Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.
About The Columbia sentinel. (Harlem, Ga.) 1882-1924 | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1923)
4 Uncle Sam Asked to Whitewash Highway Department (Continued from Page One.) from this, why they found it neefesskry to spend your money to publish and political journal, Chairman Holder and associate's resort to the same trick lo. cover up olTiciai acts. Daily newspapers permit their reporters to accept $73 per month “hush money’ from the Highway Department. Commissioner Brown has appointed to inspectorships tl,e c*)Un & TDOii>b('iBiiijr oi the daij} nows repelling fraternity of Atlanta, including the daily Tel stpiirt John \V. Hammond of The Macon egrapu arid I lie Augusta Chronicle. i he l)e partmont of Agriculture pars Fred Lewis, ndieatc-writer tor, toe C omit 1 y weeKiies, $100 per month to “edit bulletins” for the Slnrkrt Bulletin . 1 he I-want-it-agam . family spends , thou sands of dollars of public money on new spa- 1 pt 1 s and j hackvi , 1 , . ... iteis, , wno , booof . 1 the Depiut- , , men} of Agricultnre and the Highway ' De P1 u-l,n,,,t „( m miicli per tad, ' Editors ot those publications assure the people of Georgia that *‘Harmony & Co-opera tinn” non mu will leuffee vmlnco hw taxt s, l,„ild buna goou rand« roads, «« ns tablish better schools, minimize boll weevil de «,flu ST?’..ri* that, at Cl irieism IW.I ot official lawlessness P0lmc is -L destructive and therefore harmful. Were 11 it not for The X f Commlwd hiliinili'c. Sentinel Nfiitioi If tin people , would he powerless to save selves from further extortion. The A1 lanta p* itin,^ „ an u t nnu/.le ,, i J be o 6 iitinci. 1 rm i he i . j ment of Agriculture can’t intimidate The imol. And this newspaper’s fight against «■ Iimes not rmbuduals- will not cease inose money-changers are driven out of (lie ' r i M lie o sentinel j- i will -n publish it - ,1 the jieojile , . side . , s of this controversy. The work of such men as Representatives McMichael, of Marion; .New, oi ,, _ Laurens; Beck and Spence nt b :’! h !'" U ™ ncnaie, win ot uutwtd m these tolnions tititt tlio.se legislators will find The Sentinel friend ]v •, to their ' efforts ‘- 1 " 1 in boh DCiutii. tlf of oi the tin people ..eoule ^qi of Georgia. . llte following letter from Mr. . *1 t ‘ “ } fl iul rp. * * l(f then . , | i ll, word , IOr word, just . as It IS written: TO THE fW pi.-npt weeks"ago p of CFOnriA .a through The Coiumbw sentinel 1 Ina fn tire same communh ati m l angered ChS^ llolder's ''Laconic Telegram'' in which he denounced S former c-ommunicatiou of mine as untrue. Tne Original Issue -tho beglnnin.;: of rim controversy Kw. far 1922 had be" s lent upon an t, “of Jctu.il fends cm and maintenance' that less than 25 dfrt. no- cent v cut to road -moving “ This charge ‘V'D *'tis emphatically denied by both of them, n m> last article 1 Invited them to make a showing to charge She 4ln.m Highway Department with the net balance paid to by Secretary of State McLendon and then credit 4he account with the items of disbursement, showing »1 bo how the counties had fared in the distribution of this money. I agreed to apologize to them and to the State if such statement proved me in error. In that sanu,. article 1 admitted to my friend, Jno. Holder that I had made an error in my tabulation of salaries and expenses in the Item of his salary which 1 gave at $.1,650.00 hut later learned that it was :i great deal more than that- -at .least $6,000.00, and probably more. So 1 asked him to tell the tax payers ofGeorgia, whose servant he is, how great a salary he draws. And tlibn 1 asked him to ipiote the law under which his salary was increased; tell who Introduced i': when 'it was read in the Senate and House; how U passed, etc.. Until this good hour, though several weeks have jlnd passed, my challenge is still unanswered, If Holder Neel , could have falsified my charge by presenting > balance sheet as sound business methods demand, shey would have done so. Tho people of Georgia know Shat; but they have not. So my charge s',ill .-lands. Again, John has not yet told the people how fiuch eopie his be salary Is, nor how it wag increased, The ; diimnbd! It is none of their business! That lighway v Board is an autocratic body, Czar-like insf.i a utlon. John can tell tho people that he wants to levy Jn extra tax on gasoline and motor oils, so as to get an extra million or two, but they must not know how much hia salary is, or how it was increased. Trior to the !a*t day, and until after midnight, M the last dav, of the session of 19,22, chief Engineer Neel had the appointing power ot ail subordinate offi rers under -the Act of 1919, And it was wise that hi¬ »hould have It for ho is held responsible for their efficiency. John 1ms been trying to manipulate ap pointruents here and there over the State, and this brought, on a clash between him ail Neel. Certain!' Neel did not want lo give up tills appointing power, for It weakened his efficiency as chief as well as the com¬ petency of his force; but. John did want it. Neel is not n politician; John is—well skilled in tactics and thor¬ oughly fami! r with alt the channels. Now, without giving further details, 1 relate these facts: Smith, of Meriwether, had passed in the House a bill amendatory of the Highway law by abolishing the attorneyship of the Highway Department and also for the regulation of maximum weights that might he transported over • he public bridges of this State. Nriilth’s Amendatory Act cited no other purposes in the caption. It went to the Senate in that form. Now remember this: early in the session p bill “To Extend the power and authority of the Chairman of the Highway D, ,,art!m-nt.'' kftd been introduced bv Horne, of Dcdi.e, but that bill went “dead" i., quick order, never got out of the committee. Yon see somebody was trying ( 0 have power and authority taken from Ned and given to Chairman Holder, but. the effort in behalf of the Chairman got no support whatever. Now what happened? After midnight of tho Invt day of the session, Smith’s hill came buck from thc Senate will; an amendment about thc bridge crossings. The author, Mr. Smith, moved to concur in this amendment and the House did so. Wtcks after, when the Acts were published, it was discovered that there was alio print rd In tho Act an amendment which reads as follow?. ''Provided further, The State Highway Board shall de tcrmt'.'.o .he number of csnployccr., designate their placer- of labor, prescribe their dutie 7* fix their com¬ pensation, and also the salary of th O Chairman (in ciudir-c the year 1922) woo shall devote my of hip time and atLent Ion to the duties of his office, who shall represent the Board and is vested with all the power * n <l authority of the same when not in session. this is not cited in the caption of tho pill; is en¬ tirely i different subject matter from the purpose of . THE CO iL, THOMSON, GEORGIA. SniitfDs Amendatory Act, and is therefore til -Con stltutionally unsound. So there you are: At last Neel’s wings were clipped und John crowned King. The Horne bill provided for thl3, but it went dead and Very dead. Not daunted ed, John's friends continued to work so that when the Acts were printed, lo, the law! What a surprise! I have'nevor yet found a yiember of the Senate, exfcept the President, or a member, of the House who knows anything about It. But it is In the Statute—Acts 1922, page 111. Neel is shorn of'the appointing power and it is salary of the Chairman for 1922 .” 1 am wondering if £ T tiering, too, it it is retroactive, dating back to jan. 1 . 1 * 22 , a la Mj-Adoo. Tell us tax-payers an about it, bonds o < r n ?evy?ng t an a extra > tax m?gas and ©n'untifyou do, for the more money -we give you to spend the e f^' tead of demanding an investigation of my chargee last summer made upon the floor of Georgia’s capitoi, when Georgia's repre fof?he Ve f n vesti e atiom 8 tie?now'°thr^ 1 up iSeiV hands and cry "to Washington to come down and save them. Heaven’s name, what an insult to Georgia! Beg 0 f g as tax and oil tax to spend, put atm denying Geor gin's representatives in their legislative capacity a wish “*S to Washington they cry: ’‘Come down and save us!” shame on Georgia! woe to her sovereign demo, cratle ideals when her ofiieials slap her representatives j n t ], e fr«oe, trample under foot their expressed wish to know ami understand the operations of their niter S^S?& , 35SU"J, , «SS 1 “ — Their cry that they cannot get justice and fair treatment in Georgia is as false and rotten as their management of the Highway Department has been, Thc . 90v -e re i g n, self-respecting Democratic voters of SAHSSS Georgia will not. brook this gross inguiti The Georgia iiK.w4.St 'fkJ'SiVTll amine and control her local matters to Washington authorities.'. Will you, people of Georgia? • They have denied Georgia her rights, and have to Washington! if the spirits of our,ulus trious fathers take cognizance of tilings terrestrial ami :ir ? affected by'them. 1 know that this affront to the principles which,they cherished, and to whfeh they con secrated their lives, must change their heavenly smiles frowr ,3 of disapproval. h<? garn^u thiough Be (lea i t $ 15 , 000.00 of «»ur tax,money by putting on jw «■ 1 Si Washington sonds another agent, down to take con iroi ot Georgia matters and settle . r internal rows, i do not doubt that he will be one of Cvosslaud's for nier colleagues, or pals, and will enjoy the comforts ot mansion during his stay in the' city. Bo fore him. Crossiand and Holder and Neel win lay IfVSfS s miiijon ^dollars by counting the Federal funds, the “Uto tax funds and the county tax funds, and that of ,h!f; vust sum onl >’ the smalt amount of 6 ll61 , ( , eiU i01 . overhead expenses, and then with a few other similar showings the Federal Boss wiiisay, ' Weil sheet.” } 1(1 ’> Such »»«> f«‘thfui will a^vants. riot he l wortii give you doo- a a report a ,i*e' a -nont to Georgia. There win be no one to ap pear before the said Washington referee to tell him how the Counties of Coweta, Carroll, Troup, Sumi ,. DowndeiC Dade, Habersham, and scores of others have su,Tt ‘ re ? by ,h6ir unwise and w.- *ful methods. No . ,u ’ ™ A ’"’ his 1,ia '' kc ” l,is,ri '- 1 «*hool. , wfli oT YtZ sovereignty” ZYhorn tVa^htn^oi^usuVp ignoJamuS- 0 ^^ fns her We are not " s or Georgia. A blanket report made '*,*!»“ “ P"'*.. age basis will not satisfy. We want de¬ iails ' ' Vo want itenls; wa wiUlt a of system, >' is coming. Vour cry to Washington cannot stem the tide. The waves of discontent, are rolling hign. Your call to Washington has increased their volume and accelerated their speed. You are in danger of be¬ ing submerged in their fury. Come back to Georgia; she will give you justice. Figures do not lie; facts speak for themselves. And don’t fool 5 (ourselves by believing that. Georgia is ready to turn over her inter¬ nal matters to Washington. We would be ignoble sons, unworthy of our heritage, were we to do this. Your Washington friends would hear your story only, a one-sided affair. Last summer I wanted Geor¬ gians lo see and know the truth about, your operations in many counties. Including Coweta, Dade and Haber¬ sham; these are just as specimens. The House wanted and asked ior the rei lution but you blocked us in Senate. Now. listen,-—as proof of my charge 6f waste and graft injour methods I was ready to prove that you went to Coweta County atul persuaded those peo¬ ple to turn their money over to your management and let you build their roads under your sole supervision. Your first step was to fasten their officials in a con¬ tract, that hideous thing which' you call “Form B Con¬ tract.” Li it you bound the commissioners hand and foot to let the contractor purchase all materials, pay all transportation expenses of materials, etc., to give no interference to the contractors during the COll struction, but they could and'must pay all bills prompt¬ ly; and tho Highway Department was the sole, all powerful supervisor. You hound them, gagged them, and left them no privilege except to “pay all bills promptly." Under such a contract, framed and worded and then supervised by the Highway Department, the firm of Lowe & Bader bunt ten miles of concrete road and a bridge over the railroad, known as the McCullum Highway, at a cost in round numbers of$360,000.00. They built in in about nine months. You allowed- them as “fixed compensation” the stupendous sum of (round numbers) for bossing the job; you also allowed in Form B Contract “rentals and savings” (polite terms for rnkings and graft), under which they made about $30,000 more, making a total net profit to the con tractors, under your supervision of more than $80,000 for nine months work. Another firm, d. R. Cook & Co., enjoyed the priv ■JegoH and bounties of Form B contract under you; an* pervision in Coweta County. They built a sand-clay road of 20 miles at the crushing cost of $170,300,— f b0 ni ne 1!10ntl1 ' Yo “ allowed them over Ml,000 as .m fixed i compensation,” ami they got from “rentals and savings” (rakings and graft) over $12, ooo.oo, maging $ 33 , 366.00 net profit for nine months Department' mt *° undC1 ' ‘" c of tha ✓ oh, thin is only one iiiu « ration; there are many, many others! Let me say, Tax-payers of Georgia, •s'more°cunning. a P more V roilel!*!’ norTmore damnable devise to invite, encourage cud sanction graft than 'were w^king’wh'n ? starCd"^!^'fight^a modify their methods! No wonder they fought our of iorts to investigate them last yean They wanted $75. ods'were 0 peopie^vo,vote"'i,ond*i' known; the No wonder they now cry to w aington to “Come ( . ’ ov ;'” ft*.""! I T b . a, , , * t „ t , h ,?^7 of dc ?P eraU ?' n n! " Pn of her moral ideats, a denial of her'sovereigufy! Georgia shall not bo insulted without protest. Enough lor this tune. Re , pectfu]Iy Buena vista, Ga. E. H. McMichael. Potato Plans by Million. State inspected, $1.35 thousand; in lots 5,0.0 to 10,000, $1.20. Porto Rica, Nancy Hall, Southern Queen. Tomato Pepper plants $1.50 thousand. it2S Turner County Plant Oo., A&hbnm, Ga. Do We Need The Recall? (Continued from Page One.) called'“unwritten law!” W. Let us take the case of Governor T. Hardwick, as an illustration, because that is about all we’ll .ever get out of Hardwick, SO Hardwick rode of'Georgia. into office on certain pledges to the people Hardwick violated Ins contract Governor q Peepul • he surrendered our State railroad to Mills B. Lane—an impressive re gu u G f Compound Interest; lie conveyed our Governor’s Mansion to the Coco-Cola King, Asa Candler; and he used the pensions or the 0 ] ( j veterans to pay salary-grabbers. When he re-appeared before his employer, Hard Old Mftn Peepul, the employee, T. W. • , discharged Jf Hardwick had been given a Hai our-year con tract there is reason to suspect that he would have unlawfuily di»i>o S ed of lh C Slat. of Georgia, lock,stock, and barrel, to -Corn pound j interest Interest Lane ijaiie and auu Coco-Cola v.oou v um Candler. y a l So, yon can see for- yourselt, why it wou ] f i unwise for onr people to endorse Representative Langley's proposition, unless fog uniting ' to write the Recall into the fun aamemai 7.1 lau ; OJ t me j le Oiaieoj a* a f e 0 f Georaia vepigiu. Give the people the right to discharge oatli breaking officials loch before writing four-year ™o,„is 8 io, ls for men on T. W. Hardwick and J. J. Brown. rtYulp,. l ’ ntler m]r °" r system s }»tem, the tlie neonle people elect elect men men to office. They forget the and platforms is upon they were elected there no ‘ The employee POn toiru , p n uat.K ark for lur thp me emfiiuyt mt> i 0 ver i. j ug knows that it is impossible for the employer to ouat a pledge-breaker. What could the farmer do if his hired man could not he dis charged for the whole yehr, in spite of neglect aB( f treachery! What would become of the farm? Does Mills B. Lane surrender to the hired man the employer’s right to discharge f 101 non-perrormance nerformanre nf oi dntvl uiu\ . Dries oes Asa \«n Can¬ oan dler 4ie Ms hands for two and four vears, w } ien ma king contracts with his employees! ’ n» «, railroad, Ik. merchant, and heads of all private concerns rf.sf.rve the r1 \,r,t to T ° oiscnarge rliaohovo-o flio tne agent omnt ior for non-penorm now oorl'ni'in. aiiee of of duty, or for breach of trust; and w it hoiit that principle in it, no’business would , ut ' f f Jul > twenty-four Ml f loul hours nouis. All lih men mm r .t,u ea l ize that; and all persons subscribe to that doc- 11 1 n u,,i ‘ *i lo yv-innirvlo to <>-vtondofl Meiiueu tn to public / affairs, t , lie 1-VV r ant-1 I t-Again brother howls and the daily bAwUwS. newspaper tells mankind that the Recall is The people should reserve the right to dis c5ial ’ Ke the oath-breaker, right just as the Banker reserves the to OUSt the defaulting cashier. ___ Keep within your hands the power of re¬ calling the public official, removing him from the office to which your votes elected him. Up¬ on certain pledges, you voted him in to do certain things, and if he does nat live up to his contract, vote him out. The Reactionary Press informs the pub¬ lic that oath-breakers can be ousted, via Im¬ peachment. I impeachment proceedings are too expen¬ sive, too slow, too clumsy, and TOO UNCER If we were to adopt the impeachment meth¬ od of recalling every oath-breaking official, State and Federal, the Congress 'and State Legislatures wouldn’t have any time to trans¬ act any other business. A few years ago, a Federal Judge was ar¬ raigned before the United States Senate, ac¬ cused. of accepting favors from corporations that had business pending in his court. The evidence against Judge Swayne was over¬ whelming. It left no room for doubt of his ' C the Senate acquitted him. Judge Emory Speer ran rough-shod over the people of the Southern Georgia ® district for almost a „ g^m. ____ 1 ation, aild it was not possible to , touch , . that tyrant. Other life-term Federal Judges tvarmilp unon UP thp ,? riD-bts Uf/T 8 of 01 thp lne Hfnfpc states Anri and ffillgh to SCOm all criticism, from all sources, The public COVlld not touch “Private Car Lur t«„>> ® reoleial Judge T - D Who was Tioto-. , „„ SO ^ rious for his constant acceptance of cor ,.iO ration favors. Milton Smith, of the Louis v Vll,e :n fl ft THasUVllie NTnobvillp Xtailioaci, Rntlrnnd n«nri Used TnofiV.* lUStlce Lui- I toil, and other Federal Judges, to inject eor poration ideas v, into Acts of Congress. ,\f , mi •* *l e TT b. pupreme ^ Court law for says a mini mum wage women js unconstitutional. in' an opinion handed down last week. The samo Court, recently ruled that big profits for the New York gas company are highly eon stituti ° na1 ' ‘ T ! ie People of New York can’t regulate the price ot gas because “regulation" i easonaolo dividends. W liy isn t it as important to pay workers enough to together .as it is to pay gas coni P amps and railroad thieves enough dividends to support globe-trotters? ^’^eral Judges have usurped powers written . into the Constituptioii l»y the.Fathers. Constitutional Convention thrice re fused , to grant Federal Judges power to nulli fy Butlers Acts of Congress, yet the Tafts and Pierce continue to run rough-shod over National Legislature. The Constitution of the United States does not give the Federal Judiciary the right to nullify acts of the sovereign assembly of of this Republic. Constitution, But Federal Judges have scrapped the To usurpatory Judges, the Constitution is what valid treaties were to thq German Kaiser. No nation permits Judges to declare un¬ constitutional and void the acts of law-making bodies, excepting of course the Judge-ruled United States. Great Britain’s judges hold office “while they behave themselves well.’’ Those judges are not permitted to set aside acts of Parlia¬ ment. ' French Judges are not • permitted to tam¬ per with the acts of the French would law-making ■assembly. No Italian Judge dare to declare an act of that nation’s assembly null and void. Indeed, the written Constitution of Italy declares that Judges shall not nullify the work of her legislature. The same rule applies in the German Belgium, republic; Denmark, the same Austra¬ rule is true in Austria, lia, and New Zealond. Government of the people is not an acci¬ dent! Liberty comes to us as a legacy, out of the blood and tears of centuries. Shalt we permit life-termeis to re-write our fundamental law and re-shape our nation¬ al life? When The Father^ placed Federal Judges beyond reach of .the people, a gigantic mistake was made. We’ve seen the results, and we will continue to suffer from that mis¬ take. Revolutions were prices paid by the people . to get rid of life-termers, in Rome, in Holland, in France, tod in Mexico. Has the past no warning for us? Has the lamp of expedience ceased to be necessary to onr footsteps? Even two years is too much for a bad Governor; the whole State got siek of Hard¬ wick, and would have recalled him immediate¬ ly after his first six months of dickering with Compound Interest Lane, Coco-Cola Candler, and Boss Philips of the Republican regfime. Representative Langley says, “Now it is said away from Georgia that all any man has to do svho wants to be. Governor of Georgia is to run against the one in office.” That is a remarkable tribute paid by out¬ siders to the intelligence of Georgia voters. Our people aim not hoggish: they know when they’ve got enough, and two years gave us enough of Thomas Hardwick. Suppose we had had to endure Thomas William for four years? Gracious goodness! Isn’t it nice for outsiders to lecture us in regard to our do¬ mestic affairs? < l All any man has to do ... . to be Gov¬ ernor of Georgia is to run against the one in office.” P. S. for the Honorable Lee Langley: Give us the Recall, Lee, and we’ll support* your four-vear proposition; otherwise, we will NOT. Without the right of Recall, a four-year term for the Governor would be a- ruinous mistake. For the corporations and the specially privileged, nothing better could be done;'for the people and for Democratic principles, nothing much worse. “We Cannot Understand Why It Got By the Censorship” (Funk of The -Literary Digest.) Ameri¬ The Rev. Robert Shuler wrote the can side of the Mer Rouge affair, for an Ore-? gon newspaper. The.Literary The Managing Editor of Di¬ gest read the Reverend Bob’s masterp : ece, and reproduced it in said “Literary” Diges¬ tive organ for American Pappycrats. The Holy Father’s censor on the Digest’s Staff did not “blue pencil” the Shuler article, because he did not read it. He did net read it, because the public reception at Washington City of the Pope’s Ambassador, Monsignor Pietre Fumasoni-Spaghetti, called the Papal censor to'the National Capital. As soon 'as the Pappycrats read the Shu¬ ler article, The Literary Digest Romanists’poured was asked for a bill of particulars. The a steady stream of abusive letters into the Digest hopper at 354-360 Fouuth Avenue, New York City. A mollycoddle, named W. J. Funk, is Vice President of the Digest Publishing Company. Tlie following letter from Funk to the Pappycrats speaks for itself: “In reply to your letter of the 5th, we are more interested in having you know just how wo honestly feel about the article in ques tion than we are about soliciting your renewal subscription. feel i “ as X Yf badly 1lmt as you do about the ° matter; f « S h ^’° in 1 think we feel worse about it. We can not understand why it got, by the censorship, hut in a large newspaper office ‘slips’ are to occur once in a while. You can safe bet'that'it won’t happen again. “We regret it more than we can tell you. I would like you to know that we |eel that‘this blunder has caused us fully as much regret as it could cause any of, our readers. I am with in your criticism, blit yon will never see it happen again. t t ,\V. J. FUNK, nt/* \ “Vice-Pr eside /
