The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1916-07-12
SOLICITOR ". H. GURR
REPLIES TO DR.. WILLIFORD
LESS CRIME RESULTS IN FEWER
FINES. PURPOSE OF COURTS
is NOT TO RAISE REVENUE.

Editor Dawson News: The last is
sue of your paper carried an article
by DR.. Williford, ostensibly in behalf
of his political campaign against MIR.
Pickett. The burden of the article
appears to be an attack upon me. /
therefore ask space for a reply to
that portion of the article referring
to me.
DR.. Williford makes what he calls
an "invidious comparison" of the re-
ceipts from the City Court during the
last five years while Mr.. Yeomans
was solicitor and the first five years
while l was solicitor; he shows that
the fines and forfeitures placed in
the treasury during the last five years
Mr. Yeomans was solicitor more than
paid his salary, whereas the sum paid
in the treasury by me during the first
five years l was solicitor was not suf-
ficeint to pay my salary. The facts
are as follows: During the last year
Mr.. Yeomans was solicitor he did not
pay enough fines in the treasury to
pay his salary. 1t is also fact that
during the fall of that year (1910)
there was a vote to abolish the court.
The result of the vote left the ques-
ton uncertain whether the court was
abolished or not. 1t was thought UNI
wise to try cases in the court until
the question was settled as to wheth-
er we had City Court or not. Hence
no criminal cases were tried at the
fall term of the City Court in 1910,
which accounted for the shortage in
fines during the last year Mr.. YeO
mans was solicitor. The same con
ditions prevailed during the greater
portion of the year 1911, which was
the first year | was solicitor, and for
that reason very little money was
placed in the treasury from fines and
forfeitures that year.
During the year 1912 l placed in
the treasury considerably more than
enough money to pay my salary.
During the year 1913 the fines in the
City Court were reduced by about
so per cent. During the years 1914
and 1915 they were reduced still
more.
Upon examination of the Superior
Court records for Terrell county l
likewise find that for the year 1913
the money arising from fines and
forfeitures fell off so per cent from
the previous year land about SO per
cent from the amount usually col
lected from that source for many
years prior thereto); during the
years 1914 and 1915 the reduction
was about rs per cent as compared
with the year 1912, or an average
year. Judge Worrill has commented
on this situation during more than
one of his recent sessions of the Su-
perior Court, and took occasion to
congratulate the county on its great
reduction of crime. | learn from
officials of other courts, including
municipal court, and from newspa-
per reports that the same conditions
have been prevailing throughout the
state. Many people attribute the
general decrease of crime in Geor-
gia to the operation of the prohlbl-
ton laws. 1t is certainly true that
the panic resulting from the Euro
pean war has made it more difficult
for persons convicted of crime to pay
their fines. Hence during the years
1914 and 1915 there would naturally
be less fine money, even though the
same number of criminals were con-
victed.
1t should be borne in mind that
the only source of revenue for the
CITY Court of Dawson is in collect
ing fines and forfeitures from per-
sons convicted of crime. A thinking
people will hardly measure the sue
cess of a court by the amount of rev.
enues collected from this source, for
if the popularity of the court and
it's officers should depend on this it
would encourage untold oppression
and tyranny by the court and It's Of
ficials, and the burden would fall
heaviest upon the poor unfortunates
having the least political influence.
I presume that our county commits
sioners and grand jury had this idea
in view when they requested our rep
resentative in the legislature to have
a law passed placing the solicitor on
salary instead of keeping him on
a fee basis. However. if our county
authorities see fit to have the solie--
itor put back on a fee basis | should
certainly make no objection. Some
wears the fees will amount to more
than the salary and some years less.
Respectfully, w. II. GURK.
TWO RARBEcUED PORKERS