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policies, wishes and desires of Senator Bacon. Two distinguished citizens of Savannah, Gen. P. W. Meldrim and Judge Samuel B. Adams, were also strong favorites. Quite a delegation of citizens from Valdosta came to urge the appointment of Hon. Wm. S. West, a former president of the state Senate, then serving as vice chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee. Colonel West was a man of large means, with extensive investments in South Georgia. There was also a delegation from Moultrie to urge the appointment of Hon. W. C. Vereen, a wealthy banker, who had been largely instrumental in developing this wideawake metropolis of the wire-grass region. Nor was Governor Slaton himself without ambitious leanings toward a career in national politics, with the title of senator prefixed to his name, and he was well aware of the far-reaching effect which the present crisis was likely to produce upon his own political fortunes.

Since Congress was in session, at the time of Senator Bacon's death, with certain grave international problems pressing for solution, it was imperative for the governor to make an appointment at once. Speculation was rife. But Governor Slaton soon put a quietus upon the political weather prophets by naming Hon. William S. West, of Valdosta, to succeed Mr. Bacon as senator until the next popular election. Colonel West repaired immediately to Washington, where he gave himself without reserve to his new official duties. As to his future movements on the chess-board, he was slow to reach a decision but eventually announced that he would not be a candidate in the approaching election. Some anticipated this action as a foregone conclusion, but an intimation of his approaching death may possibly have been the real cause of his elimination from the contest. Following the adjournment of Congress by only a few weeks, Colonel West died suddenly at his home in Valdosta, having won the toga only to wear it to his burial.

Meanwhile two distinguished Georgians had entered the lists. These were Hon. Thomas W. Hardwick, then serving as a congressman from the Tenth Georgia District, and Hon. Thomas S. Felder, then filling the office of attorney-general. Both were well-equipped public men. Mr. Hardwick had served the state in Congress uninterruptedly for twelve years. Mr. Felder before becoming attorney-general had made a record in the General Assembly, as a resourceful and ready debater. But it so happened that both Mr. Hardwick and Mr. Felder were identified in state politics with the Smith faction. Neither was willing to withdraw in the other's favor, and there was quite a lot of speculation as to the political significance of this apparent clash of ambitions. It was charged in certain quarters that the clash between Felder and Hardwick was more apparent than real; that, in the end, the two candidates would unite forces, at least in naming a candidate. To others it looked like a fatal breech in the walls of an erstwhile solid opposition. Senator West, declining to enter the contest, all eyes were focused upon Governor Slaton. Would he make the race? Some of the governor's friends urged him to remain at the helm of affairs in Georgia, since he was absolutely sure of re-election to the governorship; other pressed upon him the claims of the toga. He finally made an end of matters by announcing himself squarely in the race for United States senator to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Bacon. It was not without hesitation

perhaps not without misgivings that he decided upon this course, for, in order to conduct a vigorous campaign upon the stump it was necessary for him at once to resign the office of governor. On the other hand, to surrender the executive office was to put in jeopardy certain policies to which his administration was committed. Either horn of the dilemma presented its embarrassments, but Governor Slaton felt constrained by a sense of obligation to the state to remain in office, at least until the General Assembly should have completed its labors. This course handicapped him politically and exposed him to much unjust criticism, but it seemed to be the wisest course to adopt. Hon. G. R. Hutchins, who had successfully managed the Underwood campaign in 1912, and Hon. John R. Cooper, a well-known lawyer of Macon, distinguished as an advocate in criminal cases, also became candidates for the short term. Attorney-General Felder burned his bridges behind him. On entering the senatorial race, he resigned his office as the state's legal adviser, and in his place Governor Slaton appointed Hon. Warren Grice, of Pulaski, an able young lawyer whose qualifications were admittedly of a high order. Mr. Hardwick retained his seat in Congress until after the Macon convention, at which time Hon. Carl Vinson, of Baldwin, succeeded him as congressman from the Tenth District. When the list was completed there were five candidates in the field: Slaton, Hardwick, Felder, Hutchins and Cooper, and the outlook for an exciting campaign gave a thrill of pleasure to all lovers of the game.

Meanwhile, with expectant interest, the public awaited an expression of attitude from ex-Gov. Joseph M. Brown. The situation, within the past few weeks, had become somewhat tangled with complications. Governor Slaton, it seems, had announced for the short term senatorship without conferring upon the subject with Governor Brown, his ally in recent political campaigns, and rumors of a breach between these two former fast friends began to thicken. Moreover, Governor Slaton's failure to compliment his predecessor in office with an appointment to the United States Senate appeared to give some color of authority to this conjecture. For weeks the noncommittal ex-governor maintained a sphinx-like silence and declined to make a statement. Letters from all parts of the state urging him to seek the toga came in great packets with each day's mail, and interviews with personal friends were by no means infrequent. The eyes of the whole state were riveted upon the little town of Marietta. Finally the ex-governor broke his long spell of silence. He put himself squarely in the race, but instead of announcing for the short term to succeed Mr. Bacon, he announced for the long term, to succeed his ancient rival, Sen. Hoke Smith.

This announcement unloosed the dogs of war. At an earlier stage of the campaign Governor Smith, so it is said, in order to heal the wounds. engendered by former campaigns and to obtain the support of a solid democracy in the state, for its effect in re-enforcing him as a senator, would have welcomed as a colleague either Clark Howell or Joseph M. Brown, his former rivals for the governorship, and would have discouraged all opposition to either for the short term, had his own race been left unopposed for the long term. But all prospects for a continuance of truce between the two hostile camps were now at an end. Governor Brown's letter was a signal for the resumption of hostilities. It meant

a resurrection day for buried hatchets. It sounded a lusty, resonant, and loud call "to arms," and from every ingleside-highland and lowland-it summoned the hostile clans to battle.

But the governorship offered a prize not less tempting than the toga, nor was the popular interest felt in this race any less general. Four candidates entered the field. These were: Judge Nat E. Harris, of Bibb; Hon. Wm. J. Harris, of Polk; Dr. L. G. Hardman, of Jackson; and Hon. J. Randolph Anderson, of Chatham. Judge Harris was a veteran jurist, clean, upright, fearless, eloquent, long experienced in the public councils. He had served in both of the legislative branches, had fathered the bill creating the Georgia School of Technology and had been a most conspicuous champion of the educational interests of the state. As a campaigner, Judge Harris was a revelation. He proved to be a power on the stump. Despite his years, he was fully equal to the demands of a strenuous campaign, and in every part of the state spoke with thrilling effect to great crowds. He possessed the spellbinder's magic.

Mr. Harris, of Polk, was a much younger man. But he had successfully managed the Wilson campaign and had rendered his party a distinct service as chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee. His skill as an organizer was further shown by the manner in which he had practically remodeled the census bureau in Washington. Appointed director of the federal census by Pres. Woodrow Wilson, he had already within a few short months made a record for himself in this department, but importuned by his friends to make the race for governor, Mr. Harris resigned the office in Washington and returned to Georgia. A son-in-law of the late Gen. Joseph Wheeler, he found a loyal following among the old soldiers. But Mr. Harris eventually retired from the race, preferring to return to the census bureau than to be a party to any further widening of the breach in Georgia politics. He was afterwards promoted by his chief to a still more exalted seat on the Federal Board of Trade.

Doctor Hardman was a successful man of affairs. His home town of Commerce was largely a monument to his enterprise, sagacity and thrift. Widely known throughout Georgia because of his zealous championship of prohibition in the Senate of 1907, he was recognized as the author of the statute prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicants in Georgia. He was also respected for his exalted Christian character, for his wideawake public spirit, and for his generous gifts to worthy enterprises. The monument to Dr. Crawford W. Long, in the Town of Jefferson, commemorating the discovery of anesthesia by this renowned Georgian, was built largely through the patriotic liberality of Doctor Hardman.

Mr. Anderson was an experienced legislator. He had presided with great dignity over the state Senate and had stamped his impress upon legislation. A lineal descendant of Thomas Jefferson, he derived not only his political principles but his ancestral lineage from the fountain springs of democracy, and he bore himself on all occasions with a charm of modesty, in many respects suggestive of the beloved sage of Monticello. But Mr. Anderson was handicapped by the fact that he hailed

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from Savannah, a city justly famed for its culture, for its hospitality, for its memories, for its part in shaping the early history of the state; but a city on the remote seaboard, a city differing from all other communities in Georgia in that it was populated directly from England, and a city which, with the trend of population northward, toward the foothills, had not produced a governor since the days of George M. Troup, the undaunted Hercules of state rights.

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE STATE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY OF AUGUST 20, 1914-SENATOR SMITH DEFEATS EX-GOVERNOR BROWN FOR THE LONG TERM SENATORSHIP_ GOVERNOR SLATON LEADS FOR THE SHORT TERM SENATORSHIP-CONGRESSMAN HARDWICK IS SECOND IN THE RACE, FORMER ATTORNEYGENERAL FELDER, THIRD, AND HON. G. R. HUTCHINS, FOURTH-THE CONTEST UNDECIDED IN THE GOVERNOR'S RACE, JUDGE NAT E. HARRIS IS SUCCESSFUL OVER DR. L. G. HARDMAN AND HON. J. RANDOLPH ANDERSON-CLIFFORD WALKER DEFEATS WARREN GRICE FOR ATTORNEY-GENERAL-JUDGE N. R. BROYLES IS NOMINATED FOR THE APPEALS BENCH OVER TWO STRONG COMPETITORS SUPERIOR COURT JUDGESELEVEN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS RENOMINATED THE STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION BEGINS IN MACON A TURBULENT SESSIONFAMILIES DIVIDED ON THE ISSUES OF THIS CAMPAIGN-ILLUSTRATED BY THE POTTLES-SENATOR SMITH, THOUGH NOT A DELEGATE, APPEARS IN PERSON UPON THE SCENE-IS CRITICISED FOR USING THE STEAM-ROLLER-LEAVES MACON AT MIDNIGHT-DRAMATIC SCENESA DEADLOCK ENSUES OVER THE SHORT TERM SENATORSHIP-AN ALL NIGHT SESSION-THIRTEEN BALLOTS TAKEN WITHOUT RESULT-THE CONVENTION TAKES A RECESS OF FIVE HOURS FOR REST-ON REASSEMBLING, MR. FELDER IS GIVEN THE FLOOR-IN A GRACEFUL SPEECH, HE WITHDRAWS-GREAT EXCITEMENT FOLLOWS-THE FRIENDS OF GOVERNOR SLATON DEMAND A HEARING FOR HIM BEFORE THE CONVENTION-THIS IS ACCORDED THE GOVERNOR MAKES A STRONG APPEAL FOR SUPPORT ON THE BASIS OF HIS PLURALITY VOTE-BUT THE FELDER DELEGATES BREAK TO HARDWICK, WHO, ON THE FOURTEENTH BALLOT, IS CHOSEN UNITED STATES SENATOR-RESIGNS HIS SEAT IN CONGRESS MR. HARDWICK IS SUCCEEDED BY HON. CARL VINSONCHARGES AGAINST JUDGE EMORY SPEER INVESTIGATED BY A COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS-EX-PARTE PROCEEDINGS EVIDENCE NOT SUFFICIENT TO CONVICT JUDGE SPEER IS EXONERATED-BUT A NEW JUDGESHIP IS CREATED IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT, TO WHICH HON. W. W. LAMBDIN IS APPOINTED-PROSPERITY REGISTERS HIGH-WATER MARK DURING THE SECOND YEAR OF GOVERNOR SLATON'S ADMINISTRATION -ON THE EVE OF THE EUROPEAN WAR.

It is needless to revive on this page the asperities of a campaign in which no vital issues divided the people of Georgia. The contest consisted mainly in a choice between candidates, all of whom were able, high-minded, upright and patriotic, and it was fortunate for the state that she was so rich in men of this character, .so well equipped in every way to serve her in the national councils. The state democratic primary occurred on August 20, 1914. United States Senator Hoke Smith carried

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