Thursday, 9th April 1914: Intimates Trickery Caused Adoption Of Morris Resolutions., The Atlanta Constitution

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Acworth Banker, Who Attended Cobb County Meeting, Says It Was Scheme of Disappointed Politicians.

In reference to the resolutions adopted by the Cobb County executive committee at its meeting on Tuesday, George L. Lemon, cashier of the S. Lemon Banking Company of Acworth, who attended the meeting, writes the following highly interesting and illuminating explanation:

"Editor Constitution: You have seen the news item concerning the action of the Cobb County executive committee yesterday, the 7th instant, held in Marietta. I was present at the meeting of the committee, holding a membership by proxy, G. W. Hill, whose proxy I held, being sick.

The history of the resolution calling on Governor J. M. Slaton to resign and prematurely condemning whatever action the governor may take in the Frank case is as follows: N. A. Morris, who now stands before the whole state as a discredited politician, was a member of the committee, holding the proxy of C. W. Du Pre, of Marietta, Ga. Mr. Du Pre was around the courthouse during the session of the committee and I do not know why he gave Morris his proxy.

Purpose of Meeting.

We had met pursuant to a call of the chairman, who had been presented with a petition from the Confederate Veterans who, desiring to vote in the primary, which had already been set for the eighth day of May, also wanted to attend the reunion to be held in Jacksonville on the 6th, 7th, and 8th days of May. We met solely for the purpose of taking action on the date. We did change the date and fixed the primary for May 1.

After the work had been completed and the object of meeting had been terminated, and at a time when the mind of the whole committee was on adjournment, N. A. Morris arose and hurriedly read the resolution and moved its passage and before the committee had been put upon full notice of the thing and what it meant, a Mr. Brown seconded the motion and the chair put the motion, and two voted 'aye,' and the chair announced the resolution as adopted.

I know that the chairman was not a party to the scheme; that he himself did not realize the purport of the resolution and, speaking for myself, I know that I had hardly heard enough of the thing to know what was in the air.

Entirely Misleading.

I say to you that if the committee had fully and thoroughly understood the thing it would not have been adopted, for it is entirely misleading and does not, in the least, express the sentiment of the voters and people of Cobb County.

We have always stood ready to help hold up the hands of our different officials, and to put us in the false light of condemning the governor before he has had any right or reason to frame a decision on a matter that may never come before him, is cause for reproach.

The resolution has caused quite a lot of talk among our people here and they, with one accord, condemn it and say that it does not speak the truth, and locally it is well known that it was the outgrowth of a scheme of a few disappointed politicians to vent their spleen and to bring others in ill repute.

It may be said that I ought to have been more alert in the discharge of my duty as a member of the committee; that is a thing for my own conscience, and I say now that if I had any cause to think of the evil design of the resolution and the rest of the gentlemen had for one instant thought of what was in the thing, it would never have been adopted by us as a committee.

Very truly yours,

GEO. L. LEMON."

Acworth, Ga., April 8, 1914.