Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-02-15
Dead Beats


| Every one who has experience with
cheap house renting among people who
| live from hand to mouth" VIZ bear
me out in the assertion that nowhere is
there so much uncertainty as to pay
ment and so little regard for an obi
cation.
/ 1 am well acquainted with a person
who has had experience on this line.
and the story of the difficulties encoun-
! tered would actually seem to be with
out number, they are so many. In re-
| lating such experiences, there was one
family where the man drew a Confeder-
ate soldiers pension from the state, and
the owner of the house was asked to wait
until the pension was paid, to bring up
arrears, only to discover that the pen
sioner was getting out homestead pa
pers to keep from paying any house rent
! ard a dozen other debts of honor, OF the
same class and kind were shunted of.
! out of reach, by this unworthy person
! He was also drinking up his substances
and his family learning to dodge obliga-
tons from this unworthy sire.
| Said the landlord. This is poor com
fort to me, to be taxed to pay such
pension money and to be left at the
mercy OF a deadbeat, who ought to have
been drummed out OF town for trifling-
ness and lack OF honest character long
time ago."
| Another instance was related where o
church member occupied q house q whole
year and paid less than half the rent,
pleading panic and inability to find car
penter work.
Finally an agreement was made TO
| take out the rent in repair work on 9TH
er houses, etc. Since that agreement
was made-the renrer-thts church
member cannot be found at all when
30 hnu
| the end of the year. and actually dodg-
! es the landlord. when there Is an oppor-
| tunity to meet face TO face. But he
| sits in a prominent place on Sundays
| and looks as IL he could say Amen
| to every prayer that is uttered, he 10
| so 'spious." Said the landlordi THAT
! skunk disgusts me more than the one
L first mentioned, because drurlcsru
| is a fool. but this hypocrits La simply
| a knave."
Continuing the subject. the mad ianc-
lord said: They will burn up portions
of these cheap houses. 1t all looks the
| same on the outside. but after the
skunks depart between dark and day
light, YOU viii find there is repair work
to be first done before another one OF
like class and character will enter your
premises. If you go to justice court
to get your money, you will only throw
more goou money after bad, and II you
leave your house vacant. the hoodlums
! will destroy every window in your
house. and even break out the panels OF
your doors from pure cussedness"
It has reached a place in a town that
am familiar with, that one cannot ar
ford to own cheap renting houses at
! all. Taxation is heavy, always going
mn. never down, and you have no more
protection for your property than you
would have in the w1lds OF Africa
The policemen will tell you, Just tell
me who done II, and I'll catch EN-" never
understanding they are paid to furnish
protection to the helpless taxpayer ana
never do it. Dead beatism has been re-
duced IN a science and too often the very
people who are expected to give protec-
| ton to the owners of property are IN
League with the dead beats, who can cast
a vote for these miscreants In public Of
flee and keep them in the place OF better
men for the administration Of Justice. A
favortte dodge is to get somebody sick In
the house, or pretend to be sick; then you
must bide their time until they slip out,
bag and baggage, after dark or before
day. and snap their fingers In your face.
after they leave YOU
Our renting laws are simply atrocious;
and a man who drinks UP his pension
money. or dead beats his landlord. should
be cut off from the roll
II there was law, and surely there
ought to be, to print the name OF each
pensioner in the county paper on January
IL before the pension money 10 handed
out, it would be an eye-opener to thu
public, and it should be done.