trouble and expense to
give us good, decent shows the
proceeds of which are for the good
of the community, and we should
provide a place for them to ex
hibit. In this auditorium we
could show motion pictures of
the right kind. lam afraid we do
not realize the influence pictures
are having on our boys and girls,
lthe consuming public to carry, but
everybody began to adjust themselves
}assuming that the men who were ac
tually doing the work were the bene
ficiaries thereof. The unfortunate
‘conditions existing' along the line of
the A. B. & A. at this time would in
dicate that somebody has made a
mistake that is almost unpardonable. |
R.. E. PORTER.
| S ¥
Guineas Incubate :
|
‘ In Snake Belly
Leader News Bureau,
4th National Bank Bllg.,
ATLANT, March 15—Seven young
guineas, all christened “Jonah” be
cause the spent part of their pre-natal
period in the belly of a reptile without
harm to themselves =or the snake,
until the latter was unhappily cut
open, are the proud possession of Lu
ther D. Richmond.
While working in his field, he no
’ticed a huge snake lying in a corn
row in a torpid state with its body
much swollen. Killing the snake and
cutting it open, Richmond found sev
en guinea eggs inside of it, which had
cevidently been stolen from the nest of
a setting guinea or setting hen.
Carefully placing the eggs under a
setting hen in his nearby barn, Rich
mond was overjoyed three days later
to find seven little guineas hatched
out and happy.
*“Cloth” From Bark -
In the tropical islands of the Pa
cific there are several tribes which
make use of the bark of a tree as a
substitute for fabrics. It is called
“tapa” and is obtained by heating the
bark and then treating it to & pasty.
Jolt for the Doctor.
Drink sour milk and eat potato
peelings, advises Doctor Boynton of
Bellingham, and live long lives; but
that is what hogs eat and. none gets
gray at it.—Portland Oregonian.
Home F urniture Co.,
’ Tuesday & Wednesday
March 16th-17th
9x12 Grass Rugs $15.50
: value only
$2.50 Aluminum 6 cup
Percolators only
$l.OO Rubber Door Mats
~ special at |
350 cents
s2O..V'l§'onl Begs, any color,
gi)ema_l $1 :4 5
Home Furniture Co.,
Corner Main and Central
Prices Down
Big reductions in our fertilizer
prices have &:fln/mafie/;nd we
wish to invi r farmer friends
and customers to come in and
let us figure with them on their
immediate needs.
Wezhave on hand a good stock
and a_complete line of all stand
ard mixtures, and now we have
the price that will move this
stock. | N
Place yourorder 110 w, as freight
delays, etc., may throw your con
signment too late for the planting
season. " :
The Ben Hill Co,,
E. Centn\alAve., ‘Fitzgerald
Not Merely American,
An English writer comments upon
pur custom here of betting a hat on
plection and other contests. What's
jtrange about it? We've often re4d
) some Englishman winning a Derby,
—Rastan Transcrint.