Newspaper Page Text
PAGE TWELVE
Death of the Tribune.
(Continued from Page Nine.)
man, as I am, and therefore he made up his
mind to have a paper of his own, so that he
could say things when they occurred to him.
So he scraped together a handful of old
type, borrowed some ink, stole an empty cigar
box that had been thrown away, and by put
ting the accumulated pelf together, found him
self in possession of the physical machinery for
the getting out of a paper, not much bigger
than a Jack rabbit’s ear.
This mammoth sheet was called the “Wool
hat” and, while it was little, it was loud. The
things it said about wrongs and abuses, large
robbers, big thieves, rich knaves and confeder
ated political rascals, was simply scandalous.
Much of what it said was entirely out of or
der, unparliamentary to the last degree, rev
olutionary in its character, incendiary in its
vocabulary, and shamefully true in every es
sential respect.
WHAT THE SOLONS DID AND
WHAT WAS NOT DONE.
(Continued from Page One.)
followed in the senate, where it was
openly charged by three senators
that the governor had lobbied with
changing senators in a manner which,
if the same had been done by rail
road attorneys, would have brought
forth a howl of protest.
The adamantine nature of the sen
ate on this subject all bnt caused an
extra session. The senate time and
again refused to accept three com
missioners, and the governor was
about to call an extra session to have
this bill enacted into a law when the
change of heart and votes took place,
and the bill was accepted as amended
by the senate shortly before midnight
Saturday night.
The house also amended this bill
so that if the governor has the right
to appoint two additional commis
sioners to serve until they or their
successors can be elected by the peo
ple, be cannot name the chairman,
but that officer is to be elected by
the commissioners. It was also fixed
in the house that the commission is
to have the power to regulate gas,
electric and water power companies
and in addition to all these, cotton
coinpress companies.
It was upon the motion of Mr.
Hall that the office of attorney to
the commission was created with arr
annual salary of $2,500, and this
place is to be filled by appointment
from the governor.
So while the house did not pass the
bill first, it was the amendments of
that body which were finally enacted
into a law. In the same way the
disfranchisement bill which came to
the house for amendments got one of
the strongest clauses attached which
goes into the proposed constitutional
amendment.
It is in the third clause under
which registration is to bo had, if
the amendment is ratified by a vote
of the people. This is the * ‘good
character clause,” which is to stand
for all time and is not to be limited
to 1910 or 1911 as was suggested by
the senate. Other than thjs the ad
ministration bill was passed just as
received from the senate.
Senate on House Bills.
The senate was not so kind to the
house bills. Members graduated
from the house of last year to the
senate or this, insisted that senate
bills instead of house ksn -
The “Woolhat” looked good to me, even if
it was fuzzy and small, and I have a copy
filed away among the relics which are kept to
remind me of “old times.”
The little paper, yellow with age, speaks x
to me of man’s honest endeavor, of consecra
tion to earnest conviction of toil, of sacri
fice, of suffering, of a certain-patient heroism
which in the sight of God may be as sublime
as that of the soldier who storms the heights.
So the “Woolhat” lies among my papers,
where it has lain these many years, close to
the banners the Populist ladies and girls used
to make for me, hard by the withered wreaths
that were brought to our meetings,, in the stir
ring days when the land was ablaze with a
noble enthusiasm.
Seventeen years ago, or fifteen years ago, or
but thirteen years ago—it seems another age,
another world.
These crumbling wreaths belong to by-gone
era; these banners to an epoch of the past;
laws, as has been in the u case in for
mer years. The Wright anti-lobby
bill was passed early in the session,
but notwithstanding it was one of
the strongest planks of the Macon
platform, it was not enacted into a
law. In the senate it was so emaciat
ed that the author declared he would
never recognize it as his measure. It
was sent to the house again, which
hody refused to concur in the senate
amendments, thus sending it to the
lumber room for lost legislation.
A like fate befell the«plank in the
Macon platform in regard to the an
ti-pass evil. The house bv a unani
mous vote passed the Hall anti-pass
bill which prohibited corporate cour
tesies to city, county and state offi
cials. The senate passed an admin
istration measure prohibiting these
courtesies to all persons except em
ployes.
Saturday night, or Sunday morn
ing, according to the old town clock,
the house tried twice to get the Hall
hill up so as to non-concnr in the sen
ate amendments, bnfeeach effort fail
ed and this bill, too, went to the
lumber room.
So much for the big four.
By the legal order of things the
house had the general tax act and
the general appropriations hill first.
Tax Act -Causes Prolonged Session.
The general tax act was the bone
of contention, which swung the ses
sion far into Sunday morning. It
was that little section of this im
portant measure which placed the
tax on social clubs keeping intoxi
cants in lockers. By reason of the
close relation to the subject matter
it way swung into another prohibi
tion fight and it looked as though an
extra session would be necessary to
get this clause accepted by both
houses.
Sunday morning at 3:15 it was
agreed to tax these locker clubs SSOO
instead of S3OO as proposed by Mr.
Wright in the house, or SIO,OOO as
proposed by the senate. This com
promise was not effected until the
general assembly was worn out, tired
and sleepy.
The greatest loop-the-loop of the
session took place in the house on
this bill in regard to the income tax
proposed for all public utilities.
The governor sent a special message
to the general assembly asking for
an income tax on all railroads in
the state. A section to the act taxing
all public utilities, including rail-
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
roads, was offered, and after much
debate was voted down. The house
declared against income taxes. An
amendment to the act calling for an
income tax on the manufactures of
soda fount syrups was offered and
voted down.
The next day a second section to
the act was offered eliminating cer
tain utilities, short telephone lines,
water power companies and the like,
but imposing a 1 per cent tax on
other utilities, and after much de
bate, mirabile dictu, was adopted.
This put the members on record
as favoring an income tax.
As a joke, an amendment to tax
the manufacturers of patent medi
cines, copyrighted soft drinks, and
the like, was offered and adopted.
In quick order amendments were of
fered and adopted levying a similar
tax on sewing machine manufactur
ers, telephone and telegraph compa
nies, express, Pullman parlor car
companies, and the like. Thus com
pletely reversing house form.
The house a few days before had
refused io accept an amendment to
tax locker clubs SIO,OOO, but when
Mr. Wright, of Floyd, one of the pro
hibition leaders, made a plea for a
S3OO tax and asked that there be
no opposition, there was none, and
this tax was levied.
This bill went “to the senate, and
the senate sent it back,” but greatly
changed in appearance. All income
taxes had been eliminated.
The house, which week before last
was “against-for” income taxes, was
this time square against income taxes,
and voted to leave that tax act.
The senate had raised the locker
tax to SIO,OOO, and the house refused
to have it. This brought on the dead
lock, which was only broken by the
compromise Sunday morning.
In the same way the general ap-.
propriation bill was handled. A rec
ord for dispatch of this burdensome
bill was made in the house, however.
Every amendment offered by the able
chairman of the general appropria
tion bill, Mr. Candler, of DeKalb,
was accepted, and the bill passed in
a single day, an unheard of event.
School Fund is Raised.
The house refused to raise the
common school fund to $2,000,000,
but when the senate stood out for
that amount for 1908, instead of
$1,850,000, as fixed in the house, the
house concurred, as it did for several
other minor appropriations.
This disposed of the general meas-
this faded “Woolhat” tn a generation that is
gone.
The little paper started by the one-horse
farmer grew into a larger weekly and then into
a daily, and was a mighty educator of the
people. In like manner, the Populist move
ment of fifteen years ago, grew from a small
beginning until it overshadowed the land.
The Daily Tribune is now dead, just as the
great Populist organization is dead; but nei
ther the paper nor the creed are any more lost
the world of living things than were the seed
which the sower went forth to sow.
•t * H
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ures of great importance to be acted
upon. As a reinforcer of the prohi
bition law the house Saturday night
passed the bill which prohibits the
sale of narcotics, except on physi
cians’ prescriptions. But the bill by
Mr. Mundy, of Polk, making it a
felony instead of a misdemeanor to
sell intoxicants, prohibited by law,
was not passed.
The greatest interest had been
aroused over what has been commonly
called the “water power bill,” that
was tabled Saturday night and killed
for the sessiop. This bill provides
the right of eminent domain for pub
lic utility corporations, and gives
them the right to condemn other wa
ter power companies for the public
good. After a hard fight the senate
reported the bill favorably; the
senate passed it; the house spe
cial judiciary committee reported it
favorably; it was set for a special
order —and tabled. The house took
the posititon that there was too
much involved in the rights granted
to allow a hurried passage, and on
the brink of enactment it was shoved
into a pigeon-hole to remain a year.
Central Investigation Killed.
One of the most important and far
reaching pieces of legislation that
was allowed to go over without en
actment was the Hardeman resolu
tion calling for the appointment of
a legislative commission to investi
gate the alleged ownership of the
Central of Georgia by the Southern,
any other corporation or individual
in violation of the constitution of
Georgia.
The people and press of the state
begged for this commission. The
house committee on railroads report
ed the resolution favorably; it was
adopted by the house, reported favor
ably in the senate, and —tabled.
Killed for a year. In the meanwhile
these corporations have an opportun
ity to adjust themselves to satisfac
tory conditions.
Another important resolution not
acted upon was that by Mr. John
son, of Jasper, which called for the
creation of a commission to investi
gate who is getting the benefit of re
duced freight rates since the rates
have been reduced to the jobber and
the prices to the consumer continue
to soar skyward.
The general assembly also failed
to create a board of legislative in
quiry as provided for in the resolu
tion by Mr. Barksdale, of Wilkes
•oußty. The eommiaaion wm to take