Evening star., 1936-07-19
CAROLINA ELECTS
Halter OF JULEPS
But Clyde Hoey, Next Gov
ernor, Otherwise Is Perfect
"Stage" Southerner.
srecial Dispatch to The Star

CHARLOTTE, N. c.. July 18. IN.
A. N. A)-North Carolina, through a
Democratic primary tantamount to
election. has just chosen for her next
Governor a suave, frock- coated. 'long-
haired and rose-lapeled politician Of
So who's an astonishing epitome OF
everything Southern statesman
ought to be. save In his profound dis
taste for mint juleps and Carolina
corn.
Clyde Roark Hoey Of Shelby, Cleve-
land County, in the heart Of the cot
ton belt, Is the candidate nominated
to excoriate the Republicans in few
gestures Of Democratic wrath this
Fall and to preside after the first OF
the year in Raleigh's mansion, the ex-
ecutive privilege of Democrats since
the reconstruction.
Able, experienced. he possesses a
flowing gift Of speech which Is the very
flower of what we mean by Southern
oratory He will probably be the most
picturesque and the most colorfully
costumed figure the State ever has
had for q governor. He should be. for
he started practicing for the governor
ship at least 50 years ago.
Was Boy Orator.
old-timers recall how the piney
eroded slopes near Shelby used to echo
with the oratory Of the lanky and en-
ergetic young Clyde Hoey. There was
no audience then save the cotton
stalks and the jaybirdA In the even
ings, in his nightshirt. he would ha-
rangue his younger brothers and sis
ters from the rostrum Of bedpost.
The Hoeys were not then one of the
first families, and a university educa-
ton was out of the question for the
boys. Young Clyde picked up his learn
ing by listening to North Carolina
political speeches, by reading all he
could, and by working in a country
print shop. In formal education. he
probably never went past the sixth
grade. Which largely explains why to-
day the problem nearest his heart is
how to expand the State public school
system and rescue the teachers from
the poverty of salaries next to the
lowest in the Union.
In the old days, when the boy ora
tor of the State was Shelby's Tom
DiXon-he later wrote The Klans-
man"-the gift of CAB was the highest
talent politically-minded young
man could develop. and Clyde Hoey
developed it as aSsiduously as
Demosthenes did with his pebbles.
He spoke everywhere. In neighbor-
ing Lincoln County he made his
speeches against an audience armed
with guns to shoot him down.
Elected at 81.
He ran fer the Legislature and was
elected at 81. deserting for only a
wear the little country newspaper OF
which he had become editor at the
age of is. He became. as an ambi-
tious young man had to become in
those days, a lawyer. He adopted
the long hair and the long coat be-
cause that was the costume Of his
profession then, and he has clung to
it despite changes in style, because,
first of ali, he really seems to like it,
and because the garb is to him a
symbol OF an achievement.
As the editor Of country paper
he learned the names and lineage Of
every country family as he trundled
by buggy over the clay roads seeking
subscriptions. The files of his paper.
25 years ago, reveal that he was one
Of the first editors hereahouts to know
the value Of pictures. In day when
cuts were expensive he jampacked
his paper with local heads and
shoulders, and he never stinted an
adjective when a lady's bridge party
might thereby be socially enhanced.
But he did not run for political
offices. That was curious, and that
is why the county and the State knew
many years ago that Clyde Hoey was
waiting, always in training. for his
chance to be Governor. He toured
the 100 counties Of North Carolina
for 80 years, campaigning for other
men. accepted an appointment to
Congress, filled out the term and de-
clined to run again. He even declined
a seat in the United States Senate q
few years ago when his brother-in-
law. former Gov. o. Max Gardner,
offered 1t to him.
Ever Present Rose in Lapel.
To get the full SAVIOR of the man. you
must have been on Shelby's Court
House Square a hundred Saturday
afternoons. This is a typical coun-
try cotton town; population. $4,000.
A tall, stopped. granite-haired man
in dark. long-tailed coat. striped trou-
sers. high shoes, blazing red four-in-
hand with stickpin, coat lapel notch
ed, with q fresh rose, descends the
rusty iron stairs of small two-story
red brick office building. On the street
and sidewalks the county has come
to town; buxon- checked country girls,
ambling farmers in store clothes, am
pie farm wives in bonnets, strong
bucks of the cotton patches with
rowing eye, business men, substantial
landlords.
They all know. the tall man and
he knows them and their grandpar-
ents.
They regard the costume as calmly
as the inevitable sunset.
"Hi, Mr.. Clyde!"
His response is never legs than q
cavalier flourish and he gets the
names right. He proceeds half a
block to the corner drug store and
offers to buy the drinks. He spins
stories. The crowd loves it, asks his
advice, borrows his money, admires
him. This is his home town, but
there is hardly crossroads village
in the State wherein he might not
stage almost the same performance.
Drinks and Votes Dry.
Still, the camaraderie of the rela-
ton seems never to be marked by
downright familiarity, for Hoey has
been a special person too long, his
manners are almost too good, he has
been so long set aside for the gover-