Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-06-29
LEADERSHIP SHOWN
EARLY IN CAREER.
HHE HIN NtFHAF
Rose Rapidly in Political Cir
CleS Through Various
Public Offices.
BIZ DONALD A. CRAIG.

@a many poor n0NS. whose ilNeS nave De-
gun in log cabins lonely farmhouses
aas.sor humble village homes, have seemed
> to derive strength Of mind and heart
So from the silent woods. the soil or the
SO simple life around them. and have risen
in manhood to positions Of the highest
honor and trust within the gift of
State or Nation. This is the story oi
"a poor boy whose life has been very
VS. different. He never roamed the woods
never played in the fields. never even
knew the fascinating life of his kind in
q small country town.
e.s-@ His remarkable career began in one
Of the most sordid sections of a great
city. The third floor of a city tene-
ment was his home. For playground
he had only the dirty, noisy city streets,
crowded with q striving, polyglot hu-
= manity.
g. Born in Lower East Side.
Alfred Emanuel Smith is a product
Of the lower East Side Of New York
City. Under enormous handicaps he
fought his way upward and out
IS ward. Four times he has been elected
governor Of the wealthiest and most
- populous State in the Union. and he is
today the choice of the national Demo-
cratic party for President Of the United
States
Through all the vicissitudes Of his
: varied career. at every step in his
valiant struggle 10 rise above the cir
cumStanceS in which he was placed he
has kept his smiling friendliness. That
and his native intelligence and his
80 alnfailing strength of purpose have
.-..x carried him far in his fight to attain
- the finer things and the higher places
il life.
-. He is known as the Happy Warrior
Several members Of the New York
State Assembly. one day a good many
So gears ago, IN Albany, were joking about
zs.ss boat race on the Hudson River that
So had just been won by Cornell Univer-
sity. An alert Assemblyman from New
York City with friendly, Irish counte-
- nance, was listening and enjoying the
49, fun.
-soy LAS g graduate of Yale" said one. 'T
want to congratulate the winner"
AND / want 20 offer my fluctuations
: rs graduate of Harvard" said another.
s.~a-s The listening AsSemblyman from the
sreoig city arose. His eyes sparkied and
= ne grinned with good nature.
s1s Graduate of "F. r. NJ"
And now" said he, "as a graduate
OF the Z. F. NJ, here are my congratu-
lations"
What is the 2. F. M?" demanded
several OF his colleagues.
That" responded the Assemblyman
from New York sis the Fulton Fish
Market. It's on Fulton street and East
River. I graduated from there into
politics"
Al Smith was the Assemhlynan who
made that remark He was then a
rising young Democratic leader. who
) had already made so many friends, not
only among the Democratic legislators
from his own city but among the Re-
he was beginning to be talked about
Ia remote parts Of the State as that
friendly Irishman from the East Side"
Although now IN the midst of his
fourth term as governor. and chosen by
q great national political party as its
candidate for the highest Office to
a4whicf any man may aspire in the
United States, he is still Al Smith, the
Happy Warrior.
IN New York politics you never hear
my one say, Il knew Smith when"
1T always Is, Sure, know Al Smith"
Friends Everywhere.
Gov Smith is one Of the most be-
@sl0ved and popular men who ever
a1eid Office In his home State. He is
admired for the things he has ac-
cO9nplished by many men and women
apf different political parties. Demo-
-scrats all over the United States have
expressed admiration for his political
philosophy and given practical evidence
sof their confidence in his honesty,
ability and purposes by voting for him
in the recent presidential primaries in
larger numbers than for any other
Democratic presidential aspirant.
When Smith stops TO think about II,
he is probably one of the most sur
praxed Of persons at his own remark
able rise. Just after he was elected
Governor Of New York for the first
ttfae in the Fall Of 1918. friend said
70 him:
9saw, Al. you can look forward to
being President Of the United States
before very long"
You must be crazy" said the erst-
while East Side boy.
Since then be has changed his
opinion Of the mental condition of
that friend
"a No Idea of Future.
81 have no idea what the future has
IN Etoxe for me-" he said In his last
Inaugural address. Every one else in
the United States hes some notion
about II bat myself No man could
stand before this intelligent gathering
ard say that he was not receptive 70
the greatest position the world has 10
give any one. But I can say this. that
Will do nothing 10 achieve II except
kind and character Of service that VIII
make me deserve il"
nc poor boz who has risen TO high
place from hard labor on q farm or
from lo2ly position IN a small cOun-
try t0Wn has ever been more grateful
for the opportunities which have been
given 70 nm than this boy vino has
come up from the tenements and side
walks Of New York
"Go man owes more TO his country
than ] DO" he said IN his first CAM
paign for governor NO man has been
more benefited by the free institutions
Of this State than / have"
Evil Influences Of Boyhood.
Alfred z. Smith was born and grew
up IN region where Tammany Hall
was supreme He lived in the fourth
ward and in the parish Of st. James,
which was surrounded by poverty and
vice In terrible forms He is perhaps
the FIRST man who mas reached 50 high
q place vino VAS born in the midst
of din and squalor At the time he
was born, December 80, 1873. life on
the East Side Of New York was even
greater struggle tor existence thar
u is today The signs Of hope wert
less the standard Of living lover.
But although poverty and crime en-
listed there, 1t was not all that. Those
vino know say that the vast majority
Of people Oh the East Side have been
"Cod-feafing, home loving, upright
people"
As one stands on the Manhattan enc
of Brooklyn Bridge he can survey A
Smiths nelghDofnc0d He was born 10
house almost under the bridge. ital-
lanB Jews and people Of other races anC
nsfAonalitles nningle there The neigh.