The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1923-03-23
J. J.W.BAILEY IS
CROWDINC 0.C.
And It Is Hard to Find a Like
" Third Candidate for
Governor
o. ]. COFFIN
Special Raleigh Correspondent of
THE INDEPENDENT.

NALElOIl, Midi IL. WV
ernor Morrison's flatfooted
denial of the reported "break"
between him and A. w. Nc
Lean will of course put stop
to this rumor going the rounds
that the Governor, peevcd by
the lack of interest shown by
the Old Guards candidate for
the apostolic succession i'll the
boat-linc, has been trying to
get Will Everett, Secretary Of
State, to make the race.
1t will not, however, delay the
suspicion that divers watchful wait
ers and others afraid to back their
sentiment against their judgment are
somewhat dubious of Mr.. McLcan's
ability to beat Josiah William Bailey.
Almost all of officialdOm Is against
Bailey, who is one of the most dis
concerting imaginable, undertaking 10
drive a mower where he did not SOW
and to bind where he has not strewn.
But officialdom naturally wants
things left rs they are, and Bailey is
a born hell-raiscr. Mclean wears
the union (Old Guard) label.
Therefore what officialdom desires
and wants the State as whole wants
may be two entirely different things.
Officialdom has worries Of its own.
anyhow; it will itself be running again
and most of it will face the stcrncst
opposition of its sweet young life.
The contest will not be decided in
Raleigh in 1924, if it has ever been.
Certainly Mr.. Bailey who says that
J. Crawford Biggs is the biggest poll
tical Jonah of his generation, will
not make one of Max Gardner's mis-
takes.
But fishing around for third can
didate is going to be indulgcd in for
several months yet. At present there
is no apparent drift in the direction
of Judge John II. Kerr, who is gem
orally understood to have been run
ming for couple Of years.
Everett will not run, although he
has been urged, even if the Cover
nor hasn't had hand in trying 10
bring him out. Other would be War
wicks have been to see Associate
Judge Walter =. Stacy of the Su-
premc Court, too; but with no sue
cess. 1t begins to look as Mcssrs.
Bailey and Mclean had prc-cmptcd
the field and that there will be no
way TO escape choosing between them.
The matter of the Lieutenant Gov
crnorship now is affording some
speculation. Will Neal Of Marion,
a member of the lower house of The
Legislature for several years, was
the matter when he left
for home. Now comes word that
Hugh Chatham Of Winston-Salcm
will be compelled to get into the race
to quiet his insistcnt friends. This.
some say, would keep Neal out. If
it doesn't, the race ought to be in
teresting, Wills large list Of personal
friends offsettins part if not all
of the Chatham prestige.
The Governor has spent the larger
part of the past week at Charlotte,
where his nephcw-in-law, c. Il. Bry-
ant, is dangerously i'll.
Supt. T.. c. Brooks is attending
a conference at Atlantic City called
by the General Education Board of
the Rockefeller Foundation in an cf-
fort to see why public education costs
so much. DR.. Brooks is one OF the
few public officials in the country
cuuipped with reverse gear and adj
vcrtent to the fact that dickens ot
a Jot of mistakes are made in the
name Of progress. lie himself has
had the brains and courage TO throw
over obligations that the State as
sumed without sufficient reason.
Some of the States with school tax
rate of around four dollars cOuld
learn something to their interest from
him.
Stacey Wade, the head Of the IN
surance Department, states that
while he isn't bothering with the fam
ily row the Dixie Fire Insurance OF
Greensboro is staging to determine
whether the Bush or the Blades fac
tions shall manage the corporation,
the women and children. C., policy
holders-must be protected. james
r. Young, former Commissioner Of
Insurance, will not say whether lie
will accept or has accepted the presi-
dcncy of the Dixie, to which lie has
been elected.