Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-07
Sen. George Stands
At Peak Of PRESTIGE
By RALPH McGHL
Editor, the Atlanta Constitution

Editor. the Atlanta Constitution
ATLANTA.-Had 1t not been for
the oil boom In the West, Senator
Walter Franklin George might not
now be, at n years Of age, adding
daily to an already towering stature
and rendering more service to the
Nation. Had it not been for the
oil boom Of 1901 he might have
been merely a successful lawyer.
He had his degree from Mercer
University in 1900. His law degree
was obtained the next year. About
two weeks before graduation .
young struggling lawyer in Vienna.
Ga, offered to sell his practice and
a half dozen small cases he had on
his books. He was excited at the
prospect Of discovering an oil well
and wanted to sell out his law prac-
tice. Young George borrowed the
necessary $500 and, on graduation,
went right into his own ONCE.
Here we have an illustration and.
perhaps, the key to the man. The
young graduate gave to those cases
night and day preparation. He
figured the established lawyers on
the other side would not do much
homework since they would be up
against a hoy" and o beginner
who would try to compromise.
Somewhat to their dismay, when
hA Y
George reported, Ready"
Reody Every Time
He was ready, too. He won every
case he had. That made an impress
sion on the inevitable crowd which
filed the courtroom. Those were
the days when court week" was
meaningful. Lawyers rode the cir
QUITS and crowds came to listen.
The word got around that this
young fellow George was . winner.
He tried more cases that term than
any other lawyer and. while few
were important. he won them.
There Is an apocryphal story that
By 1905 the young lawyer had 20
great Q share Of the local practice
that other lawyers all had taken on
insurance a. q Sideline to make UP
their deficit in law.
Senator George Is not . genius.
He has no unusual gifts. He Is
the living illustration Of the fact
that genius is 90 per cent sweat
and work. He had 10 study hard
and work hard to be ready for q
lawsuit. But when 1t came. he was
ready.
That has been his history in the
Senate. When Walter George
speaks the galleries I'LL up. His
fellow Senators remain to hear him.
They know he will not be speaking
just to get something into the rec
ord. or for political effect. He never
speaks until he is ready" His
preparation is thorough and to the
point. He does not embellish 1t,
save that his voice has one Of those
organ-hke tones. He is content to
let the facts speak for him and to
present them in an orderly array.
The key to the mans position is
that he works at O subject until he
Is prepared-ready to present it.
He has never sought to dress UP"
anything about his life. The re-
searcher will not find in the story
Of his political career and its cam
paigns any affectation Of clothing,
such as bright colored suspenders.
an odd hat or string ties to attract
attention to him.
He has never gone out kissing
babies, humping tubs or playing
on prejudices Of race or religion.
He has never travelled with q Jug
band or q hillbilly quartet. He has
q quiet humor. but not one such
as some politicians cultivate and
employ to make people laugh and
forget what the issues are. He
speaks with carefully timed DELHI
Grafton. The effect Is that listen
ers hang. on his words, hearing
them all and following them.
The Purge Thot FoiIed
He has had serious opposition
only once since he won an over
whelming victory In 1872 10 all the
Senate seat left vacant by the death
Of Tom Watson. This opposition
was IN 1888 and k o part Of the
George legend. That was the year
the late Franklin D. Roosevelt came
to GAINESVILLE, Ca, and made talk
with Senator George present. At
the conclusion, after Q warm trib-
ute TO Senator George. he said that
II he. the President, were voting
in Georgia he would support can
didate Lawrence Camp. Senator
George. quite typically. was ready.
He stood and handed the President
. written statement which he also
delivered verbally:
Mr.. President, I regret that you
have taken this occasion to oues-
ton my Democracy and to attack
my public record. I want you to
know that I accept the challenge"
A third candidate was the late
Eugene Talmadge. 1t was a fu-
rious campaign. Senator George
conducted it with great dignity and
without any sound effects save his
own carefully presented talks. He
won. Mr.. Roosevelt's candidate,
Mr.. Camp. was third.
In o sense this was o high-water
mark in Senator Georges career
testing. He had not been in ths
State too much-a Senator has lit
tie time for that II he Is truly to
serve his State in Washington. He
had no real organization. The
strong Talmadge organization was
against him. But a grateful peo-
pie rallied to him and he was able
to defeat the machine.
His victory was a great satisfac-
ton, locally and nationally. In O
sense, that was a new peak in his
career. But the truth is, each year
has seen him make new gains. 1t