Fitzgerald enterprise. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1895-1912, 1905-06-13


ness and with pertinent questions. He says:
"To Halifax with Hoke Smith and Clark
Howell both and let some man who has no per-
sonal grievance to air and no political favors to
paw who is not in debt to the corporations for
long and continuous patronage, who is not the
ex Exponent of "conservative' democracy.
WHO IS SMITH?
"Wel1, he is the erstwhile secretary of the
interior under President Cleveland. He is the
big anti-corporation, CORPORATION lawyer of At
lanta who it is claimed wins large fees some
times from the corporations and sometimes for
the corporations. He is big man, over six feet
tall, broad shoulders high cheek bones, impos-
ing in appearance and rather winning IN dlspo-
sition when running for Office, He has always
passed as conservative" Democrat-that is,
since he was in the cabinet is Cleveland
Hamiltonian as opposed to the Bryan Jefferson
ian In other words, he has always stood for
the Democratic wing which believes in the rule
of the classes. Mr.. Smith is much ADLER man
than Mr. Howell, mentally as well as physically,
and his views have always been more emphatic
than Mr.. Howell's. What he believes, he has
stood for in the open. We have always been
Jeffersonian and therefore opposed to Mr..
Smiths national views.
"wHo IS HOWELL?
HE is chiefly the managing editor OF the
Atlanta Constitution. Incidentally, he has been
president of the Georgia senate for several
years, but being very silent man and not ad-
dicted to positive views on any public question,
very few of the masses know that he held the
latter position. Indeed, Mr.. Howell prates
good deal about his record, but it will require
the official register to determine his record.
Nobody seems to know that he ever had any
views on public question and if he had not told
u.s. we should never have known that he voted
with the people and against the corporations on
all the test problems that have come up.
did it ever occur to the public that man
can keep his record on straight and yet have his
heart and influence all crooked? Well 1t is true.
Some of the most dangerous politicians in this
country have voted with the people on every
anti.corporation bill, but have welded silent
influence, a decetful force that has done hun
dred times more to defeat measures IN favor OF
corporations than their votes have to pass them
in favor of the people, The mercenaries need
men of this sort, whose records must be straight
and every vote they cast must be with the peo-
pie.
''Why is it that Clarks record is correct,
and yet he manages to be the hereditary cam
didate of the Georgia machine, which is engi-
neered and energized by the mercenaries?
ITO be sure Clark is nice little man. But
Clark is not man of great mental and moral
force. He is not big and he will continue
to ride the fence and keep his record straight.
IF Hoke he will be from Atlanta, and rep.
resent the interests he has always stood for. If
Clark, he will also be from Atlanta and won't
represent anybody or thing, but will permit the
things that elected him to represent themselves.
OUR PREFERENCE.
There are one or two things that incline US
toward Smith. The first is that he is fighting
the machine, while Howell is the machine can
didate. And then, Smith is man of brains and
force and would be big governor, although his
sympathies have never been with the common
people; while Clark is nice little man who has
few sympathies of any sort and one who would
hardly know we had a governor at all. Hoke
promises to dissolve the Third House," if cleo
ted, and to run the mercenaries out of the cap
itol. Clark has been associated with them in
the capitol for years aud has never made any
effort to run the lobbyists out Indeed, it would
appear that he bad helped to foster this illegal
branch of the government and should ne turn
his hand against them now, they would simply
laugh at him. 1t requires big man to move
the Third House."
There is but one sentence in all that we
quote above that we wish to criticse and that is,
in speaking of NTH the Journal says his SYM
pathies have never been with the common peo-
ple" Editor Greer has been led into this error,
proba b1y from the fact that Hoke Smith has not
bootlicked the small politicians. His sympa-
thies have always been with the common people.
In the practice Of his profession he has always
preferred the side of the common people, often
refusing the large fees of the corporation. He
stands for the education and uplifting of the
H.