Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-26

In review of his work
sight must not be lost of
the fact that this young
fellow is very much like
lot of other young fell
lows. He likes to hear or Photo bv cIinedinst
to tell good story. He Senator
always has time for a
pleasant talk. He makes friends with all
those who come into disinterested contact
with him. He is full of enthusiasm, full of
the joy of living. He is about as far as
anybody could imagine from "highbrow"
weighty person who thinks the fate of the
universe hangs on his shoulders. When
he was at college-and this was not so
long ago-he worked off his surplus energy
by wrestling with his roommates and throw
ing them through wardrobe doors. AS a
student at the University of the South, ne
made record by managing the football
team, which travelled two thousand miles in
six days, played five games in that period,
and did not have its goal line crossed.
At college he was in the front of every
ordinary gift for organizing and managing
men. This has been his great asset through
out. He has accomplished his triumphs by
organization and made it practice to be
the man behind the gun. Until the Legis-
lature went wild with enthusiasm on the
twenty-third of last January and made him
Senator, he had never allowed his name to
be considered for any public office. He had
been contented and delighted to hover in
| the background, pulling off his thunderbolt
stunts whenever they were needed.
| When He Got Into the Fray
/ IKE LEA became practising attorney in
- Nashville in the summer of 1903, at time
when the State was ringing with the declara-
ton that the whisky and railroad interests
| dominated and owned its politics. Whether
that was true or not, or to what degree it
was true, cannot be discussed in this article;
but young Lea thought it was true and pro-
ceeded to 60 against the men credited with
doing the bidding of the railroads and the
LIQUOR magnates. He was Their twenty-four
years old, and was known to hi? fellow citi-
zens as good looking, brown haired young
man six feet two inches tall, pleasant in So
ciety and giving the impression of being sur
charged with energy and electrified by am
bition. AS f1ier in the noble art of fighting
corporations, his first performance was to
champion the cause of the Home Telephone
Company against the Cumberland Tele-
phone Company. The Home wanted fran
chise, while the Cumberland desired to enjoy
its established monopoly. After carefully
looking over the schedules, contracts, and
habits of the Cumberland, Lea decided that
the Home could do the people a world of
good. Wherefore he jumped in and won the
franchise for the Home company.
But it was not until 1906 that the people
of Tennessee recognized in him man who
had made phenomenal progress up the
Tower In that year convention was held
to nominate Governor of the State,-a
Democratic Governor; for pretty much
everything in Tennessee had been Demo-
| cratic for many decades. Lea is himself
Democrat. John 1. Cox was a candidate for
reelection; but Cox, who had filled out an
unexpired term, was the head of the State
machine" and the machine, according to
Lea, was too much under the control of the
| railroads and other corporations. The
young lawyer looked about for candidate
| to beat Cox, and hit on Malcolm R. Patter
son, of whom little was known except that
he had been a member of Congress and was
forceful platform orator. Lea came out
for him on the understanding that "pro-
gressive' policies were to be put into force,
IL. &c ~,