Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-06
By JOSEPH M. BROWN.


By JOSEPH M. BROWN.
am going to stay at home for
a few days and then l shall run
up to my farm in Cherokee
County, where Will be for the
next week or two.
The duties of the executive Of
fee for more than a year past
have forced me to neglect almost
entirely my personal affairs;
hence I must give primary atten-
ton to them for some time to
come.
Later I expect to make an ex-
animation of the status which In
wolves the States relationship to
the labor union. II there Is a d.
vided sovereignty of this rela-
tionship all the people are entitled
{ know it so that they can shape
their course accordingly and
choose TO which they will yield
allegiance.
If there is but one sovereignty
that fact should be made so plain
that no man and no organization
of men should be betrayed into
acts of attempted usurpation Of
that sovereignty.
Unions Have Made Issue.
In my retiring message to the
General Assembly I stated that
the labor union had made the is
sue as to whether or not It's union
label carried more authority in
Georgia than does Georgta's great
seal of State.
A mere statement of the official
records of these two sources OF
authority necessarily confirms my
declaration, viz: Some time be-
fore the year 1910 the State
granted a charter to the Georgia
Railroad and Banking Company,
wherein she placed upon that
company and upon future ownere
of that railroad the duties of a
common carrier. She imposed
upon the owners of that charter
the obligation to operate trains
for the conduct of the commerce
of the public and of its power to
travel. As the proof of her sover-
eian authority to grant that
charter and to force obedience to
its conditions she placed upon II
her great seal of State.
In 1907 she specifically and pos
itively made it the duty OF the
Railroad Commission to order
and compel the operation of such
train service as the needs Of the
public required.
In 1909 and again in 1912 the
labor union ordered the trainmen
on the Georgia Railroad to ig-
more the States mandate and IN
stead to prevent the running OF
the trains, which it knew would
result in great inconvenience ana
loss to the public. On that order
it placed it's union label.
This made the issue between
the union label and Georgia S
great seal of State square and
plain. No sophistry can obscure
it; no vituperative personal abuse
can wipe 1t out.
Exactly the same issue was
made in the strike by the street
car employees in Augusta.
l note that it has been said that
l should not at this late day have
stirred up this matter, thus re-
newing dissension among the peo-
pie; but I call your attention to
the fact that the present session
of the General Assembly is the
first that has been held since the
occurrence of the strikes on the
Augusta street car line and the
Georgia Railroad. Hence, this
was the first opportunity I had
for officially notifying the Gen
eraI Assembly of these two glar-
tho op+r oP diSrepa rd of the
States authority and Of the ne
cessity of enacting such laws as
would protect the public against
their recurrence.
Since the publication of ex-
tracts of the message l have re-
ceived a multitude of letters from
people in Georgia and about a
dozen other States wherein my
HNr~Sinued on Page 2, Column 6.