Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1913-10-10
TheDAUGHTERo Of
DAVID KERR ste
BY Harry Nn5 TOOtle
Illustrations 5y HY NAN=e' %
coP1RICM eY &C recLuRc s. CO. 1913

begged him that II he had enough
votes without them to let them Cd
pose the franchise as they were in the
midst Of their canvass for reelection
The boss held them in line.
The bill had it's second reading a
the council meeting Tuesday, but un
der orders from Kerr nothing further
vas done with it at that time. He be
gan to worry about the approaching
election. What to him was the pass
ing of the bill at hat time compared
to the control Of the city for the nexi
two years? II he let 1t sleep now
and the election went his way then II
could be passed soon after. BY the
time another election rolled around
Belmont would have forgotten.
So 1t came about that the Kerr ad.
herents tried to forget the franchise.
When the bill disappeared they were
loud in their denunciation of the op-
position thieves who had stolen it.
With this outburst they were willing
to subside and forget the matter, but
this the News would not permit.
Wright kept 1t to the front and they
were forced to accept 1t as an issue.
The continuous attitude of apology
necessitated by this was weakening
them every day. The independent
wave which had been sweeping over
the country had been late in striking
Belmont, there having been no news
paper to marshal the forces, but now
1t was increasing to the volume Of a
tidal wave which Kerr would have
hard work pouring oil upon.
The editor Of the News recognized
that 1t Was only a Pyrrhic victory he
had won by securing the shelving of
the franchise for the present. He was
not blind to the fact that the fran
chise would bob up %serenely after cleo
ton. Now that he had aroused the
town and had committed himself to a
fight against the ring, he determined
to carry 1t on. 1t had not been his
purpose. before the franchise bill had
drawn his fire, to enter with great
heat into the coming election cam
paign, but he saw that the impetus
given the opponents of the machine
would carry them we'll on toward vic.
tory at the polls. Carrying the cleo
ton would be a great advertisement
for the paper. II it lost, the News
could not be any worse of than it was
now.
Kerr forgot one of the precautions
he had taken in being prepared to m
barrass Wright In his work II the ocs
casion should arise. The merchants
who, through Kerr's influence, had pat
ronized the News, suddenly withdrew
their advertising. Many who had been
in before the paper had changed hands
now ceased to use its columns. II a
store was using the News and furnish
ing supplies to the workhouse or the
Jail, 1t faced the alternative of losing
a fat account OF combining its adver-
Using to the Banner. The proprietor,
being part of the machine, else moth
ing would ever have been purchased
from him for the city's use, promptly
gave up the News. 1t was the same
with meat markets. Other lines of
business were approached in ether
ways, but the result was always the
samoa loss of advertising revenue
to the News. Even the railroads we're
derelict in delivering his white paper,
and Wright spent many an anxious
hour tracing cars from the mill to
find them lost in the Belmont yards.
One valuable source of information
was developed by the News in a for
mer machine hanger-on named Jack
Durken. He came to work in the cir
culation department of the paper, and
Wright first heard Of him through the
circulation manager. At Wright's re-
quest the man came to his Office and
from his story the editor gathered
that he had not received fair treat
ment at the hands of the other gang
sters. He had lived in the disrepu-
table first ward, and had had trouble
with Mike Noonan, a ward leader.
For his work he had been made a
street cleaning inspector, but after
having incurred the ire of Noonan had
lost his job.
Nothing the enemy did was able
to keep Wright from publishing a pa
per every day. Every issue was a
constant reminder to Belmont that
things were not as they should be and
that the way to remedy conditions was
to defeat the city machine at the polls. |
The editor spent all his daylight hours
at his Office, and often was there until
late in the night in conference with
various leaders. The opponents of
Kerr had some old scores to settle,
and this was their chance. The post
master was usually to be found on
Kerr's side, although under cover, but
this time he could not afford to use
his influence for his party in city af- |
fairs-even for a consideration. The
boss knew the game too well to press /
him.