Fitzgerald enterprise. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1895-1912, 1905-11-18

culiar people-not all of them are satisfied with
the first taste. They appreciate good thing,
probably. In labored editorial, in which 1t
claims that the native outlaws have been civil
lized by the influx of good northern people, and
that the colonists saved the financial, as well as
the moral interests of this community from the
bad southerners, the Leader shows some irrl-
taton at recent editorial in these columns, a
considerable degree of poor taste and any
amount of bad judgment.
There are several reasons why we would
like to avoid all of this: one is. the respect we
have for our readers; another IS, the respect
we have for the editor of the Leader; another IS,
we have plenty else to do and to write about
and lastly it will tickle certain small faction OF
small people who imagine that they have no
friends in the newspaper world and very natu
rally enjoy any appearance OF dlscord-out all
of this is more than counter balanced by the
interest of eternal truth. The history OF a COM
munity like this is an important matter in which
all of us are interested In years to come II
historian of Fitzgera1 should come across copy
of the last issue of the Leader, he would be led
far from the truths of history.
We will write here some historical facts and
challenge any man, be he eyer so old and hip
pant, to contradict one statement that we MAKE
The historical truths do not lose their i'm
portance because of the personal references TO
the editors of the Enterprise or Leader.
The Fitzgerald Publishing Co., owners OF
this paper, was organized by the writer in the
summer of 1899, and that company bought out
the Leader. The present editor of the present
Leader had sold out his paper and left the town
to go to the demnition bow-wows (not the old
man) he went west, and stayed there till the
town that had died in his lap revived; her tax
values had grown in his absence from few
hundred thousands to nearly two millions,
doubled, trebled and doubled again. Her popu-
1ation increased from eighteen hundred to forty
five hundred, her banking capital from ten
thousand to two hundred thousand, cotton fac
tory compress, cotton oil mill and other enter
prses representing more money than the edl-
tor of the Leader ever dreamed that ten miles
square of city and colony would ever be worth
when he lief. it.
Let us grant that it was accomplished by
the colonists, God bless them, we shall not be
the means of withholding from them the credits
they deserve or desire, certainly the fleeing ed
itor of the Leader was one colonist who did not
inspire confidence at the crucial stage. Let US
acknowledge for the sake of TRUTH if for no other
reason, that 1899 witnessed the low tide of COM
mercial and moral Fitzgerald We have descrlb-
ed several times the low conditions OF both,
at that stage in our history. No business
man had confidence in our commercial future;
no decent man but hung his head in shame at
the unequaled immortality that throttled the
PROSTATE form of the new colony city. There
we're plenty of opportunities to swear out
warrants and they were sworn out, but not by
the editor of the Leader, although he knew
full we'll of the vices that Haunted themselves
in the eyes of, and was stencil in the nostrlls
of every respectable citizen of the town. The
editor of the Leader brands himself IAN arrant
coward and a shameless hypocrite" for not
swearing out the warrants, and does himself a
great wrong, because we don't think he is that
bad. He ought to take it back aud we think he
would if left to himself
Let it be stated here for the sake of truth
that the organization of this paper company
the INITIAL STEP, the very starting point in
the turn of the tide, and the EXPRESSED PARA
MOUNT PURPOSE of the good men who organized
and Joined hearts and hands in the enterprise
was to inspire confd ence aud save the town
from financial and moral de1apdation. All SUM-
mer, from early spring until September we
had listened to croakers. 1t then that T. S.
Price, J. H. Harley, r. A. Wilson, w. r. Bowen,
Bolton Jay, F. J. Clark, M. Dickson, with the
writer, interested others in this company, and
opened the campaign against the croakers
and the vicious with the result that there was