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About The Columbia sentinel. (Harlem, Ga.) 1882-1924 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1921)
I foL 40 It, is true that Liberty Bonds have not reached par, but when the Victory Bonds are quoted in New York at 99.74, and the Liberties at 96., you have the best evidence of the fact, that my attacks on the Federal Reserve Board for its atrocious and criminal policy steady have—in part, at least—contributed to the ad vance in the price of these bonds which were selling at 85, when I left home.. Fair minded men will remember, that my Resolution to monetize these bonds was referr¬ ed to a Republican Committee; ami its Demo¬ cratic members have not given me any coopera¬ tion. The only thing I could do. was, to repeated¬ ly expose and attack the methods of the Fed¬ eral Reserve Board, on the floor of the Senate: this was done, and the Federal Monarclis of Financial Robbery have since lowered their re-discount rate, and ceased to wage war upon State banks and national bonds. It was not my private Secretary who lob¬ bied against my campaign pledges, nor was any veto threat issued from my office, against a measure to which I publicly pledged myself while a candidate last year. Nobody need wear this cap, unless it fits him. To the extension of the R. F. D. service and the Parcels Post, my pledge was given to the people. pledge redeemed in the That has been Good Roads law, which will give you $75,000, 000 a year, out of the Federal Treasury, for better highways and bridges, necessarily ex¬ tending the operations of the II. F. D. and the Pa reefs Post. No member of the Committee worked harder for a State-controlled system of Good Roads, and Senator Charles Townsend—our Chairman—-will tell you so. In Committee, my full share of the work was done to cut down the immigration of for¬ eigners to three per cent of its O’.mer size. in this law, every laboring man in Ameri¬ ca has an interest, and from i^ ha will receive .liwieefortb JWeven.-a -ma tt iH M: benefit?. My help was given, by voice and vote, to lower the cost of your Navy and your Army. We saved you $100,000,000 on vour Navy, and we reduced the Army to 150,000 men, in¬ stead of the 230,000 which the Wilson ad¬ ministration had illegally enrolled. In these two items alone, those of us who fought your battles here, against the Kaiser's military imitators, checked the American Ppts damites, and turned the face of the Govern¬ ment back toward Democratic standards. Next year, we will again reduce the size of the Army, and again cut the appropriations for the Navy. Mark the prediction: we will do it/ The Revenue law is a bad one, but it would liave been infinitely worse, had it not been for the persistent hammering of Senators Sim¬ mons, Reed, Jones of New Mexico, LaFollette, and those of us who followed their lead. Perhaps, it may bo—as Senator Smoot de¬ clared in a powerful speech—better for the country and its business affairs, to have the certainty of this bad law than the uncertainty Things in Georgia seem to be going from just, one bad smell to another. First, it was Claude West, indicted for stealing the State’s ducats; and then if was Berrien, evading the Pinkerton detectives, af¬ ter he had stolen the State’s money- and the detectives don’t appear to suspect that Berrien took refog*- in the home of one of his unsus¬ pected accomplices. No wonder we have a deficit. In one day’s papers, it was stated the Gov¬ ernor intended to unload Berrien’s $38,000 upon the victimized counties : in the next day’s papers, it was stated the Governor said the State must bear the loss. “The situation is a critical one,” as we have all read about in books of adventures. Dear old Georgia is having oodles of ad¬ ventures, and everybody must he guessing, What next? Jim Miller’s son was not under a bond: amount said to he missing, $1,400. Claude West was not under bond: amount said to be missing, not yet fully ascertained, but supposed to bo climbing toward $21,000. Berrien not under bond: amount said • to ! ( 4 V » jj Price $2,00 Per Year MY STEWARDSHIP THE UNITED STATES SENATE. almost paralyzes business. Time will show I voted against the bill, largely because it seems to shift the burdens of taxation from the shoulders of those most , able to bear them. President Harding assumed a frightful; responsibility when he forced his party to adopt a policy which relieves the extremely rich of taxes to the amount of $450,000,000. A bill which heavily taxes the calico dress of the common woman, and exempts the $5,000 furs of the society queen, is one that cannot get my vote or my approval. A bill which slips Coca-Cola into the class of innocent drinks, is a bill promoted by ex Senators, hired as lobbyists, and using their privileges as ex-Senators to promote the in terests of a habit-forming dope. President Harding personally attended a session of the Senate, and made a speech against the Soldiers’ Bonus bill, when that measure was pending before the Spnate and was being debated. I do not believe that a President of tlte United States has the constitutional right to take President part in a debate Harding on a pending measure. is the only one of our Chief Magistrates who has ever done that. To have broken the law and the precedents against the soldiers, and in favor of the rail¬ roads and profiteers, made the President’s in¬ trusion upon a Senatorial debate all the more indefensible. He killed the Bonus Bill, but he failed to get the $500,000,000 he asked for t}ie railroads. In the meantime, the wronged ex-service men are destitute, God suffering, and committing suicide—cursing and the country which ruined their lives. Hi the matter of Federal patronage, I have been ready to help any Georgian—Democrat or Republican—whose fitness for the place was unquestioned, and who secured the nomi¬ nation-under the usual rules. It has been published that I opposed Clint W. Hager, and was defeated. The; facts are, that-1 held up the mation until 1 could look into the case. Senator Nelson invited me to his Judiciary Committee-room, and showed me all of Mr. Hager’s endorsements. They were very strong. No point was made by the opposition to Hager’s character, and Judge Hutchison, of (he Superior Court of the Atlanta circuit ex¬ pressed himself confident of the nominee’s fitness. Besides, it was proven to me • that Mr. Hager had censured the Hofficers of the Amer¬ ican Legion when those Scotts and Stock bridges were bitterly antagonizing me, in vio¬ lation of their charter. So, when the young man came to see me about it all, 1 told him that I could not combat the confirmation. Nobody lias ever yet justly accused me of being an ingrate. If young Hager will devote himself to bis books, lie may hot prove unworthy of his pre¬ decessors, Hooper Alexander and Carter Tate. As to Henry Lincoln Johnson, I worked on his case long and carefully: I got the AS TO CLEAN SWEEPS AND HIGH PLANES. be gone, rising toward $40,000. Any guilt or gross negligence brought home to the virtuous tool of the Book Trust? Anybody blaming M. L. Brittain, under whose nose and eyes this stealing was going on ? Brittain is the honest brother who keeps your children from having free school-books, promised them by the Constitution of 1877. Brittain is the patriotic citizen who paid his field agents to defend the memory of Bloody Mary. Brittain is the upright friend of the poor who wanted them to swear they were paupers, before their children should get free books, from which they might learn how to read, write, and figure-in simple arithmetic. Nice man—this Brittain! Nice agent of the State, systematically to the school-teachers. Efficient officer—this Brittain. If he had served the people as faithfully as he has served the Book Trust, the State of Georgia would not now he reproached for so much illiteracy. Did Brittain keep no record of those Thomson, Georgia, Monday, December 5, 1921 . documents Henry on Henry L. considered J. artful | has been an dodger, but he talks too much, and he leaves guilty tracks behind him. I traced him up, in a lawyer-like manner, and then he got knocked out. Henry may hereafter he more careful how he talks, and how he uses the money of another negro. After I had secured sufficient evidence against Henry L. J., he made a fatal blunder, by paying back to his negro client, Dr. Taylor, the amount which a jury had found Henry had misappropriated. stupid. For a smart coon, that was Dr. Taylor owes me a rising vote of thanks. In speaking in favor oF the pitifully small bonus of $350., to be paid to the soldiers, in quarterly installments, I mentioned their ex tr -ordinary service and sufferings abroad, in¬ cluding the barbarous mistreatment inflicted upon them by brutal officers. Senator Wadsworth of New York de¬ nounced me on the floor of the Senate, denying that a single soldier had been executed over¬ seas without a trial. Since then evidence has been pouring m upon me; and, when I next speak on the sub¬ ject, the country will know the hell through which went the young soldiers of Pershing’s Expeditionary Force. investigate The Committee, appointed to my charges, will begin to take testimony this week, and will probably continue the work du¬ ring the recess. Therefore, I must stay here and see the thing out. Of course, Pershing and Company will be on hand io whitewash themselves. I intend to ask'the Committee to allow me the privilege of cross-examining these War¬ lords of the Potsdam staff. T will also request that these Prussianized War-lords be excluded from the room, while the private soldiers are being examined. In other words, it may be necessary for me to .conduct the case against the accused officers. The ex-service men need not be afraid to coine here and testify: I will be their lawyer, and I will see to it that these oflieers remember they are rot now in France. If I can afford to take whatever risk there may be in fighting for the soldier, surely he can afford to conic to Washington and stand by me. The Committee will summon the witnesses and pay their expenses. In last week’s Sentinel, mention was made of the case of Maj Robert Peck, whose brutal treatment of wounded and exhausted troops in France placed an obstacle in the way of his promotion. The Senate rejected his nomination by the President, and did so by a decided majority. Thus the Senate itself has sustained at least one of my charges, against one of those brutal officer. Having publicly accused precisely this type of American officer, I did ndt vote on his case. In the matter of the Political Prisoners— Eugene Debs, David Blodgett and others—I school-warrants? Did he not know whether they were being sent to the Counties to which they belonged? Was he in complete ignorance of what was going in the finances of bis office? Morally, if not legally, Brittain is responsible for the loss of that money, be cause it was necessarily a part of his duty to keep track of those school-funds. Is it not so? I By today’s papers—Saturday, 26th—I see that some of the War bonds have reached with¬ in ten cents of their face value, the price being 99.90. Let us hope that this good news will carry comfort to those who belittled my efforts to boost tlie value of those bonds. By the time this editorial gets to you, the bonds will probably have gone to par—at least st me issues of them—and then I know that my critics will be souls made happy. The National Museum would be an ideal receptacle of that new broom which was in evi depc \St -t. might our Macon at least Convention, the last year. save broom, Issued Weekly will say that mv Resolution reouesting the President to pardon them would have been pressed to a decision in the Senate had I not been assured, in writing, by a lady who Las been actively at work for the same thing, that President Harding has promised to issue these pardons before Christmas. This being so, I might have done the pris¬ oners more, harm than good, by urging my Resolution to a vote in the Senate. The Washington papers of today—Thurs¬ day, 24th—confirm the lady’s statement—and it is confidently expected that these victims of Wilson and Palmer will soon regain - their freedom. ' ' May it be so! •\ * 1 1 But what power under the sun can com¬ pensate these victims of tyranny'for what they have suffered? ' In the Ford-Newberry case, I went over the m-ord thoroughly n ’ became convinced of three things— First, the law had been laid down in the decision of the Supreme Court; and the Court had also declared that there was no evidence whatever of bribery. Second, that the laws of Michigan do not limit the amount which may be spent for specified purposes, and there was no evidence that Newberry had violated a single part of this law: Third, that Wilson and his vindictive Department of Justice had spent $”3,000 to employ extra lawyers to prosecute Newberry in Michigan, arid had kept more than 100 secret service men in Michigan, for months, hunting for testimony on which to convict Newoerry. No expense-account of these Federal de¬ tectives can now be found in the Department of Justice. It is believed that the extra lawyers and the detectives cost the Government about $400, 000 . "Wilson wanted Ford in the Senate, and Newberry at Fort Lea enworth, to get Ford’a, vote for the League of Nations. As to what Mr. Ford got of the Govern¬ ment— ’htany millions of dollars in this tor nothing-^* the details were published paper, soma weeks ago, and repeated in my speech in the Senate. Nobody challenged the truth of my state ments, while 1 was on the floor. Afterwards, Senator "Williams came In while Senator Heflin was speaking, and Mr. Williams made use of some time by attacking me, for having shown up the facts about Ford and Wilson. What passed between Mr. Williams and myself will appear in Senator Heflin’s ad dress, which he withheld from the Record for revision. A fair account of it, however, was sent by James Hollomon to the Atlanta Constitution. I told you so! See what the Dry Agents did to the board iner bouse of Miss Bessie Gardiner, in Savau nab. The same outrage is liable to happen to you and your house at any time. The deprive Volstead law of and the Willis-Camp- liberties bell law yon personal that have been respected for centuries. It will serve to jog onr recollection of those clean-sweep speeches, Not even have the troops bee$ called ouij to enforce the Veazey law. Alex Lawrence flung dust in your eyes, he assured you that those Savannah convents had been inspected, They have not been inspected in accor dance with the Veazey law, and no troops will be called out. The splendid method of curing one deficit by the creation of another, is well underway. Hoke Smith’s law firm has been employed* to assist in that noble work. Let the Beal Estate sharks have the Gov ernor’s mansion! Let the L. & N. sharks have the State Koad—the noblest monument of Alexander H. Stephens and of Dr. William H. Felton! Let the lawyers and note-shavers pocket half a million of the State’s dollars! That’s a line way of doing better than Dorsey and Nat Harris did, when they were Governors! Ts it any’ wonder that the State has ng yCuutiaucU on 4’agu Four.), No 9
