Atlanta Georgian., 1914-02-28

In Atlanta, as in all large cities, there
are social clubs organized for the bona
aTe purpose of suupementng the home
life of their members and visiting
friends TIE membership Of these
clubs. representing the best CONNER
cial. fi"ancial and moral interests OF the
fcity-those most deerlY committed "a
the upbuilding of Atlanta and the en-
fo-cemert of law-hss, so far as we are
Informed, endeavored to carry out the
trne intent and snirit of the laws on
the subject Of irtnxicating liducrs: and.
however much difference OF opinion may
arise as to the technical INTERPRETATION
of such laws. We have heard of no dis
these clubs. but rather a manifest effort
to comply with their much -mooted pro-
visions.
It does not seem to US that the in
ten+ion of evisting laws is to interfere
with tho rights of individuals. or even
of private groups OK c'tiZeps. 70 have
ard use Intoxicating liorors in their
homes. hut only to p-ohihit the sale
of such liuuors in nuhlic places These
hona fida social cli'ns are strictly pri-
vate irstitrt'ops. We have ro reason
TO he'ievn that any liquors there ave
nubliclv offered for sale. and we have
Advisable, 70 forr,al'v investigate the
workings of these institutions.
ON the other hand. II is stated that
there are number OF so-called Cocker
TIE prir'arv object of which is the sal
If spirituous LIQUORS Some are said to
he corH"nted by wholeeale liolIor houses.
at a distance others hv individuals for
neNuri9ry gain. In these ciuhs. II is
said. tho dues are montreal and the form
and COMPLIANCE of club is p,aintairerl
merely for the purpose of evading the
Law.
To distinguish between the regular
and the spurious. as annlied TO clubs. is
in the verv nature of the case a mat
ter recurring a great deal of time and
the examination of q vast arrount of
evidence. This Grand Jury having only
few days more to serve was not dis
rosed to make p superficial investiga :
ton. even thou@h il was claimed that
the possesSion of q Federal license was
nrirs facie evidence of an infraction of
the law.
1T. I1asnuch as the incoming spring
term Grand Jury is charged with the
duty Of making speciaI 1irnuirv into
all matters nertainine TO the conduct
Of the Ccunty's affairs ard present- :
r1arts 10 tho nublic are reduired of tina [
body. it bad been decided at the time
Of co1vening that the present OUTGOING
Grand Jury would take m no matters
other than the regular criminal bust
mess presented by the office of the So
licitor General
The investigation of the countv's nris-
on system was the result of inforna tiou
obtained, at the outset hY accident.
from the testimony of witness brought
~ the solicitor. who was prisoner
in the chaineang. To questions asked.
with no purnose other than to secure
general Information, a situation was dis
closed as existing at these convict
camps which surprised every member
nresent. SO shocked and disEusted was
this body with the revelations Of these
prisoners. that it was the consensus OF
opinion that further inquiry was i'm
trne facts from creditabIe witnesses
who had knowledge on the subject
Not content with almost endless tes-
tinony of prisoners. white and black.
County Commissioners themselves and
the State Prison Board were subnenaed
to give testimony of their knowledge on
the subject.
The ignorance of the County Commits
sloners on all matters pertaining to the
actual conduct of the prison camps and
the treatment of the prisoners was as
torishing. Two of the Commissioners.
Clifford l.. Anderson and Tull C.
Waters, were either unable or unwill-
ing to disclose any knowledge of the
true conditions; on the contrary. they
defended the system that had been in
the administration of Thomas ]. and
S Fl. Donaldson. The other three Com
mlssioners. S. E. Turman. W. =. Winn
and shelby Smith. acknowledged they
mad little information on the subject.
but stated that this was not the result
OF inattention, but To difficulties in their
way. due to the Dona 'dson Influence
over their appointed employees in charge
OF the prisoners and camps. who ig-
nored any authority other than that of
the Donaldsons themselves. These
Commissioners stated that efforts had
been made by them to better conditions
which they believed to be bad from
information which had been presented
to them from the outside. but that
every effort to act. on their part. was
met with the opposition Of the Donald
son influence. which was n complete
control. This Grand Jury had complete
proof Of this fact in the instance of a
specially pathetic case that came before
it-that Of negro. Otis Spra Ting from
tho Weiauca camps.
This emaciated, weakened black man
suffering from a deep seated cancer in
the breast. evidently affecting his res
piration. for. as he expressed it. "he was
short of BREATH this pathetic crea ature
rad been whipped innumarah HE times.
lust week before appearing before us
he had been whipped three times in one
day. always for the same cause, as
stated by him-"he couldn't keep up the
This means that in the gang Of SHOW
strength was insufficient to possibly
keep up with the stronger normal pris-
oners, when loading the wagons.
At the time he appeared before us. his
back was a mass OF raw flesh in patches
as large as ones hand, as the result of
the three whippings in one day admin
lStereu a week DefoTe. Tor the sole rea-
son that "he couldn't keep up the
lick"
So incensed was every member of the
Grand Jury. on this occasion. that the
members of the County Commission.
who happened to be in session in an
other part of the building at the time.
were requested to appear for the pur-
pose of seeing for themselves this act
of inhumanity, which son1e Of the mem
bers had previously denied existed in
the camps A request was made of
them by the Grand Jury that this OBJ
iect of brutality. who gave every evil
dence OF having been beaten almost to
death should be removed from the
camp at which he was employed at
hard labor and placed i'm the hospital
az the Bellwood camp, under the care
Of the County Physician. The individual
Com missioner readily agreed TO this.
making the statement that orders for
his removal would he given that day
week later during the course OF
further investigation Of the prison sys-
tenn, il DEVELOPED that the transfer of
this suffering man to the County Hos
pitsl where necessary attention could
be given. had never been made 1t was
only after d further demand and stress
ing the extreme urgency Of the case