Inaugural address of Governor Hoke Smith, delivered before the General Assembly of Georgia, Atlanta, June 29, 1907

Inaugural Address
OF
Governor Hoke Smith
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
General Assembly of Georgia
ATLANTA, JUNE 29, 1907

Inaugural Address
OF
Governor Hoke Smith
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
General Assembly of Georgia
ATLANTA, JUNE 29, 1907

INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF
Governor Hoke Smith.
Ccn,tlcmen of the Legislature and Fellow Citizens: I take the oath of office with the purpose, God helping
and directing me, to perform every duty the office permits in the interest of the masses of the people.
But there are certain duties which have been specifically placed upon me. They have been voiced by the voters at the ballot box. They have been declared by their representatives at the Democratic convention. I accept office under solemn direction by the people to carry out the platform pledges.
vVe must not be led away to other tashs until oztr specific pledges to the people have been performed.
A government fails to reach its highest sphere if it does not protect the right of property, and at the same time constantly broaden opportunities for mental, moral and financial growth to the less fortunate.
A government by the people furnishes the only hope
for such a result. To make it sure, ballot boxes must be
pure, and legislative halls must be free from the influences of predatory wealth.
Every frank man admits that in national and State legislation more power has been exercised by the great corporations than has been consistent with the full protection of popular rights.
The time has come when it is necessary to determine whether certain favored interests of the State shall rule.

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SUPPRESS LOBBYISTS.
\Vhat has been told of hired political agents infesting legislative halls is no idle story. They have been the curse of national legislation; their influence for evil has been felt in nearly every State, and Georgia has been no exception to the rule.
The great body of the people interested in legislative matters are busy at home with their daily labors.
The hired political agent has been permitted to press his master's interest, not only by using his own personal influence, but by bringing from different parts of the State his little strikers to sit around hotels, and present in the presence of members of the Legislature, with professed impartiality, what he terms the wishes of the people, while at the same time, secretly, he is hired to defeat their inter,ests.
I believe that yoit will pass legislation to make it a crime for any attorney or agent, hired to support or oppose legislation, to discuss his client's interest in the presence of those rrho are to vote upon it, except where that discussion is at a public hearing, or with members of the Legislature ofncially named for couference.
The proposed legislation also requires that any one employed to support or appose a legislative 11ieasure must promptly enter an appearance with the Secretary of State in a book to be kept open to the public, describing the uature of his employment.
To require the entry of such an appearance is not a hardship. It is no reflection upon the honorable attorney. If his work is simply by argument to present the merits of his side, there can be no more objection to his doing so than for him to make an argument before the

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Supreme Court of the State, and he should welcome the publicity of his employment. If he seeks to influence legislation by political pull, he should be suppressed.
STOP FREE PASSES.
I urge also the passage of a bill which ,vill put an end to the free pass system between local points in Georgia.
This practice began, and was followed for a long time, \\ith but few harmful results. It has grown to be a crying e,il. It has become a means of petty political bribery.
Our common carriers have no right to charge for transportation more than a sum reasonably sufficient to pay them for their services. If some ride free, those ,vho pay must be charged sufficient rates to cover the legitimate cost of their transportation and the passage of the free pass holders.
The time has come when all should pay, and all should pay less for transportation.
The hired political agent and the free pass system are twin evils. \Vithin a few days you can make their existence impossible in Georgia.
If these laws are promptly passed, we may expect from throughout the State words of confidence and praise, inspmng us to further action in behalf of better government.
MONEY IN POLITICS AND CLEAN ELECTIONS.
The hest results from popular government can only be had \\here the individual ,oter approaches the ballot box influenced alone by a patriotic purpose to serve his country, his State and his nation.
One of the evils which has polluted elections and debauched voters has been political contributions by the great corporations and special interests. Their money

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has been giyen not to adyance principles, but to debauch character and defeat popular rights.
First the Yoters are to be bought for the candidate, and then the officeholder is to be owned because the corporation bought the yoters for him.
yery time money is usecl to buy a yote, or to hire a striker at the polls, true ideals of popular goyernment are o\erthrmYn, and somewhere the people themseh-es will suffer from it.
Alake it a crime for a corporation or special interest to contribute mo Hey to politics. JI alee it a crime to buy a 'Z'Oter or hire a stril-:er at tlze polls. Place upon e7.'ery canciidate the duty of showing, under oath, a detailed state1nent of ,.chat he spent, ho'W he spent it, and where the money came from.
\\Tith these three proYisions enacted into la\Y, a great step fonyard will be made. Then let us make elections so clean in Georgia that other States, seeing our good works, may follow our example.
CONSTITU'I'IO:c-JAL A:\IltNm,IEKT FIXING FRA:c-JCHISE
STANDARD.
I realize how difficult it will be to reach the standard for \Yhich I plead when a great number of qualified Yoters are hopelessly ignorant and purchasable. The difficulty is greatly increase<l when a class of voters has for generations inherited incapacity, and must transmit the same incapacity for generations to come.
I favor an amenclment to the Constitution of the State \Yhich will fix a new standard for the electi\e franchise.
The proposed constitutional amendment 1cill be before you. /iVith an oath fresh upon lll}' lips to support the Constitution of the United States, I fm.:or the amendment.
There is no 1:estriction upon the right of a State to fix

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the qualifications of those who may vote, except the provision of the Constitution of the United States which declares that "the right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or any State, on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude."
I have no doubt that the amendment proposed is entirely free from constitutional objection. It neither denies nor abridges the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. It only fixes certain standards which must be reached by every citizen of the United States before he can become an elector in Georgia.
If it happens that the members of some particular race lack more than others these qualifications, their inability to become voters is not "denied or abridged 01z account of" race or color, but on account of the fact that they do not possess the qualifications 'which we legally fix as Georgia's standard-the qualifications being required of all zcithout reference to race or color.
SIX CLASSES OB' VOTERS.
The proposed constitutional amendment is along the line of the Alabama law. It provides that a person to register and vote must have all the qualifications nmv required for that purpose, and also belong to some one of the six classes following:
First-All persons 0who served in any war of the United States, the Confederate States or the State of Georgia; or
Second-All persons lazvfully descended from any such soldiers; or
Third-All persons of good character who understand the duties and obligations of citi~cnslzip; or
Fourth-All persons who can read correctly and who can write correctly when read to them in the English Zan-

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the right of suffrage upon the theory of heredity, I would have yon remember that heredity is no novel ground for part1c1pation in government. It has been recognized by the St:i.tes north of the Potomac as well as those south of it as . proper reason for granting the right of suffrage, and 11 ,ve cross the ocean ancl go to nine-tenths of the countries of the ,vorhl. ,ve fine! not alone the right to participate in an election granted as a hereditary right, but we see the rulers of nations, the legislators of the greatest countries in the world, to a large extent, occupying their positions as rulers and legislators by right of heredity.
1 would not ha,e you think that I believe in the right of rule by heredity as it is recognized abroad. hut 1 do insist that precedent is too ample ancl too conclusiYC to justify an attack upon the right of suffrage based in part at least upon heredity.
TVhi 7e tlze proposed constitutional amendment meets C"uer:,' requirrnzrnt of the Co11stit11tio11 of the United States, it ,c-ill permanent!:,' preserve the electi,.e franclzz~,e to all of our citi:::c11s 7.elzo haue borne the burdens of the co11wwm1..ealth in ,lar and peace. and upon ,l"hom the burdens now rest.
It ,,ill also exclude, b:,' fair and co11stit11tio11al tests, tlzc great bulk of that class 7lho arc incompetent to govem others or even themselves.
It ,Lill protect us from dangers that would other7e,isc attend the political cfa1isio11s of the future. It ,cill insure the permanent control of the State, and of every county, nwnicipality and d11.1ision thereof, by its citizens of most i11tclligencc and character.
\\'e hole! commission from the people. Loyalty and fair dealing to them. as well as prudence and foresight for the future. unite to require the passage without delay

of the bill submitting the proposed constitutional amendment to the people for ratification.
REGULATE PRIMARIES BY LAW.
Popular government can only exist as a substantial reality where the voters are given a full opportunity to express their convictions at the ballot box.
In our State it is especially important that this opportunity should be given in our primaries. By common consent, an overwhelming majority of the people accept the verdict of the primary as conclusive.
If machine politicians are allowed to manipulate either the time or manner of holding primaries the will of the people can be defeated, and the schemes of the machine may be substituted for popular government. A common dodge is to call a primary long before an election when the issues are not before the people. No primary should be permitted more than sixty clays before the election.
I have no desire to discuss the past, but I would protect the future. Let us by legislative action fix the time for party primaries and surround them with safeguards which will guarantee in future an: opportunity for the voters to select their officeholders, untrammeled by cunning devices.
REGULATE RAILROADS AND PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANIES.
Our pledges made to the people covered legislation to promote pure popular government, and also legislation upon the great question of protecting the rights of the people in their relations with common carriers and public service corporations.
Railroad corporations and public service companies are monopolistic in their nature. It is impossible for the ordinary rule of competition to protect the rights of the public in their dealings with such companies. Railroad

11
corporations and public service corporations are given special privileges primarily that the people disconnected ,vith those companies may be benefited.
The stockholders rely upon the directors ancl officers of the corporations to protect their interests. The rights of the public must he guarded by the State in local matters, by the nation in interstate matters.
It is cspccia,l!y important at this time when many arc ready to tra11sfer all control to the National Government that the State show capacity to meet its part of the responsibility.
A:\Ir'.ND R.\ILROAD COMMISSION LAW.
\\'hile the Legislature would be authorized to act for tlie State by fixing in detail the duties of transportation companies and public senice companies, these duties are so variecl that years ago Georgia adoptecl the policy of placing the power ancl responsibility of the State upon a railroad cornmissicin. Our railroad commission law, passed more than t\yenty-five years ago, has in it so much of value which has been sustainecl by the courts, that I believe it to he the \Yise policy to perfect by amendment our present commission laws rather than to aclopt an entirely new hill covering this subject.
INCRI~ASE POWER OF COMMISSION.
The commission should require for passengers reasonable rates ancl proper schedules and depot accommodations.
The commission should require for shippers reasonable rates. and an efficient service, the control extending to the time ,vithin which cars must be furnished after application, to delivery of freight, to the construction and use of spur or sicle tracks, to shifting and interchanging cars in railroad yards and terminals, to freedom from partiality

12
in all service, and to the payment of overcharges and 5]10rtages, It should superyise the pay and hours of service of telegraph operators and train dispatchers. It should direct the form of keeping accounts by these corporations. It should cover every condition where the officers and agents of the public carrier may fail in duty to the public.
Power must be given the commission to prevent the issue of watered stocks and bonds, and to require the money obtained from stock and bond issues invested in the properties of the corporations issuing them.
The commission must be given power to protect the public in every relation where they should be served by transportation companies.
\\'hile the rates charged for freight and passenger transportation should be controlled, the character of service given is of the utmost importance.
CONTROL OVBR RATES.
The great problem of local freight and passenger rates is one for regulation by the State. It is for the State through its duly constituted authorities to fix the policy of the State, determining what percentages of profits arc to be earned by transportation and public senice companies.
The authority of the State has no limit as to local rates, except that which is found in the Constitution of the United States, providing that property shall not be taken without due process of law.
The railroad commission, using the facilities given to it by law, investigates the facts with reference to freight and passenger rates. The members well understand that the property of the railroads is not to be confiscated. Far from taking the property of the railroads without clue process of law, they determine that the rates which they fix are reasonable and just, having in view the invest-

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,)
,)

ments of stockholders in railroad properties, the policy of the State to encourage railroad building, and the rights of the public to be protected against excessive and improper charges.
The action of the railroad commission takes the place of an Act of the Legislature of the State of Georgia and becomes the solemn decision of the State, through its duly constituted authority. It is a serious proposition for a judge to assume the prmince of setting up his judgment against such a finding.

Jl:DICIAL mn;Rl;l(RENCl~.

The time must come \\'lien the conrts \\ ill cease to grant

temporary restrainin;:; order,; i11tedcri11;~ \',ith the au-

th, ,rity , ,f the Stale in these rnattn.,. 'l'licre is no broad

question ,1f b\\' upon \Yhich the cmirts could rest their

interference \I itl1 the actiun of a railrnacl commission.

The cases 11111st tnrn up1 n1 questions of fact, and surely

the f1Jl(li11g., of a commissirm upon the facts deserve the

respcd nf a court until a final hearing satisfies the court

that the commission ha5 misunclerstood the facts.

Tlzc finding of a mi/roar! commission should not br

wspcncfrd by tlzc ex pa,fe afftricn-it of a r11i!rr1acl officer.

Tlzc actual trial ()fa

rate is !he best way ta

1!,tcnninc its cti'rct. it ,/iou[d prm;c lo be un_iust to

t!z,, railroad co1/lpany, the;<' should still'bc no occasion for

th,, c'o11rl lo interfere. T!z,, railroad rnmnzission should

1,' rclil'cl 11pun, after a fair trial, lo modi{, ,1 rate, if the

i'it.",' f'r/lzcd to lie improp,'l'.

\ \'hen the courts realize the responsibility which they

a0 ,u111e hy interiering thrnugh re~trai11i11g orders with the

,a1.'ti 1n of the State. the ofticers of railroad companies will

rc<;ze the respect due to tile State, and will present their

, 1e".1:- ,, the railroacl cornmi,sic111, and conferences will

be fr:'.'.,,1,:ecl bv harmonious :-e:ations.

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'I'he railroad commission should be reasonable and just

to the railroads, but if the railroads persist in an attitude

of stubborn litigiousness, they can hardly expect a con-

tinuation of gifts from the State. If the railroads are

injured by resisting the authority of the State, if they

suffer in consequence, the fault will rest upon their mis-

guicled officials and must not be chargeable to the State of

Georgia.

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EXTEN'l' OF STA'I' S PO\\'R.

By exercising the authority I ha\e outlined, the State is still at but the threshold of its pO\nr. I can not better indicate this than by quoting from a letter of Robert Toombs', recently republished in TVa/son's TVcclcly Jeffersonian.
"1st. \Ve have the right of Eminent Domain; the right to take all railroads for public use when the public interests demand it. by paying just compensation.
"2d. The right of legislatiye repeal of all charters created or rene\ved since January r, 1863.
"3d. The right to forfeit by judicial judgment all charters in the State for violation of the same. These corporations move and live and ha\e their being in daily violation of the Constitution and la\\'s of tlie land, many of which are legal grounds of forfeiture. '['his remedy ought no\v to be ,applied."
I do not urge that procedure be 110,u lxg,1111 to forfeit railroad charters, but I ,l'arn tlzc 111c11 in charge of these
uc- properties not to defy tlze consc1'1atfr:c cf,,1na11ds liOZc'
in,g made upon them.

DUTY OF GOVERNOR.

I believe it the part of wi~dom to all,i\\' your chief executive to carry a foll share of responsibility for the work of the commission. This was the plan of the original bill and it is the plan of tl1e proposed law.

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If the railroads continue the policy of appealing to the courts when the commission acts, the State must resist these suits with just as much force and power as the railroad companies bring to their support.
[t is utterly impossible for the Attorney-General to meet alone the swarm of la\\yers and hosts of witnesses that ,viii be brought forward by the transportation companies and public service companies when litigation is precipitated. \\'e must give to the Attorney-General and counsel associated with him every possible aid.
\\'e must, if necessary, employ experts to meet the railroad experts. I believe it to be part of the duty of the Governor to render all possible assistance in supporting decisions of the commission.
I shall expect the railroad commissioners to give their time intelligently and unitedly to the \\ork of meeting any attack ,vhich may he brought by the railroad compawies. I ask you to support the commission ,vith any funds that may be required to conduct the side of the people as intelligently and forcefully as the side of the railroad is conducted.
:\ railroad commissioner who can not unite ,vith his associates in a vigorous resistance to any attack made upon the commission's findings owes it to the State to retire from the position \\hich he holds. The law authorizes the Governor to suspend a commissioner. A suspension by the Governor in no sense invohes the idea that the cornmissioner has committed an impeachable offense.
ff the 7ic",,s of a co1111llissio11cr arc so hostile to the ,uorh of tlzc 111ajority that he is not ill a position to help sustain t/zc action of the commission. his presence upon the co1111nissio11 7('011/d be a hi11dra11cc to effective service, alld it zco11ld be the duty of tlzc Gu..cnzor to suspend him.

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WES'l'ERN & ATL.\~'l'IC EXTENSION.
The platform adopted at :Macon calls attention to the fact that the Act under which the \Vestern & Atlantic Railroad was built contemplated its ultimate extension to the sea. It also declares that the time has now arrived for the General Assembly to seriously consider the question of 111aki11g the extension.
I co111111e1 l'. 1 th is suggestion to your careful considera1i1111. I l>clien: the ownership of the State road to be a thin;.; 11i great \alue to the people of Georgia, not only on accuuut of its capacity to produce an income, but on accm111t of the influence it may have upon the future regulation of transportation questions.
If it can be extenclecl to the sea at one or more points, I have no doubt the itwestrncnt would be profitable, and its Yalue to the people as a whole greatly increased. I trust that you may be able to present a satisfa..:tory plar, for the completion of the road.
RAILROAD l~~IPLOYJ<;E;S.
The State owes a duty to the faithful men who di,:charge the labor for railroad and public senice companies. I agree ,vith the ,iew expressed by Presideu'. Roosevelt that it is unjust 11hen an employee loses !in:'.; ,r life to place the entire loss upon him or his family. in the class of cases called mere accidents. Especially is ;: unjust to free the corporation from the liability in tho,e ,.:ases cle fended upon the ground that the employee kne1v oi the negligence of the cnmpany ancl assumed the risk ,,f such negligence. _\n employee may know of the exstence of a cleicct, kno,D1 abo to his superior officer. He ,:t,l 1wt afford to quit \York. nor can the public affon: ,--,
h;n-e him quit. 1'o deprive liim in case of injury ni ~;:t t:~::n r,-, recoyer i~ a rnle so harsh that it is only ckfr:1,'":'d
,:y:;:1 he theory ,,f n,ececlem.

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In some States the courts are breaking away from this prececlept. In some States the courts are being relieved of the precedent by statute. This se\'ere rule has received approval in section 2612 of the Code of 1895. I trust that by statute this wrong may be stopped, and that this section of the Code of Georgia may be repealed.
_:\nother rule has grown up in our State which requires the presiding juclge to charge that an employee to recover must be "absolutely free from fault," and that if the employee is guilty of negligence, "however slight," his reC(ffery is defeated.
This extreme rule is peculiar to Georgia. I recommend that it be changed, and that only negligence which amounts to lack of ordinary care be permitted to defeat reco\ery by an employee.
LIQUOR LEGISL-'\TION.
For a long time the State of Georgia has adhered to the policy of local option applied to the sale of liquor. All restrictive liquor laws arouse intense feeling. As the enforcement of the laws depends largely upon the sentiment in the counties in which they are to he enforced, we ha\e permitted the voters of each county to clecicle what shoulcl be the policy of their county..
\Vhile my sympathies. in a local election are with those who oppose the sale of liquor, for the present local option may furnish the best plan for controlling the liquor traffic.
But after the people of a county vote liquor out, it is ,wt fair to permit the daily inpouring of liquors by jug trains.
Our platform demands that the dry counties of Georgia be kept dry. I cordially fm/or legislation to accomplis!z this result, and I believe it possible to restrain to a great extCllt the use of liquors shipped from outside the State.

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I suggest also the propriety of making the operation of a "blind tiger" a felony.
EDUCATION.
The chief object of government should be to prevent special privileges and to give to all equal rights and opporturnt1es. To this the men and ,vomen of Georgia are entitlrd, ancl you are preparing legislation which insures it to them.
The relation of the State to the children goes much further. It is the duty of the State to see that the children are gi,en an opportunity for all preparation \Yhich their probable life \York requires.
Education from books alone is not always of much ,alue. It should be accompanied with practical training, having in Yiew the future of the child.
NEGRO CHILDREN.
Let me refer to the negro children in this connection. Any plan for the negToes which fails to recognize the difference bet,veen the white and black races will fail. The honest student of history knows that the negro had full opportunity for generations to de,elop before the days of slaYery; that the negro race was imprmed by slavery, and that the majority of the negroes in this State have ceased to improve since slavery. Few have been helped by learning from hooks. All have been helped who have been taught or made to work.
It is not the difference of environment; it is the difference of race, deep-seated, inherited for generations and generations through hundreds of years.
Tlzc large majority of nrgrors are incapablr of a1111thi11g but 11ia1wal labor, and manry taught from books spurn labor a11d live in idle11rss. Fe-uJ negrors are willing to worf,; bno11d the procurcmrnt of the hardest necessities of life.

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The negro child should be taught manual labor and how to live. The negro teacher should be selected less by boo/;; than by character examinationi. The negro school to be useful needs less books and more work. I favor a complete change in the examination of teachers for the negro schools, and for them a different plan of 111a11age1ne1zt; I would have the schools help the negro, not injure him.
I will not discuss the subject more fully at present, but I wish to be distinctly understood. I seek the intelligent treatment of the negro, and to that end the radical difference bet\veen the white and negro races must be kept 111 view.
Racial differences can not be overcome by misguided philanthropists. They should not be disregarded by us, however much criticism may come from any source upon us.
RESPECT THE LAW.
Dut no one should suppose that superiority justifies cruelty. \Vhile every caution should be had to prevent crime, while the white men of the various localities of the State should know and apprehend any idle, unidentified negro who appears in a locality, punishment for crime belongs to the law. The man who breaks the law to punish a criminal is himself a criminal, and I ask the people of the State to help me preserve law and order. There is no place in Georgia for riots and mobs.
It is the duty of the Governor to exhaust the power of his office to prevent lynching, and I shall perform this duty.
I go further, in full knowledge of the superiority of the ,vhite race, I recognize the duty of the white man to be absolutely just; yes, he should be kind to the negro. The white man should exercise a controlling direction tempered with kindness over the negro.

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WHITE CHILDREN.
The white children of Georgia are prepared for the highest development; but I do not mean by this that they will necessarily obtain it through literary ancl classical studies.
Por them it is at this time most important to improve the manual trai11i1z,g and agricultural schools, and tlzc rural schools. Tith a 'uic,u to progress, I ask you to consider the 1llzorgani,~ed condition of the edircatimzal wor!? of Georgia.
UNIVERSl'I'Y AND BRANCHES.
The Constitution of the State of Georgia limits the right of taxation for educational purposes to the University of Georgia, and to elementary branches of an English education. As a result of this provision, the School of Technology, the State College of Agriculture, the State Normal College, the Georgia N on11al ancl Industrial College at Milledgeville, the :'.'forth Georgia Agricultural and 1'Jechanical College at Dahlonega, the eleven district agricultural schools ancl the Georgia Industrial School for negroes are classed as branches of the University. The lJniversity proper is the classical college at Athens. This college has a board of trustees, called the trustees of the University. The branches have each a separate board of trustees, but are also placed under the trustees of the University, ,vho are trustees primarily of the classical college at Athens, one of the di visions of the University.
Ought not these separate institutions to be freed from the control of the trustees who are especially charged with the responsibility for the classical college at Athens? One way to accomplish this result would be by a constitutional amendment, giving the Legislature the right to tax directly, without reference to the University, for the sup-

21
port of these various institutions. Another would be to make the trustees of the classical college at Athens, termed the University trustees, a local board for that institution just as each of the other boards is a local board for a particular institution. Then create a new board, termed regents of the University, connected with no local institution, but having general supervision over all the branches of the University.
The necessity for action upon one of these two lines is the greater, since the State College of Agriculture has been located in Athens. I am deeply interested in this college.
COLLEGE OF AGRICl:LTURE.
For years there has been nominally a State College of Agriculture, but entirely d,yarfed by the university proper. I did not approve the location of the agricultural college at Athens. I thought it should have been placed at Griffin with the experiment station, but the location has been made. The grounds purchased, through the liberality of 1\Ir. Peabody, are ample and splendidly suited for the work, and the contract has been let for buildings which will cost over $90,000.
I am convinced that it is impracticable to conduct this college successfully with a local board under the supervision of the trustees, ,Yhose work primarily has connection with the University proper, or the classical branch of the University.
There is much in the record of the University proper to inspire pride on the part of Georgians; many of our great men, who made Georgia's history, graduated there. I wish to see it grow, furnished with ample money, made the pride of every citizen of the State, but its management must be changed. It must be brought closer to the

22
people to justify the hope of a future so much to be desired.
I can not claim to have matured a plan of reorganization to which I am entirely wedded, but a change will help the University and make the College of Agriculture.
As the State College of Agriculture is now permanently located in Athens, a question for serious consideration is: "Should not the Experiment Station be moved to it?"
EXPERIJ\LE;NT STATION FOR SOUTH GEORGIA.
The land of South Georgia is so different from that of North and Middle Georgia that I urge the establishment of a branch experiment station in South Georgia alongside of one of our agricultural schools, or else by a South Georgia normal school.
The State College of Agriculture should not be limited in its \\ork to students at Athens. It should conduct extension ,vork all over the State by exhibits ancl meetings, at which may gather those already engaged in farming, that the results of the experiments may at once be available to the people.
From this college, couplecl with the experiment station, more immediate returns can be obtained for the State than from any other institution.
Agriculture is the chief source of our prosperity and wealth. A properly managed agricultural college working with the district schools, the rural schools, and those now engaged in fanning, can revolutionize our present methods and immensely increase the net profits from agriculture. This is no new subject. I pressed it upon the State Agricultural Society at Quitman eight years ago.
\Vhen I think what the people of the State have lost by the way agricultural education has been neglected during the past years at Athens while the :'.VIorrell fund

23
has been usecl for classical instruction, I almost lose patience.
The School of Technology is already a great success and must be supported.
NORMAL \VORK.
Good normal work is being clone at Athens and at :\filledgeville. You can not have good common schools unless you have ample normal facilities. The normal school work of Georgia should be extended and improved.
It might be well to make the school at Dahlonega and the school at l\filledgeville distinctively normal schools, and aclcl also a fourth school in South Georgia.
DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.
The elenn district agricultural schools form a large undertaking. It will be difficult to find suitable instructors prepared for the practical work to be clone in these schools. It would have been easier to start with a few, and increase the number of schools as we were prepared better to handle them, but the eleven have been begun and now the thing for us to do is, recognizing the difficulty that confronts us, manfully to struggle for their complete success. I believe the money will be ready to meet their legitimate expenses, and they will receive from me loyal and zealous support.
TIIE RURAL SCHOOLS.
The common school system of Georgia finds at its head a State School Commissioner with a board of education not composed of educators, and giving little direction to the ,vork. I cordially commend the recommendation of the teachers of Georgia that a board of education should be created at the head of our common school system for the State composed of men trained as educators,

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men who understand the wants of the common schools, and ,vho will help improve them.
In the cities and towns our common schools are nearly everywhere under the municipal government. Our rural schools are without this direction.
The rural schools of each county in the State will depend largely for their success upon the ,vork of the county school commissioner. He should be a trained teacher. He should be prepared to train the teachers under him. He should give his entire time to the work, and be paid enough to afford to do so.
I do not mean to urge that all of the county school commissioners ,vho are not trained teachers should be dropped, but I belie,e that trained teachers should be elected county school commissioners as rapidly as possible.
It is absolutely necessary that the State should train the teachers for the rural schools.
Into the rural schools must be introduced nature study and primary agriculture. This \\ork to be successfully conducted must receive aid from the State, first, by adding agricultural departments to every normal school in the State in which the future teacher may be taught how to teach primary agriculture, and then directions in the shape of leaflets and pamphlets must issue from the State College of Agriculture, and be distributed among the rural school teachers, from time to time, to aid and guide them .in their work.
TRAIN THB WHITB CHILDRJ:N TO MEET LIFE'S RESPONSI-
BILITIES.
I long to see manual training introduced into the schools of the cities and to,vns in the State. The great educational work ,vhich Georgia should do for her children is not that they may be able to read and loaf, but

25
that they may be able to think and act. 'vVe must train the boys and girls of Georgia so that they can meet the responsibilities of life, so that they can use the resources which God has given us, so that they can surround themselves with comfort and build the State for themselves and their children.
I would have the boys and girls of Georgia furnished an opportunity to make useful men and women. Nearly every white child of the tenant farmer and nearly every white child of the poorest clay laborer carries in his veins the blood of a revolutionary hero. He has the foundation on which to build a manhood unsurpassed in capacity and usefulness. \Ve must not permit this germ of greatness to be smothered by lack of opportunity.
But, yoii may ask, how is the 11ioney to be raised? I have no objection to gifts froni outside the State, but finally we must depend upon ourselves. We must not only willingly but joyfully tax ourselves for this great zi.Jork.
The cities and municipalities leYy a local tax for their schools. The rural districts, when they really see good schools can be obtained, will readily follow the same course.
The State, although it now contributes liberally to educational work, can largely increase its present appropriation.
\Ve must require the corporations in Georgia to pay their just taxes. \i\Te must equalize taxation among all the people of Georgia. \Vho will object to paying taxes when he real-izes that the money is to be intelligently spent for the children of the State? Instead of a burden, it should be a great privilege to help in so noble a cause.
The State now raises from direct and indirect taxation. from rent of the State railroad, and from the lease of

26
convicts $4,500,000 a year. Of this amount, last year, $r,ooo,ooo went to pensions and to various contributions for the old soldiers; $400,000 to eleemosynary institutions; $400,000 to interest and principal of the State's debt; $360,000 went back to the counties for the hire of convicts; $340,000 to the general expenses of the State, and $2,000,000 to educational ,vork in the State. I do not give exact but approximate figures.
Georgia appropriates more money for her old soldien: than any other State in the South. The money is freely contributed and is well spent.
Our eleemosynary institutions ought not to require more money than they are now receiving. Our general expenses need not be made larger. Practically all of our increase in the shape of State revenue can be devoted to the children of the State.
SHOULD PAY TEACHERS PROMPTLY.
The problem of handling our educational interests would be easy, but for the fact that the State is $r,250,ooo behind in paying its appropriations to the common schools. It is further behind now than ever before at this period of the year. But for this, I would with enthusiasm contemplate the immediate progress of our educational institutions.
I maintain that Georgia can not afford to leave her teachers without prompt payment. I earnestly hope that we can find a way to accomplish this prompt payment.
I wish to see the business affairs of the State brought to as accurate a standing as that of the best managed financial institution in Georgia.
I regret to say that the most accurate information obtainable from the office of the State Treasurer indicates that after using all money collected between this and January rst, next, we will lack over $200,000 of meeting

27
the appropriations required to be paid this year, and besides this we will owe $50,000 on the State College of Agriculture, appropriated last year, but payable next year.
This $250,000 about represents the amount which the State has annually for several years failed to collect from corporations which can properly be classed as tax dodgers, and which I believe from this on they will be made to pay.
There are other subjects ,Yhich I would be pleased to discuss, but I desire to raise no new, unnecessary issues at present. The reforms with which we are specially charged are entitled to first consideration. To them immediately we will give our best thought with the earnest purpose to serye those who placed us here to represent them.
Ours is a great State. The people make the State. To receive tkeir confidence is an inspiration. VI/e will lay aside all other plans, and, moveci' by a great unselfish love, we will seek to serve the Georgians of to-day and the children who must make the Georgia of the future.
May God help us to meet the responsibilities which are upon us.