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GARRARD A FAILURE
AS BUSINESS MAN.
Compares the Records of the Two
Mayoralty Candidates.
MR. CUNNINGHAM GIVES LOGICAL
RESUME OF POLITICAL EVENTS.
Arraigns Present City Administration Exposes Graft, Theft,
Cruelty and Incompetency Asks if Public Con
science is Dead This is Worth Reading.
Unless the public conscience is en
tirely dead, the crushing and final de
feat of the Citizens Club at the polls
on T'uesday is inevitable. There ought
not to be any confusion in the public
mind on the fundamental issue. Shall
an incompetent and disgraceful admin
istration of municipal affairs be per
petuated, or shall there be a change,
in the hope and expectation that we
shall have a clean, healthy administra
tion of our public affairs? If any
thoughtful man will look back over
the occurrences of the past year he
will be persuaded beyond the shadow
of a doubt that the Citizens Club has
forfeited all claims upon the suffrage
and respect of our citizens. It started
the campaign for the county offices
last February with an unblushing ef
fort to brow-beat and intimidate the
voters. It thronged the court house
with a crowd of political thugs who
insulted peaceable citizens and rioted
in the very halls of justice, and wound
up with a very carnival of crime in
front of the city hall. These men
were employes of the city, paid by the
city. The mayor knew of this politi
cal activity. He was advised of it by
letter, so that he might have no escape.
Their activity was offensive, grossly
so, and yet none were discharged on
that account. Political activity was
the price of political advancement.
The Citizens Club’s theory of politics
is that unless a man is politically ac
tive he does not earn his job. But
now Mayor Myers and Alderman Gray
son have become very zealous of the
interests of the tax payers. Political
activity has become a crime. The per
sons selected for decapitation are
those who secretly opposed the ad
ministration in June, and do so openly
now. How about those who are re
tained? Does any sane man doubt
that the party scourge will be applied
and that they will all be whipped into
political activity. If not, the whole
history and career of the Citizens Club
will be reversed.
Indictment of Citizens Club.
The next indictment against the ad
ministration is that they attempted to
debauch the Registration, and were
caught red handed in the act. Two
employes of the city, high in the po
litical counsels of the administration,
were apprehended, carried into the
United States Court and confessed
their guilt, and were heavily fined. Did
the administration discharge them?
Not a bit of it. It had neither the j
courage nor capacity to do it. Their
acts were condoned, and with a reck
less disregard of public decency they
were retained in their offices of honor
and trust. I pass over hurriedly the
fact that the Mcßrides, after the ca- j
tastrophe at the city exchange, walked
the streets of Savannah and that none j
in authority dared to raise their hand
to arrest them, and that when they j
were finally arrested they were liber
ated by the sheriff on a fake investi- j
gation by the coroner. This was more j
open and flagrant defiance of law than
would have been attempted in a border
town on the western plains. We can
hardly forget the fact that public
gambling became so notorious last
summer that a committee of the grand
jury, composed of partisans of the j
Citizens Club, were forced by public j
opinion into denouncing it. Nor do
we forget those dramatic orders of
the mayor to his gallant chief of po-
I lice to sit on the lid, and how the lid
; had a habit of blowing off every Sun
day. The hyprocrisy and sham of the
whole proceeding were disgusting.
I Our memories must be very short if
we do not recall how conspicuous in
its advocacy of the Citizens Club at
I the polls on June 12th were the gambl
ers of the town. We may expect a
repetition of this on January Bth.
| Usually those gentry keep under cover
and make themselves as inconspicu
ous as possible, but not so here; they
J assume the attitude of boss politicians
among us.
Finally, if cumulative evidence were
wanting of the unfitness and incom
petency of the present administration,
one need only remember the amusing
! antics of the board of aldermen after
: the June primary. They hastened to
! give overwhelming evidence of their
j own incompetence, and to expose the
weakness of several public servants.
| They investigated everybody and ev-
I erything and did nothing. They ex
! posed the fact that, as a chief of
1 police, Garfunkle was absurdly incoin
. petent. Creamer, who had been a
defaulter of many months, was driven
from public office. It was discovered
that the campaign of the Citizens Cluo
j had been, financed with the city’s
funds.
Same Old Crowd.
Does any sane man doubt but that
the people who are responsible for the
; conditions which I have enumerated
are actively in the fight and asking a
vote of public confidence? Garrity,
I the Garfunkles, Mcßride and Osborn
are all actively engaged in the fight.
Does anybody doubt the influence of
the Garfunkles in city affairs? Crea
i mer is yet high in the councils of the
party; as significant of this I point to
the fact that at their meeting at the
Benedictine Hall, when Capt. M. J. i
Doyle entered the hall, Mr. Robert
Creamer arose from the center of the
meeting and moved that Capt. Doyle;
should be invited to a seat upon the j
i stage. The very same people who
were repudiated at the polls on June
12th are the backbone of the fight
against the Peoples’ Democratic j
League.
As to Colonel Garrard.
Now, with regard to the candidate;
of the Citizens Club for the mayoralty:
Colonel Garrard is. of course, a gentle- !
man, and I think he is even a kid glove ;
gentleman, a thing which Mr. Collins
seems to abhor. It is also true that
he served with distinguished gallantry
in the Confederate Army. I desire j
to be perfectly fair and just even to
my political adversaries, and I could j
not be fair if I did not say this much
with regard to Colonel Garrard. More
than this I even regret the necessity
which compels me to point out such j
reasons as seem to me to be cogent
why he should not be favorably re-!
garded as a mayoralty candidate - |
Much stress has been laid on Colonel
Garrard’s war record, and the per
sistency with which that qualification
has been heralded leads me to think
that much noise has been made on
that subject to distract the attention
from other matters which are closer.
When a man offers himself for public!
office we must look to his environ
ment. We see Collins supporting him
j on one side, Osborne on the other and
Myers in the rear. We hear the
| Colonel declaring that if elected he
will be mayor and wear no man’s col
lar, and on the same stage we hear
Jake Collins declaring that he is going
I to distribute all the patronage, and
| that if the Colonel does not behave
| himself that he (Collins) will attend
!to him. Collins is going to be on the
board of aldermen. He is going to
head the ticket, and if they do not
make him Chairman of Council, even
if he does run last on the aldermanic
ticket, they are going to certainly hear
from him. The Colonel, if elected,
will not have the patronage but Col
lins will, and look at the hungry crowd
he has to provide for. And how they
are going to keep the ins in and put
the outs in at the same time is a
I study in political mathematics. Then
what disposition is to be made of
i Garfunkle, chief of police, and Jack
i Maguire, fire chief, and Mcßride, is
I he, too, going to, stand to the rack
and get nothing? Not much, he is
too wise a bird so,? that. How is the
j Colonel to avoid all of these political
j obligations. Granted that he was a I
j gallant soldier, he never fought against
I a handicap like this in his life before.
And last, but not least, there is
! Myers—his shadow must fall athwart
the mayoralty chair if ever Garrard
should sit in it. Worn out and dis-:
| gusted with the job himself, with his |
administration coming to a close as |
an utter and disastrous failure, afraid j
himself to run again, he is yet heart
| less enough to push Garrard to the j
front, and sacrifice him to defeat.
! Myers has nothing to lose by this and;
| everything to gain. The National
Bank, in case of success, would still be!
! the city depository, Myers would be
the power behind the throne. A ■well,
j know'n writer, writing under the Nom
! de Plume of Herman Myers, in Sun-
I day’s paper, undertook to give the pub- 1
| lie some advice as to the selection of
f mayor. It was not a very happy
thought for Myers to boost Garrard.!
He was not exactly an impartial spon- j
I sor. The head lines read thus;
j “Mayor praises Col. Wm. Garrard,” j
j “Interests of Tax Payers." Now if !
! there were two things which could j
! injure Col. Garrard’s candidacy they!
| were the mention of Myers and the j
: interests of the. tax payers.
A Business Failure.
If there is one thing that Colonel
Garrard has not been it is a success
ful business man. We can only judge
of the future by the past, and judged
by this standard the interest of the
tax payers certainly would not be con
! suited by the selection of Colonel Gar
rard as mayor. Upon the other hand,
we have a candidate in Mr. Tiedeman
who. judging by his past performances,
would give the city of Savannah a
strictly business administration. His
career in City Council when he was;
an alderman will challenge compari
son with that of any other man who
ever served Savannah in that capacity.
Here are a few things that George
W. Tiedeman has done for Savannah.
For four years Mr. Tiedeman gave
his close attention to duties devolving
upon him as an alderman, looking af
ter the Finances. Accounts, Streets
and Lanes, Opening Streets and other
departments.
Street Paving.
During the 1895-1890 Myers’ admin
istration it was through his efforts
that the Asphalt Company was forced '
to reduce their maintenance contract
from 10 cents per square yard to 5.!
cents, thus saving this city about
$35,000 to date. Pretty good for one
little item.
Laurel Grove Cemetery.
(
During the 1899-1900 Myers’ admin- .
istration, Mr. Tiedeman prevented, by
his opposition, the condemnation and |
closing up of Laurel Grove Cemetery.
Land Deals. 1
f
During the 1899-1900 Myers’ admin- (
istration. an effort was made to sell j r
to the city for cemetery purposes, a (
tract of land, owned then by Col. Wm. j
Garrard, situated about four miles out,
on or near Ogeechee Avenue. Mr. «
Tiedeman led the fight against it —, (
against warm opposition, and pre-
vented the unloading of this property. t
Public Spirit.
For about twenty years he has taken
a prominent and active part in all mat- £
ters that would aid Savannah's com-
mercial advancement. For many years |
(Continued on Fourth Page ) t
JUDGE ADAMS SAYS IT IS
DUTY OF EVERY GOOD
CITIZEN TO VOTE FOR
MR. TIEDEMAN.
Honored Citizen Tells Why One
Should Net Vote For
!
Colonel Garrard.
TALKS OF HIS RECORD AS CONFEDERATE SOLDIER.
Said More is Expected of a Man With Such a
Brilliant War Record—-Explains What
and Who Garrard Stands For.
I appear tonight to urge the hearty
, support of Mr. Tiedeman and his Al
! dermanic ticket. My personal and
j professional relations with the nomi
| nee for the Mayoralty of the Citizens
; Club faction are not only friendly,
| they are very cordial, but, in this mat
i ter, I cannot permit my personal rela
tions to control my conduct as a citi
j zen.
A number of years ago, at a banquet
j given to celebrate Ihe Centennial of
the Savannah Volunteer Guards, in
I response to the toast “The Confede-!
rate Soldier,” I paid earnest and sin- j
cere tribute to the splendid record of j
Col. Garrard as a Confederate Soldier.
It was an occasion peculiarly separate ;
and apart from the spirit or purposes j
of a political gathering. There has j
; been, within the last few days, a re
publication of what I then said, and |
! what I now unhesitatingly repeat, J
without abatement or qualification.
Effect of Victory of People’s Demo
cratic League in June.
While this record is worthy of con- j
sideration, it does not follow that the |
nominee of the faction referred to;
ought to be elected Mayor. There are I
a number of good reasons why Mr.
Tiedeman and his ticket ought to be ;
elected. One very important reason
is that they are nominees of an organi
zation that has already accomplished
much for the community, and is en
titled to the encouragement and sup
port of good citizens. Some months I
ago it attempted what appeared to be j
a hopeless task, the defeat of a sac- i
tion seemingly invincible. It w r as
thoroughly understood at the time that j
the election which immediately ab
sorbed the attention of our people was
significant largely because of its in
fluence upon the approaching Munici
pal Campaign, The defeat of the j
People’s Democratic League now
would largely destroy the effect of the j
great and glorious victory won last
June. I have no question myself that
if the Citizens Club faction had suc
ceeded, the old condition of affairs,
illustrated by the prevalence of the two
great evils, of gaming houses and the
sale of liquor on Sunday, -would have
continued, and the same lawless ele
ments would have been tolerated and
encouraged. Under the rule of the
Citizens Club faction we had, for
many years, been known as a wide ,
open town and that reputation would
have continued to be ours but for the <
success of the organization which de
feated that faction. The success of the
Citizens Club faction would have post- ;
poned indefinitely the day of our re
demption. As the immediate and di- <
rect result of that success, the gam
ing house evil has substantially, if
not entirely, disappeared. Our lanes
and our alleys are no longer filled .
with policy shops which openly ply,
their nefarious business, preying uj)on
the ignorant and the helpless. 'Our
! Sunday is much more orderly, and the
laws designed to give us a quiet and
I respectable Sunday are very much
better observed. Outside, therefore,
of the fact that I have been and still
am actively allied with the People’s
| Democratic League, and, as a member
;°f the Executive Committee, moved
the ratification of the Special Commit
tee that suggested Mr. Tiedeman as
; our nominee, it seems clear to me that
I I ought not to hesitate to sustain him
1 and his ticket now.
Garrard Representative of Citizens
Club.
I cannot avoid the effect of the coti
-1 viction that, if a majority of the citi
! zens of Savannah had Toted as the
nominee of the Citizens Club faction
himself did, the evils tolerated by that
faction for political ends would have
| continued in Savannah and the great
I good accomplished by our success
! would not have been secured. Their
nominee for the Mayoralty voted their
entire ticket during the last contest
j and openly and earnestly did what he
I could for its election. He is today
as completely the representative of
that faction as could be Mr. Osborne
or Mr. Myers, if either of these were
nominated. The fact that he may be
> called the nominee of the People's
i eague, or of the Collins faction, or
'of any combination among dissatisfied
elements, is not material. If elected,
his election will be due to the Citi
| zens Club faction and it will be a
triumph of that faction. When I think
|of the terrible evils wrought by ele
| ments that were tolerated because of
their political help by this faction, of
the suicides of tw r o young men ruined
in gaming houses in Savannah, of the
j tragedies that oceured there, which
resulted in the rushing, unbidden and
unprepared, of three men into the
presence of their Maker, of the dis
| grace to our City by the prevalence
j of these evils. I cannot, I ought not, to
withhold my active support to the
ticket put forth by the organization
that helped to redeem this City, purify
our moral atmosphere, give us a bet
; ter standing in the judgment of all
good men, and whose defeat, I be
lieve, would largely nullify the good
effects of what have already been
substantial and important reforms.
Garrard’s Unfortunate Position.
The better the record of a nominee
of the Citizens Club faction, in peace
or in war, the more unfortunate and
the most unwholesome Is his present
alignment. We have the right to ex
pect men of proud records in times
of war to help their communities in
times of peace, whether their private
interests are helped or retarded.
Splendid Ticket of People's Demo
cratic League.
The People’s Democratic League has
(Continued on Fourth Page.)