Newspaper Page Text
l{ AN N ]‘
America FIRST and
\__ altthe time - )
VOL. XVII
MAYORS’ LEAGUE UNANIMOUS FOR PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
)
The Constitutional Amendments
Committees of the House and Senate
voted in executive session Tuesday
afternoon to report the capital re
moval bill back to the General Assem
bly with the recommendation that it
be passed,
This action was taken following an
open hearing held at 3 o'clock in the‘
hall of the House before a joint meet-‘
ing of the Constitutional Amendments
Committees of both branches of the
Legislature, The meeting was filled
to overflowing with both Atlanta and‘
Macon sympathizers and was ad-‘
dressed by some of the ablest men
in Georgia. '
While the committee action was
against Atlanta and in favor of the‘
claims of Macon that the question
should be submitted to a vote of the
people, the measure in committee en
countered more opposition than had
been expected, a still ballot being put
up against it.
Ivan E. Allen, chairman of the At
lanta Citizens’ Committee, stated‘
Wednesday that prospects of killing!
the measure in the Legislature ue‘
brighter mow than ever before, as‘
even the strongest and most optl-‘
mistic friends of Atlanta had not ex
pected as many votes in their tavor
as were received. Mr. Allen added‘
that it has never been the aim of At
lanta to kill the measure in the com-‘
mittee rooms, but to beat it fair and
square, for now and all time, upon the
floors of both houses. |
HOW THEY VOTED. |
In the House committee the vote
was 22 to 11 in favor of the bill, and
in the Senate it carried by a vote of
17 to 7. Mr. Johns of Barrow is re
ported to have fought against the bill
in the House, while Ivan E. Allen of
the Thirty-fifth and Fermor Barrett,
of the Thirty-first led the opposition
in the Senate committee. The reso
lution in the Senate to report the bill
favorably was introduced by Ben J.
Fowler of the Twenty-second and
seconded by J. E. T. Bowden of the
Fifth. |
“Several members of the Senate
ocommittee were absent, but we had‘
not expected as many votes as we
received even if all had been present,”
said Senator Allen, following the an
nouncement of the committees’ action.
“The House committee vote was an
agreeable surprise, and I think now
we are in better shape.
“We have never had any idea of
choking the bill off in the commit
tees and indications are good. It eon
vinces us more strongly that the
capital removal bill can never receive
a constitutional majority of the whole
House and Senate. The advocates of
Atlanta are delighted.”
The floor and galleries of the House
and even the aisles and doors were
packed when John Bale, chairman of
the Constitutional Amendments Com
mittee of the House, called the joint
session to order at 3 o'clock. Macon
*put up only two speakers-——Joe Pottle
of Milledgeville, who was snowed un
der several years ago in his race for
governor of Georgia, and Warren
Grice, former attorney general of the
State and now an attorney of Macon.
] ATLANTA'S SPEAKERS.
Atlanta put up Mayor James L.
Key, Robert C. Alston, Col, H. H.
Dean of Gainesville, Hatton Lovejoy
of LaGrange, J. W. Oglesby, one of
the biggest landowners of Brooks
County, and R. B. Blackburn.
Both sides agreed that the capital
removal agitation is not a fight be
tween Atlanta and Macon. Advocates
of Atlanta, however, claimed that At
lanta had spent her money to provide
a site and build the capitol, and that
to move it would saddle off a burden
of expenses for the taxpayers to
ghoulder, while Macon claimed that
there is a State wide sentiment be
hind the movement, and that even if
)t does put a burden upon the tax
payers they have a right to decide
that for themselves and pay it if they
want to,
Before the argument opened Ben J,
Fowler of Bibb presented a memorial
signed by the mayor and council of
Macon, which stated that city will
enter into a sacred contract with the
State of Georgla to provide a sixteen
acre tract of land known as Tattnall
Square, near the heart of the city, for
the site of the capitol.
Judge A. W. Cozart of Columbus
fired the opening shot for Macon
when he was called upon to speak on
the resolution. He declared the cap
ftal removal agitation has ceased to
be a joke. He said Georgia needs a
new capitol building worthy of the
State, and added that the present
building looks like a "last year's bird
nest.”
SEES DESIRE TO VOTE.
“Judging from the gathering here,
it would seem that the people of the
State want to vote on the question,”
he said, “and when it is probable that
w majority of the psople want a con
\stitutional amendment it should be
Continued on Page 2, Column 2. |
Full International News Service
\
Five men sitting in judgment late
Wednesday afternoon were to deter
mine the success or failure of the
first phase of Mayor Key's fight for
municipal ownership of public utili
ties. It was to be the initial test
of strength between the city admin
istration and the power company.
They were the Charter Revision
Committee of City Council—Council
man J. R. Nutting, the chairman; Al
derman John 8. McClelland, mayor
pro tem.; Alderman Harvey Hatcher
and Councilmen Claude Ashley and
A. J. Orme.
By a clever maneuver executed at
the mayor’s luncheon to the visiting
Georgia mayors at the Capital City
Club Tuesday afternoon, the chances
for the plans being definitely acted on
at the present session of the Legisla
ture were increased enormously.
Walker T, Lee, the mayor’s secre
tary, left his place at the vast lunch
eon table in the ballroom of the club.
He appeared across the table a mo
ment later beside Alderman McClel
land and the two conversed briefly
in low tones. He then consulted
Councilman Nutting, who sat farther’
down the line of guests.
MEETING ARRANGED.
Returning to his seat, the secretary
quietly announced that a special
meeting of the committee had been
arranged for and that a call would
be issued for 4 o'clock Wednesday
afternoon by Chairman Nutting im
mediately after the luncheon.
By nightfall every member had
been informed. The chairman’s agree
ment to the move was not regarded
as an indication of the attitude he
would take toward the measure. Two
reports were regarded as certainties,
but there was much speculation Wed
nesday as to the tenor of the ma
jority report.
Through this action the mayor's
proposed amendments will reach
council at the extraordinary meeting
Thursday afternoon in form for im
mediate action. In the normal course
they would have - been intreduced
Thursday and of necessity referred
to the committee. They could not
have been reported out until the next
meeting, late in July.
Because of the magnitude of the
fight and of the certainty of many
efforts to delay final action, the sav
ing of two weeks which was effected
was regarded as an achievement of
importance,
A disposition to open up a bit was
noticeable among members of Coun
cil Wednesday in rather marked con
trast to their demeanor on Tuesday
when the mayor's message and
amendments made an unheralded ap
pearance at the regular session. None
was willing to talk for publication,
however.
| WOULD CARRY WEIGHT.
The attitude of the Charter Revi
sion Committee was under consider
ation. The majority recommenda
tion, while not final, would carry
great weight, it was believed, espey
cially if it were favorable,
An unauthoritative forecast placed
Alderman McClelland and Council
man Ashley on the favorable side.
Equally credible observers held con
flicting views of the positions that
would be assumed by the remaining
three members. Councilman Orme,
however, was tentatively placed in
opposition,
The committee was to meet in the
conference room adjoining the coun
cil chamber in the City Hall. It was
regarded as likely that champions of
both sides would appear before it,
Copies of the mayor's message and
amendments were completed late
Tuesday by the office force of City
Clerk Walter C. Taylor, and a num
ber were distributed to members of
council. The reading of the mes
sage had been interrupted Monday
when the body adopted Alderman
‘Hatcher’s resolution for a special
‘meeting to consider it.
. i ————
Lieutenant Edwards Has
‘ Returned From France
| First Lieut. A. M. (Gus) Edwards,
‘well known Atlanta boy, is back after
serving for ten months with the
| American expeditionary forces in
France.
. Lieutenant Edwards Is enthusiastic
in his praise of *he American soldiers
and tells of their bravery time after
time in constructing trenches under
fire of the Germans between times
' when they ‘went ‘over the top.” He
was attached to the Fifty-fourth In
fontry and took part in the Meuse-
Argonne offensive y
~ Gus left his position with the Ja
cobs’ Pharmacy Company to enter the
r.«(-('ond officers’ training camp at Fort
;(lulothorpfl, graduating as a second
lleutenant. After a few weeks at
Camyp Wadsworth he was ordered
10vnrso:\s, where he was stationed for
ten months. On receipt of his dis
‘(‘Lu"'.:.! he will assume his former
‘viutles at Jacobs',
. W. B. COLEMAN RETURNS.
| News hag been received in Atlanta
'hy Mr, and Mrs., George H, Coleman
of the arrival in Charleston, 8. C,, of
their son, Wilbur B. Coleman, who
has been in France thirteen months
with the S O S,
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Here are some of the city officials who attended the second annual convention of the Georgia League of Municipalities held Tues
day at the Capital City Club, when a state-wide movement for municipal ownership of public utilities was launched by unanimous
vote. The two mayors in the rear of the upper group are J. C. Walker of Cedartown and Andrew C. Erwin of Athens. DBelow,
Mayors R. M. Strickland of Tallapoosa, E. W. Fowler of Covington and G. A, Tanner of Douglas. The central figure is Dr. W. A.
Palmour, mayor of Gainesville At the lower left is Archibald Blackshear, city attorney of Augusta, who introduced the reso
lution committing the league to the principles of public ownership of publie utilities. At the left are Commissioner J. P. Jones
of Rome, secretary-ireasurer of the league, and Mayor W. M. Tift, president, both of whom were re- leeted to serve another term
Exposition Cotton Mills
Boys and Girls tin Camp
The Bluebird Club of girls and the
Iromside Boys’ Club of the Exposi
tion Cotton Mills held a three-day
camp at Silver Lake July 4 to 7
Twenty-five youngsters, chaperoned
by Mr, and Mrs. Fred Netherland,
turned out to the outing.
The campers left Atlanta Thurs
day in motor trucks and arrived at
Silver Lake late that afternoon. Tents
were pitched near the lake and the
crowd proceeded to have three days of
real pleasure, One of the features of
the camp was the watermelon feasts,
An entire wagon load of melons was
brought out by the campers. The
party returned Sunday afternoon. ‘
ATLANTA, GA., WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1919
. .
German Food Minister,
.
Free Trade Foe, Quits
COPENHAGEN, July 9.—Herr Wis.
sel, German food minister, has re
eigned, owing to difficulties of opin
ion with the ministry growing out
of opposition to his ideas of free
trade.
\ HELD AS SHOPLIFTER.
Bertha Lietzau, 578 Simpson street,
the wife of a soldier, was bound over
under bond of S2OO on a charge of
shoplifting by Recorder George John
son Tuesday afternoon., Special Of
ficers Young and Scoggins arrested
the woman on the charge of stealing
several articles from a downtown
department store. The woman denied
the charge and stated she would
prove her innocence when tried,
. .
Deputy Sheriff Fails
. .
To Enjoy Milk Bath
Deputy Sheriff Lane Mitchell, fol
lowing an experiment, was convinced
Wednesday that he doesn't care for
milk baths as a régular thing,
The deputy was given a “shower”
of buttermilk when he and Deputy
J. H, Estes went to the home of K,
Strange in JaSalle avenue to serve
proceedings taken out by Mrs.
Strange for the custody of her young
son, The officers stated that several
women assailed them, and that one
of them poured buttermilk on Deputy
Mitchell’s head.
Hearing on the petition for custody
of the boy was had Tuesday after
noon before Judge Humphries, who is
acting in the motion division of Su
perior Court. The boy was turned
over to the mothes
Snider in Bad; Storm
Slips Up on Negro
Clarence Willlams, negro, of Griffin,
gtated emphatically Wednesday morn
ing that Professor Snider of Griffin
is all wrong In his predictions of
weather conditions, The professor
predicted boautiful sunshiny weather
for his trip to Atlanta, Willlams said,
but this is what he got: °
During the electric storm Tuesday
afternoon Willlams was knocked
down and severely bruised by a bolt
of lightning in front of the Morris
Brown College in North Boulevard.
He was taken to Grady Hospital,
where he remaimned until Wednesday
morning when his condition had
greatly improved,
Issued Daily and Entered as Second-Class Matter at
the PostofMce at Atlanta Under Act of March 3, 1879,
o 0 1o JOIN BATILE
rUf AIGHT 10 OPERATE
OWN UTILITY SYSTEM
A tremendous step in the movement for municipal ownership
of publie utilities was made Tuesday when the Georgia League of
Muniecipalities, without a dissenting vote endorsed the prineiple in
its eatirety and appointed a committee of five to appear before the
present sessicn of the Georgia Legistatvre and appeal for logisla
tion permitting municipalities to acquire or build and operate such
pubfic vtilities as they may desire.
Adoption of the resolution endors-:
ing municipal ownership came late
Tuesday afternoon, just before the
close of one of the most momentous
conventions ever held in the State.
Those who came to the convention
as doubters had been swept off their
feet by the overwhelming volume of
evidence introduced by various advo
cates of the reform. The resolution
came before the convention with
unanimous approval of the resolu
tions committee and was unanimously
adopted without discussion,
ASK LEGISLATION.
The resolution, as presented by
City Attorney Archibald Blackshear,
representative of the City of Augusta,
declared first for municipal owner
ship as opposed to private ownership
of street railways, gas, electric light,
water and power plants. It next pro
vided for the appointment of a com
mittee of five to appear before the
Legislature and ask for legislation
as follows:
- A bill granting municipalities the
right to acquire real and personal
property such as may be necessary
to own and operate gas, electric
light, power, steam heating and
water works plants and street and
electric railway systems,
Authority to purchase plants al
ready in existence by negotiation
or condemnation proceedings, with
proper safeguards for the rights
both of the municipalities and the
formér owners.
Permission to municipalities en
gaging in public utilities business
to furnish service to other munici
palities desiring service and the
right of municipalities to act in the
ownership and operation of public
utilities either individually or col
lectively as they may elect.
The Legislature will also be asked
to guarantee to the municipalities
that their right to own and operate
their own public utilities shall not in
any way be abridged or restricted.
With the adoption of this resolu
tion officers of the league were con
vinced no one could now deny the
people of the towns and cities of
Georgla have voiced their desire for
municipal ownershin and the plea of
the Georgia municipalities for the
necessary legislation will be heeded
by the General Assembly.
ASK BETTER WATERWAYS,
The league went further in its
recommendations than mere endorso.
ment of municipal ownership on an
individual or collective scale. A res
olution introduced by First Commis
sioner Vandiver of Rome, memor
lalizing Congress in the interest of
development of waterways in Georgla
received unanimous approval,
Commissioner Vandiver's resolution
urged that matters concerning flood
control, navigation improvement,
construction and operation of power
dams, construction of freight inter
changes and terminal facilities be
longed properly to federal agencies
and urged that federal aid in these
matters be called for,
The resolution pointed out the vast
amount of work being done by the
government for Western States in ir
rigation, construction of power dams,
ete., and asked that Georgia be given
similar aid. Damage to property and
crops in this State because of lack
of flood control was cited, It was
urged that the government construct
great power dams on the Georgia
streams and dispose of the current at
a falr price to the Georgia cities for
distribution through municipally
owned electric systems,
| U. 8. AID IS SOUGHT.
“The rivers and waterways belong
to the people,” Commissioner Vandi
ver declared in urging adoption of his
resolution, “but there is grave danger
of thelr product being given away and
the heritage of unborn generations
being squandered through our lack of
foresight.
“The government can handle these
development schemes far better than
can private enterprises, and should
do sO. No private ownership or pri
vate control should be permitted to
entcr into this field, The govern
ment, in co-operation with the State
and the municipalities, can develop
the 2,000,000 hersepower of electricity
that now goes to waste, distribute
it to the people and make of Georgia
the garden spot of America.”
The general sentiment of the con
vention appeared to be in favor of the
formation of a glant system of hydro
electric power production and ‘distri
bution similar to that in existence in
the province of Ontarlo, Canada, as
described to the convention by R. T.
Jeffery, member of the Hydroelectric
Power Commission of Toronto, who
came here at the request of the league
fi.HUME EDITION j|
A Paper for Atlanta,Georgia,
A and the South
to present the facts about the Ontario
system.
Mr. Jeffery addressed the conven<
tion Tuesday afternoon, explaining
the Ontario plan in full detail. His
address lasted for more than an hour
and was received with the closest at
tention by the Georgia municipal ex
ecutives. At the close of his address
he was given an ovation.
JEFFERY DESCRIBES PLAN.,
The plan that has worked so suce
cessfully in Ontario, as described by
Mr. Jeffery in detail, is substantially
as follows:
The provinee of Ontario created a
Hydroelectric Power Commission, to
act under control of the provincial
government, in the production of hy
droelectric power for distribution to
the cjtizens of the province through
municipally owned lighting and power
systems.
Money to finance the scheme was
raised through an issue of bonds
which mature in thirty years, for the
‘redemption of which a sinking fund
‘ was created from the excess profits of
the system. Funds for the establish
ment‘or purchase of distributing sys
tems by the municipalities are raised
in the same way.
The ccmmission brings the power
on its own lines to the municipalities
desiring service and seils at a fixed
price, requiring the muniripal sys
tems in turn to sell at a fixed price
established by the commission,
A total of 750,000 horsepower of
current has been developed by the
commission, which now supplies 95.7
of the electricity used in the province,
in competition with a convenient and
fairly cheap coal supply. Private en
terprise competition is not forbidden,
but has been gradually displaced on
account of inability of private enter
prise to produce and sell as cheaply
as the commission. The commission
has' power to purchase by negotiation
or condemnation proceedings any
plant deemed necessary for the con
duct of the system. Condemnation
proceedings have never been found
necessary, private owners having
“read the handwriting on the wall,
that private cwnership in Ontario is
finisked.”
GROWTH PHENOMENAL.
The growth of the system has been
phenomenal and is, in itself, a most
convineing testimonial for govern
ment and municipnzl ownership. From
twelve municipalities in 1910, the
commission has come to serve 234
municipalities with power. The mu
nicipalities served have a combined
population of 1,750,000 people, or a
total of 200,000 consumers. A total’
of eighty-six electric generating sys
tems have been absorbed by the com
mission. The commision has 4,500
employees,
The benefits derived from the work
of the commission are incalculable.
He said rates were reduced to the
domestic consumer from $ cents per
K. W. H. to 2 1-2 cents or less than
one-half the rate charged by private
concerns. Encouraged by certainty
of low power rates and prospects of
still lower rates as the system ex
tended, huge manufacturing interests
have sprung up in the province. The
profits that formerly went to pay div
idends on stock-—largely watered
stock, at that—now go to swell the
coffers of the municipalities partaks
ing in the enterprise. Even with
rates as low as 2 1-2 cents per K, W.
H,, the profits mount to a sum that
can not be regarded as negligible,
livery year the rates are revised
downward to keep down ihe profits,
Across the boundary, in New York
and Maine, where the citizens are
paying much higher rates for elec
trical current, industrial growth has
not been so rapid during the last ten
years as it has been, proportionally,
in Ontario, It is becoming increas
ingly difficult to convince the citi
zens of those States that government
and muniecipal ownership of publie
utilities is a failure. The facts and
figures are too well known.
PLAN NEW VENTURE.
The commission is preparing now
to go extensively into the interurban
electric railway business. It's first
venture in that field--the purchase of
the London and Port Stanley Ralil
way, a twenty-five mile stretch that
had been run down and unprofitable
--i8 now the best equipped road in
the province and shows a net annual
surplus of over $256,000 since 1915,
when the commission acquired the
system.
The Georgia municipal executives
wera profoundly impressed by the
account as given by Mr. Jeffery.
Mayor Key, who introduced the
speaker, declared Georgia stands on
the threshold of wonderful ach
ment and the Empire Statq of &
NO 292