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SPEECH OF COL. G. ARTHUR GOR
DON AT MEETING OF THE 2D
AND 3d DISTRICT MEETING
OF PEOPLE’S DEMO
CRATIC LEAGUE,
MAY 2, ISO 6.
Continued From Page 5.
warrant before a justice of the peace.
The negro, however, did not do this,
and the grand jury indicted Mr. John
J. Garrity for assault with intent to
murder.
Now, mark the behavior of the news
papers; John J. Garrity, superintend
ent of the scavenger department, a
friend and protege of W. W. Osborne,
solicitor general of the county, is in
dicted for assault with intent to mur
der. EVERY OTHER indictment, or
special presentment, sent in by the
grand jury of the March term, 1905,
was recorded in the columns of the
Morning News. NEITHER OF THE
PAPERS MENTIONED THE INDICT
MENT of John J. Garrity, and I am
reliably informed that the reporter of
'the Morning News wrote up an ac
count of the indictment, and that the
reporter of the Savannah Press also
wrote an account of the indictment,
and that both of these news items,
to which the public was entitled, were
suppressed by higher authority. Now,
■why were these news items suppress
ed? What sOrt of a chance has a
law-abiding man in this community
when the newspapers suppress facts
detrimental to criminals because
these criminals have political influ
ence? I am credibly informed that
high authority was responsible for !
the suppression of this news item in j
the Press. I am credibly informed
that J. H. Estill was telephoned to
at Isle of Hope, and gave orders
over the phone that the article was
.to be omitted from the Morning News.
[f these are the facts, and if the pro
prietors Os the Savannah Morning
News and of the Savannah Press were
responsible for the suppression of the
fact that Garrity had been indicted
for assault with intent to murder,
taen they yielded to pressure, and
have no more backbone than a boiled
carrot.
Now, observe the fearless prose
cution of Garrity by Solicitor General |
Osborne: when the case came up for j
trial Osborne presented only negro
witnesses, although there was at least
one white witness whose testimony
was material. Robert L. Colding, who
detended Garrity, placed Garrity upon
the stand to make his statement, in
his argument before the jury, Cold
ing stated 'that \it twas (simply a
question of veracity between a white
man and a negro, AND OSBORNE,
THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY,
whose duty it was to convict, if possi
ble, made no argument, but assented ■
to this statement, with the result that !
Garrity was acquitted.
Is it safe for you and me, and other |
law-abiding citizens, to have the law
administered in this fashion? Do you
desire to continue in power a man
like W. W. Osborne, who. protects his
friends instead of prosecuting them,
and who leaves nine-tenths of bis
duties as solicitor general to be per
formed by Dan Charlton?
Make no mistake, gentlemen; the
condition which exist in Savannah to
day, under the rule of Osborne, are
rotten, and Osborne is responsible.
I have not mentioned once the Cit- J
isens’ Club, and my reason is, there
is no such thing as a citizens’ club.
The whole thing is Osborne; and Mc-
Bride and Garrity, the self-confessed j
criminals; and Garfunkel, the chief of :
police, who permits highway robbery j
in the principal park of the city; who
has demoralized the police force so
that you see policemen resting on
benches, instead of walking their
beats; and all the balance of the
heelers are simply echoes of Os
borne.
Bet’s stop shooting at the edge of
the target, the Garritys, Mcßrides and
Garfunkels, and aim straight at the
hull's eye, W. W. Osborne. And
this is the crowd which has adopted
a reform platform; this is the crowd
which asks you to entrust to them
the reform of this city.
There are good men supporting the
crowd who are opposed to us in this
fight; some of my best friends are on
the other side, but they are on that
side * unwillingly, and merely be
cause they are under such obligations
that they feel it would be disloyal to
desert the so-called citizens’ club in its
hour of dire need. Ido not judge
them, it is a matter for their con
science. I do not judge the men who
are bought away from the People’s
Democratic League by jobs, or offices,
or even money. I pity them for going
over to the losing side. When a man
is hard-up and out of employment,
it is not right to expect sentiment
to count for much with him—but I
say this, that we are well rid of those
who cannot resist the temptation to
desert when our opponents lure them
away; and I say further that our
strength is such that we will win in
spite of the desertion of any one man,
or set of men, or any combination
which may be formed against us. Our
strength lies not only in the fact
that we have a large and enthusiastic
number of voters who cannot be stam
peded away from us, hut that we have
an enormous following amongst the
people who are supposed to be sup
porting Osborne and the so-called Cit
izens’ Club. They are sick and tired
of being assessed and bullied and tyr
annized over by Mcßride and Garrity
and Garfunkel, yes, and Osborne, too,
and they are just waiting for the first
opportunity to smother that bunch
with their votes.
I am not surprised that Osborne &
Company are trying to create dissen
sions in the People’s Democratic
League. They are having so many
rows amongst themselves that the idea
of giving us similar trouble occurs
to them quite naturally. A few nights
ago I met two prominent Fourth Dis
trict Citizens’ Club men. They were
engaged in forming a “respectable”
Fourth District Citizens’ Club; it
was to be made up entirely of non-
office holders and non-office seekers,
I told them it was just as well for
them to get into the habit of being
out of office, as they would soon be
in that position actually. The princi
pal plank in their platform was
“down with Mcßride.” Mcßride was
to be thrown out of their meeting if
he came there; but OSBORNE would
not stand for their “respectable” club,
and Mcßride, the criminal, who plead
guilty in the United States court, the
man who stands under sentence, sus
j pended only.during his good behavior,
is again leading the Osborne forces in
the Fourth District.
And here it occurs to me to inquire,
do you suppose that Mcßride and Gar
rity (who were the victims) embarked
in the enterprise of illegal naturaliza
tion on their own initiative?
Respectability; Mr. Carson was
nominated to catch the respectable
vote, and look at the harmony that
nomination produced; they have got
two men running for that office aud
holding rival meetings in different
parts of the town on the same night.
I almost forgot to speak about Alex
Lawrence. In one of his letters, Os
borne referred to a young man who
was giving Mr. Cunningham assistance
in the campaign, and one of ’Osborne's
friends volunteered to me the infor
mation that I was the individual thus
complimented. Lawrence, as the sec
ond fiddle to Osborne, followed suit,
and did me the honor to refer to me
as a young patriot who spent six
months of the year in England. Now
there are several very obvious and
crushing replies which I could make
to Alex Lawrence: I was born in
Savannah and raised here, and have
lived here all my life, and expect
to die here. I love Savannah; I love
every dirty brick in her streets —even
the vitrified ones. I knew Alex Law
rence when he first came here, and
he is about the last man in Savannah
who should undertake to criticize my
loyalty to this city. I suppose it is
beyond the comprehension of selfish
men like Osborne and Lawrence that
a man should give‘time and thought
and effort to trying to redeem his
community, unless he has the incen
tive of some glittering reward, but I
am not going to treat my friend, Alex
Lawrence, as he deserves; I am rnere
| ly going to say, in reply to liis taunt,
this: as a man born in Savannah,
raised in Savannah and who has lived
in Savannah all his life, I believe
j that every young, vigorous, enterpris
! ing, ambitious, intelligent* honest,
j straightforward man who comes to Sa
vannah from the interior, or else
where, is an acquisition, is an up
builder of the community who should
be welcomed with open arms, and if
Savannah grows to be the place I
hope to see it grow to, it will be
largely due to the push and the en
terprise of the people who come here
as strangers and make it their home;
and if we who are born here can’t
stand the competition which subject
us to, then we will go under, as we
ought to.
This fight which we are in is a fight
for principle; it is a fight to loosen
•from the throat of the community
the clutch of those who are greedy
and selfish and unscrupulous and bad
examples; it is a fight for local sen
government; it is a fight which every
man with one particle of self-respect
and public spirit and local pride
should determine to assist us to win.
There is only one way to win it, and
that is tc register a sufficient number
of voters to overcome the vote of the
city employees and those who can be
frightened or coaxed into voting for
Osborne’s candidates. As a member
of the registration committee, I have
discovered that a number of people
who ought to register have not regis
tered. Thanks to the unselfish and
energetic work of a number of gen
tlemen who are interested in our suc
cess, these people are beginning to
register, but an enormous amount of
work remains to be done, and I appeal
to you to do it.
No man need have any apprehen
sion that he will be frightened away
from the polls by any of the ruf
fians who sometimes undertake this
task. We propose to fix the respon
sibility squarely where it belongs, and,
as I said at the first meeting of the
Democratic Club, the respectable cit
izens of this community, when organ
ized and resolute, can have anything
they want, and on this occasion they
want and will have an election free
from terrorism.
Gentlemen, one defeat will break the
power of ilie so-called Citizens’ Club.
They are fighting amongst themselves;
they are demoralized and ready to fall
apart.
Will you permit Savannah, the city
we live in, the gem of the south, the
city we love, to be a by-word and a
stench in the nostrils on account of
the rottenness of its political condi
tions? Will you permit policy-playing
and gambling and grafting, and high
way robberies, and murders to contin
ue to flourish unchecked? By all the
pride of your citizenship; by all you
hold sacred in your homes, by all
your hopes of the future, I adjure
you to rise in vour might and stamp
out these evils. To the court house,
pay your taxes and register! To the
polls! to the polls! and forever sweep
away with your votes this burning
shame.
BLOODY RIOT IN COAL REGIONS.
Clash Precipitated by Idle Miners and Con
stables Use Guns.
The first serious collision in tlie
anthracite coal regions since mining
was suspended on April 1, occurred
at Mount Carmel, Pa., Monday be
tween a mob of idle mine workers and
a platoon of the new state constabu
lary force, and resulted in the injur. ;
ing of probably twenty men, three of j
whom will likely die.
The disturbance was caused by an
attack on a detail of the state police
by several hundred foreigners, who be
came incensed at the presence of the
constables.
The riot caused the greatest excite
ment in the many mining villages of;
the southern coal fields when it be- |
came known that mine workers had
been shot down, but by night the af
fected territory was comparatively
quiet
STATUS OF CRAPSEY HERESY CASE.
Matter Will Be Presented to Ecclesiastical
Court for Decision.
It is understood that the ecclesi
astical court of the Protestant Epis
copal church, which tried Dr. Crap
sey for heresy, will meet once more
for consultation with Judge Moore of
Batavia, N. Y„ where the findings will
be prepared for presentation to Bish
op Walker. It is thought that the
court will meet about May 13, as it
goes out of existence May 15, and as
it will take about fifteen days to
transcribe the minutes of the trial,
which include about 90,000 words.
NEGRO METHODISTS IN CONFERENCE.
Four Hundred Delegates in Attendance on
Memphis Meeting.
The general conference of the col
ored Methodist Episcopal church con
vened at Memphis, Tenn., Wednesday,
with about 400 delegates in attend- j
ance. Business of importance to the
colored Methodists throughout the
south will be transacted at this con
ference.
This conference was originally
scheduled to take place at Topeka,
Kansas, but it was later decided to
hold it in Memphis.
HEARST IN ROLE OF BaBY FARMER.
Every Little One Born to Poor Mothers in
'Frisco is Given Sum|ol SIOO.
A pretty girl baby came into the
world in San Francisco Tuesday in
the maternity hospital, established by
William Randolph Hearst, who has
done so much personally and through
his newspapers for the sufferers of the
earthquake and fire. Some days ago
Mrs. Wdlliam Randolph Hearst an
nounced that every poor child born in
the maternity hospital would receive
fiom her SIOO. The money was very
promptly sent, and the mother named
her “Millicent Hearst Van Lurander,”
HOT ON TRAIL OF THE OIL TRUST.
Roosevelt Wants Relations of Standard
and Railroads Investigated.
The statement is authoritatively
made that the department of justice
will immediately begin an investiga
tion of the relations of the so-called
oil trust and a. number of railroads
wiith a view of determining whether
there have been violations of the anti
rebate law.
> I 4> I \
GEORGIA BRIEFS;
vfTy fi> »» v » yip l \
Mapping Route for New Road.
Reports state that a surveying corps
is now at work mapping out the route
of the Georgia Northern railroad south
of Boston. It seems that Monticello,
Fla., will be the objective point of the
new extension. Boston people are an
ticipating great benefits from the
road.
* * *
Bond Issue Defeated.
The election to float bonds to build
Montgomery’s new court house, now
under way of construction, was over
whelmingly defeated, not receiving
one-half of the registered voters. There
were 170 legally qualified negro voters,
but it is doubtful if as many as 25
of this number cast their votes. There
were practically no negro votes polled.
* * *
Reward Offered for Firebugs.
A reward of SIOO has been offered
by the state at the request of many
of the citizens of Jenkins county foi
the arrest of unknown persons who
set fire to barns belonging to the peo
ple of the county. The recent fires
makes a total of six of incendiary ori
gin since 1903. In the two barns just
burned contents to the amount of sl,-
500 were destroyed.
* * *
Charter Asked for New Road.
Aplication has been filed with the
secretary of state for a charter for
a new railroad to run from Waycross,
through Alma, on the A., B. & A., and
Baxley, on the Southern railway, to
Vidalia, in Toombs county. The esti
mated length of the proposed line is
about 55 miles, and it will traverse a
section of the state that is practically
unopened, and which is rich in farm
and timber lands.
The petitioners ask to be incorporat
ed with a capital stock of $200,000,
with the privilege of increasing same
to $1,000,000, and state that they w'ish
to push the construction of the road
at once.
» * *
Officers of Partners’ Union.
The following officers were elected
and Important committees appointed
at the closing session of the Georgia
division of the Farmers’ Union in At- |
lanta: <3. S. Barrett of Atwater, pres
ident; AV. P. Quinby of Cartersville,
vice president; J. L. Barron of Thom
aston, secretary-treasurer; J. L. Lee
of Stone Mountain, state organizer.
R. L. Barron of Zebulon, lecturer; T.
M. Bazemore of Howard, conductor;
J W. Burns of Adairsville, doorkeep
er; R. A. Wfilbanks of Buford, ser
geant at arms.
The following were re-elected eom
mitteemen: S. J. Smith of Flowery
Branch; J. D. Anderson of Batesville;
J. H. Hoyle of Thomaston; V,. T.
Hogue of Draketown and W. V. Mar
tin of Tifton.
* * *
Seek to Retain Station.
A determined effort is being made
in Griffin by all concerned to retain
the agricultural experiment station,
iii view of the reports current that
there is a possibility of removing it
to Athens for union with the universi
ty. It is realized that more land
must be obtained or the station is lia
ble to be lost to Griffin. One plan
which meets with much favor is the
purchase of about 125 acres lying west
of the present ground. The station
has now 125 acres, and the addition
of what is proposed would double the
amount of land.
* * *
Time for Transfer Extended.
Judge Emory Speer signed an or
der at Macon Saturday extending
Greene and Gaynor’s time for trans
fer to the federal prison in Atlanta
to May 5. The limit for the appeal
went over April 28th, with the work
on the bill of exceptions unfinished.
The prisoners are taking life as easy
under the circumstances as possible.
Meals are sent three times a day to
the jail from a hotel and extras in
the eating line from the same place.
A day or so ago one of the two noto
rious prisoners wanted buttermilk be
tween meals. It was hurriedly rush
ed to the jail by a hotel porter. The
negro received a half dollar tip for
his speed In delivering the beverage.
* * *
Physicians Deny Charges.
The two county physicians, Dr.
Richardson and Dr. Hurt, have been
severely criticized by the Fulton coun
ty grand jury in their presentments,
and the recommendation is made that
the county employ one physician at
a salary of $3,000. The two receive
now SI,OOO a year each.
The grand jury says that the phy
sicians have been guilty of the gross
est neglect of duty in failing to re
spond to the sick calls from the con
vict camps and in failing to take a
proper Interest in convict patients.
I Drs. Hurt and Richardson deny that
they have been guilty as charged, and
cay they will make a full and formal
denial with proof when the proper
time arrives.
* *
Pays SI,OOO Fine for Peonage.
Through a fine imposed on R. L.
Pittman of Morgan county, by'Judge
William T. Newman at the recently
ended session of the United States dis
trict court in Athens, there has come
to light a story of the strangest and
most cruel illegal detentions ever
knew to Georgia.
For fifteen years, it is alleged, R. L.
Pittman, a farmer of Morgan county,
held In bondage, a negro boy, John
Griffith by name, and four members
of the boy’s family, three brothers and
a sister. At the November term of
the district court, Pittman pleaded
guilty, but sentence was deferred un
til the session of court just closed.
Pittman paid his SI,OOO fine and has
been released.
* * *
Court is Being Swamped.
The state supreme court has Issued
a statement showing the status of its
dockets, and calling attention to the
fact that the amount of work before
the court is unprecedented. The next
call of the civil docket will take place
March 21.
An examination of the dockets of
the court shows that the whoie num
ber of cases returnable to the October
term, 1905, and the March term, 1900.
is about 1,130. The number of cases
of the October term, 1905, yet to
be disposed of is 162. The number
of cases on the civil docket of the
March term, 1906, is 346. The num
ber of criminal cases is 70. If the
number of cases, civil and criminal,
is increased in accord with the aver
age of the last five years, the addi
tional number of cases to come iu
by fast writs and otherwise will be 70.
# » *
Test of School Tax Bill.
There will be carried to the su
preme court on a fast writ of error
within the next few days an appeal
from a decision of Judge E. J. Rea
gan of the Flint circuit, just rendered
in Henry superior court, declaring un
constitutional the McMicliael bill,
passed at the last session of the legis
lature under which counties and
school districts might vote on the
question of local taxation for school
purposes.
This litigation is of the gravest in
terest to the public schools of Geor
gia.
There are sever; 1 counties and
some forty-odd school districts in va- b
rfons sections of the state which have
voted in favor of local taxation for
public schools and are preparing to
establish the system.
Local taxation for schools has been
of untold benefit to those counties and
districts which have adopted it. The
principal advantage has been in ena
bling them to lengthen the school term
to nine months, whereas it has been
only six.to seven months.
* * *
Black Elks Are Barred.
Macon Lodge No. 230, Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, secured
an injunction in final hearing before
Judge E. J. Reagan, in Bibb superior
court, Saturday, restraining a dozen
or more negroes of Macon from or
ganizing any lodge or association of
negroes in Bibb county and within the
borders of.the state to be knowij as
the “Improved Benevolent and Pro
tective Order of Elies of the Worl 1.”
The negroes are by this decree re
strained from wearing the insignia or
buttons or badges of the order rjed
by the whites. No phrase or phrases
in any manner utilizing the word
“Elks” is to be allowed. The order
is complete, and grants every prayer
of the white Elks.
Judge Ross claimed that to allow
the negroes the privilege of forming
an Elks’ lodge in the state would at
once infringe ali the rights of white
members of the order, and bring un
ceasing complications as to identity
of lodges and lodge membership. He
cited the San Francisco aid which had
been given by the Elks of Macon as
an instance in which the members at
that distance would not know whether
whites or blacks had rendered the
help, and said property rights, even in
Georgia, in the shipment of goods, in
the mails and in various other compli
cations would always be such as to
make it difficult to determine whether
the whites or blacks were the real
Elks.
ELOPEMENT IS STOPPED BY BULLET.
Father Kills Daughter’s Sweetheart to Pre
vent Gretna Green Marriage.
H. R. King was shot and killed
Wednesday as he was preparing to
elope with Miss Lola Eason of Pine
Bluff, Ark., by the girl’s father. Ea
son claims he acted in solf-defense in
killing King. The young man was
shot as he had one arm on the girl.