The Leader Enterprise And Press

TWENTY YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES

"The report has been sent out recently over the State from Fitzgerald to the effect that Dorsey was given the rebel yell when Mr. Dorsey spoke down there. I don't mean this as any criticism on Fitzgerald, or any citizen that lives in the town, but since this has been mentioned I think it well enough for it to be looked at squarely in the face. We all know the history of Fitzgerald and know that it was originally made up with people from other sections of the country, and the majority of the Civil War veterans there are men who fought on the Union side, and it is hardly probable that these men are interested in Gov. Harris' election in this way, and if the truth was known this accounts for the ovation he received by the old veterans. You know they have a Lee-Grant hotel down there and also a Grant street. If they have anything named for Lee or Jackson I am not aware of it, as there is no sign stuck up showing it."

The above from a correspondent in today's Macon Telegraph is unfair to the Veterans of the Union cause in Fitzgerald and written no doubt with good intentions for Governor Harris by one of his uninformed, though loyal supporters. In the first place Fitzgerald has honored every one of the foremost Generals of the Confederacy in the naming of its streets and the selection of the names was entirely the work of Union Veterans. We have had from the start a street named for Generals Lee, Jackson, Johnson, Longstreet, Gordon, Bragg and Hill; the Lee-Grant Hotel is named for Lee of the Confederacy and Grant of the Union.

The writer evidently has never visited Fitzgerald or he would have seen these street signs prominently displayed at each intersection of two streets. But few Union veterans were at the Dorsey meeting and most of them we are informed will vote for the old Confederate leader next Tuesday. The sentiment of the union veterans is strong for honoring their one-time foe, which will show itself when the count is announced next Tuesday in this district.