Newspaper Page Text
"^TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1920.
UNION-RECORDER
A STATEMENT FROM
MU. f E. PCNHER
Milledgeville, Ga.. Dec. 27, 1920.
Editor l nion Recorder:
For information of my friends in
and around Milledgeville, and as an
explanation on my part, I will ap
preciate it if you will carry in your
next issue a part of my statement
made for the public at large some
days ago and sent to other papers for
publication, but huv. failed to get
them through so far fur some reason.
This :; t;. ement in part is in answer
to statements made to the Macon
Telegraph by Mrs. Manson, a board
member of the Georgia Training
School, appearing in above paper on
Dec. 10th and was not replied to fot
several days on account of my hav
in'- some other work to do at school
t» id finding things so very unpleasant
there, I, for the sake of thu boys. de
cided to take all insults and'bold my
mouth until I was through ’A?':>•
realizing Mr:. Manson would tnake
more unpleasant scenes if I had any
thing further to ay in the paper.
She as it was made all kinds of state
ments to the boys and officers about
me, stating I was a thief and a liar
and told the boys she wanted me
watched, and besides had the boys
move practically rverything out of
my office, making it hard to finish my
work there, and in fact I have not yet
been able to get all my papers and
private letters. This was pretty
hard to take, but I have taken lots
for months to save the boys and offi
cers from seeing and hearing too
much.
Mrs. Manson has made the state
ment she could handle any man she
knew except Governor Dorse?, stat
ing he was so firm in his convictions
she reached the school the Bonners When Mrs. Manson delivered this
had moved out. Mrs. Bonner andmessage from from Mr. Paxon, how-
rnyself were at the school when Mrs.' ver, there was no explanation in the
Manson arrived, and Mrs. Bom.erletter from the chairman,
spent he night there. I left the in- Mr. Paxon also tries to make it
stitution about 9:10 p.m. however toappear there was nothing mentioned
catch a train for Atlanta, asking or done as to the change of superin-
Mrs. Manson to look after things un- tendent’s place before the board
■■
til I returned,
p< i fectly quit
I had all the boys
t a"d ia
rmitories
x’orn Mrs. M.i is.m arrive !, rut when
she heard what action th ■ boys bad
taken as to running away, she seem
ed very much disturbed at the'r at
titude towards us and went to tno
dormitories and told all the aov- if
she heard anything they said about
her, she would have Mr. Cochran give
meeting. I happened to know, how
ever, Mrs. Manson had the matter up
with a good man of Savannah s me
tune before ibis meeting, but stated
to him it was a dead secret as only I
one or two knew anything about the j
change the first of December, in
other words only she ;ujd Mr. Paxon
know about it.
I asked Mr. Paxon why the matter
them
one hundre
1 la
?hes.
Thin
was
not dis
cussed frank
y with
me as
tater
'ent was not m
nde
o o.ui
et the
to V
ranting
a different
type u
man
boys,
hut seemed tn
have
‘been
made
and
a higgr
: man instea
! of ha
n tiling
on m
-ount of the d
spos
tion
of the
ns h
e did.
His answer
mas he
never
bOJ
towards us. I
hop
>, however.
. X t) I
lined such matters;
1 quoti
risht
Mrs.
Manson will n
ever
have
occa-
here
a part
of the same
letter
to Dr.
sion
o enforce th:
threa
t, as
I told
Kill
>r, w in
eh explains
his a
t itude
the boys then un i 1
ave
to do
and
my po
sition in the
case,
n fol*
whatever they \vi re
told
by
Mrs.
low.
: “Its a
pity that we
are no
more
Manson anil otlu r i
fficer
s for
their
fran
k one
with anothe
• for 1
have
own good.
As to Mrs. B suer moving out her
furniture'and etc., this is true and I
advised her to do so, as it had been
very unplea art for her and 1 had
seen all I cared to of this. To be
frank, Mrs. Bonner had taken lots
but refused to take all that 1 had to
take. Mrs. Manson had the advan
tage V me and I told her so, she
know
talk
ring I
so pta
he would stick to them if -it ruined
him: 1 hope she is right as far as
Governor Dorsey is concerned, for he
recently made a statement to me,
“That Mrs. Manson wj(fc,tfot the wo
man to stay at the- Geofgia Training
School.”
Time will tell, if the governor is
so firm I am wondering if she will
continue to remain there, drawing a
nice salary from the state's funds
appropriated for the maintenance of
the school, a board member.
My statement in written
some days ago, is as follosSw s
“I wish to answer statememktjpade
by Mrs. Manson, a resident board
member of the Georgia Training
School, appearing in Ma<on Tele
graph Dec. 10th, undtj-r headlines,
‘Sheds New Light on Escape Plot.’
To begin with Mrs. Manson states
she does not wish to make a persona!
matter of the situation. 1 fully ap
preciate Mrs. Manson’s position on
that point, hut since the whole affair
has been a personal one since about
August 1st, why change it now.
“However, since stating things as
she has and so far has not corrected
them, although she claims the paper
did not publish her statement as
phoned in some points, I am obliged
to come straight from the shoulder.
1 was very mild in tne first state
ment, and as I have stated in letters
to two board members before this
happened, ‘1 never intended to tell
all.’ I have waited to 'make this
statement for good reasons. I wanted
some expression from board members
and too I had some matters to look
after at school, and with so much
friction and unpleasant scenes at
school I thought best for the boys’
sake to say as little as possible until
I could be away for good.
Mrs. Manson states the boys did
not attempt to run away because the
Bonners were dismissed. I hold a
certificate signed by Miss Elorrie El
lison, matron, and Miss Edna E.
Raines, assistant teacher, who knew
all about the affair and heard my talk
to the boys as follows: ‘This is to
certify that on the afternoon of Dec.
2nd a good muny of the boyB hearing
of Supt. Bonner’s discharge did plan
to run away. Such action on being
reported to Supt. Bonner, he had all
the boys carried to the living room on
the third floor and talked to them,
stating the wro-ig on their part in
such action. The boys admitted they
had planned to run away, stating
they had heard that Supt. and Mrs.
Bonner had been discharged and that
they were not going to remain at the
institution. ,&r
After Supt. Bonner talked and
plead with the boys to be loyal and
stick like men for their own good,
they promised to do so, stating to
Supt. Bonner that he had always ad
vised them right.
This happened before Mr
returned to school.
The above certificate seems to me
would make this point clear and I
hope Mrs. Munson will not call these
good ladies LIARS : - she did me for
making the same statement.
Mrs. Manson makes another state
ment as to the boys always looking
for an opportunity to run away. This
is not fair to the boys as a whole, as
I have been with them eighteen
months and can safely say less than
fifteen per cent of the average num
ber handled eve- try to escape under
any circumstances.
Mrs. Manson also states that when
I could not as a gentleman
ainto her. But Mrs. Man-
son in stating she had no bed to sleep
on, should have explained that she
had been for eleven months enjoying
good bedding and etc. which belong
ed to Mrs. Bonner as she did lots of
things for Mrs. Manson’s comfort.
Mrs. Bonner had the boys place a
single bed in Mrs. Manson’s room
that night after she returned;.
Mrs. Manson states “Bonner was
not dismissed.” The letter I receiv
ed from Chairman Paxon stated my
services would not be needed for
1921 and that I, with Mrs. Bonner
was at liberty to get out immediately,
as the new superintendent would
very likely report at the school the
early part of December. Mrs. Man-
son, upon her return, knowing I had
received this asked me what my at
titude was. I stated very friendly
to the boys and institution but that ’hi;
I would let her know later as to get
ting out immediately myself. Mrs.
Manson then telephoned Mr. Paxon
and later wired him and he replied,
saying it was authority that Mr.
Cochran take charge as superintend
ent at once. This I considered a dis
missal, knowing Mr. Paxon had given
her authority to handle me just as
she saw fit. Mr. Paxon fails in his
letter .published in pnrt to mention
this fact.
Mrs. Manson states further that
the servants (officers I call them > had
been told they would be fired also.
She also stated to me later while out
trying to clear up some work, that
she hoped 1 would noi keep coming
out and trying to get her men to quit
their jobs, and stated to the boys she
wanted everything hidden from me,
and wanted me watched. Mrs. Man-
son-has madu a practice of discuss
ing matters of this kind with the
boys, all of which I am sure is not
the proper thing to do, for the boys
at the school are taught to look upon
the officers and teachers as true and
upright people, and I am honest in
my belief that they made no excep
tion in my case. What may the peo
ple of Georgia axpect of a hoy with
training at the Georgia Training
School? I would prefer mine hang
ing around the street alleys. As to
trying to get the officers to leave the
institution, as she charges, I call your
attention to the following certificate
which I hold, signed by E. B. Coch
ran, acting superintendent; A. L. Ca
liff, officer; John Black, teacher;
Miss Florrie Ellison, matron; Edna
E. Raines, assistant teacher, as fol
lows:
“This is to certify that former
Supt. C. E. Bonner did not at time of
receiving discharge notice or since
suggest or mention in any way our
leaving the Georgia Training School
but on the other hand stated he hop
ed we would be loyal to the institu
tion as we had always been.”
The above certificate is signed by
officers at the mam building and the
only officers I was thrown with after
reviving notice exept to pass and
speak.
In Mr. Paxon’s letter addressed to
Dr. I. H. Hiller,'a part of which was
published, he explains to the public
Manson j my appointment was purely experi
mental and was so understood. This
statement is untrue, as far as I am
concerned and if understood by the
board members, they must have been
satisfied with their experiment, at
least until the latter part of July this
year, as I hold letters addressed to
me from Chairman Paxon dated June
11th and July 23rd, in which Mr.
Paxon commends me in every way
and states he und the board as a
whole were thoroughly satisfied with
my management from every angle.
I heard or knew nothing of this
understanding until Mrs. Manson re
turned from Atlanta on December 2.
learned long ago a man I dislike is
the man I do not understand, and I
give him no opportunity of under
standing me.”
He tells it to a letter he. e, for he
certainly gave me none. When he
wanted to know anything about me
or other things he asked Mrs. Man-
son, not the superintendent.
Mr. Paxon’s let’er further states
he is afraid the people have the wrong
impression, that I was discharged, or
charges against me, or tha* there was
friction with the resident board mem
ber and myself, but says he is frank
to say, that this was not true.
This statement is untrue and Mr.
Paxon knows it also; other members
know there was friction for several
months and know why.
This friction came about by my
stating facts as to Mrs. Manson’s
work, the matter of boys records
being kept in order, which was u part
of Mrs. Manson’s work outlined and
understood by the board «ts a whole
but which had been neglected. Mr.
Paxon wrote Mrs. Manson some one
would be held responsible for this
neglect of duty, but realizing it was
Mrs. Manson’s work later apologized j
to her and said he would write me a
hot letter putting it on me, and for
he and Mrs. Manson had arrang-1
to dismiss me at the September I
board meeting, but did not at that
time, changing their minds for some
reason which I was unable to find
out from them. However, Governor
Dorsey stated to me a few days ago |
he stopped this at that time, telling
them they had better go slow, as he j
thought they would make a serious
mistake.. Mr. Paxon and one other
board member knew all about the
trouble before the September board
meeting as I had written them and
told one member at his request real
facts as to Mrs. Manson’s work at the
school, stating she did no real work
at the school, but that I had nothing
to say about her work as board mem
ber and secretary and treasurer. I j
also explained to this member my ■
embarrassing position and explained
that I could not do my duty to the
institution, as lots of the work had
to be done jointly and that Mrs.
Manson would not co-operate with
me at all. I also told this member
if I was criticized to remember they
would criticise a man with his hands
tied and that it was not fair, all cor
respondence from Mr. Paxon, the
chairman, was going to Mrs. Manson,
nothing to me, and nothing discussed
with me.
I really had hut very little author
ity left after Mr. Paxon gave Mrs.
Manson most of mine as superintend
ent and all of his.
This statement is a true statement
of facts and conditions at the school
since about August 1st, th-- begin
ning of our trouble. Mrs. Manson
has stated she could handle Mr.
Paxon and I now agree with her.
I have tried to be fair with Mrs.
Manson as well as the board. Have
they been fair with me? I am will
ing to let the public and my friends,
be the judge.
1 shall back all sUtments made by
me, and assure you I have the mater
ial, and until I see the boys at the
school rid of scenes that are in no
wise educating 1 shall not hold up.
I did everything in my power while
there to hold down such for their
«ake and did not talk much as Mrs.
Manson said and agreed it was best
for her to leave in October, when I
had a frank talk with her about the
situation.
I still love the boys and will con
tinue to help them m any way I can,
although they are afraid to see me
or Mrs. Bonner now *or some reason.
C E. BONNER.
Here’s wishing you
prosperous new year.
a happy and
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