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The Fitzgerald Lead
. Issued Daily By
THE LEADER PUBLISHING CO.
Isidor Gelders ...............Editor
8. ¥. Gelders .....:,....Man’g. Ed.
—Official Organ City of Fitzgerald—
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ald as Second Class Mail Matter
Under Act of Congress,
March 18, 1897.
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| THEAMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION
FARMERS WIN FERTIL
IZER STRlKE—Standing as a
unit southern farmers succeeded
to bring down the price of com
mercial fertilizers from 45 to 50
per cent through the effort of
the Farm Burcau Federation and
committees of the Farmer’'s Un
ions.
This reduction has been an
nounced by all the leading fer-.
tilizer companies, operating in|
this territory and covers 4leliv
eries made to carlier purchasers,
who are reaping the benefit of
the organized efforts of the dues
paying members of these organi
zations.
Organized farmers as organ
ized industrial workers fix the
standard for their non-organized
neighbors, who benefit thmughl
their neighbors’ efforts and
money. ; . J
A LETTER FROM JOE HILL
HALL AND AN OPEN LET
TER IN REPLY—The Leader
seproduces below a circular letter |
from Hon. Joscph Hill Hall, of
Macon, attacking the program of
the Municipal League of Georgia
and publishes an open letter
from the managing editor to Mr.
Hall,
Letter from Joe Hill Hall
Mr. Geo. Kilcrease,
Fitzgerald, Ga.,
March 15th, 1921
Dear Sir:
Is your town in pawn to the
socialists who want to raid
Georgia’s treasury?
Many of the municipalities in
Georgia have been quoted as en
dorsing the bills to be presented
at the next Legislature, for un
limited bond issues without the
knowledge of their citizens and
without any investigaion as to
the nature of the legislation that
these bills would authorize, al
though these bills contemplate
the expenditure of hundreds of
millions of dollars of the people’s
money and enormous taxation,
The motive of the promoters of
these bills is shown in the manner
in which they have secured con
trol of the Municipal League of
Georgia, without disclosing to the
cities and towns the fact that their
alluring stories of service at cost,
or less than cost, were simply to
mask their true object, viz.: to get
the state of Georgia committed to
issuing hundreds of millions of
dollars of the people’s money
and give the control of the pro
ceeds to political adventurers
with which to condemn every
street car company, gas com
pany, electric light and power
company in the state, and oper
ate them without regulation or
supervision by the state. Their
talk about high fares and rates
is insincere. No officer of the
League has had any experience
in operating utilities.
They talk much about monop
oly of water power resources,
knowing full well that there is
no monopoly. All of their ener
gies are devoted to keeping in
the background the fact that the
people of Georgia are being
asked to tax themselves, as they
were never taxed before, to en
able the Georgia representatives
of Socialism to establish their
party firmly in Georgia.
Government ownership is thei
essence of Socialism. Without |
Government ownership Social-|
ism is impossible, and with Gov
ernment ownership it is auto
cracy. The Russian Czar was
less autocratic than Lenine and
Trotsky.
Do you realize that these bills
remove every restriction im
posed by the Constitution on the
Issuing of bonds by municipal
ities? Do you know that instead
of your property being liable
for bonds not exceeding seven
per cent. of its as:essed valua
tion, these bills remove all rc
strictions? Do you realize that
the proceeds of tliese bonds will
be disposed of by the gentlemen
- . -
in Atlanta without regulation or
control by your citizens of your
municipal officers?
Ask your Mayor and Council
what investigation the¥ have
‘made of the abilities of the men
‘behind these bills or the accur
“cy of their statements and if
they have been misled into join
ing the good name of your town
with this vicious, dangerous leg
islation, insist on their with
drawal from it.
There is no legislation.neccs
sary to enable any town in Geor
gia to purchase, own and operate
its own gas works, water works,
street car lines or electric light
and power plants, and having
bought them, they can operate
them as the citizens of the town
may want them operated.
If these bills are passed your
town will issue the bonds to pay
for the plants, but they will be
' managed and operated by the
!;:mlll(-m(-n in Atlanta called the
Hydro-Electric Power Commis
lsi(m.
| Ask your city officers where
your town stands,
| Yours truly,
| JOE: HILL HATLL,
Hon. Joseph Hall,
1 Macon, Ga,
'Dear Sir:—
| A copy of your very interest
ing letter was brought to my at
tention and several points in it
struck me forcibly. Knowing
that perhaps you have mailed
this letter to thousands of people
in Georgia who are not as well
acquainted -with, the organization
of purposes of the Municipal
League of Georgia as you and |,
I do not think it prvsumptinusi
for me to offer to assist you in
informing them.
I appreciate the broad spirit of
public service that prompted you
to write, and have these letters
printed and mailed at your ex
pense without hope or desire of
reinbursement. 1 especially ad
mire that genecrosity with your
own money since | know how
very cconomical you were with
money of the people of Georgia
during your terms in the legisla
ture. You were, in facét, so effi
cient in saving money for the
people of Georgia that your alma
mater, the University of Georgia,
has been so starved for funds
that the window sill in the room
in. Old College dormitory where
you lived while a student- s;ill
bears the initials you carved there
many, many years ago. Your zthl
in saving the peoples’ money has
kept that grand old institution so
impoverished that it has not even
been able to replace that ancient
window sill, unless it was done
since I last bade farewell to thnsc‘
hallowed, though slightly decrepit
halls.
Knowing your zealous activi
ties as the “watch dog of, the
5 s ‘ ne wles
treasury” while in office I caimun
derstand the public spirit that
prompts you to continue to pro
tect the poor, dear people in
your retirement to private life.
But, Mr. Hall, in your intense
carnestness to save them from
their folly and extravagance, why
not confine yourself to facts and
logic? 1 know that a man of your
sense ‘could not have been led in
to the position you take against
the Municipal League Dby any
such arguments as those \\'ilh‘
which you expect to convince the
public. Of course the public may
not all belong to the intelligentsia
as you do, but still they are able
to understand simple truths.‘
Why not use simple truths in per
suading them that you are right?
Although your letter is mtllcr!
incoherent and seems to make no
major points in whose support |1
can adduce the facts which you
scem to have overlooked, 1 will
try to follow yvour line of argu
ment as well as 1 can and explain
those things you failed to explain.
You say that the bills to he pre
sented at the next legislature are
“for unlimited bond issue with
out the knowledge of their citi
zens and without any investiga
tion as to the nature of the legis
lation which these bills® syvould
authorize.” You know of course,
since you age reputed to be an ex
pert on constitutional law, that
bonds can be issued only by a
majority vote of two-thirds of the
registered voters. These voters
may need your protection in the
exercise of their knowledge, but
still they will have the “know
ledge..”
You also scem to imply 4|ml':
once this bill were passed, the
Georgia jLegislature - would im-T
mediately become radical and so
cialistic and would forthwith run
amuck with passage of “legisla
tion which these bills authorize.”
These bills, most honorable and
| venerable Mr. Hall, do not con
template a metamorphosis in the
| personalities of the solons of
Georgia. They simply will give
them an opportunity to further
exercise their intelligence in the
‘intcrests of their constituents, As
you know, Georgia's legislature
!is now so restricted in authority
iih:lt it could not even authorize
| West Point, Ga., to issue bonds
{to rehabilitate itself ~ after the
flood and tornado last year. Ev
ery voter in Georgia had to de
cide individually whether that
plucky little town of West Point
should be allowed to restore it
! self. Don’t you think that was ri
diculous, Mr.. Hall? '
I was also engrossed by the ease
with which you arrived at the vile
motives of the officers of the Mu-
I nicipal League. If my powers of
'reasoning were as brilliant as
‘yours seem to be, I wounld cer
tainly have never conrt;aled my
light under the bushel of the Geor
gia legislature but would have
given all the people of the United
States the benefit of them.
You seem to be terrified at the
thought of giving millions of the
people’s money to “the control of
‘]mliti(‘al adventurers to condemn”
all those corporations “and oper
‘ate them without regulation or
'supervision by the state”. Per
ish the thought Cold shivers run
}up and down my spine, too, Mr.
’ Hall, at the very suggestion. But
‘nf course you and [ know that
this legislation would not result
in such a catastrophe so let us be
frank with the poor, tax burdened
and much deceived public and tell
them so. Our legislature, steeped
though it be in iniquity, would not
pass a bill creating such a com
mission to control the hydro-elec
tric power of the state of Georgia.
“No officer of the league has
had any experience in operating
utilitics,” as .you say, Mr. Hall,
and don’t let us permit the public
to lose sight of that important
fact. Of course, no officer of the
league has made any claim that
he knows how to operate
utilitiecs or has applied for
a job operating one, or would
have such a job if: it was
offered to him. Their plan is to
have experts to operate these util
itics, the same general managers
and superintendents as now fur
nish the brains. But they plan
to have these superintendents’
and general managers’ salaries
paid by the state, and have them
look for orders to a state com
mission, instead of drawing their
money from a private corporation
and taking their ordersfrom a
corporation president and boards
of directors whose sole business is
to bleed the consumer of hydro
electric power just a little whiter
than he has ever been bled before,
It works on the same principle
as the vacuum pump, at Moore
College of the dear old U. of G.
Probably they are still using the
same vacuum pump you exper
imented with when you were
studying physics. Oh, Mr. Hall,
believe me, you were a wonder
fully efficient “watch dog of the
treasury.” But, to get back to the
vacuum pump, you ¢an pump
your arm off, but you can never
pump all the air out. You divide
the air by half, and that by half,
and so ad infinitum, but you never
get ALL the air out of the cham
ber. Many bitter tears have been
shed by the corporations who own
the public utilitiecs because, pump
hard as they may, they can’t pump
all the money out of their consum
ers,
That, nowever, is merely inci
dental and the public isn’t inter
ested in it. They must have heen
intensely interested in your state
ment in regard to government
ownership, and socialism, and the
late Czar and Lenine and Trotsky.
Come, come, Mr. Hall, while we
are about this business of inform;
ing the public about the dastardly
objects of ‘the Municipal League
of Georgia, let us tell them the
whole bitter truth. Grieve us
though it may, let us frankly ad
mit that Russia is not and has
never claimed to be Socialistic
and that Bolshevism has never
claimed itself to be Socialistic.
It is communistic. Of course, Mr,
Hall, we of the inteligentsia know
that Communism and Socialism
are as dissimilar as Republicanism
and Anarchy. But perhaps the
public does not know this, so let
us explain it to them.
Russia aspires to be ('nmm\m—‘
istic. The Communist savs that |
Jdl property, all capital. «l‘.nn}di
be owned by the township or
community and that the state
should be a loose combination of
of such communes, or,-as the
Russians call them, Soviets. The |
Socialist says that the central |
government should own and
contrél all industry and give
equal oppgrtunity to everyone
to succeed. The Republican hv«l
lieves that all industry should |
be owned by private cnrpom-‘
tions and these corporations |
should give everyone equal Up~!
portunity to succeed. ;
But all that theory makes lit-|
tle difference as far as Russial
today is concerned, as you and 1|
Know. Mr. Hall, but as the pub-|
lic may not know. Since we .'n'cl
telling them so many of our|
political secrets let us confide in‘
them with this one: Russia is‘
operating today under a mili
tary dictatorship, ncither com
‘munistic, socialistic, anarchistic,
iur any other kind of “istic.” The
assaults of the allies, bent on
collecting bad debts of the late
and lachrymosely lamented Czar,
has made things so hot for the
Russians that Lenine and Trot
sky have_taken untp themselves
the powers of a joint dictator
ship, much as our president was
given while we were at war and
as every well organized govern
ment gives to its supreme lead
ers during periods . ef tremend
ous national danger:”-
By the way, Mr. Hall how did
we get off on this tangent about
Russia? You infer that Russia
has a direct bearing on the activ
ities of the Municipal League of
Georgia. It is that marvelous
reasoning power of yours, I sup
pose, Mr, l;'lall. because really 1
don’t see what connection Rus-
I‘sia has with our subject. | :
- We all realize, Mr. Hall. vou
THE FITZGERALD LEADER SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1921.
and I and the dear public whose
interests we have set out so val
iantly to safeguard, that these
bills “remove every restriction
imposed on issuing bonds by
municipalities.” But you and I
realize, as you seem to think the
dear public does not, that all
bonds must be voted by the peo
ple, by the property owners from
the value of whose property the
bonds get their value, under the
existing regulations. We should
also tell the public, don’t you
think, Mr. Hall, that the purpose
of removing these restrictions is
to enable the municipalities to
acquire properties which will be
ASSETS, and will have value in
themselves, rather than liabil
itics whose expense is born by
private property.
As you so aptly aver, “there is
no legisuation necessary to ena
ble any town in Georgia to pur
chase own and operate its own
}pub]ic utilities,” except that no
itnwn in Georgia, under the pres
ctn seven per cent bonding lim
itation, can raise funds sufficient
?to purchase these utilities. Once
idea, as you and I know, Mr, Hall,
is to give these towns the power
to raise the money through bonds
to purchase these Itilities. Once
purchased, the utilities would in
themselves be responsible for the
bonds and the private property
on which their value was techni
cally based at first would be re
leived of the responsibility..
Your last paragraph, dear Mr.
Hall, is as much a mystery to me
as are your methods of deducing
the dastardly intentions of the of
ficers of the Municipal League of
Georgia and in connecting Russia '
with its activities. Really yous
powers of reasoning surpass any
thing mortal, they are truly super- |
human. These hills to be spon- |
sored in the legislature by the Mu
nicipal League of Georgia pro
vide first that the municipal bond
ing limit be removed aly;\sccond
that the state have the duthority.
by due process of law, to issue
bonds for the acquisition and to
acquire hydro-electric powers. in
Georgia.
How in the world such seem
ingly innocuous measures could
force any “town to issue bonds
to pay for the plants, but they will
be managed and operated by the
gentlemen in Atlanta called the
Hydro-electric Power Commis
sion,” is quite beyond my powers
of comprehension. , I stand in
amazement before such psychic
force that can see so much where
I can see nothing.
And to think that the ungrateful
public whom you have served so
long and faithfully made no better
use of you than to send you to the
state legislature, to associate with
the kind of men whom you infer
are going to betray our state into
the hands of “political adventur
ers” and a whole basket full of lit
tle Lenines and Trotskys. The
ingratitude of Republics is most
depressing, is it not, Mr. Hall?
Private corporations are much
|mm'(' greatiul than that, dren't
|they Mr. Hall?
- Hoping that you will not con
sider me presumtious in thus help
ing you to protect the public from
the Municipal League of Georgia,
lam,
Very truly yours,
Stewart . Gelders
Managing Elitor
The Fitzgerald Leader.
P’ 8. [ notice that although your
letter is written under a Macon
date line, the envelope is post
marked Atlanta. With letter was
also enclosed a pamphlet contain
ing the Georgia Railway and Pow
er Company’s “reply” to an edi
torial in the Atlanta Georgian of
December 30th, 1920. The editor
ial was not reproduced, although
from the tone of the reply I judge
that it must have been a very
good editorial.
‘1 also notice that the signiture
to your letter is printed and not
written with a pen. Of course it
could not be that you have auth
orized the Georgia Ry. and Power
Company to possess and use a re
plica of your signiture. If you
have, Mr. Hall, as one of your
sincere admirers, 1 would advise
you to stop payment on all checks
until you change your signiture.
1 don’t. mean to insinuate any
:thing'. but I wouldn’t take any
chances if 1 were you. S. F. G.
Incle Johms zks’a!
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'Noted Speaker Will
;.
Be Here Tonight
Prof. Gilbert Thayer to Lecture at
Court House Here
|
‘ " Professor Gilbert - Thayer, noted
health authority, will speak at the
Court House in Fitzgerald to
night at 8 o’clock. He is said to be
one, of America’s renowned orators.
On -one occasion, at Cadillac Square,
Detroit, Mich., where Prof. Thayer
spoke before an audience of thous
ands in the interest of the govern
ment, Prof. Thayer was termed as
the most impressive speaker of the
time.
Prof. Thayer has devoted a great
part of his time to the government,
but is now devoting all his offorts
to the intérest of a report, issued
from the surgeon-gencral's office at
Washington, dealing , with what the
professor terms “the greatest crime
of civilization.” It is this work that
the great genius, Thomas A. Edison
says is doing the greatest good for
humanity.
Many years ago, Lord Beacons
field, greatest statesman of his time
keenly alive to influences affecting
national prosperity, stated: “Public
heaith isthe#foundation on which
reposes the happiness of the people
and the power of a country. The
care of the public health is the first
duty of a statesman,” and it may be
added that the care of individual
and family health is the first and
most patriotic duty of a citizen. I
Fitzgerald Leader WANT-ADS
are b‘usy little Salesmen. Try one for'
™ 1= Results. Phone 328. ]
The Daily Leade
---has been published for the last
24 days to best serve the public
interest of Fitzgerald.
If the business people of Fitz
gerald want to give their custom
ers a local daily newspaper, they
should concentrate their advertising
in the local daily newspaper in
order to enable it to live.
Every dollar that is spent with
the Leader Publishing Company, in
advertising or Job Printing, helps
to linsure the permanence of the
Fitzgerald daily paper.
Daily Leader advertising is
read by all classes of people
1 Fitzgerald. It is good advertis
ing. And the advertising receipts
are what make the paper possible.
Subscription receipts pay approxi
. lately only one-fourth of its cost.
If you'have anything to sell,
Advertise in The Daily Leader.
If you want to buy anything,
Buy it from Leader advertisers;
The Advertisers are the ones |
who are giving you the paper
L 7 D e : .
EAGLE “MIKADO”; ' _3- o M %:‘;; ( \Pencil No. 174
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For Sale at your Dealcr Made in five grades
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