The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-02
Citizens of Atlanta Will Pro-
 test In Mass Meeting
HOKE SMITH WILL ATTEND
Witnesses Have Testified To Very Sensational Doings In the Convict Camps and Public Senti-
 ment Is Aroused.

Atlanta, August 1.-(Special)- end- ing of the second weeks work of the leg islative committee, which is inquring into the convict lease system of Georgia, leaves much work yet to be done. This weeks investigation has developed much confirmation of the startling conditions which were brought to light during the first week. Several wardens have testi- fled under oath to receiving salaries from the lessees of convicts in addition to their salaries paid by the state Evidence cor roborating the testimony deduced last week of cases where convicts have been beaten until they died from the effects Of their injuries, of inhuman treatment. of foul and insanitary conditions of the convict camps and fnadequacy in quantity and execrable quality of food given them has been brought out
 One feature this week has been the res ignation of Senator Brock from the inyes- tigating committee. The senator gave as k his reason for resigning the fact that he
 Is called upon to testify and therefore
 could not pass on his own testimony sensational charges have been leveled at
 senator Brock by an afternoon news
 paper.
 commercial bodies and labor unions all
 over the state have adopted resolutions
 severely condemning the convict lease
 system and demanding the abolishnent of ] this method of diaposing of the states
 convicts. a
 Mass Meeting Called.
 A general mass meeting of the citizens of the city has been called for tomorrow
 afternoon at the Grand opera house, a, which many prominent citizens, includine
 Hon. Hoke Smith, governor of Georgia. i will be in attendance and raise their l voices against these almost inconceivable | irregularities.
 1 Leaders among the negroes have also called mass meeting of negroes to be
 held at the same time at the Bishop Tur
 her tabernacle to protest against the con- | vict lease system
 l At the capitol this morning there was A 1 general sentiment that the investigation l was important enough to call for an extra i session of the legislature; that the pro- 1 ceedings had taken up the time of the legislature to the exclusion of other inn portant legislation, whence it should be l postponed until other business had been l transacted and the investigation left to
 an extra session. It is probable this pro- gramme will be carried out. At todays session of the investipa fine, committee, s. R. Curtain, superintendent for Baxter x Co.,, was the first witness.
 He testified that he got s25 additional for convicts from Hamby & Co. Extra Pay Received. l The next witness was C. L. Tatum. for l mer guard at the Durham coal and coke mines. He acknowledged receiving extra compensation from the lessees, and said that Chief Warden Jake Moore knew of
 1t. He saw Warden Mitchell shoot Con vict Webb. He said Webb had a razor. but that the prisoner was in chains
 Mitchell had threatened Webb with n whipping for not working hard enough Tatum told the committee that the prs- oner cursed the warden, that he would not work, and that the warden might as well kill him now and be done with 1t. The warden raised his revolver and shot the prisoner in the back of the neck. Tatum testified to seeing guards kill two men who were trying to escape. He saw Warden Goode whip Abe Winn,
 white, aged 15. giving him IS licks on the
 bare skin, because Vim had dropped hot coffee on a hog belonging to the warden. The next witness was W. H. Flowers of the Flowers Bros. Lumber company at Blakely. who testified that his warden, named Harvard. was paid by the state to look after conviets and see that they were not overworked. He also testified that his firm had obtained an extra all lotment of convicts by seeing" the bosses"
 Hard Witness. Tom Lee Hamby was then called He is brother of Dr. w. M. Hamby Asked about a Jew who was whipped in camp where Hamby was stationed, he said the Jew and another foreigner had died In the camp, but that if they had been whip ped beforehand he did not know it. He answered questions shortly and proved hard witness to get information from. Under hot cross-questons the witness be- came greatly confused. contradicting him self time and again, and was then ex- cused
 w. M. Toomer was the next witness. He testified that Joel Hurt, who had given testimony during the week deroga- tory to himself and others, had depre- ciated convict labor in a conference and afterward outbid others for the prisoners. He attacked the newspapers for what he characterized as sensational and mislead- ing accounts of the investigation. He de- tended the lessees. claiming it got the convicts better treatment
 Chief Warden Jake Moore was present and stated that he was ready to testify. but was excused until Monday afternoon at 3 o'clock.
 The committee then went into executive session.