The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-01-08
CITIZEN AYCOCR
BY r. L. GRAY.

:
with a jest and a. story and the quail
ity of a courage which fascinated and
! won it's way over all obstacles. But it
is a different brand of affection a
something which the personality of d
heart has made tangible from deep
| |! zig liner sentiments which ne alone
has seemed to know how best to touch,
a kind of regard unattached to SINH
| larity of cow ction, a passionate devo-
! tion from friends. an attitude on the
| part Of his enemies seeming TO excuse
their antagonism. by argument as il
we're "in spite of the man"
Governor Aycock is 4 politician by
raIure rather than by dcSign-that is
he has those qualities which enable
him to get what he wants outside of
instead of by following the accepted
ruieS of the game. That is to say,
that he is natural ard tha he is mag
lIetic, whatever that much abused
word may mean. His honesty is of that
brand which does not know thar pol
! icy is in the book. ANA yet he is no
stranger to the complicated and scien-
I tific rules. He XIV WIS how to deal with,
politicians, hrcause he knows politics,
! Eut the point Of Ii is, that he does not
remember caution in the face of con-
viction, Ard it is there that he is po-
lit cally pre-eminent: knowing he
paths and crossways of the political
warren, he is at home in.
dealing with those who travel in
Ia circle to their destination, but
| he is not afraid Of the open. What
| he says he means; and since he does
| not run to the folly of saying every
! thing he thinks, the result is that the
! people find him Il friend without
| guile. As matter of fact, such guile as
| there is is of the simplest quality of
| discretion. 1T is there that AycocK' is,
| politically, a success, and could
| sure-enough politician simulate the
role which he plays in all frankneSs,
| ne would go up the ladder hand over
| int There is hope for that people
| whom politics is fooled into giving
| man with an open face and a Tree
| spoken mind.
The one great surprise about the
| \ycock administration arose from the
| aact that there went abroad. perhaps
rot Intentionally but none the less
! Tidely diffused on that account, an
impression that his convention deliv-
! erence on the subject of education was
/ rhetorical rather than the indication
I of a serious policy The whole State
! will remember that utterance made
| in the ringing tones of a man who
! speaks as easily AZ lac sleeps but with
| out evasion or possibility of mlScon-
! struction. 1t was made at a time
when he might be nominated or
might not be as the convention chose.
! itmet with an endorsement as il
! has rarely fallen to the lot OF any
man to receive. 1t was spoken W. Il
purity of diction and force of ex-
| preston that entitle ii to rank among
| the memorable dicta of the States his
! tory. And vet, when the smoke ot the
! campaign had drifted away and the
! pronouncement of the leader as to his
policy shouted as it had been from
] nyrnT Of n me
execution there went up a criticism
which was louder than it was represen
tative.
But the Governor went his way. He
had given notice. He had been ac-
cepted. 1t did not doubtless occv.' to
! him to go otherwise than as he had
indicated to tho convention and to the
| people. The schools had been male
| by him deliberately his central idea.
He lived up to the program ineXor-
ably. AS far as he could go, he went.
| And he has never faltered in that idea
! of progress.
AS time went on, many of the very
| people who had most enthusiastically
endorsed the man, along with the pol
! icy pre-announced by him, came to
| oppose and ridicule the very idea
upon which the man had cast his for
tunes. Educational Governor first
bestowed by enthusiastic friends, was
1t
of sarcasm. There were mutterings
of a revolt. which would send Ay
cock ito the bone yard One could
hear that he was running the party,
that he was q fanatic" that he was
running amuclI," that the State was
being run in the interests OF CLIQUE
of schOol-teachers. Nowhere did 1t
seem to be remembered that the man
had been taken "on notice" and that
he would have stutiifed himself by any
other course, And so things went I'm
til the days of the last State ConVen-
ton, when the Governor came to speak
as one giving an account 1t had been
spoken that the platform would show
the temper of the people, that the ad
ministration would get a rebuke. The !
moment when he arose was one
charged with dramatic interest.
AYcock has spoken to thousands
upon thousands of people. There was
never a more graceful orator. From
the moment that one is startled by
the fact that he talks trifie through
his nose, he wins his way with a
charm Of manner and expression that
is Well-nigh irresistible. Yet no one
who did not hear the Greensboro
speech knows aught of Aycock as an
orator. The man was on his mettle.
His eyes flashed. He looked in the face
of an opposition which commenced to /
weaken at the first words 1t was not |
an appeal; it was Justification. IT was |
unansWerable. it was eloquent. it was /
oVer-poW Wering. The conVention which |
had been a mob Incorporate of speech |
fell into silence. Gradually the cheers |
broke forth at first spasmodicaHy. |
then with a yolumn that could re
stilled only by the voice of the
speaker 1t was then and then only |
that the battle came out of the Gov
ernor's voice. One could mark the |
psychological moment when he knew |
that he had won. In an instant the |
tone of the voice which had been ring |
ing like trumpet, fell swiftly into the |
ease and grace of his usual platform |
method. The victory had been won: !
and the speech had ceased to be great |
and become musical.
1t is not often that the Governor is /
reused. For an orator he is remark |
able as a philosopher and as humor- !
st. He is an easy man. who does !
what he wants to do-easily. Yet he |
has the ability to take advice md sill !
stick to his own opinions. There is /