The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-03-31

Arnall has given Georgia the most progressive, clean-cut gov- ernment in decades.
 No one, for instance, ever thought of abOlishing the Poll Tax. Northern members of Congress have been shouting about it for years. Southern senators, in turn, had been fili- bustering against it. It was sort spot in tho federal body
 polite. But Governor ArnalI decided that the South should put it's own house in order, not be reformed by others. So last month he quietly abolished the POIl Tax.
 Arnall accomplished this mir aclc by a vote of l5l to 4l ill the Georgia House and vote of 41 to 3 ill the Senate. Sentiment againS the Poll Tax was overwhelming Of course, the legislators kn,W that Arnall had unearthed 100- year old law giving the Governor the right to remove certain meas ures from the statute books. But he never really used this threat. Perhaps one secret of his success
 is that Arnall spent large slice of his young life in the legisl- ture or in state government. He know it's members and they know him. He uses friendship rather than threats.
 REDUCES GEORGIA DEBT
 Born 37 years ago at Newman, G., Arnall was the son of Well-to- do parents. My granddaddy," he says, "gOt rich by working Ne grOes for 25 cents day" Since then, his grandson has maintained that "the negro problem is most ly economics; the balance pOliti- cal. It if not x social problem at all."
 After leaving college, Arnall entered the legislature at the age of 25, became Attorney General of the state at 30 and Governor at s.
 One of the first things Arnall did when he entered the Cover nors Mansion was to run across an old silver tea set which the state had presented to President Teddy Roosevelt in 1907 for the U. s. s. Georgia. However, the state never paid the jeWeler for the silver. And when the crew of the U. s. s. Georga heard that the jeWeler was unpaid, they said they wanted nothing to do with the tea set and returned it. For about 30 years threeafter it has sat around the Governors Mah- sion, reminder of Georgia's un- kept obligations.
 Upon taking office, Governor Arnall told the legislature that the tea set was a reflection on the good name of Georgia and he proposed that it either be given back to Cranksha, jewell CTS. or else be paid for. The legislature appropriated the money.
 That first act set the standard for most things Arnall has done since. He reduced the state debt from $36. 6.000,00 to $6, 900, and by the end of his term 1t will be retired completely. He did this. moreover, despite heavy increases in expenditures for schools and without increasing taxes.
 REVAMPS CONSTITUTION
 But perhaps the biggest local accomplishment of Governor Ar nall was streamlining the Georgia Constitution. Most people outside the south don't realize that, after the Civil War, the South adopted iron-clad constitutions to protect tn em against carpet -baggers. They had been the victims of interruptions nor h erners and negro politicians to such an ex- tent that they practically locked the treasury and threw away the key.
 The Constitution of Georgia, for instance. had been amend 3Ol times. It was unwIedly and impossible. It Just wouldn't work under modern, stream lined conditions. So Arnall per- suaded the legislature that Georgia couldn't go forward if 1t depended on the past. The Constitution has now been com pletely rewritten and passed by unanimous vote in the GeOr- gia House.
 SUPREME COURT VICTORY
 Arnall won his recent Supreme Court victory after he began