Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-07-26

have not the money to take care of this
large family and send any one of them
to college" Mr.. Smiths reply was char
acteristic of him. Send the boy to
college and 1 will pay the bills" The,
boy was sent, he was graduated and
proved an honor to his benefactor.
Send the boy to college and 1 will pay
the bills" became such common occur
renee with Mr.. Smith that numerous
successful men today owe the founda-
ton of their success to the education
which that motto brought them.
When Mr.. Smith was elected Governor
his law practice had reached the COM
Portable figure of forty thousand dollars
a year. 1t is not strange, however, to
one who knows Senator Smith that he
should have desired to leave this lucra-
tive practice to enter politics where the
reward in money is practically nil. He
does not care for the things money will
buy in the way of luxury and social po-
sition. Having acquired competency
so that he need not worry over finances
in his declining days, he sought wider
field of usefulness, an opportunity to be
Of more service than the individual in
stances he could reach. The keynote OF
1t all is his great sympathy with strug-
Cling humanity and his desire to see OPP
portunities more nearly equalized. "A
system" said Senator Smith, that aug
ments wealth and poverty at the same
time is radically wrong. / want to help
to bring about, If can, conditions that
will increase individual thriftiness and
lessen individual adversely" To this
end he works untiringly, economic and
industrial problems claiming the greater
nd of
Senator Smiths rise from obscurity
was not a mere within of tickle fortune,
but the logical, the inevitable result Of
the genius of intellect combined with a
restless energy. Nor was this result
achieved by trickery, by subtle, insidi-
Gus influence that sometimes place in
power a corrupt politician 1t was the
result tof a frank and candid appeal TO
the electorate of his state, an honest
statement of his position on the vital
questions of the day. He took the peo-
pie frankly into his confidence and told
them where he stood and what they
might expect if he was elected.
1t was theirs to accept or reject as
they liked And the people responded
by taking him into their confidence and
placing him where he is today. He is
the exponent of that progressive school
so far as possible, the machinery of
the government in the hands of the peo-
pie themselves. Time was in the good
old days when two or three party bosses
could gather in the back room of a sa-
loon, make a deal here and a deal there
and fix I'D a slate with a reasonable GER
tainty of getting away with it But
that type of politician is passing away
along with the saloon. Direct primaries,
direct Lection of senators, more publici-
ty in all things political have made the
old-time politician With his trusty
henchmen though not altogether obsc-
lete, distinctly obsolescent
This hopeful, wholesome change in af-
fairs has been brought about by the
class of men in public life.
Senator Smith is man of rare gifts
of mind and heart. He has the sturdy
self-reliance of the self-made man, the
keen, analytical mind of the lawyer.
the intellect of the student, the broad
generous sympathy of the humanitarian,
and the constructiveness of the modern
statesman He has studied much and
travelled widely. His varied career
brougt him in contact with all classes
and kinds Of people. In his remarkable
transition from the penniless, unknown
boy to the brilliant and influential SEN
ator ne mas run Ine sdmut OF human
experiences from the cold indifference
too often accorded lonely struggling
lad, to the adulation bestowed always
upon those who succeed. Poverty and
want, hard work. success, the treachery
of trusted friends, political laurels. af-
nuence flattery-all these have at some
time been his portion in his career, but
through it all he has kept his faith in
human nature, his great kindness of
heart and his genuine democracy.
sament