Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1903-08-15
HIS EXCLLLENCY,
THE Governor.

" -
The Mo,wing Herald. The
Governor as Seen by His
Friends.
Handsome, smiling. with the glow of
health on his smooth cheeks. with his
abundant gray hair rising above his
broad forehead. Gov John Walter Smith
sat in the lobby of tho Rennert last
Thursday night. cheerfully talking with
a group of friends among whom were
former Attorney General John p. Poe,
State Superintendent of Public Schools
NJ. Bates Stephens, and Ex-Congressman
Joshua w. Miles.
His Excellency was in good spirits.
He was in excellent health. His bust
ness is in fiourishing condition. He is
nearing the close of his administration
as Governor of the state, and he is firm
in his belief that he will be chosen by
the General Assembly next winter to
the place he has so long desired. seat
in the Senate at Washington, in success
sion to the incumbent. Mr.. Louis Z
McComas, of Washington county.
The Governors career in politics, as
in business, has been one of continued
success He has been fortunate in all
that he has undertaken. Through his
4. lA,
fortune. and i'll amassing it he has never
been accused of any underhand work or
meanness of any sort. His bitterest po-
litical foes are many OF them his warm
personal friends, and bear tribute to his
personal worth and honesty.
The Governor is the personification of
courtesy and good breeding. No one
could imagine him doing rude thing.
for it is doubtful he has ever done a
.:ude thing in all his long career, for
while he is not an old man he has been
ut work ever since he was boy, and
has, therefore, been brought in contact
with all sorts of people. His manners
are those of a polished, cordial, and
thoroughly courteous man of the world
s.nd they never vary. He is the same
to the humblest citizens of Snow Hill
a he is to the financiers. statesman and
others whom he meets from day % day
in the performance of his official and
other duties He is glad to see all whom
he may meet, no matter what their walks
knows to the contrary. He seems to be
pleased. and the recipient of his courtesy
thinks that he is, and the effect is the
same.
The Governor is industrious and ener.
G etic to a marvellous degree. He is a
systematic worker not only in his atten-
ton to his private business, but also in
the performance of his public duties.
The work of the executive Office is all
familiar to him; he knows it by heart,
and he can tell the exact status of every
one of his appointees. and the other state
officials without referring TO books or
papers and without hesitation.
He has firm grasp on the financial
affairs of the state. and, as a business
man, he knows the exact state of the
treasury as well as the revenues al
most TO the fraction of cent. He is
proud of the record of Maryland from a
financial standpoint, and is confident
that in few years the necessity for
direct taxation for state purposes will
have been done away with, and the in-
direct revenues will supply all the funds
needed for the support of the govern
ment. In fact, with the funds In the
treasury and the securities owned by
the state and placed to the credit of the
sinking funds, Maryland is now practi-
cally free from debt. This state of
affairs has been brought about by the
fact that the last four Governors, name
ly, Messrs. jackson, Brown, Lowndes
and Smith. have all been able business
men and all have taken especial care to
see that the revenues were properly ex-
pended and the sinking funds kept
intact These gentlemen have without
followed out the plans laid
down by the late Governor Hamilton i'll
1880, 1881, 1882 and 1853, and by doing
so have raised the credit of the state to
the highest point-have made it, in fact.
second to that of no state in the Union.
They have all applied to the manage
ment of the states finances the same
principles which they have applied to
their private affairs. AS business men,
they have applied business principles to
the states finances and have proved
that practical business men in politics
and i'll the management of public affairs
are not failures. In truth, these four
men who have been Governors of Mary
land since 1888 are among the ablest
and most careful financiers in the state.
All have large private fortunes and
all were, therefore, so situated that they
could devote a large amount of their
time TO their public duties. As finan.
ciers, therefore they have taken especial
pride i'll caring for the states revenues,
knowing well that their own reputa-
tions were at stake. For their good
work in this particular they have earned