GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE 
TO THE 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA 
EXTRAORDINARY SESSION 
MARCH 20, 1917 
 
 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE 
TO THE 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA 
EXTRAORDINARY SESSION 
MARCH 20, 1917 
 
  MESSAGE 
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF GEORGIA. 
ATLANTA, MARCH 20, 1917. 
To THE GE~ERAL ~.\.ssEMBLY: 
I have called you together to take action in what I believe to be an extraordinary emergency fulfilling the requirements of the Constitution. The responsibility for the first called session was with your body. You took the burden and hore the blame and are en- 
titled to the thanks, if ,my, for that event. ]for the 
present session I nlone am responsible. ~ take the blame upon myself and will accept whatever gratitude may follow and bear whatever condemnation may result, beeanse of the act. 
]~xtraordinary sessions are not popular in Georgia. I have found that there is an unreasoning prejuclice against the payment of the $4 per day to legislators, and the extent of the feeling lias been something of a surprise to me, since I have been in office. The people consider it a great waste, and yet there is no offieer of the State who re('eives less pay in comparison with the work that he <1oes than a memher of the Georgia Legislature. 
[ am on record as favoring biennial sessions. But I do not mean h)- this to suggest that special or extraon1inary s0ss1011s should never he resorter1 to 
 
 when it is desired to have the Legislature give immediate relief in any particular matter, or accept or reject any declared policy pressing for attention before the regular session legally convenes. 
When the Governor calls the General Assembly into extraordinary session, he lays down the subjects upon which the Legislature must work, confining 
them by his call under the Constitution to the subjec-t 
matters announced in such call. The proceedings 
ought to be much shorter than ,vhen the session is open to every character of legislation on ernry suh- 
jeet matter that affects the commonwealth. Special legislation or legislation of a special kirnl is more quickly settled at a special session of the General Assembly. Other States are learning this and in -West ,rirginia three special sessions occurred dnring Hll6. Oklahoma, California, Illinois, Connecticut, Tennessee, Vermont and Massachusetts also lrnd extraordinary sessions of their respective Legislatures dnring the same year. 
In some States the Legislature meets every four ~'<':trs and a special session is necessary at times to deal with emergencies that must arise in the progress of the business of a growing people. 
,Vhat then is the emergency? This General Assembly, at the special session in 
)J'o,ember, 1915, desired to abolish liquor selling in 
the State. You compelled a call at that time, at an in- 
ealcnlable sacrifice to yourselves. You showed that 
~ou meant business when you seized the reins and forced a halt in the progress of the Government. 
Wl1en .mu returned to the Capital on the special 
call of the Governor you <lealt with the snbject 
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 of prohibition widely, passing four great statutes concerning the same, intending to put a stop to the evil of liquor drinking in the State as far as you thought you were then able to do. The restrictions of the Federal Constitution on interstate commerce had been modified by Congress in what is known as the "\Vebb-Kenyon Act. Under this enac.tment the States were given permission to regulate interstate comm~'rcc as to shipments of liquor, and the fullest liberty was allowed to the Legislatures of these States to put an end to the carrying of intoxicants into their borders whenever  in their wisdom they should see fit so to decide. But unfortunately a l~rge number of our people im- 
agined that the right to "regulate" did not authorize 
complete prohibition of such commerce, and the result was, although your minds were set on strict prohibition for the State, you were afraid to go far enough to keep out liquor entirely from your bor- 
ders. You were urged to go further by the Governor 
both by message and by personal interview with your 
leaders. You were asked to take for granted that the 
law would be construed to be constitutional. Yet under the advice of those whom you trusted most, 
you thought it not well to follow the Governor's dic- 
tation. The consequence was you opened up the State to shipments under what is known as the '' twoquart law,'' letting into our limits not only two quarts of spirituous liquors, but if the consignee preferred, a gallon of wine or 48 pints of beer. These shipments were allowed to occur with only monthly limitation. One family could import two quarts for every person of age within the family. Only a name 
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 was needed. And following this enactment, at the regular session in the summer of 1916 you made the express agents throughout the State the agents of the commonwealth to complete the transaction which allowed the shipping of liquors into the State. In this way your own State became the, purveyor of whisky to her people, or as some one has said, you made a bar-room out of the express company and the agent was constituted the bar-keeper. Of all the foolish things that you and I have been guilty of since we have been together in the business of the State, this, it seems to me, is the most remarkable. 
,\ s the State under these Acts became completely dry, so far as her own people were concerned, you ean understand that vast quantities of liquor began to he shipped in from outside her boundaries under the provision which you had ineorporated into the law. A new business started on our borders. whisky was banked up in the cities outside and adjacent to the State line. A large amount of money was invested, and preparation was made for an extensiYP commerce ,Y11ich, in fact, was entered upon ,Yith our folks, and by which countless thousands of <lollars were made and countless thousands of shipmPnts of liquor sent into the State. A notable instance of the preparation for this was seen in the littl( town of Girard, Alabama, opposite Columbus, 
wlwre it is said more than a million and a half dol- 
lars worth of alcoholic liquors was taken possession of arnl destroyed by the State of Alabama. '\Ve do not get the same help from the other States that bor<ler on our lines. 
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 The business of shipping liquor into our State through the medium which you have provided has become so great and influential, so resourceful in fact, that it was able even to influence the action of the _F'ederal Congress and secure a postponement of the most far-rearhing and salutnry enactments ever passed by our nation's lawmakers. This postponement it was said "-as ha<l to enable the people on our own borders to unload their acrumulated stores on Georgia-about three million quarts from one State in a million and a half shipments, in the course of some three months. All this, besides the wine and heer that would be thrown in for good measure. Tt was too much to ask a State "-hose declared policy wns in favor of prohibition to stnnd an influx of the prohibited article to an extent such as all this promised. To prevent a result like this and to fores ta 11 a recurrence of a similar nature in the future, I have called you together tolla~-. 
Before making this call, I tried in the hest way accessible to me to aseertain the wishts of th( 1wople of Georgia on the subject. Letters, telegrams aml signed petitions have eome to me in gnat numhers, in almost every instance the authors of the same giving their views of the necessities tlwt re- 
quin the eall. A short reference to sonw of these 
ma~- not be unnecessary. The petitions for the c-all exceed those filed against 
it b~- more than twenty to one. Of the reasons that an giwn I select the following: 
Pnder the two-quart shipping law, nnd the 19Hi amendment which followed, compensating express agents for th<> lrnnd]ing of packages, the agent is 
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 given financial incentive to solicit the 1mrchase and shipment of whisky. Indictments in a few instances have been found against some of these agents for delivering whisky to persons under fictitious names, and otherwise violating or evading the statnte. It is claimed that in many parts of the State 
these agents are delivering packages to the heads of 
families, their wives, other adult members of the household, both men and women-in many cases to minors. And in handling the shipment they are made the agents of the State to collect the fee and complete the transaction, thus becoming a partner in the whisky business. Against this situation several agents have earnestly protested. 
l t ,ms further alleged that this two-quart shipping law induces false swearing in order to secure n larger quantity than the law permits. It causes men to call on their wives and children for the purvose of seeuring additional shipments, and to make false affidavits as to identity to proeure shipments not only from their own express offices, but from those at other points within and without the county. 
Large amounts of liquor have been ordered by farm hands and factory laborers who lose time while going to the express offiee to secure the shipments, and drunkenness and disorder ensue by reason of the rapid consumption of the liquor when received. 
Large sums of money, it is found, have been expei1ded by the poorer classes for these shipments, and the probability is irresistible that these expenditures will be largely increased during the next three months because of the fact that so many liquor 
 
 houses on the border States will perhaps go out of Jmsiness on July 1st. 
It was further J)ointed out that the class of whisky wl1ieli is being ship1wd into Georgia on these orders iR immense!~- infE>rior to the kind received before the present RtatuteR \\ent into effect. One Representative writes to the Govprnor that while he has not changed l1is Yiews on loeal option ht' is vPry hopeful that some metl10<l 1111-1) he found to stop absolutely the shipment of liquor into the Ntat0 beraus<' instead of making men drunk lH) finch, that it makes them insane. This is <lnc> to the adulterations of the article sold and sl1ipped to our people. 
Tlw 1no,isions intemled to safeguard and limit the amount whielt an iudivid11al ean ree0ivo are so diffieult of enfont11wnt that Yiolntions of the statute may he i'asil~ con<ealcd. Th0 right nrnlor tho statute to order hni q11a1ts for Pa<"h irnliYi<lunl per month and receiw tlte sanw nrnl<->r nffidiwit renders clifficult the conYidion for the illegal shipnHnt or purchase of any ad<litional an101111t. It is e,pn more difficult to convict for t]1p snl0 of what is lmown as blind tiger whisky. ,Yhen ('aught with liquor in poBsession the accused asserts that it w,1s secured by him under his legal right to a shipment of two quarts and he points to his receiJ)t. 
The peculiar wording of :om statute has transferreel in man: eases the hnrden of the whisky traffic 
from the cities of the State to the country districts 
,vhere new express offiees have been established. In R number of rural communities the harmful effect is apparent, and the situation at times becomes dangerom:. Lack of police protection renders more intol- 
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 (0 rable the ('011stant rn('eivt of the fiery fluid in these ('Olllllllmities. 
Jnformation -from a muuber of sources, including Ntate Representatives, slwriffr,;, mayors, prominent and influential citizens has het>n received to the effect that the illicit distilling of whisky is rapidly on the increase in tl1is 8tatP. ] t is believed that the Federal autl10ritier,; are not as vigilant in prosecutions for this offense in the courts as heretofore and the fear of the Federal Government having been taken away from this class of offenders there is a lively increase resulting in many localities. Complaints are received that our local State authorities, in the abr,;ence of some sperial compensation for the work, are not charging themselves with the duty of breaking up these estahlishments and arresting the offenders as they could do. One r01Tespondent reports that in western Georgia there have been stored some 700 gallons of whir,;ky, while other correspondents complain that in som( of the counties, notably in one of the upper eastern ('Ollnties, wl1isk>-selling is going on openly. rl'he increar,;e of illicit distilling is due in a great part to the larger market afforded by the difficulty of shipment from outside the State. 
Another source of complaint is the violation or evasion of the statutes in the sale of flavoring extracts, Jamaica ginger, bay rum, etc., together with other preparations having a percentage of alcohol sufficiently large to be used as intoxicating beverages. 
It has been suggested also that even with the new Wederal enactments the State of Georgia could never hecome hone dry unless she limits and regulates the four great exce11tions laid down in that statute. 
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 Besides it is folt that the State eourts ought to Le in position to handle violations of the law rather tl1a11 have the 1ieople entirely dependent upon the l1'ecleral Courts. It is best to have both ,Yorking to the same end. 
Another e;-i I suggested is the automobile trade along the border which needs attention. 
rrhe present method of handling the sale of alcohol is also severe!: criticised and additional safeguards earnestly <lemandecl to he thrown around the sale of the sam(. 
The mak<rs of' lE~gitirnat< medicine in our borders ask that they he permitted to import sufficient alcohol to he used for preservatives in the manufacture of' their proclucts. Some of them claim that their medicine cannot he preserved with less than 14 to 1f-i per cent. of alcohol. 
..A letter was reeeived from the Bishop of Georgia of the Protestant 1':piseopal church asking that the law be so wordecl as to permit elmrches without undue trouble or humiliation to secure a sufficient quantity of wine for saernmental purposes. 
A great number of <'Ommunications calling attention to the demoralir.ation resulting to the labor of the country, owing to the present ability to secure whisky, have come in, and the writers earnestly re <]nest that some curb may he put upon the shipments on account of what the: are pleased to call "this woeful situation." 
Tt is urged, too, that the eonsideration of the prohihition question at an extrnonlinary session of the L<~gislatnre will really san hoth time and expense for the regular session, owing to the difficulty of 
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 passiug snth a measure at a time when the Legislatnr<' is flooded with husiuess. 
Se-vcral earnest appeals are made in behalf of the ,rnung rne11 of' the State. It is said that drinking is IH<o111i11g morn g'('nera I among this class than heretofore, and it is urged that this is due principally to tile fad tl1at lic1nor can he obtained so easily and expcditiously 011 their orders. 
,\ 11 of these mattcrs are submitted to you for )'OUr serious considendion. It is \Yithout doubt true that in rnau: cases onr labor is being debauched, as the eolorcd people have rna<1e considerable amounts of money during thP last year and the temptation to purt'liase intoxicants is brought very near to them by urnking the artielP so easy to obtain. It is claimed that e,en the ('l'OJ)S may be endangered at this, the most critical tinw, in our history. 
Whil(, al I this is hasecl upon the consideration of our material interests the reasons urged are not exliauste<1 unless it shall be <'allecl to )'our attention that the moral uplift of the people is being retarded ,m<l our eivilization threatened with incalculable damage h)' the constant entranct into the home of tl1esc month!: shipments of liquors authorized under the lmY. It sepms to he easier to obtain the article and it is made rnon respectable hy the ,,ery methods \\'l1ich mp r<'quired to Jffocure it. 
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 PI1JNSION DEINOIT. 
Hut this was not the only emergency that was uvon us. At your first session in 1915, you provided for a substantial increase in the pensions of the Confederate soldiers and the widows of such as fall within tl1e elass pointed out in the. Constitution. This vrnvision was still further increased at your regular session in 191G. When you came to make the apprnpriation for the payment of these increased pt>nsions the amount whid1 you fixed fell short of the sum n'guired to pay even those upon the regular mils h~- some $4:2,000. Sinee that time additions have IH'en made to the rolls, and to pay these it would requin' ahont $44,000 additional, so that the pension appropriation was practically $86,000 short of what 
is necessary in rnn to meet the pressing demands 
of these old men. 
It ,rnulcl lrnn! been ensy to postpone the payment of the pensiouers who lwd he<>n put upon the rolls after tlw making of tlie appropriation, but unfortunately tli<> amount named by >ou was insufficient to pay the ptJ1si01rn of those already upon the rolls, by 1ht> amount a hove stated. There was no way known to the Exernt i\'e hy "hieh this deficiency could be made up. It oeenrTed once before in the history of the State ,Y11en the Legislature unfortunately made a miscalculation, hut the deficit "as met by one of our patrioti( citizens, the Honorable ,Tas. M. Smith, of OglethorpP, who trusted to the good faith of the State for repayment, without any interest whatever. The OoYernor had hoped that some charitable person Illig-ht be fonnd to make this contribution to the old 
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 soldiers at this time and take the risk, very slight indeed, of a rdurn of the money when the Legislature should meet in June. ~ one came forward, however, to meet the emergen('y, and I have felt it my duty to include the deficienry in this call for an extraordinary sess10n. 
r:J'hese old men, remnants of the armies that were marshalled under the leadership of our great gen<~rals in the war between the States, deserve at our hands all that we can do for them to show our appre<iation of their sacrifi('e and service. We may build monuments-cut in the side of granite mountains the story of their cleatliless deeds, but this will not drive hunger from their bodies, not put shelter over their heads. Their small pensions are looked forward to with longing hop<~ and earnest expectation. Many of them, rather than ask charity of the people, have been forced to get advances by hawking their pen:c::ions about at heavy discounts, in order to keep soul and body together. As they grow older they have more need of these pensions, and the little money that om 8tate gives to them ought to be promptly paid at the time promised, to avoid suffering and misconstruction. 
Up to this time I have paid on these pensions the 
sum of $592,764.05, leaving still due of your appropriation the sum of $458,058.15. The Pension Commissioner states that probably $42,129 will be necessar~, to romplete the payment of the pensioners whose claims have already been allowed, and if it he your will to include those who have heen placed upon the rolls since the lnst appropriation was made, 
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 you must increase this figure by some $44,638 additional. 
I regret to say that the Treasury is in no condition to starnl any further strains upon it. At your r('gnlar se:,;sion in the summer of 19Hi, you exceeded tliP apparent income of the Rtate by your appropriations. These appropriations, made to various institutions of the State, would not have received my as:,;pnt lrnt for the proviso that was 1rnt upon each one of tl1em. They all fall due during the present year, and will ne<'essitate the use of the borrowing power 11ntil the taxes can come in. As it is, Georgia faces a <11-dicit in her revenues arnl the ways and means for meeting it are not within sight. Tt will be for- the Legislature that followR you in .Tune to take up this question and provide ad<litional sources of income in order to rarry this burden. 
I eamestl.Y advise you to make the appropriation for tht' pensioners already upon the rolls, and if your heartR incline ,mu, the additional $44,000 will not he misapplied. 
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 HOW l'l' HAS 1VORKED. 
The prohibition law in general is working well in the State. There have been many salutary advantages reaped from the passage of the Acts which you sent out in the called session of 1915. Crime speedily deereased under the administration of these laws. The chaingangs of the counties have fallen off with frightful rapidity, and many of those counties, are now preparing to go to hire<l labor in default of convids for road working. While> in this way the cost of maintenance will he saved, yet there will doubtless he an inC'reased expenditure for the hired labor. In Chatham ( 'ounty on :B'ehruary ~Ith of the present year the Commissioners announced that the chaingang ha<l become so small as to render it impossible to caIT_\' on the roncl-working with it, and from that tim0 forward it was advised that free labor should be used. In the city of ::\facon, the municipal chaingang failed some time ago. In other cities the falling off is very great, while in the country at large the percentage of crime, the jail fees, court hire and other expenses lnwe gone down more than fifty per cent. 
Today the border counties are complaining loudest of the violations of the prohibition law, for they are subjected to the strain arising from the greatest influx of your interstate trade under the two-quart law. Of course the two-quart law has become merely a pretext in many of the counties; and the county eontaining the Capital Cit_\ is not exempt from this C'harge. \Yhere the percentage of gain is as great as that whieh the illicit sale of whisky now commands 
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 there will always be found men willing to break the law. Ceaseless vigilance will be necessary to insure tlie State against the evils of liquor drinking. 
PROHIBITION COMl\11SSIONER. 
ln many States an officer has been appointed whose duty it is to see to the enforcement of the law. It is not intended that this officer should take the place of the regular prosecuting officers under the legal maehinery of the State, but to be charged specifically with the duty of looking into and supplying information concerning every phase of the subject, to give such assistance as will enable the State officers to keep np with the law's enforcement, to note at as early a day as possible the new infractions that may oeeur, the new methods of evasion, the eonstant disregard of the law in any particular community, and to ibe able to sound a note of alarm and apply the remedies without delay so as to stop the evil as rapidly as possible for the good of the f'.Ommnnity and for the whole State. I think it would be well that you should give your attention to this subject, and appoint a Commissioner, ca11ing him a Commissioner of Temperance or a Commissioner of Prohibition as you see fit, giving him the powers neeessar~' to make efficient the office that you establish, and to secure the end desired for the people. His compensation can be provided for out of the costs in prosecutions for violations of the prohibition law and this can be done without encroaching upon the fees of the Solicitors-General or the offices of court in those counties \Yhere fees are allowed. 
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 IN CONCLUSION. 
Tl1e liquor traffic is doomed. Every civilized nation is trying to abolish it. Europe, in the throes of war, saw its malevolent effects on the race, how it is destroying virility and retarding the development of the human form and unfitting the soldier for bearing the strains and hardships of the service, and her suffering nations are seeking to curb or end its sway. 
Five years ago, men would han laughed if it had been stated in their presence that the Federal Congress would take such action as that which occurred at the short session just adjourned. There were three great statutes enacted, the passage of which will echo throughout the Union as the shot at Lexington went '' around the world.'' The Capital of the nation ,Yill be {lty in Xo\e11ilier. The mails wi 1 be closed to liquor advertisements on the first of ,Jul), and the shipments of liquor across the State lines into dry States for beverage purposes will be prohibited on the same clay. The celebrated Reed .Amendment to the Postal Appropri"ations Act is as follows: 
. '' \Yhoever shall order, purchase, or causP intoxicating liquors to be trans]Jorted in interstate commerce, except for scientific, sacramental, medicinal, and medrnnical purposes, into any State or Territory, the laws of which State or Territory prohibit tlw manufacture or sale therein of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes shall be punished as aforesaid: Pr01.ided, That nothing herein shall authorize the shipment of liquor into any State contrary to the ]mm of such State: ProridPd further. Thnt the Post- 
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 master-General is hereby authorized and directed to make public from time to time in suitable bulletins or public notices the names of States in which it is unlawful to advertise or so.Iieit orders for such liquors.'' 
In order to get full advantage from the lastmentioned saluhu) provision, it will he necessary for you to regulate the shipments for medicinal, mechanical, scientifie and sacramental purposes. 'rl1ese must he guarded by the State as there is no limitation fixed by the Congress upon them, hence I have called you together to consider the subject of "bone dry" prohibition. If Georgia gets prohibition she must give it to herself, must provide it for herself. I earnestly urge, therefore, that you limit these exceptions, passing such legislation as may be required to stop the shipments under your own law, which shipments "ill continue under the Federal enactment unless you shall act upon the subject. 
lt has sometimes hN'll said that prohibition laws do not prohibit. This reproach grew out of the fact that while the State might act and declare its settled polic) and denounee the sale and manufacture of "hiskr, yet under the Federal Constitution that proteeted interstate commerce the State could be flooded with the prohibited article from the outside, and there was no escape from the results. 'l1his has come 
to an end, arnl the ('n that the law does not prohibit 
has been followed hr another wail that there is danger of prohibiting too mnch. 
Some strange things occurred at the Federal Capital when the amendment prohibiting shipments from other States had been presented to the two 
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 Houses. Many of the professional advocates of prohibition on the outside did not seem to recognize the genuine article when it was offered to them. 
It was rea]l~, ludicrous at times to see how some of these salaried, chartPred, consecrated apostles of prohibition drew back from the real thing and began to doubt the genuineness of the relief that was intended. They did not know prohibition when they met it in the road. Like the .Jews of old who failed to recognize their Lord when He came, they set about to betray and destroy the very charter of their nation's hopes. 
To our patriotic Congressmen in the lower House who stood together without exception, I feel that this General ..:-\ssemhly can never give sufficient expression of its gratitrnle on account of the service that they did to their country. It is believed but for their efforts the law ,rnuld not have passed. In the upper Honse it can be said to the credit of the Georgia Senators that both of them were in line when the roll was called on the Postal amendments and aided in the passage of these splendid statutes which we fondly hope complete for the people of this whole country the moral enfranehisement that they have so long dreamed of and so long expected in vain. 
And now, Gentlemen of the General Assembly, I have given you this message from my heart today, setting forth the reasons why I have called you together, and the duty your assembling here has placed upon you toward the people of your State. I have felt in all this matter that as you began the great reform in 1915, taking upon yourselves the perils of an unprecedented step to hring it about, it would be only 
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 right and just to you as members of this House and Senate, to allow you the priYilege of completing the work which you thus begun. Xo other Legislature 
will be better fitted to do so than you, and no other 
could certainly challenge and obtain the just approbation of the country in the performance of the task. 
It was yours to begin the work and it shall be yours 
to finish it, and your Gonrnor hopes that the same Mighty Hand which guided ~ou in the beginning will shape your course successfully to the end. 
Hespectfully submitted, 
Oovernor. 
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