Newspaper Page Text
Vel. 41
Views and Comment on
Topics .
V-/;
The farmers of Georgia have lost their;
Department of Agriculture to the Guano Com¬
panies, the Oil Trust, and the nest of petty cash;,
politicians now in full control of the Depart-i j
ment’s activities.
In Mr. Brown’s first race for the Commis-
sionership it was charged, and the evidence sus¬
tained the charge to the satisfaction of the Ma
con Convention, that Brown was then working
for a well known guano company. Mr. Brown's
opponents charged that this company financed
Brown’s campaign. Since his election to the,
Commissionersliip. Mr. Brown has favored bothf
the Guano and Oil Companies in many ways..,
Ex-Inspect6r.J. J. Holloway testified that Browrf
permitted the Oil Companies to violate the law
and to cheat the State out of large sums of.
money simply because, to use Mr, -Brown's lan-.
£uage, “The' Oil Companies would ra?3e a biqf
campaign fund to defeat nje, if I forced there
tu obey the law.’’
Thfi^Department bf Agricu; Uv<;: —
—deserves the attention of Old Mar, VjebufiL
Special Committees frsiu the Legislature can't
resist the Josepfctie temptation set before them by the.
House of The voters themselves mu?t {
reform this Department. Politicians cannot,'
will not, do this work. There is a reason. . know
it, and you know 7 it, and every person with two
good eyes can se* the waste, the rank extrava
gance, the petty cash, the inflated expense at>
counts, the fraudulent hotel bills, the Hilburn
deals, the blind inspectors, the smellers of guano,,
the tasters of syrup, the eaters of public taxes.
Commissioner .Brown swore that the blind
inspector in Atkinson County was the only blind
man on his pay roll. What about the blind hs
.jspector in Augusta i Samuel Oliveoil knows why
Brown didn’t name the Augusta man.
In every line in which the farmer’s are iri
terested this Department of Agriculture’s hands
seem to be the hands of Jagpb and not_those of
fesau. The Department is the house of Esati
loaded upon Jacob’s gmfter?,.—agdhts of the
Guano Trust, the Oil Trust, and exploiters con¬
nected with the Soule establishment at’ Athens.
Once upon a fame a man named Olive pre
■sidfeef over the Georgia State Senate. This
re * '" in? iV i H g wete *-Jeiwy
learned all they wanted to know about hirp on
their first visit to his establishment. *
In the course of events, Olive wanted a seat
ill Congress. Yes, Sir; Samuel Olive wanted to
write laws for the United States of North Amer¬
ica, and in his frantic efforts to reach Congress he
wrote and published what is commonly known
as a Political Platform.
In the good year 1920 the said Olive pitched
his hat into the Tenth Georgia District ring.
He tried to ride the coat-tail of the Honor¬
able Thos. E. Watson, then a candidate for the
United States Senatorship. Olive was loose foot¬
ing his way to the hearts of the common people
fairly well, until when? The Tenth District was
then, and it now, represertd by one of the smart¬
est, smoothest, and cleverest politicians you ever
saw or heard tell of—named Carl Vinson, a com¬
bination man—lawyer, farmer, and pussyfooter
The Hon. Vinson saw the weak spot in Samuel
Oliveoil’s candidacy, and he pulverized his op¬
ponent with this searching question:
“You, Mr. Olive, are trying to run
with Mr. Watson; why, then, is your
platform different from Watson’s?”
This question floored Samuel Oliveoil, and
Old Man Peepul poked all manner of fun at the
ivory-domed Augusta lawyer.
When the fish were counted, Olive hadn’t
caught a baker’s dozen.
Mr. Watson said that Olive was the hard¬
est man to tote he ever saw, and he let it be
known that anything Olive was connected with
was a good thing to leave alone.
Samuel Oiive disappeared from the stage,
not to be heard from again until Josephine
Brown, George Carswell, and Cecil Neill decided
to whitewash the Georgia Department of Agri¬
culture.
A special committee was selected by Brown,
Carswell, and Neill, and to give you an idea in
regard to the make-up of said special committee
I mention the rente of on.e Calvin W. Parker,
Representative from Wave County, whose ap¬
pointment on this committee-\did for it—the
c.ommittGC— -what one fly is capable of doing for
a whole pan of milk.
T could see that the investigation was to be
eomfthe twin brother of the famous Jeems Mills
investigation of the Georgia Department of Agri¬
culture. As you will recall, Jim Mills conducted
an investigation of his Boss, J J. Brown, two
years ago, when -Tim held two jobs under Brown.
Brown wrote the verdict, and Jim signed it.
Brown was then paying Jim a salary of $175 per
(Continued on Png" Four.)
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Prh Year
fjr Reasons For Ignoring the Olive-Oil Delegation
Brown and Oiive Are Awkward Liars .
When State Senator George Washington Lankford,
Josephine Brown, and Attorney Samuel Oliveoil visited
the Savannah Hospital to take the testimony of your
hunffiie petitioner, I had not received notice of their
coming to Savannah, and I could not forget the insolent
conduct of Chairman Lankford during the early stages
of this fake investigation of a monumental fraud who
has cost the people of Georgia hundreds of thousands
of dollars.
As soon as the Oliveoil delegation reached Savannah,
both Brown and Oiive started their tongues to wagging
and when two liars like Brown and Olive start their
tongues at the same time, and on the. same subject, it
P a >’ s truthful men tc watch then- sle P
Samuel Oliveoil was interviewed by a reporter for
the Savannah Pies* and lie used this language
. “We (the Committee) arc here to take Edmondson's
timon v
1 Brown, and* Oliveoil
.no vviiol jug lull. I didn’t care
to turn ; cr to the enemy, and 1 knew-that,
tor me to Laud my papers to Lankford would be the
same t turning them over to J. J. Brown. Besides,
t ’ ie documents in my possession had been given to me
.
by Charles E. Stewart, Walter L. Vance, J. J. Hollo
wa >’> and other correspondents, and it was not possible
for me to surrender them to outsiders, without con
sent from the men who entrusted these papers to my
care.
It should be remembered that this Committee had
not given me the riigntest notice mat my testimony
was wanted, before l went to the.Savannah Hospital
for an operation. As soon as Commissioner .Brown
learned tnat 1 had oven on me operating table, he in
structed his attorney, Samuel Oliveoil, to ask Chairman
Lankford to issue a writ commanding the Sheriff of
Chatham County to arrest ?;j c and remove me from the
hospital to the meeting plan <. f the ■whiteseeshers.
Of course, Chairman Lankford issued the writ!
If Brown and Olive had instructed Lankford to sign
a judgment commanding the Sheriff to hang me, T ank
ford would have signed it.
Lankford is one of the smaUegt potatoes you ever
;
D
........
Hhonest-to-goodne - potato: he is on the order of a
music root.
When the Chatham County Sheriff came to me in
the hospital, he refused to serve the writ, because he
realized that a patient just from the operating table
could not be removed to Atlanta. Besides, the Sheriff
questioned the power of George Washington Lankford
to order the arrest of Grove’- C. Edmondson, on ,the
ground that said Edmondson was wanted by this spe¬
cial investigating Committee.
Sheriff Dixon returned this writ to the sender,
George Washington Lankford, with an-entry couched
in diplomatic language, informing the said G. W. L.
that he had made an ass of himself.
It was then that the Oliveoil delegation made up
their minds to ride the Centra of Georgia train to Sa¬
vannah.
Representative Charles* E. Steward reached the City
by the Sea at about the same tim'e the Oil crew ar
rived, Mr, Stewart came to mV room, to see me in
regard ,•«*■. to his adn , he , informed I , hat the ,
paper? me
Committee was not there tor me purpose of takmr . mv
r ,,'
testimony, but that . Ins , . documents. .- Mr.
,i>e\. varrra
Stewart believes, and I ag ce, with him, that Lankford,
Brown, and Oiive wanted to get their fingers on these
papers and feed then to a flock of goats owned by the
Georgia Department of Agriculture. Mr. Stewart
quested me to refuse to surrender the, documents to
the delegation. I did refuse to surrender this
material against Brown to Brown’s attorney and
little man who calls himself “Chairman of the Special
Investigating Committee.''
The editor, in conducting a newspaper, comes in pos¬
session of a variety of information, and his correspon¬
dents take pains to see that their names are not made
public. For instance, this letter came to me, a few days
ago, from the Sheriff of a North Georgia County, and
while the writer would be willing to go on the witness
stand and uphold his statements in the event Brown
prosecuted me for publishing it. he does not want his
name published, for obvious reasons:
“Sept. 12, 1933.
“Hon. Grover Edmondson.
Dern Sir: Will let you know a few dots ns vo J. J.
Brown in this county. When the Legislature was about
to kill the Bulletin one of his appointees put jp. man
out with a petition and his argument was that tli s 1
were about to kill the only free paper the people had
and he went to every person in this county with this
petition, stating that it. cost the people nothing and of
course they signed it If he had told them how it
was run L taxation, the” never would have signed
Thomson, Georgia, Monday, October 15, 1923 .
same. Here is hoping you all will show him up good.
The man who carried the petition around in .this
county was Mt ■„* - and a fine man, but don't
work for nothing.
"P. .Si—Please don’t publish niy name to this for
a good reason.”
The- foregoing communication explains my reasons
for not surrendering to Brown’s Committee the names
of the men and women whose letters enabled The
Columbia Sentinel to uncover waste and extrava¬
gance in'the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
Browri doesn’t know it. and he will never learn their
names, fjut employees in the Department furnished
The CbXc mbia Sentinel at least one-third of the
inforrr.afcien published in cur paper since we started tlf'
diiscussiln.
It wojild not be possible tor the independent editor
to tracK crooks if he failed to respect the wishes of
his informers.
Car, you recall that Thomas E. Watso’n ever exposed
one of his informers ?
Can’t you see that this rule on the part of Mr. Wat¬
son made it possible for him to learn the shortcomings
of public officials?
When Commissioner Brown learned that an opera¬
tion had flattened me out in the hospital and rendered
me unable to defend myself, he emp’oyed a newspaper
published Brown’s by o Savanna^ agent-—John negro, W. to Hammond—took attack me. this
press
negro newspaper’s attack on me and had it reprinted in
severalyGeorgia dailies, without giving the negro’s
;rame , P , the paper’s name,
Tliatjs the character of the men who have tried to
p<-,i sorl tj^ public mind against me, during the. time that
r rou ],i m , t S p ca k for myself.
Whal I asked John W. Hammond to correct his
error, }*p ignored my letter.
Neiyaj&per men of Hammond’s stripe can be foir d
in thoMck-alleys and the sewer-pipes of nearly all the
tgjg cif|.s, and they will write and publish whatever
their employers tell them to write and publish. /. 3.
Bnpwn pr Hammond's employer.
Forfestahce, Hammond and Brown emulated the
I.ty£iit.tad,te-£a?^tmab-Haspitai40 dodge
this fake investigation of the Department of Agri¬
culture.
Of- course, this report has no foundation, but that
didn’t hinder Hammond and Brown from circulating it.
I ■ know no better way to answer Hammond and
Brown than this statement from the Savannah Hos¬
pital :
“Mr. G. C. Edmondson, Thomson, Georgia. '
“To Savannah Hospital, Dr. ■%h.
Bill rendered Mr. Edmondson: <
To Hospital Charges for self, from 9-10, A
1983, inclusive, at $30.00 per week.... $90.00
To use of Operating Room, Dressing,
etc, 5.00
Extras, R. 2430W .......................... 1.25
Anaesthetic fee................................ 10.00
Ether ................................................ 1.00
Di usings and medications.............. 3.50
Professional services. Dr. McGee, » 100.00
———$310 j*. 75
>:ot satisfied. . r , Commissioner - Brown - caused , his
Savannah _ , oil inspectors and . guano-smellers „ to
circu
, fate the , report that , 1 , lett , . the , Savannah r . , Hospital T , , witn- . ,
.
" Uf P 3 n 10 -? 5 " 0 } 1
-
Thc [ oUowin S nails t0 ,hc cross another
j B ro '' ;! ' he •
* -'Co
j ‘Savannah, Ga., 10-1, 1923.
“Received from Mr. G. C. n/lmondson, Two hun
dred and ten and ’<5-100 Dollars, including fee of Dr.
McGee.
"Savannah Hospital,
“Per L. L. V.
"All deports subject to hospital charges.
“$210.75.”
The more 1 see of Brown, I am inclined to accept
Representative Stewart’s indictment of the "liar, thief,
and perjurer.”
Of course, this Committee will whitewash Mr.
Brown, just as the famous Jim Mills Committee white¬
washed the Department two years ago, but 1 am sure
that the people of Georgia are convinced that Brown is
a rotten egg and that next year’s elections will place a
new broom in the Agri Department of this State.
I repeat what I have said on several occasions, that
mv criticism of the Department of Agriculture is im
peivonat.
The Sentinel did not attack Brown—the man.
T ie Sentinel trained its guns on Brown—thc public
official—and the fact that he declined our offer to print
his det< -we goes to show that the Commissioner counted
on the 'let of this Committee of White washers.
Issued Weekly
The Cri ^ of the Roman Cath¬
olic Priesthood .
The. following is clipped from the Brookhaven,
Mississippi, Semi-Weekly Leader:
Committed to Insane Asylum When Taken to Jack
son by Sheriff Applewhite—Bond of $5,000 Made
for Appearance—-Material Witness Under Guard.
Said He Had Been Drinking Poisoned Wine
Priest's Kindness to Stranger Led Accidentally
to Alleged Expose.
“Shaken from center to circumference” only mild* , ’
lv expresses the surprise and shock experienced
last Saturday by our population in the arrest c£
Rev-. Father Geo. A Doherty, pastor of St. Francis
church at this place, on a charge of “a crime against
nature,” which was made at noon Saturday follow¬
ing event sat the priest’s home just after midnight
in which a policeman, three young men of the city,
another young man from Missouri, a new-corner to
this city, and a young negro bey and the priest were
all concerned.
The affidavit and arrest came late Saturday fol¬
lowing an investigation by officers of the reports as
they gradually gained momentum, and emanating
from those who said they had witnessed the alleged
scenes of the priest’s home in the early mgrning
hour and were carried from tongue to tongue until
appeal was made to the law.
Day Policeman and Sanitary Inspector T, Alec
Blister -made the affidavit which caused Rev. Do¬
herty’s arrest, the gist of tiie affidavit being that “on
information and belief the Rev. Father Geo. A.
Doherty did then and there feloniously arid wil¬
fully commit the detestable and abominable crime
against nature with mankind, to-wit: With a negro
boy named Brooks.”
The affidavit was sworn to and made before
Mayor T. M. Smylie, also a- ex-officio Justice of
the Peace, who participated in the investigation of
the affair before lie accepted the affidavit of flhe City
Policeman, which also included an ex-policeman,
the sheriff, and one or two of the parties who re¬
ported they had witnessed the alleged incriminating
and accusing revelation of the very early morning
hour.
The negro a,.‘d*Ts boy mentioned in the affidavit wjs
irresicd rJbwTield’in the* county jail under
special guard day and? night, it being stated that he
has made a confession of the criminal association
with the priest alleged in the affidavit. Rev. Doher¬
ty, shortly afiejr his arrest by Policeman Alec Blis¬
ter and Sheriff R. C. Applewhite, was taken iq*a d
car to Jackson to await further developments in th#^ VJ
case. *
The expose, if such it should prove to i>e tinder
the seaich light of the court or by mdictment of the
grand jury now in session, came about in substan¬
tially- the following way: j
There was a dance Friday night seven miles cast
of the city in which a large contingent of Brook
haven young people took part. George Judea, a J
young man from Missouri, who came to Brook- !
haven only a few days previous to the alleged rev- ,
elatious he inadvertently brought about, was taken 1
under the care of Rev. Dpherty oil account of his
apparent difficulty in taking are of himself. Judea I
used Rev. Doherty’s car to go to the dance. Ha ;
did more than that. He ran into a ditch, broke the i
wind shield, damaged the steering gear and I
smashed up the machine generally.
Joe Martin, Jack Turnbough and Robert Brown, j
Jr., discovered the plight he was in and Judea was :
pulled out of a mud hole by Turnbough’s car.
Getting back to town after being about four miles
out, Policeman John W. McBride was called to
their aid and all of the party accompanied the po¬
liceman, along with Judea, back to the priest’s home
where Judea had been given shelter, and took the 1
party in with the aid of a bunch of keys supposed, 1
to have been given him by Rev. Doherty.
It is stated that all of the party went upstairs to
Rev. Doherty’s room, where Judea called to him for
the purpose of telling him what had happened about
the wrecked car. Doherty is said to have asked If
any one was hurt and when he was answereu in th.e
negative is said to have stared thai it was all right
as long at no one was injured. At this juncture
Judea is said to have put the light on when Do¬
herty exclaimed vocirefouslv against it. It was
turned out again for a second, on again and then
the alleged astounding situation was revealed to
the unwilling onlookers and Night Policeman J. W,
McBride, who stood mute with astonishment at 1
sight of the negro boy and the priest. !
The story spread from morning until noon ( citizen-*
were awakened in the early hours before day-dawn and
told of the disturbing report, and the affidavit and ar¬
rest followed with the holding of the twelve-year-old
(Confirmed on Page Feu*.)
No, 51