The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-15

Col. Gamblers Resignation.
When Col. Gambler sent his resignation
as Secretary of State to the Governor, he
helped his owR cause more as a guberna-
torial candidate and opened the way for
more trouble for Gov. Atkinson than he
did when he sent out his circular letter at
lacking the politicians who were instru-
mental in having the Governor nominated
in 1894
He helped his own cause because the peo-
pie more willingly help a man who hasn't
an office to get one than to assist a man
to step from one high place into another
still higher. 1t will be said of course that
Col. Gambler had no thought of resigning
his office as Secretary of State as long as
there was a prospect that he would have no
opposition for the gubeTnatorial nominal
ton, and that the ground on which he
basis his resignation, namely, that he does
not believe that a man should hold one
Office while making an active canvass for
another, was an after thought. A state
ment of that sort would doubtless be I'M
just to him, as would also statement that
he resigned simply TO compel Judge Atlkin-
son either to resign his Office of Railroad
Commissioner or make the campaign for
the nomination for Governor under a dis
advantage. While it will be generally adj
mitted that the time for him TO have re-
sign his Office as Secretary of State, in or
der to get the fun benefit of the resigna-
ton, was when he published his letter an
nouncing the platform on which he pro-
posed to make his campaign, still, ii can
not be successfully contended that his res
ignation of his office after it become GER
tain that Judge Atkinson would be a can
didate is lacking in sincerity and justifes
the inference that he would not have re-
signed if there had been no other candi-
date for the gubernatorial nomination.
When he wrote his letter containing his
declaration of principles he may have
overlooked the fact that he does not be-
lieve that man. while holding one Office
should begin a campaign for another. He
had many things to think of at that time,
and 1t is not at all strange that he failed
to give all of them proper attention.
But whatever his intentions were, be-
fore he had opposition, relative to the Of
flee he held ii is quite certain that If
Judge Atkinson does not follow his ex-
ample, and resign his railroad commission
ership he will be at a considerable disad-
vantage in the campaign The fact that
he was seeking an Office while holding one
would be made the subject of many
speech and many a newspaper article by
Col. Gambler and his friends. And they
would make an impression, because the
public doesn't take very kindly to a man
who has the reputation of being an Office
seeker.
If Col. Gambler really has a feeling of
hostility to the Governor he couldn't
have adopted any other means for causing
him annoyance that would have been so
effective as that of resigning his office.
Already the wires are hot with dispatches
from men who want to succeed Col. Can
der as Secretary of State. Just how many
of these candidates there are is not yet
known. The Governor probably will not
care to give to the newspapers the names
of all of them, but it is pretty certain that
he will have some difficulty in making an
appointment, because Of the pressure be-
ing brought to bear upon him in behalf
of each one of the candidates.; and when
he shall have made an appointment all of
the disappointed applicants will be his en-
emies. If Judge Atkinson should also re-
| sign the Governor would be so harrassed
by the applicants for that office, well
/
it would require all the stored up energy
acquired in his Mexican trip to enable him
to get through the ordeal safely. When
the Governor got back from Mexico there
wasn't a ripple on the sea of politics. A
calm prevailed. Now there is the biggest
kind of a storm. and he is right in the
| storm center.
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