The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1912-11-21
Copyright BY the International Press Bureau.)
THE GOVERNORS COUP
How a Righteous Bill Was Forced
Through the Legislature

How a Righteous Bill Was Forcet
Through the Legislature
The investigation Of the means and
ways employed in the election of 8
certain United States senator, witt
its muddle Of exposures, plots and
counterplots, has enabled the news
paper reading public to get an oc
casional glimpse of the parts that
private detectives occasionally are
asked to play in the politics of this
country. There is certain type Of
politician who is a good patron Of
certain type of detective agency.
go out and get something on this
guy" says the INSCRIPTIONS politician
to the INSCRIPTIONS detective, hand
ing him the name of political oppon.
ent.
Then the interruptions detective, OF
which, unfortunately, there are so
many in this country, proceeds in the
most interruptions manner to get
something OF" the nan who is to be
harmed. This is happening every day
in this country. rho Burns agency
never took any such business, or, for
that matter, any sort Of business
which was not entirely square and
above-board. But we have been called
into service in several political fights,
and there is no more exciting detect
i've work than when two groups of pol
iticians begin to fight one another
with the help Of investigators"
A young governor in certain state
which cannot be named had come into
office on a reform ticket. The gov
ernor / will call Braden. The state
Of which he was the chief executive
is one in which the manufacturing in
terests predominant, and up to the
time of Braden's election these inter
ests had controlled the statehouse and
what went on there as completely as
If it had been an annex to their bust
ness, which is just about what 1t was.
Sometimes the state had Republican
governor, sometimes Democrat; but
1t didn't make any difference. He was
the manufacturers governor before he
had gone far in his term of Office, and
the same was true of the state legisla-
ture.
The state house here was situated
at the top of hill, from which a
street car ran down to the business
district Of the town. At the foot OF
the hill, directly down from the main
entrance of the statehouse, was lit
tie old hotel The top floor of this
hotel was reserved year in and year
out for the lobbyists of the interests,
The state fancied that its affairs We're
administered from the noble structure
on top Of the hill; but everybody in
politics or big business knew that the
real capitol was down in the top floor
Of the old hotel at the foot Of the hill
There probably had been millions CT
dollars paid out to crooked legisla-
tors in that old building. Certainly
there had been more bills passed
down there than on the floor of the
house.
Naturally state with its affairs adj
ministered in this fashion did not
care much for the welfare of the com
mon people. The factory laws Of the
state, for instance, were about the
most backward in the country. They
were all made and passed solely for
the benefit of the manufacturers,
which, of course, made them inimical
to the interests of the workers. A
manufacturer in this state could work
a man, woman or child of any age UNI
der any conditions and for any num-
Der of hours; he was not liable for
what happened to them in his shop.
Wages consequently were low and
conditions were bad for all the work
ing people in the factories. They
were getting the worst of it in every
way, shape and manner; and so they
woke up and made fight and elected
Braden governor.
Braden was a remarkable man. He
was the son of parents who had
ground out their lives in one of the
big mills of the state He had begun
his own active existence as a boy in
one Of those same mills, beginning to
work at eleven years of age. The
mills didn't kill him, however. He
was made Of tough stuff, and at eight
cen he was working his way through
college and playing quarterback on
the football team. He came out of
college and went into a little law Office
up the state. He was a brilliant law
yer and attracted the attention Of
the interests. They sent for him and
made him one of their counsel. He
put in five years at it, then he resign
ed to fight the same interests that he
had worked for.
He settled down in one Of the big
mill towns and opened small law
Office and let it be known that he
would take any workingman's case,
no matter what it was or how small
the chance was of getting fee. He
admitted that he expected to come
near starving at this game, and he
did; but he made more friends than any
other man in the state. He began to
be the peoples leader. He was forty
two when the people suddenly discov-
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