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»HW JOURNAL THE HOME Price, $l,ot) A Year, In Advance Published Every Tharsdttv Morning. Official Org-in of Houston County, JOHN H. & JOHN L HODGES, L BURY, TnuitauAY, Jan. 4. THIS PArt r < Rt:PRKSENTED FOR FOREIGN ADVERTISING Df THE <vA*.. OFFICES ' AMD CHICAGO WWu;!ES i i AlL THE PRINCIPAL CITIES JUDGE BRVAiii DENIES MANDAMUS The following is thq text of the ruling Of Judge Sheppard Bryan of the Superior Court of Fulton County denying the mnndumus ngaiust the Secretary of State in the recent action brought by the Peach County advocates \ In the Superior Count of Fulton County Georgia. J. E. DAVIDSON vs . I Mandamus 8. Cl. MoLENDQN Secretary of State. In thiscaso Hon. J. E. David son and others, who are alleged to be “citizens, residents and tax payors of that portion of Peach county’’hitherto apart of Hous ton County, seek by inandainiiH to compel Mon, 8. G. McLendon, Secretary of Stale of the State of Georgia, first to amend or supple ment the cor till sale which he has horotoforo filed with the Governor of Georgia under date of Novem ber 27ih, 1922 so as to eliminate thorofrom an alleged condition or qualification in said certificate, and second, that ho be required to pro ceed to count and ascertain the re sult of the election held on the first Tuesday in November, 1922, . upon the question of ratifying the proposed Constilul.ional amend ment creating Poach County ns provided in the Act of tho Gen eral Assoinbly of Georgia approved August 1 bl h, 1922. Tho Secretniy of State files a demurer upon nine different, grounds, but tho general substance of the demurer goes to tho claim that (hepetition of the plaintiff’s does not set out a cause of action uudor the law. Tho Secretary of State also files an answer»vin which ho alleges, paragraph 2, “that tho result of the election” (tho election upon the proposed Peach County amend ment hold on the first Tuesday in November) “was opposed to the ratification of said constitutional amendment as appears from tho ivturns of his office,” Tho Secretary of Stato in his an swer also said “that it is true that ho has only oountod and consoli date i the veto torching the ratifi cation of said amendment from the returns as they appear in his office. That theso returns come from the proper sbifrccjj, and apparently show the result of an election held at the proper time and place and by tho proper parties, ami that this is his conception of his duty in the promises that ho should in his ministerial capacity consolidate and count said vote and that ho 1ms no judicial authority to do the Pots of which complaint is made in plaintiff’s petition.” The Secretary of State further says in his answer that he has counted or consolidated the’re turns of the election upon the Peach County amendment and has assertained the result and that he has certified this result to the G ivernor of Georgia, Ho says that the result as it appears from the returns jn his office shows 29.S42 votes for the amendment and 36.5CG against the amendment and that this is a correct state ment of the returns. The ease was argued at length By counsel for both plaintiffs and defendant, the argument consum ing the entire day of cember22nd, 1922. (he returns of file in his office and 1ms certified this result to the Governor. I think that the Sec retary of Slate lias fully, complied with the law* Entering the opinion herein set out and after considering tho do murrer and motion for mandamous absolute, it is proper that I should pass (he following orders: 1. An order sustaining defen dant’s demurrer upon all of tlie various gouhds (herein set out ex cept ground number eight, which attacks the right of (lie plaintiffs in this case to bring this suit. In my opinion the plaintiffs are pro per legal parties to t his proceeding. 2. An order denying tho motion of plaintiffs for a mhndnmus ab solute notwithstanding tho defen dant \s answer. Let this be filed with the papers in said case. In open court. This December 27th, 1i)22. SHEPPARD BRYAN, Judge, S C. A. C. The best, is never too good in anything, business or pleasure. Ip you fail to do the cannot get the best. best you Gnu,muling will not help in any busi’ css nor is it productive in attaining any sort of pleasure. War debts still prevent recuper ation in Europe of economic dis agreement between the nations. Tho questions involved were presented with great zeal, skill and ability by counsel by all parties. Plaintiffs’ counsel submitted an oral motion to make the mandam us nisi a mandamous absolute not withstanding tho answer of t lie de fendant. '» ho motion is the oquiv aleutofad murrer to the defen dant’s answer and iiko the demur- rer in the ca.-e, raises an issue of law only. There are, th-refore, two mat ters for the cou:«ideration of the court, as follows: 1. Is the defendant’s demurrer good upon any one or mote of tin 1 grounds contained in said demur rer? 2. A*’e the plaintiff entitled to a mandamous absolute i \ on their petition notwithstanding the de- fendants’s answer? After a most careful considera tion and examination of tli- au thorities submitted, 1 have reached Ihe conclusion that tho Secretary of Slate has performed the duty imposed upon him by the Pe;"’b County amendment Act of Ar- gust 15th, 1022, by counting am" ascertaining tho result of the elec tion as shown by tho returns ’of filo in his office, and that this re sult., as stated by tho Secretary of Stale, shows a majority against the amendment creating Peach County. I think that tho question involv ed in the attack made by the plaintiffs in their petition upon the election returns of file in the olfico of the Sccrotary of Stale are judicial questions and are for sub mission to and determination by a judicial tribunal. I do not believe that tho Secretary of Stato is au thorized or required to do more than he has done in the case, namely; to count the returns com ing to his office from proper sour ces and apparently showing the result of an election held at tho proper time and place and by tho proper authorities and to state or certify the result as shown by such returns, to the Governor. / I think that while tho certifi cates of tho Secret ary of State, dated November 27th, 1922, con tains matter not properly belong ing to tho certificate, it neverthe less docs amount to a certificate showing the result of tho election as show by the returns filed in the Secretary of State’s oflico. I think that uudor the law all of the other statements in tho Secretary’s cer tificate should bo disregarded as irrelevant and as having no place in the oortifioate requited by the. proposed Peach County amend ment Act- Under the case of Hammond vs Clark, decided by the Supreme Court of Georgia on May lith, 1911 and reported in 13G Ga., 313, it is clear to my mind that the question whether tho amendment has been properly adopted or not according to the requirements of tho existing Constitution of Geor gia is a judicial question. ( This dyorago yield of potatoes The question as to whether or ( p Cr aC ro in the Uni led States varies not this proposed amendment bu$f Pom about, 60 bm-hels in Texas to been properly adopted or rejected , movo than 200 bushels in Maine, Ip you don’t, know how, take earnest lessons from your neigl> bor who do°s know. South Georgia farmers made material agricultural progress last year and much more is expected this year. ■ 1/ There is need of a large increase in economic production in the towns as well as on the farms in Georoia. OOCOODOOOOOOOOOOOOOPOOOOOO OOOO OOOOODOOOOOOOOOOO cooo I AT I W, B. SIMS STORE i NeW Shipment Of Imported English Ware. Make Your Selection While j i We Have A Full Assortment. Beautiful j ; Art Squares for your floors, nice Iron | ; Beds, Best Springs and Mattresses, j | We carry a general line of ; Household Goods. j i COME TO SEE US. j W. B, SIM s, ; I GROCERIES, FURNITURE, UNDERTAKING. ’ > Night Phone No. 22. Day Phone No. 8. ? Pebhy GtA- { OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOCXJOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOI Z7S2SB1 FREE TO FARMERS Ip you are a farmer, use your best efforts in preparation, fertili zation, cultivation and havesting and the crops will apt to be good profitable. Middle Georgia did not, sell enough products this year because there was not enough co-operntion between the farmers arid the mer chants. The farmers buy too many farm products. The United States cannot sell its full surplus of ngricltural pro ducts unless larger quantities are sold in Europe. Likewise larger quantities of the products of Europe are sold in this country. Also the IT. S. tariff laws prevent co-operation between European arid American producers. When you become a subscriber to tho Southern Agricul turist you are entitled to an almost unlimited service of informa tion and advice absolutely without charge. firing tho problems of your borne, your business or your community to us snd they will receive the sympathetic study of editors and'specialists who l hrougli years of experience have become expert in their solution. Their nd- vico is yours for Ihe asking. 400,000 farm families already take tho “Giant of the South,” If you do not. 60 cent8 a year or $1 for tnree years will euticlc you to tliis unpur chaseable free service in addition to au unbeatable paper twiee a month. SOUTHERN AGRICULTURIST Nashville, Tenn. The Giant of the South. Money to Loan on Farm Lamia in Houston County a 'Low Rate of Inheres li you wvut money quick write orca'l Hatcher-Turpm Go. 235 Mulberry St. Maeon, Georgia. is not, before this Court in this ap plication for mandamous. The ef- acoording to reports of tho United States Department of Agriculture feet of my ruling in this case is The average for the entire country that the Secretary of Stato lias ns certained the result as shown by for the past 10 years per acre. is S8 bushels BUDDED PECAN TREES FOR SALE STANDARD VARIETIES Write For Prices W. B. LAMAR, Park Front, Thomasville, Georgia. Friday