Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1908-01-09
FOR GOVERNOR.
EDITOR ARGUS :

searching IOr q proper IOT
the Governorship, has no need to be-
come greatly concerned lest it should
fail to select an able man. Men of
ability, men of wisdom, men of loyalty
to State interests, men of character are
all around us. Since, then, there are
many of prominence to choose from,
and since it is hard to draw the line
between them, and determine which is
the ab1est, or the wisest, Or the best,
would it not be well to consider whether
or not he possibility Of faction fights
arising out of the contests between the
candidates already announced, will
cause SO much feeling between the
various Democratic forces of the State,
that the interests Of the party at large
will be materially hurt. The candi-
dates already announced are worthy of
the honor they are asking. This, every
one comedies. But already various
newspapers. in the State are giving
strong evidence of the probability of
factional and sectional feeling.
In the good old county of Wayne
lives a man whose nomination would,
in my opinion, solve the question of
sectional or factional prejudice; a man
whose ability is of the most creative
type; whose wisdom is born of practi-
cal experience on the 'gridiron" where
giants have done battle /; whose loyalty
to the interests of his party and State
hoS hnnn CTah fhot Golf nor Sn1fChnncC
has entered into it !; a man whose char
acter is unquestioned by friend or foe.
I present to the Democracy of the State
a man who needs no introduction, for
Democracy was his cradle, and is still
his abiding place-Colonel William T.
Dortch, of Goldsboro, N. C.
That he is the son of his father, VIII
liam L. Dortch, now deceased, that
grand old scion OF blue blood aristoc-
racy, who was one Of the fathers ofou
present legal system, is in itself suff-
cient to base the claim Of State recog-
milton. Before the son was old enough,
the father batt1ed for Democracy; and
i'll the dark days of Repub1icanism,
the father taught the son to fight. Side
by side they struggled, and by their
own efforts brought victory for De-
mocracy in this district, where others
failed yet father nor son have claimed
the reward that was justly theirs. The
father is gone, leaving behind him a
of battles and victories for his
party and State, and on that record, no
blot appears to ma the memory of this
great man. The son remains, and i'm
pressed on the minds of Eastern Dem
ocrats, is the recor of Col. William T.
Dortch. This, too, is a record of bat
ties and victories a record that ever
now causes Republicans, when they
remember, to quail with h revived
memories, and no blot nor blemish
mars the record of the son.
1t is not, however, because he is the
son of his father that the greatest gift
Of the State should be his. It is be-
cause the same qualities that made the
father great appear intensified in the
son. In physique, he is a perfect speci-
men of manhood, while the outlines of
his countenance portray great strength
of character. In his eyes there is al
ways the kindly glow, and the promi-
nence Of his jaws denote the determi-
nation and will-power that has carved
out for him a successful life. Though
forty-fve years old, he is still young
and vigorous What endears him to
the younger members of the legal pro-
fession is the fact that. though a terror
to the older practitioners, he is a father
and a brother to the younger lawyers
in his efforts TO pat them at their ease
and assist them in making q start.
AS q lawyer, he is aggressive in man
ner, yet courteous withal, and eloquent
in speech. When addressing a jury,
the wor Is from his lips often glide like
a smoothly flowing stream, continuing
until the thought, OF mood, converts
the stream into a dashing mountain
brook or falling cascade or tumultous
cataract. Humor is his wit comes
spontaneously; satire from his lips cuts
ike a knife. and, in cases of necessity,
%invectives wither the object upon
which they fall. Then, often I have
heard him when his voice was mellow
and pathetic when the words that fell
from his lips reached the heart of the
nearer, and caused the heart to bleed
with sympathy, and the tears to fall.
I say, without fear Of contradiction,
there is no better lawyer in the State Of
North Carolina than Col. William T.
Dortch. Eloquent, be wastes no words
in useless rhetoric. Logical, he grasps
intuitively the points that strengthen
his case, and wastes nc time upon un'
important details that others seize