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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— Entered at the Post Office at Fitzger ald as Second Class Mail Matter Under Act of Congress, March 18, 1897. Tri-Weekly, Year ..............$3.00 Sl MGelhae. . 8150 Subscription Price—Daily R .20 RRNBENTN ... ... 95 R WIRSIR . ..l 8100 BoNCaNthe . .......,.........8200 R M. .o 8300 gnE WeRE . 8600 . Ratés for display advertising fur nished on application. Local readers, 10 cents per line for each insertion. No ad taken for less than 30 cents. | [ Z-inr«-: n Advertising )(P[H-"l‘n?u!l\'l" | 1 | 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! e e - o l RUM WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY AND IT \ CAN'T BE TORN DOWN \ty\ N A WEEK. / 3 ; e f "'T;w, = A s l':"“}\\ =y ""‘\y.k'\‘ \ . l;’%%’ R A F heEttawiaeet vk 'z Borrege mig T f E‘. ¥ a““s‘*\‘:{_x;’.-}‘{' x’ - 7{;3".' z"r».-"*** Rs‘ 6 s " ’\Lé ~:;. '—‘i:‘.: :A T M g e \&Xm X ® '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 GG '~t For Sale at your Dealcr Made in five grades ; ASK FOR THE YELLOW P:NCIL WITH THE RED BAND _ EAGLE MIKADO : EAGLE PENCIL COMPANY, NEW YORK FOR GOOD SOLES Demand Your Shoes Mended With . gcmgs‘% %_i%’ifi%m : ‘ !“3 et oa 2 . Patronize Home Industry Casper Hide and Skin Co.,