The Searchlight. (Savannah, Ga.) 1906-19??, May 05, 1906, Image 8

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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.