The Legislature, at its session in 1914, passed several important acts, among them an act to regulate child labor, making it unlawful for children under fourteen to work in factories except where a widowed mother was dependent upon such labor, in which case the child must not be under twelve; t an act to provide for the registration of vital statistics; an act to revise the health laws of the State of Georgia and to make the State Board of Health consist of fifteen members, three of whom, to wit, the secretary of the State Board of Health, the state superintendent of schools and the state veterinarian, should be members ex officio, and twelve members to be appointed by the governor, one from each congressional district, a majority of whom were to be physicians; § an act to regulate and control all fraternal benefit societies; ** and an act to abolish the office of quartermaster-general, thereby making the organization and discipline of the organized militia of this state conform to the requirements of an act of Congress.*

On August 17, 1914, the following joint resolution was given the governor's approval (Acts 1914, p. 1247).

WHEREAS, The great seal of the State, in the custody of the Secretary of State, has become so worn by time and use that it will no longer make a clear, or even legible, impression, and it has become necessary that a new seal shall be provided; therefore,

Be it resolved, By the House of Representatives of Georgia, the Senate concurring, that the Governor and the Secretary of State are hereby authorized, empowered and directed to cause a new great seal of the State to be made, either of silver, or of some harder and more durable metal or composition of metals, the new seal to be in all respects a facsimile of the old one, except that the date appearing thereon shall be 1776, commemorative of the year of the Declaration of American Independence, instead of 1799, as appears on the present seal.

Be it further resolved, That when the new great seal herein provided for shall be completed and received by the Secretary of State, it shall be used in place of the present great seal in all cases where the use of the great seal of the State is required; and it shall be the duty of the Governor and the Secretary of State to see to it that the present great seal is destroyed.

Be it further resolved, That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this joint resolution, or any part thereof, be and the same are hereby repealed.

As soon as the state's new Great Seal was ready for use, Governor Slaton, in the presence of the secretary of state, mutilated the old one as authorized by law, but what remains of this sacred relic-Georgia's Great Seal of State for 115 years-is still reverently preserved in the state department.

During the fall of 1914 the North Georgia Mineral Railroad applied to the secretary of state for a charter to construct a line from the City of Atlanta to Wofford's Cross Roads, in Bartow County; and, while the application appeared on the surface to ask of the state nothing unusual, it was fraught, in the opinion of the secretary of state, with far. reaching consequences. The proposed railroad was projected by parties who were either allies or owners of the Louisville and Nashville system, a corporation controlling the Nashville, Chattanooga and St.

+ Acts 1914, pp. 88-92. Acts 1914, pp. 157-174. § Acts 1914, pp. 124-134. **Acts 1914, pp. 99-123. *Acts 1914, pp. 139-142.

Louis Railway, which in turn was leasing the state road. To grant the proposed charter would practically mean to authorize a line paralleling the state's magnificent property. So vitally was the state's welfare involved in the proposed deal that Governor Slaton, when the matter came before him, had fully resolved upon calling the Legislature together in extra session to consider this momentous problem and to determine what course should be taken in the premises, but the necessity for such a step was obviated by an agreement with counsel for the proposed road who consented to make no demand for a charter until after the Legislature of 1915 had been given an opportunity to canvass the situation and to authorize appropriate action.

But let us go back for a few months to review other developments. On May 23, 1914, the home of Joel Chandler Harris, beloved and honored throughout the world as the creator of "Uncle Remus", was dedicated as a national memorial to the great interpreter of negro dialect and character. Governor Slaton delivered the principal address on this occasion. To the Uncle Remus Memorial Association, headed by Mrs. A. McD. Wilson, is due the lasting gratitude of the state for its patriotic work in raising funds with which to purchase this literary shrine. Ex-President Roosevelt's lecture for the benefit of this memorial netted approximately $5,000, and Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who had agreed to give a sum equal to what was realized from the Roosevelt lecture, gave the ladies his check for a like amount. Altogether a sum in excess of $20,000 was raised.

On August 6, 1914, the Angel of Death entered the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, taking therefrom in the midst of her manifold activities of charity, patriotism and religion, the first lady of the land. Mrs. Wilson was brought to Georgia for burial, in the home of her girlhood. On Myrtle Hill, a beautiful necropolis, overlooking the City of Rome, and occupying a lofty eminence at the foot of which two majestic rivers, the Etowah and the Oostanaula, mingle their waters in a perpetual requiem for the dead, Mrs. Wilson was gently lowered to her last resting place, while above the new-made grave was heaped a fragrant mountain of flowers. To the President's weight of official responsibility, in the midst of a grave international crisis, was thus added the pang of a sore bereavement; and doubtless, in hours of loneliness, his thoughts often turned southward to the hills which enshrined his lost companion; but throughout his night of anguish he maintained a serene poise of mind, and all was well with the republic. The Ellen Wilson Memorial Association, a movement launched by Georgia women, will perpetuate her spirit in a great educational fund designed. to uplift the poor boys and girls of the Southern mountains.

There was a most pathetic but beautiful incident connected with Mrs. Wilson's funeral. The first week in October, 1914, was to have been a gala week in Rome, one long to be remembered for its brilliant social gaieties. Mrs. Wilson, in a letter from the White House, had promised to be the city's guest of honor, and invitations had been issued by the tens of hundreds. The Southern Railway, in preparation for this joyous season of reunion, had planted near its depot a bed of shrubbery whose fresh young colors were just beginning to spell the words "Welcome Home." But little did any one anticipate the unfathomed pathos with

which this symbol of greeting was soon to be applied. As the days went by, the busy hum of preparation grew apace. But even while these plans were under way there came with appalling suddenness a message from Washington: Mrs. Wilson was coming home, not in October, but in August, and she was coming home to stay!

Beautiful for situation is the lofty burial ground of Rome. Overlooking the city's domes and spires, it forms at this meeting-place of the waters a majestic citadel of silence, a marble-crowned Acropolis. Beneath a giant oak on this towering hill-top the first lady of the land was committed on this August day to the keeping of mother earth. No fairer spot ever charmed an artist. Home at last, she slept on Myrtle Hill, around her a silent ring of Roman hearts, and in her ear the sweet music of the Etowah.

CHAPTER XXXII

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN GEORGIA GIVEN AN IMPETUS MR. ASA G. CANDLER'S MUNIFICENT GIFT OF $1,000,000 TO EMORY UNIVERSITY, AN INSTITUTION FOUNDED IN 1914-BISHOP WARREN A. CANDLER BECOMES ITS CHANCELLOR-SPLENDID WORK OF DR. THORNWELL JACOBS IN THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY, SIDNEY LANIER'S ALMA MATER-GEORGIA SECURES ONE OF THE REGIONAL BANKS UNDER THE NEW CURRENCY SYSTEM-LOCATED IN ATLANTA— SENATOR SMITH HELPS TO WIN THIS VICTORY FOR THE STATE-THE SMITH-LEVER BILL-REFUNDING THE STATE DEBT-BONDS FOR $3, 679,000 ISSUED MR. ASA G. CANDLER'S BID FOR THE ENTIRE ISSUE IS ACCEPTED-GOVERNOR SLATON COMMENDS THE PATRIOTIC ENTERPRISE OF AN INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN-THE SENATORIAL RACE-CONGRESSMAN HARDWICK AND ATTORNEY-GENERAL FELDER CANDIDATES FOR THE SHORT TERM TO SUCCEED SENATOR BACON-GOVERNOR SLATON ALSO TAKES THE FIELD-IS HANDICAPPED BY THE GOVERNORSHIP-SENATOR SMITH A CANDIDATE TO SUCCEED HIMSELF FOR THE LONG TERM-EXGOVERNOR BROWN DELIBERATES HIS LONG SILENCE CREATES A LOT OF SPECULATION HE FINALLY DECIDES TO OPPOSE SENATOR SMITH— BURIED HATCHETS RESURRECTED THE GOVERNOR'S RACE-FOUR CANDIDATES ENTER THE Lists—Judge NAT E. HARRIS-DIRECTOR OF THE CENSUS W. J. HARRIS-DR. L. G. HARDMAN-PRES. J. RANDOLPH ANDERSON OF THE STATE SENATE—AFTER A FEW WEEKS HON. W. J. HARRIS, IN THE INTEREST OF HARMONY, RETIRES AN EXCITING CAMPAIGN TO BE DECIDED ON AUGUST 20, 1914.

During the second year of Governor Slaton's administration, the cause of Christian education in Georgia received a powerful stimulus. Early in the spring of 1914 Mr. Asa G. Candler, of Atlanta, thrilled and electrified the country by making a gift of $1,000,000, to this end, through the great religious denomination with which he was affiliated. The M. E. Church, South, having relinquished Vanderbilt University, at Nashville, Tennessee, as a denominational asset, under the control of the college of bishops, there was a movement started at the general conference of 1914 to establish two great Methodist universities in the South, one of these to be located east, the other west, of the Mississippi River. Mr. Candler's magnificent gift insured the immediate success of the former. It also settled the question of its location, and on a spacious campus, luxuriantly wooded with forest oaks, near Druid Hills, on the outskirts of Atlanta, stately buildings have already commenced to ascend. The school of theology began its existence in the fall of 1914, occupying the Wesley Memorial properties. Bishop Warren A. Candler, by a unanimous vote, was called to the chancellorship of the