Fitzgerald enterprise. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1895-1912, 1905-06-29
The Railroads Make the Issue Plain.
(From the Atlanta Journal.)

alton between the ring and the railroads.&c.
ever doubted for moment that such thing as
a railroad ring exists and dominates the public
affairs of Georgia-the events of the past few
days would in themselves have been suthcient
to clear the scales from his eyes.
Hon. Hoke Smith has declared war on the
ring; he is running for governor on platform
which calls for square deal" between the
railroads and the people. The first speech OF
his campaign against the ring will be made IN
Madison today. party of the business men
of Atlanta naturally desired to hear Mr.. Smith
speak. The Georgia railway being the only
direct route between Atlanta and Madison, the
party asked the management Tor special tram.
The Georgia railway people refused to let them
have it. The mayor and council OF Madison
asked both the Georgia and the Central TO put
on reduced rates from surrounding towns to
Madison for the event. The people OF Madison
were turned down, Just as we're the Atlanta cltl-
zens. Why? Because
The railroads know that they cannot afford
to allow the people to hear the truth in this cam
pagn. Because they are conscious that plain
statement of the plain facts repeated in every
community in Georgia means nothing less than
the overthrow of the railroad ring.
Because the railroads and the ritSsters dare
not meet Ho1e Smith and aaSOer him on
the pI0tforno-bec0ztse they hare no arguments,
mo L06ic no reason, With Which to TefNte his
stand, then ATTEMPT to meet him with the boy
cott
If THEY CONTROLLED THE PRESS OF GEORGIA
AS THEY CONTROL THE TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
THEY WOULD GAG HoKE SMITH.
The only inference to be drawn is that the
railroad ring is afraid of Hoke Smith. l. does
not want the people to listen to him. for it knows
that there is no answer for the rngsters to make.
Therefore in it's fright and furry it loses its
head-it imagines it can shut his mouth Ivy keep
ing the people away from hint attempts to
frost" his campaign at the start-t imagines
that it is powerful enough to keep the spoken
and written word away from the Georgia mill
lions-and in it's moment of desperation, of panic
fear, in its confusion, it
SCREAMS ALOUD THE VERY THING WHICH
TRIES TO PREVENT HoKE SMITH FROM SAYING TO
THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA.
If the ring intends to pursue these methods
throughout it will probably be made aware of
the fact that ideas can be disseminated in this
day and age of the world by other methods than
oratory. We do not suppose that it intends to
carry its tactics of persecution so far as to deny
Mr.. Smith the use of all trains within the state;
but even if it did that, what Mr.. Smith thinks
and says would reach the people. The railroads
manipulate state politics through the help Of
their time-servers aud their henchwen for a
while, but they can never put an embargo upon
thought and its expression. They have come
out in the open this time, and shown their tee tn.
but the snarl is Intellectual
For EVERY ARGUMENT EVERY ARRA1cNNrENT
EVERY CHARGE MADE BY II oKE SMITH THROUGHOUT
THE REMAINDER OF THIS CAMPAIGN WILL BE NAT
URALLY BRAcKETED IN THE POPULAR MIND WITH
THE THOUGHT THAT THE RAILROADS DID EVERY
THING IN THEIR POWER TO PREVENT Those ARGU-
MENTS FROM REACHING THE PEOPLE.
The present attempt to boycott Mr.. Smiths
opening meeting is not only confession of vim
dlcativeness. but confession of i'm potent vim
dictlveness. The ringsters are groggy in the
hrst round or they would not attempt such tao.
tics. They have advertised that thew are in al
desperate case even as the battle begins
II they are coafdent that they had car4se
worthy OF the name OF cause, would the be
afraid OF meeting argument with argu, nent?
But they have neither nor justice IN their
side, they cannot make out a case. The on1v
answer they can make is resort-au intellectual
resort-to the gag.
The railroads will find thar The anti-rino
movement, which has it's birth in t. determine
ton OF the people to protect their own interests
cannot be sidetracked. They cannot keep the
people from listening 10 Hokr C;,L d..