The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1913-06-19
.WINDERS TANGLES
ARE MOST SERIOUS
LOCATION is PECULIAR AND PEG
PIE SAY THE ONLY SOLUTION
or THIS PROBLEM IS
A NEW COUNTY.

troubles purely as result of 4oca-
ton, Winder, a thriving northeast
Georgia city OF 5000 inhabitants,
holds the palm.
Winder is situated in three counties,
three senatorial districts and two con-
gressional districts, ana out Of these
conditions have arisen numerous and
perplexing complications to which
there is no possible solution, the peo-
, pie have found, except in the creation
Of a new county. Accord 'nS'y they
are appealing to the legislature to
create the new county of Barrow, to
be named in honor Of the chancellor
of the State University, and to make
Winder the county seat.
The point where the lines Of the
three counties, Jackson, Walton and
Gwinnett, come together, is not so
feet from the center of Winder. A
person can stand on Athens street,
running through Winder st e,ch one
hand into Jackson and the other into
Gwinnett and can look a few feet
ahead of him over into Walton. Pee-
pie living on one side of the street
attend court at Jefferson, 80 miles
away by railroad; those on the other
side 60 to court at Lawrenceville II
miles distant, while on the other end
OF the street, they go down to Mon
roe, which is 16 miles.
Serious legal difficulties are said to
have arisen out of this situation. Law
yers drawing deeds and other impor-
tant papers in Jackson county, Tor In
stance, have, without thinking about
it, had they witnessed by Gwlnnett or
Walton county notaries, and vice
versa. Competent attorneys who have
looked into the question, express the
| opinion that this is liable to injule the
| titles to property, should anyone
make point of it. A prominent citi-
zen of Winder died the other day,
leaving property in various sections
| Of the city. His widow had to go to
three different courts of ordinary to
secure letters of administration.
Has Political Troubles.
Located on the border line, Winder
suffers politically. 1t is seldom the
town secures a representative in the
legislature, and such a thing as
senator from Winder is prac >ically I'M
| known. With Jackson and Gwinnett
! in the ninth congressional district and
| Walton in the eight, it is said Meth
er congressman ever bothe-s much
| about Winder, each usually leaving It
to the other.
Jackson is in the 33d senatorial dis
! trict, Gwinnett is in the S4th and
| Walton in the 9th. 1t is an easy mat
ter to see how numerous compl1ca-
tions,z political and otherwise, may
| arise as the result Of this bad mix-up
in location.
The school problem is another with
which Winder has to wrestle. E-ch
| county pays different amount for its
4 pupils, and each has somewhat di
ferent regulations None of the three
counties has given proper care to the
| roads around Wlnder; possibly they
have all done their best in the mat.
| ter of road construction and improve
/. ent, but this has not relieved the
| situation as to Winder.
There is no wonder that the people
! of Winder have been endeavoring TO-
! nine years to secure new county
and yet they have failed in the face
of the fact that all those who have
/ studied the situation, and who are not
prejudiced, are generally agreed that
Winder has always presented the
strongest and best new county pro
position in the state. Politics, how
I ever. is said to have been responsible
for Winders defeat, despite the fact
| that it is rot political question.
purely a Business Proposal.
The people Of Winder p esent the
proposal for new county purely as a
/ business one; they assert they are
simply seeking relief from the many
tangles in which they are involved as
a result of their location, and their
| appeal is one of the strongest that
| has yet come to the legislature from
/ any part of the state.
According to the plans which Win.
der D. esents for the establishment OF
Barrow county, it is not proposed
I materially to injure any one of the
! three counties from which territory is
| to be taken.
| Gwinnett county is asked to give
~ square miles and 4,O12 population
to Barrow This would leave it with
/ 438 square miles and 28,S24 popula-
: ton and still larger than IS other
counties in Georgia.
Jackson county is asked to give
Barrow SO square miles and $3.50
population, leaving 1t with 377 square
miles and 24,319 population. 1t would
still be larger than SO other Georgia
counties.
Walton county is asked to give Bar
row "a square miles and 2,08S poDula-
ton, leaving it with 342 square mics
| and 23.305 inhabitants, and still larg-
er than SO other Georgia counties.
Taking the territory indicated, Bar
! row county would have 179 square
miles. 1850 population and s. 1885,
600 Of taxable values not including
railroad property. There would be ten
| Georgia counties smaller than Barrow.
The new county would be q miles
long and fourteen miles wide. The
new county includes five incorporate
! ed towns besides Winder, namely,
Statham, Bethlehem, Auburn, Rus
sell and Carl.
Winder, with 5000 inhabitants, hss
seYenty-five prosperous business ell
terprises; has fourteen manufacture
ing plants capitalized at 100000;
/ three cotton warehouses handling
nearly 10000 bales; three banks, two
! railroads. the Seaboard Air Line and
Gainesville Midland, and the other
facilities Of modern, up-to-date Geor-
gia community.
a N. l. III