Evening star., 1896-10-20
HEARTLESS POLITICS
Strife for Place in the Georgia Legisla-
ture.
Judge Crisp to BE Elected Senator
Silver Men Rule the
SituntiOn.
Special Core spOndence of The Evening Star.

Special rrfspondence Of The Evening Star
ATLANTA. Ga, October II, 1896.
The race for president of the state senate
is doubly interesting and exciting, because
OF the belief among the politicians that the
winner will be the next governor. Politics
Is heartless game. and the men who are
engaged in 1t in this state are discounting
fate and administering on the estates of
the living. Indelicate and cruel as it Is,
the politicians are calculating that ex-
Speaker Crisp will not serve out his term
in the United States Senate. to which he
will be elected next month In that event
1T Is assumed that Gov. Atkinson would
succeed to the Senate, and the president
of the state senate would become governor
And this is why Harry Dunwoody of
Brunswick and Robert L. Berner of Monroe
county are SO hot on the trail of the presi-
dency. The general assembly meets in less
than two weeks, October 2S when the mat
ter will be decided. Gov. Atkinson and his
''F'idus Achates," Attorney General Joe
Terrell, are for Berner, because he has been
loyal to the governor Dunwoody has the
support Of great many Of the governors
most intimate friends, who are not tied to
Berner, because the latter never helped
them and because he was on the fence on
the financial question. He was enough of
a gold man to get an appointment from
Secretary Hoke Smith, and that of itself
was sufficient to arouse the opposition of
the bulk of the free silverites. AS the Chi
ca3o convention approached. Berner be-
came more and more one of the men who
had nothing against silver.
Silver Rules.
Tho ,;l,,a
the state. and are disposed to draw the line
strictly. Dunwoody has never been enough
of silverite to hurt. but he played his bad
hand we'll Gold men get no quarter. Judge
Marshall Clarke, one of the ablest jurists
In the state. thought of announcing himself
as candidate for place on the supreme
bench, but he soon learned that he wound
nave no show, as he is a Palmer-Buckner
democrat. Capt. w. A. Little, ex-assistant
attorney general of the United States, will
find that his connection with the federal
administration is hurting him. He Is in the
race, and may win, but his associatio
with the national administration at Wash
ington has unjustly prejudiced a great
many people against him. He is strong
though. with the people except for that.
w. G. Glenn has retired from the race He
mad very good showing to win. but he
was influenced by personal reasons, the
chief one being the objection of his partner
TO the dissolution of the firm. Glenn has
an ambition to get on the Supreme bench
of the United States. He is brainy law
yer. too good a one. his friends say, to go
on the bench. The populists talk of indors-
Ing Judge Sam Lumkin, the democratic
justice, who is a candidate for reelection
If they do. they will probably put out
three conservative men for the other va
canoies. Judge X. Hines. their nominee
for governor two years ago, said to The
Star correspondent today that he would not
be candidate.
Watson Disabled.
Tom Watson is still at his home in Thom-
son, nursing his tonsilitis. His throat is
not all that is sore about him. though. He
is sore all over, and says that he has been
outrageously treated bv his own party men
as well by Mr.. Sewall and Chairman
Jones. Watson is going to make lots of
trouble in his party when the national
elec ton is over. If he does not break it
wide open. 1t will be because he has lost
his grip with the populistS. He Is deter
mined to take his grievances before the
masses of the party and ask for vind:cation
at their hands. The real voting strength
OF the populists has not been figured out and
Will not be until the legislature meets and
opens the returns on the election for gov
ernor. The populists have gained two
senators and a number of county officers.
but lost members Of the lower house, so it
Is hard to size them up and tell whether
they have really gained or increased in the
last two years. They are getting over their
soreness somewhat, and they will not vote
Tor Mckinley to such an extent as they
threatened to do just after the state cleo
ton, when they were mad at their de-
feat. The populists do not know what to
make of Sam Jones, who in speaking of
the result, said: Il never hit cripple or q
fcol.' He was supposed to be referring to
the populist party. which he had helped in
the campaign.
CDmbQtfye PrOhihft1nn3...
The prohibitionists are determined to
force fight in the legislature, and will
bring up the Bush dispensary bill again.
Ihe liquor forces are in shape now They
put up considerable money in the state
campaign. In fact. they contributed until
they got tired. as one of them said to The
Star representative on the eve of the state
election. The anti-prohibitionists are against
Berner for president Of the senate, fearing
that he would give them the worst of it in
the composition of the committee
Inc railroad men are at work in advance
of the meeting of the assembly, but they
are mapping out very poor plan of cam
paign. They are getting ready to distribute
money literally, but not wisely There are
signs which point to the coming session as
one that will be quite profitable to members
who have easy consciences. 1t is under
stood that Secretary Hoke Smith has been
retained by the Southern railway to defend
the consttutionality of its consultations in
case the purchases and leases are attacked
He has not taken any damage cases against
Inc road since his return to Atlanta Half
the lawyers here were frightened lest he
should re-enter his old practice Mr.. Smith
had the cream of the damage suit practice
before he entered the cabinet and made
100000 a year out of it. He has said that
his life in Washington cut his fortune ex-
actly half in two. He will, however soon
rebuild 1t. for he is sure to get back large