Newspaper Page Text
Official Or-,
gan Douglas
County
mm
DOUGLASVILLE, GEORGIA,
FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 1921
NEWSPAPERS FACE
V,,
I LOCAL P()Llf?*T*
SPEEDERS AND 7
' V ES ON
AKERS
New?
prise
Ne\V?
It
Assistance in securing indictments
against many of the Georgia weekly
newspaper and one daily paper lias
been asked by Dr. L. N. Hull', ,of At
lanta, in a letter to Postoffice Inspect
or C. Riddifoid. Tlie letter notes in
detail the instances in which he says
the federal law has been disregarded,
mainly in publishing paid matter a.
news without using the word “adver
tisement’ either above jjf below the
articles.
Papers mentioned in the letter arc:
Herald, Athens; News and Banner,
Franklin; Journal, Hamilton; Adver
tiser, Dawson; Herald, FolksTbn;
AIillcn; News, Roberta; Enter-
,McRae; Enterprise, Claxton;
Fayetteville. ,
said the matter has been re
turned to the Atlanta postoll’icejvith
a view to prosecution. That he would
employ counsel to'assist in the prose
cution, was stated in the Hull’ letter.
Sinco- the action noted aboVe the
Sentinel has received a communication
from Dr. Huff in which lie charges the
Georgia Railway A- Power Company
with making a libelous "attack upon
him through the Atlanta newspapers.
The article evidently referred to by
Dr Huff appeared in the newspapers
throughout the state on April Sth, and
was ntfblished over the isgnnture of
Hamv M. Atkinson. Dr. Hutf’s reply
tqr the Atkinson article ‘has been
printed in many of the newspapers as
news matter, according to Dr. Htiff,
which, in part, is as follows:
“To the Editor: When Mr. At
kinson undertakes to parade be
fore-the public, and to magnify
some slight infraction.of the law
by an individual citizen of this
city, and to tear down the char
acter and standing of that citizen
purely and solely because he op
poses any further high-handed
profiteering by the Atlanta Gas
company, then things have come
to a pretty pass in this city.
“I htflfe never made—did not
make—in my orignal card any at-
\ tack upon the moral character or
lives of those connected with tne
gas company. My reference to
‘public decency* was only to the
decency that ought to attach to
corporations in their sendee to
the public—decent treatment, fair
consideration, honest dealing.
“What a sad commentary on
the rights Atlantians to oppose
any scheme or demand of the
Georgia Railway and Power Com
pany, when that right is met by
officials of the Company wtih per
sonal villification and abuse and
character assassination.
* ,“But that’s the way .of Mr. At
kinson and the men at the head
of that great public-bleeding oc
topus. Let any man dare rise and
oppose'their monetary schemes—-
their demands for further digging
into the pockets of the people—
their insistence that despite the
great profits they have ipade in
the past, they*Vant to still fur
ther enrich their coffers at the ex
pense of the people—and that
man is sure to Jiave’every person
al act of his exploited in the press
—sure to have his character at
tacked and his motives ynpugned.
Why ? Because it draws atten
tion from the main issue. It is
done to • direct the public mind
from the grasping and outrageous
demands the company is making
uponvthe people—and, if possible,
to deter any further opposition.
“No wonder there seems to he
but few individuals or few organ
izations in this city that dare
stand up for their rights when
# this greedy corporation seeks fur-
- ther encroachment upon those
rights. It appears that many are
afraid to oppose them, knowing
t the insidious attacks that will be
made by the company upon them
personally—upon their private
conduct and character—if they
(hire show themselves in any pub
lic opposition. The attack now
made on me by Mr. Atkinson is
all the proof needed to verify this
statement. And can it not be ac
cepted as a fair sample of the
campaign of abuse and persecu
tion that will be heaped upon any
citizen in the future who dares
oppose them?
• “Just prior to the gas rate hear
ing I approached one of the lead
ing lawyers in this city and asked
him to represent me and otherfe in
this'hearing. I assured him a rea
sonable fee for his services. His
answer was: ‘I couldn’t oppose
that company. Occasionally I do
a little work for them, but wlicth-
The auto speeders arid cut-out
“fiends” are again attracting the no
tice of the mayor and council ftnd in
structions have been given Officers E.
L. Hopkifis and John Arrington to be
on the lookout for all motorists who
] exceed the speed limits inside the city
I limits.
j It is said the 'diligence on the part
of tlie officers broke up the speed hab-
| it to a great extent last year, hut that
it i> nothing unusual for motorists to
"burn the. wind” with impunity up and
down the main street sincothe officers
i nave relaxed their vigilance. Now,
i however, they will renew their efforts
along this line and all offenders will
i he summarily dealt with. Not only
! will speeders he arrested, hut the of-
i ticers say those who cut ond the muf-
: tiers will also be arraigned in the
j mayqr’s court. _
► The fines in such cases may lie from
j .ft. to $50 and it is thought,the mayor
j wilknot hesitate to mention the larger
| sum in cases where the evidence war-
| rants it.
SAY RATES HIGH
CIVIC CLUB NANES
NEW C01IITTEES
CHURCH AND STATE.
To The Sentinel:
! At the meeting of the mayor and The Civic Club held the regular
| council Monday evening there appeared! meeting at the home of Mrs. D. W.
j the managers of two amusement en-jjieace Tuesday’ afternoon and selected
i terprises who sought relief from the ! a strong lyceum course for the coming
flieavv expense of running such busi-j winter. The president appointed sev-
; nesses in Douglasville. W. P. Axon, j eral committees to carry on the work i
; of the Strand theater, requested that planned for the year,
j a lower rate oi^ electricity be given j Cemetery committee, whose duties
him. ITe declared that no small thea-, will he to care for and conduct all |
Iter could afford to pay the rate he j work done in the cemetery: Chair-1
j was paying" and comphrcd the local! man, Mrs. S. C. Harding, Mesdames |
| rate to that of other towns for sim- W. A. Abercrombie, C. F. Seiman, E.
ilar purposes. Council decided that M. Htufincs, J. V. Enterkin, P. H. Me-.
the city could furnish the current for! Gouirk. J. R. Duncan, R. E. Edwards,!
! the theaifr at 15 cents per killowattjC; Hindman, P. D. Seiman, T’om |
I and granted a reduction to that'figure. Brown, J. S. McGuire.
The previous rate was 20 cents per >V.nitary Committee-: Chairman,!
i killowatt. __ i J. H. Almand; sub-chairmen dif-
Thc other sufferer from the high fa rent sections of the town: Mesdames!
cost of'everything was the manager
The separation of state anil church
does not mean the divorcement of gov
ernment and religion. It is impossible
for a Christian statesman to legislate
apart from his Christianity. Convic
tion will find expression. Nor can a
Christian man dismiss hi. responsibil
ity to God just because he chances to I the city of Dublin Ma
be one unit in an aggregation of law- their slogan will he
Atlanta, April 16.—New and great
er impetus will be given the highway
movement by the Georgia Association
of County Commissioners a't their sev
enth annual convention to be held in
5 and 6, when
A permanent
which
g. He
c:\me!
er 1 ever did or not, if I opposed
them in this hearing they would
» .
put me on their blacklist, and they
would fcilways have it in for me,
and do everything they could
against me. 1 would have to paid
a tremendously large fee to ap
pear in opposition to them—not
so much because 1 love them, or
am their friend—but to offset the
hardships they would try to work
on me, personally and profession
ally, in the future.’
“There’s just one instance of
the fear in the minds of many
people about this company. I have
had a number of other people to
make the same argument to me
as to why they do not/ oppose
them.
“But Mr. Atkinson—nor the
Georgia Railway ayd Power Com
pany,—can close my mouth or stay,
my efforts, feeble though they he,
in my attempts to serve the peo
ple of Atlanta, and to help to save
the public from further ridiculous
and high-handed (shall I sOy rob
bery?) at the hands of. a corpora
tion that seems to have/Atlanta
by the throat.
“I did secure a lawyer—two of
them—to Represent me at the
hearing. I employed them simply
as a citizen interested in seeipg
that justice was done our people.
I knew the sharp*, shrewd prac
tices of the officials of the Geor
gia Railway and Power Company.
I knew what artists they were in
covering up facts and figures in
order to bamboozle the public.
They can confuse the ordinary
layman to such up extent that the
old adage, ‘figures do not lie,’
seems to he the biggest prevarica
tion of the age. It is not surpris
ing to hear Air. Atkinson say that
my lawyers were in ‘total ignor
ance of the subject matter.’ That’s
the way the company wants to
keep the entire public. It is hard
to get ‘facts’ and the ‘truth’ out of
them. It is no wonder the rail
road commission, seeking the
light, has bail to employ outside
experts, and since the gas rate
hearing, has had them making
personal investigations of the At
lanta gas stiuation.
“As to the ‘court record’ re
ferred to by Mr. Atkinson, the
public is not iqteersted in that. I
do not mind saying however, that
for some two or three years, as
the public well knows, this city
has been infested with gamblers
and confidence men. Like many
other business men, no doubt, sev
eral attempts were made to ‘rope’
me into some of their games.
More to satisfy a curiosity than
anything else, I allowed myself
upon one occasion some time past
to be ‘trapped.’ And, strange to
say, one of the leaders was him
self the victim, and when he
blight suit to recover his losses
I paid his attorney’s fee of $200.
It is true that a nominal fine was
entered equally against all in the
courts, and that was the begin
ning—and the ending—of my
‘court record.’ Nothing to he
proud of—but certainly no great
and grievous thing had been done.
“Considered in any light, it has
no hearing on they gas' rates of At
lanta, and Mr. Atkinson is trying
I tovlraw attention from the thing
that all Atlanta is intertested in
by rushing into print about my
personal conduct—a thing that
scarcely interests anyone. Most
respectfully, L. N. HUFF.”
of a traveling carniv
into town Sunday ever
that the special city I
shows bo reduced from ton doll;
day ro a figure nea'rly half
Educational C
the council refused to Mrs. VV
R. E. Hamilton, Glenn Dorris, W. M.
Almand, D. Houscworth, M. A. Mar-
reit, Jell’ Harding, F. JVI. Stewart, It. |
for such j c. Morris, A. C. Rudd, J. L. Giles, S. j
A. Griffith, Louise Longino, J. Ii. Mc-
amoim
A ft i
mittec: Chairman, j
lames M. E. !
Alter a vote the council re!used to Mrs. VV. M. Hayes; Mesdames M. E.
ake any concessions on the rate. It Geer, W. H. Clark, H. M. Upshaw,
then explained to him that car-j r \\ ft. Whitley, J. 'I'. Marchman, G. T.
ils do not receive a very warm wel- i McLarty, J. L. Seiman, F. M. Winn,
o in this city, to which he agreed.! Wavs and Means Committee: Chair-
makers. The lamentable fpet is that 1 system of highway connecting every
many of those who legislate for us to- j county scat and important town in
day arc not Christians, either in name Georgia,” and addresses will be deliv-
or faith. ! erc< l by Governor-elect Hardwick,
Our abhorrence of the union of j Chairman Charles M. Strahan of the
church and state has come, of course, I Stadto Highway Board, and other
from the political intrigueing of the | prominent advocates of highway im-
cluirch of Rome. Its efforts at polit- j provements.
ical domination run like a slimy irail i more terse and accurate defini-
throughoht its history even *lown tuj Gon of the -tate highway system now
its present work in Ireland. Lcgisla-! being constructed in Georgia could be
tion for moral or religious ends is an j I )U t into words than the slogan of tho
entirely different proposition from the | County Commissioners’ convention, as
workings of a narrow sectarianism oi ! Quoted above. Georgia’s highway
a corrupt ecclesiastieism. ^The latter | laws enacted in 19If) provide for a
is an abomination; the former is both state-wide sy tern of permanent
wise and legitimate. Every good ruler; mads connecting every county seat in
and good .government from the days j Georgia, these roads to be built and
of King David do\\;n to the present | maintained by the state and to be sup
time have given consideration to the j plemental to the local roads in the
moral welfare of their peoples, pur several counties. - Coming into exist*
own-civil war was fought over a moral cncc on January J, 1920, the Highway
question. The emancipation of the
J He was also advised that the marshal
would-be on the show ground ready to
report upy irregularities in the con
duct of the show, and prohibit any
f irther performances, if necessary.
The showman said his show would
hear inspection even if it did carry a
cabaret which he intimated was some
thing on the order of a “ ’49” camp,
only different. The show will be here
the rest of the week.
Messrs. M. E. Geer, J. r F. Duncan
and D. \y. Peace were present in the
interest of the Bankhead Highway As
sociation, which they said -needed
funds with which to carry on its con
structive work and for the expense of
the convention to he held in a southern
city in the near future. Fifty dollars
was the .sum asked for and the coun
cil decided to give half that amount
upon the agreement of the Progressive
Club to give half, or twenty-five dol
lars.
Mr. J. W. House was giyen author
ity to purchase a vehicle for the use
of the fire department, which is a very
necessary addition to the present in
adequate equipment, it' is said.
DOUGLASVILLE DOPE DEALER
DISAPPEARS FROM U. S. DEPUTY
An alleged morphine peddler who
gave his name as B. F. Jones, of this
city, escaped from tlie United States
marshal’s office in the federal building
in Atlanta last Friday morning, where
he had been, carried after lining ar
rested in East Ponit by Deputy Mar
shal S. A. Smith on charges of violat
ing the narcotic law.
He had been arrested in East Point
Friday morning, and war arraigned
for bond or commitment papers in the
marshal’s office. He claimed his name
was Osburn, and while the matter was
.being investigated, Deputy Marshal
Smith, left him alone for a few min
utes. The corridor on to which the
office opened had only one exit, and
the officer stood guard behind a part
ly opened door to watch the corridor.
He heard the door of the marshal’s
office slam shut, and lopked inter the
hull. Jones had slipped past the door
| behind wjiich the officer stood without
being seen, and was starting down the
steps from the second floor of the
Federal building when Deputy Mar
shal Smith saw him and gave chase.
The two men slipped and slid down
the marbje stairs, which had just been
man, Mrs. J. E. Phillips; Mesdames
W. M. Hayes, D. S. Strickland, T.
R. Whitley, Jessie Burton, C. V. Van-
sant, J. M. Harding, A. W. McLayty,
0.- T. Seiman, J. A. Enterkin, J. J.
Kirby.
Committee on Music: Chairman,
Mrs. H. V. Johnston, Mesdames N. M.
Hawley, J. A. Enterkin, Gordon Banks,
J. R. McKoy, S. S. Perkins.
Committee on Swimming Pool:
Chairman, Mrs. Thad McKoy, Mes
dames Paul D. Seiman, J. D. Aber
crombie, W. M. Hayes, J. H. Almand,
J. E. Phillips.
IN MEMORIAM.
To the Worshipful Master, Ward
ens and Members of Douglasville
Lodge No. 289, F. & A. M.:
Your committee appointed this day
to draft resolutions concerning the re
cent death of Brother Joe S. Aber
crombie, report us follows:
No occurrence of recent years
caused such a shock no more real sor
row than the announcement on last
Wednesday morning of the sudden
death of Brother Abercrombie. All
his life had been spent in our midst
flhd he was known and loved by a
great host of people both young and
old. It can he said with all sincerity
and truthfulness that he had no ene
mies, although he always stood for the
right and condemned the wrong. His
daily walk in life was such as to re
flect honor upon the principles of
Masonry.
Brother Abercrombie was born ir
Douglas County on May 27th, 1874
being therefore almost 47 years of
age, and departed this life March
30tfi, 1921, just as the new day was
coming into his life.
He joined the Missionary Baptist
Church in Texas about 27 years ago,
and was a faithful member until the
time of his death, and he was an hon
ored member of the Masonic Lodge at
this place for a period of 15 years oV
more. In both Lodge and Church his
distinctive characteristic was loyalty
and devotion.
In civic life Brother Abercrombie
was often called upon by his County
and City for public serveie, having
long years of service as councilman
of Douglasville and serving one year
as Mayor. He gave valuable ser
to the County as Chairman of the
Board of Road Commissioners, and in
every ofl’ice his acts were marked by
washed and were slippery with water,
but the officer was unable to catch the | honesty and efficiency,
I fugitive.
I*\UL D. SELMAN VERY ILL";
OPERATION PROBABLE
! A matter of regret is the illness of
1 Paul D. Seiman, which, it js said, may
j he so serious as to make an opera-
: tion necessary. Mr. and Mrs. Justus
i Gower are visiting Mrs. J. L. Seiman,
! and in the illness of Mr. Paul Sel-
! man, Mr. Gower has charge of the
: drug store.
MRS. J. R. HUTCHESON ILL AT
GEORGIA BAPTIST HOSPITAL
The many friends of Mr. and Mrs.
J. R. Hutcheson hope for the rapid
recovery of Mrs. Hutcheson, who un
derwent an operation at the Georgia
Baptist Hospital last Saturday. Last
reports from the hospital said that
Mrs. Hutcheson was resting well and
that every indication pointed to a
complete recovery.
Your Committee recommends the
following resolutions: »
First, In the death of Brother Aber
crombie, his Church, Lodge and c
munity has lost indeed one of the
noblest citizens, and his family a true
husband and father.
Second, A copy of this memoriam
he furnished the family, and printed
in tlie Douglas County Sentinel.
Fraternally submitted,
R. E. Edwards,
J. K. Hutcheson,
_ F. M. Stewart,
Committee.
slaves was for the moment a war
measure, it had economic hearings, .it-
played a part in politics, but primar
ily it was right and was inevitable
sooner or later. Our entrance into the
world war was impelled by our moral
ideas. These historic facts are in
keeping with reason and fundamental
principles.
The first of God’s • under govern
ments is the human family; the next
higher is the state. My chief business
as a father is not the punishment of
disobedience, though that has its
place, hut the inculcation of right
principle, the formation of correct
ideals. The business of the state is
to carry forward this same work. To
punish the lawless is its duty, of
course, hut just as truly it ought to
inculcate proper ideals wtih all the
force of its authority. We do not ar
gue that legislation can transform the
nature or save from sin—only divine
power can do that. But human gov
ernment most certainly ought to func
tion as an instrument of moral gov
ernment. Germany spent the last half
century in driving home an idea. Tlie
incarnation of this hellish passion be
came the menace and all hut the de
struction of the world order. Why
should not some other nation, ours,
for instance, stand as assiduously for
a righteous idea as Germany has done
for an unrighteous one? God worked
through the rulers of Israel in con
junction with His church: He does
today in so far as legislative con
sciences are responsive to His Spirit.
We have believed for years that God
would be pleased to give our own won
derful nation the plhce of moral and
religious leadership in tlie world. In
a sense it holds that place today. But
evangelical Christianity should eveij
be supported by legislative forces im
bued with the same spirit. Our best
men anil women ought to shape our
legislation.
The only guarantee of morality is
in religion. The highest ideal known
to the world is the Christian ideal.
There arc certain essentials for the
maintenance and propagation of this
ideal. There must he at least a day of
worship, an aggregation of believing
men and women, the study and
preaching of the Word of God. Safe
guarding the Sabbath, punish the dis
turber of public worship, keeping the
way open for the living Word of God
—these are as truly essential to our
national ideals as incarcerating the
thief or hanging the murderer.
The only democracy that is safe is
the Christian democr
Department in sixteen months sur
veyed, located and mapped the high
way system contemplated, a system
embracing 4,800 miles or road, and
lias built of that system morfe "than
1,000, up to date.
Georgia county commissioners
through their association, which holds
its seventh annual convention in Dub
lin May 5,and 6, have been one of the
strongest single factors in bringing
about the creation of a hgihway de
partment, and a powerful factor, also,
in the remarkable speed with which
the construction of Georgia’s highway
syste mlias made headway since the
department began to function on Jan
uary 1, 1920. From the very outlet
of the program the assistance of the
county commissioners has been indis
pensable, and they have given it in a
broad-minded, progressive manner.
“Cousin” Fred Houser, secretary of
the Georgia Association of County
Commissioners, is making, an effort to
bring together in Atlanta, the county
commissioners of the northern part of
the state to make the trip to Dublin
by automobile, traversing some of the
finest lings of road in the highway
system, notable among them being the
concrete boulevards through Spalding
and Bibb counties, and several fine
stretches of sand clay road. The wives
and daughters of the county commis
sioners have been specially invited to
attend tlie convention. Dublin and'
Laurens county, which are'Tamous for
their hospitality, are planning to give
the visitors a very delightful enter
tainment. The program is one of the
best the association has ever had, and
tlie atendance is expected to establish
a new record.
OSCAR COHEN ARRESTED BY
MARSHAL HOPKINS
Oscar Cohen was arrested by Mar
shal E. L. Hopkins on the grounds at
the carnival Wednesday evening. It
is said a bottle of whiskey was in his
pocket when arrested. He was re
leased but will be tried later, it is
said.
way to keep a democracy Christian,
even nominally, is by governmental
protection of these essentials of Chris
tianity. ,
Law—organized government—is es
sential to liberty. The basis of true
liberty is Christianity.- The more
nearly our legislative enactments em
body Christia
real and the i
vious article has been met. We do not
live under the Mosaic dispensation but
under the dispensation of the Spirit
dating from Pentecost. The church in
tlie “Acts of the Apostles”—the Apos
tolic Church—was n6t the Roman
Catholic church. This church accord
ing to its own records as previously
quoted worshipped on the first day of
the week. The leaders of the Apos
tolic Church were taught by Christ
himself, some of them at least, and
and tliay were all filled with the Holy
Spirit. Surely we are safe in follow
ing the custom of these Christians.
That -the church of Rome later adopt
ed this day of worshp is not discredit
to that church. How much better the
world might have been if the Roman
The only ( Catholic church hp.il followed the
Apostolic Church in all other particu
lars so closely as in this!
Moreover, what spiritual end is td
he gained by contention over days?
“He that regardeth the da*regardeth
it unto the Lord, and he that regard
eth not the day to the Lord he does
not regard it,” says St. Paul in Rom-
principles the more i ans 14:6. Again, in Gal. 4:9-10, speak-
re secure our liberties. I ing of days the same apostle says,
The failure of the state to meet its
responsibilities under a Christian civ
ilization is fraught with as grave con
sequences as have ever accrued from
the union, of church and state. In
avoiding the one evil.may we not he
so unwise and so untrue to our high
est interests as to fall into a more
grievous error. For in truth as tlie
scriptures teach, “Righteousness exalt-
ctlra nation” but “The nations that
forget God shall be turned into.hell.”
W. H. CLARK.
A S.—“Is Sunday the Christian
Sabbath ’” The answer is- fixed, yes.
No argument advanced in my pre-
“How turn ye again to the weak and
beggarly elements, whereunto ye de
sire again to be in bondage?” And
yet today we find this same class to
whom Paul was writing still confound
ing Christianity with Judaism!
Sunday is the Sabbath of the civ
ilized world. It is so accepted by the
great hulk of Individual Christians.
To how much more profit could we all
stand together for the maintenance of
this established day of worship. To
keep‘this day in the Spirit and as
nearly holy as we may is surely tho
supreme. duty of every Christian in
this regard. W. H. G.