Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-09-29
.SIDELIGHTSI
ON POLITICS
By JAMES 3. NENIN.

1
| State are commenting nowadays
rather caustically upon the wretched
and uninhabitable condition of the
| Governors Mansion in Atlanta.
/ Not only is it generally agreed that
the ramshackle old barn is alto
] gether out of date. antiquated. and
/ insanely situated for the purpose it
| serves, but besides that it actually is
falling down in spotsl
Long ago the plastering overhead
in one of the bedrooms fell down with
dull and sickening thud. and a short
time before that Governor Brown,
only by nimbleness of foot and quick
| ness of eye, succeeded in jumping
1 from under a similar precipitation of
overhead ceiling in another room.
Just when the dining room may
take a tumble to itself no prophet or
on of a prophet will say, although
the hope is universal, of course, that
when it does fall. it will not bury the
Executive or Mrs. Slaton beneath the
wreck!
The Executive Mansion in Atlanta
is a joke-and not a pretty or fas-
cinating joke, at that!
| If a Governor were not sentenced
to live in it, so to speak, few of them
likely would care to do so.
To be sure, its historic and hon
orable associations are pleasant and
| inspiring things to think upon-if
| only one could sit in the Mansion and
| think upon them without being ST
| simultaneously in mortal terror that
something heavy plastery and not at
| all nice might fall upon him at any
moment and mangle him beyond rec
| ognition.
! The Executive Mansion would
make a frst-rate fourth-rate board
| ing house-maybel
1t certainly isn't much of a place
| for Governor of Georgia to reside,
Anent the Mansion. The Oglethorpe
Echo says:
A fortunate absence probably
| kept Governor and Mrs. Slaton
from being injured by falling
! plastering in the Governors Man
sion few days since It's a
! shame that as great a State as
| Georgia should not have a home
| in which her Chief Executive
| could at least reside in safety,
And there are others that say the
same thing-many of them
The death of Representative Rod
| denbery has brought forth numerous
| tentative candidates for his place in
| Congress.
! Among them are II. NJ. Mcintosh, of
Albany; Judge Frank Park, of Syl-
vester; w. w. Banks, of Triton: Ros-
! coe Luke and Judge H. W. Hopkins,
| of Townsville; w. A. Covington and
| w. c. Vereen, of Moultrie; John p
] Knight, of Nashville; John Donal-
son. of cambridge, and Jesse Perry,
! of Camilla.
And there likely will be more men
toned hereafter, as the game yet is
young!
The recent Mayoralty election in
Macon split the Legislative delega-
tions, present and past. wide open.
Wallace Miller one of the candi-
dates for Mayor, is a member Of the
House, and he was bitterly opposed
by Minter Wimberly, another mem
Der.
Senator Mcneil favored and worked
for Miller while Roland Ellis. for
mer Senator favored and worked for
smith. Walter before, a member of
the last House. was with the Miller
crowd, while Ben Fowler-where was
! Ben in that scrap, anyway?
| When the Georgia Prison Commits
sion was first made an advisory board
of pardons, its recommendations gen
orally were followed rather regularly.
| once or twice. perhaps three or four
| times, Governor Atkinson Governor
Terrell and other Executives turned
! down the recommendations of tho
| Prison Commission, sitting as a bolrd
| Of pardons. but not often Tie luIe
was to accept the findings of the
| Commission as approXimating The cor
| rect adjustment OF the particular
| problem submitted, and to let 1t go
| at that!
1t was not until Little Joe" Brown
| became Governor that the recommen-
| dations of the Commission began to
| be looked upon as little more than
| suggestive and mildly advisory to the
| Executive. And even Governor Brown
! began by following the line of action
! mapped out by the Commissioni
Nowadays, however, a recommen-
dation from the Prison Commission
| is a step in the direction the petit
| toner desires-presuming II to be fl-
vOra ble-but nothing more Govern
| Ors have come to turn down Prison
! Commission awards as one of the
| easiest things they know!
Only Saturday, for instance, Gov
| ernor Slaton turned down a major
| ity recommendation for a pardon, and
granted a life continuation instead.
| In doing that, he followed the recon-
| mendation of a minority opinion. NJ
| Governor considers any petition for
| clemency, nevertheless. unless It first
| has been thrashed out by the Com
mission.
| There is no way Of limiting a Geo.
! gia Governors discretion in the mat
| ter of clemency-the Legislature could
| not make the Prison Commissions
| recommendations binding upon the
| Governor. if it desired to. In the
matter of pardons. combinations, ana
| so forth, the Governor is final su-
| preme, and altogethe-f an arbitrary
| authority! The Constitution of the
! State gives him utterly untramme'ed
powers in that direction. And il is
] for this reason, of course, that most
| Governors are careful and discreet in
granting clemency, in any event
Governor Slatop ha < rappiVad A. In