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THE Atlanta _Constitution_ came into being in the seething chaos of
reconstruction. The name suggests the issue of which it was born and the
cause which gave it life and strength at the beginning of its career.
Georgia was being reconstructed under military supervision, against the
will of a vast majority of the people, and there was no journal
published in Atlanta which gave adequate expression to the sentiment of
a million people. The old _Intelligencer_, which had been the clarion of
war times, was no longer equal to the emergency. It had bravely breasted
the storm of war, dodging about between bomb-shells and issuing forth
defiant, one day in one town and one day in another, sometimes even
setting up its press in a box car. But for the more trying times of
reconstruction it was not adequate. The fiery tone and dauntless
attitude were gone and it began to counsel for the things that were.
While the people were idolizing Ben Hill for his superb defiance and
applauding the unreconstructed and unterrified Toombs, there was no
paper to voice the deep and unconquerable sentiment against
reconstruction and for the re-establishment of the State constitution.
It was then that the _Constitution_ appeared. When Messrs. W. A.
Hemphill and J. H. Anderson bought a little sheet called _Public
Opinion_, and put Colonel Carey Styles in charge as editor, he named it
_The Constitution_, and the name became its shibboleth and its issue.
The editor was a bold and fearless writer and a fiery and impetuous
orator. His editorials glowed with defiance of the reconstructionists,
and his speeches were iridescent with burning denunciation. Writing and
speaking on the side of the people, he made the paper immensely popular,
and the enterprise of the proprietors kept it rolling on the crest of
the tide.
From the first the _Constitution_ was a more enterprising news-gatherer
than any of its contemporaries. It was the first to employ special
correspondents in all parts of the State and the South. The system which
has since become comprehensive and well-nigh perfect was then in its
beginning, but it was something new in Georgia, and attracted attention.
It was in this way that Mr. Grady was employed to go with the press
excursion which passed through North Georgia, looking and writing to the
development of the resources of the State, and his “King Hans” letters
on that trip gave the first news from the important points of the
excursion.
In those early days the _Constitution_ was not without literary
attractions. The associate editor with Colonel Styles was Mayor J. R.
Barrick, a genial gentleman, much beloved by his acquaintances and known
to the public as a scholar and poet. He had been a _protégé_ of George
D. Prentice, who had recognized in the young man literary talent of no
common order.
In those days editorials were of the first importance. The State was
being reconstituted, and great questions that went down to the
foundations of government were being discussed. The orators of the day
were Ben Hill, Toombs, Alexander Stephens, and scores of lesser but not
inconsiderable lights. Speeches were matters of vital importance to
newspapers and the public, and the leading orators were always
stenographically reported. The modern synopsis would not then suffice.
There were giants in those days, and the people hung upon their words;
their utterances must be given in full. Editorials must rise to the same
level, and great questions must be handled with the same dignity and
earnestness. Men were not too busy to think and read, and they demanded
mental pabulum that was strong and rich. Talent was at a premium, and
its services easily commanded good pay. The owners of the _Constitution_
were the first to realize the priceless value of Mr. Grady’s genius, and
when he was yet a college boy under age, Mr. Hemphill, who had lived in
Athens, where Mr. Grady grew up, made his guardian a proposition to buy
an interest in the _Constitution_ for Mr. Grady on condition that he
should take the position of managing editor. From then until Captain
Howell employed him in 1876, the _Constitution_ never lost sight of Mr.
Grady. While attending the University of Virginia he contributed to the
paper, and on his return he was engaged by the editor to represent the
_Constitution_ on the press excursion referred to above.
The mechanical appliances of Southern newspapers at that time were
vastly out of proportion to the matter then carried. The _Constitution_
was born and swaddled in a store-room on Alabama Street. It was a long
room with a skylight, and printer’s cases were arranged along the wall
on either side. In front was the business office, and in one corner a
little room was partitioned off for the editors. There was a freemasonry
between printers and editors, and the whole force glowed with enthusiasm
for the cause which was epitomized in the paper’s name.
After reconstruction became a fact the State swarmed with aliens, and
the people were goaded to fury under negro and carpet-bag government.
The Capitol was infested with unknown men suddenly thrust into power,
and they carried extravagant measures with a high hand. A Republican
Governor was in office, and the venerable Secretary of State, Colonel
N.C. Barnet, lately deceased, had gone out, carrying with him the great
seal of the State, which he refused to allow affixed to any official act
of men ushered into office by the military authorities. The State was
involved in lottery schemes and loaded down with railroad bonds on which
Treasurer Angier, a sturdy Republican, had refused to put his signature.
The sessions of the Legislature were held in a great opera house sold to
the State by private parties for an enormous price. In the building was
a restaurant, confectionery shop, and velocipede rink. It was a scene
decried, and the proceedings of the Legislature were daily denounced by
the press and people. Among the boldest and most scathing critics of
those disgraceful transactions was the _Constitution_, and its editor in
his public speeches smote the participants hip and thigh. The fight was
on for the redemption of the State, and it was waged without ceasing
till the yoke was thrown off and a Democratic Governor was elected in
1872. In all that fight the _Constitution_ was the leading newspaper,
and from the beginning the battle was waged with the uncompromising
fervor that had characterized its opposition to the reconstructionists.
In both these contests it was with the people, and in its columns they
found free and full expression. The bitterness of those days has died
out, and many of the sturdiest opponents have become friends;
differences of judgment have long since been allowed admissible, but the
friendships cemented in the heat of those contests are deep and abiding,
and for its gallant services then the _Constitution_ is still endeared
to the people of Georgia.
With the redemption of the State from negro and carpet-bag rule, there
was no local political issue of transcendent importance. The State was
safe, and people began to look about and take account of what was left
from the wreck of war and reconstruction. The country was in a
deplorable condition, and its rehabilitation almost a work of despair.
In the midst Atlanta had begun to rise out of the ashes, and the brave
spirits that gathered here had already made a name for the new city,
which began to be looked upon as something more than a Phoenix; but all
around was desolation. The plantations were in a deplorable condition,
fences were rotting, and houses were going to decay. The first flush
times of peace and greenbacks had passed, and the panic of 1873 left
every interest depressed. It was then that the effects of war and waste
were fully felt, and then that the stoutest hearts were tried. Labor was
restless and hard to control, the planter was out of funds and interest
was high, real estate outside a few favored localities was depreciating,
and the farmers were almost at the point of desperation.
In all this hopelessness there were a few hopeful spirits, here and
there one that could chirp. The hot days of politics were past and the
newspapers must look to other fields. The _Constitution_ was the first
to look to the development of the State’s resources as the new
opportunity for journalistic enterprise. This was a reconstruction in
which the people could take part; the _Constitution_ had fought the one,
it would lead the other. From that time until now development has been
the _Constitution’s_ most important mission, and in that field its most
earnest efforts have been put forth. Constructive journalism was a new
thing, and the _Constitution_ became the pioneer. Men might differ on
matters of public policy, but no one could afford to differ with a
newspaper devoted to building up its environment, its city, State, and
section.
Here in Atlanta the effect of this new policy was first felt, and here
are its richest results; but helpfulness is contagious, and everywhere
the _Constitution_ touched there was a better feeling, and on account of
that feeling it touched farther and farther. Coupling with this
constructive policy a news system of unprecedented thoroughness, the
_Constitution_ became inseparably connected with the life of the people.
It was in touch with them everywhere in Georgia and the surrounding
States, and finally its beneficent influence spread throughout the whole
South, inspiring, encouraging, building up. While some old statesmen
were conducting in its columns a discussion as to whether Georgia was
growing richer or poorer, the policy of repair was unremittingly
pursued; and before the death of Alexander Stephens, who had cried out
that the State was going to decay, the signs of new life had already
appeared and people began to talk about a New South.
The New South sprang from the scions of the old, and everywhere
Confederate soldiers were leaders in this upbuilding. While they
cherished the relics of by-gone valor and continued to keep the graves
of their dead comrades green, they looked hopefully to the future and
strove to lay the foundations of new greatness and future influence in
the restored Union. This was the key-note of the most enlightened press,
led by the _Constitution_, whose editor, Capt. Howell, was a Confederate
soldier.
There came an interesting period of rivalry in this good work when Mr.
Grady dashed into the arena. With the impulsive Alston he took charge of
the Atlanta _Herald_ in 1873, and for two years it was warm in Atlanta.
Colonel J. W. Avery, who succeeded Barrick as editor of the
_Constitution_, had gone over to the _Herald_, and Colonel E. Y. Clarke,
who had bought out Mr. Anderson, was editor of the _Constitution_, while
Mr. Hemphill remained business manager, a position he has filled without
intermission since the birth of the paper. He and Colonel Clarke had
already built the old _Constitution_ building on Broad Street. Mr. Grady
was making the _Herald_ one of the brightest papers ever published in
Atlanta, and there were several other dailies in the field. The old
_Intelligencer_ had passed away, and in its place had come the _Sun_, a
Democratic paper edited by Alexander Stephens. _The New Era_, a
scholarly Republican paper, was edited by Colonel William L. Scruggs,
now Minister Plenipotentiary to Venezuela, and _The True Georgian_,
another Republican paper, was edited by Sam Bard, a rugged product of
those times. When the _Herald_ came into this field there were five
morning dailies in Atlanta. From the first the contest for supremacy was
between the _Constitution_ and the _Herald_. With Georgia Republicanism,
the Republican papers passed out of existence, and the _Sun_ soon
followed, leaving only the _Constitution_ and the _Herald_. In 1875 the
fight between the two papers became desperate. There was no morning
train on the Macon and Western road, and both papers wanted to reach
middle Georgia. The result was that both ran special engines every
morning from Atlanta to Macon, a distance of 104 miles. The expense of
these engines absorbed the entire receipts of both papers, and left them
to borrow money to pay ordinary expenses. The engines carried not over a
thousand papers.
During the month that this fight for existence endured there were many
exciting scenes. Both papers went to press about four o’clock, and it
was a race to the depot every morning. The paper which got there first
was given the main line first, and the day’s sales depended largely on
the quickness of the cart-boys.
The contest was spirited but short. Both papers were heavily involved,
and it was a question of endurance. The _Constitution_ had almost
reached the end of its row when a mortgage was foreclosed on the
_Herald_. The _Constitution_ survived with a heavy debt. In 1872 Mr. N.
P. T. Finch had bought an interest in the paper, and after the failure
of the _Herald_ Mr. Clarke retired and Mr. Finch became editor. In 1876
Captain E. P. Howell, who had had some experience in journalism as city
editor of the _Intelligencer_ in its most vigorous days, and had since
accumulated some property in the practice of law, bought with his
brother Albert a half interest in the _Constitution_, and took the
position of editor-in-chief, which he has held ever since. About the
first thing Captain Howell did was to employ Mr. Grady, and the next day
he secured Joel Chandler Harris. With this incomparable trio, associated
with Mr. Finch, the paper began editorially a new life. The remnant of
debts incurred in the fight with the _Herald_ was soon wiped out, and
from that day the _Constitution_ has enjoyed unbroken prosperity.
Strongly equipped all around, the _Constitution_ enlarged and
intensified its operations. The campaign of 1876 was on, and Mr. Grady
was sent to Florida, where he unearthed and exposed the ugly transaction
by which the electoral vote of that State was given to Hayes. The whole
nation hung upon the result with breathless interest, and newspapers
were willing to pay any price for the news. The _Constitution_ and the
New York _Herald_ were the first to unearth the fraud. On such occasions
the _Constitution_ always had the news, and soon came to be looked upon
as the most enterprising paper in the South.
With the inauguration of Hayes the South turned away from politics in
disgust, and then it was that the _Constitution_ gave a new cue to the
efforts of the people and turned their slumbering energy to the
development of Georgia and the South.
Mr. Grady, whose Washington letters had made him a national reputation,
turned his energies and his heart to development. He went about among
the people looking into their concerns and making much of every
incipient enterprise. In the agricultural regions he wrote letters that
were pastoral poems in prose, strangely mixed with an intoxicating
combination of facts and figures. When he wrote about Irish potatoes his
city editor, Josiah Carter, now editor of the Atlanta _Journal_, planted
several acres as a speculation; when he told of the profits in truck
farming there was a furore in the rural districts; and when he got out
on the stock farms and described the mild-eyed Jerseys, the stockmen
went wild, and the herds were increased, while calves sold for fabulous
prices.
Wherever he went his pen touched on industry, and as if by magic it grew
and prospered. Fruits, melons, farms, minerals, everything that was in
sight, he wrote about; and everything he wrote about became famous. It
was in this way that the _Constitution’s_ work was done. The people were
wooed into enterprises of every sort, and most of them prospered.
Mr. Grady’s work had attracted the attention of prominent men
everywhere, and in 1880 Cyrus W. Field, of New York, lent him $20,000 to
buy a fourth interest in the _Constitution_. Mr. Field has stated since
Mr. Grady’s death that he never had cause to regret the loan, as it was
promptly repaid and had been the means of enlarging Mr. Grady’s work.
Mr. Grady bought 250 shares, or $25,000 of the $100,000 of
_Constitution_ stock, from Messrs. Howell, Hemphill, and Finch, who had
previously purchased the interest of Albert Howell. The stock was then
equally owned by Captain E. P. Howell, Mr. W. A. Hemphill, Mr. N. P. T.
Finch, and Mr. Grady. The staff was then reorganized, with Captain
Howell as editor-in-chief, Mr. Grady, managing editor, and Mr. Finch and
Joel Chandler Harris as associate editors. Mr. Wallace P. Reed was added
in 1883, and Mr. Clark Howell, now managing editor, came on in 1884 as
night editor. When he was promoted to be assistant managing editor in
January, 1888, Mr. P. J. Moran, who had been with the _Constitution_
since the suspension of the _Sun_ in the early seventies, succeeded to
the position of night editor. In 1886 Mr. Finch retired, and his
interest was shared by Messrs. E. P. Howell, Hemphill, Grady, and Clark
Howell, and two new proprietors, Messrs. S. M. Inman, of Atlanta, and
James Swann. The _Constitution_ has held on its staff at different times
many of the most brilliant writers in the country, among them Sam Small,
Henry Richardson, editor of the Macon _Telegraph_, Bill Arp, Betsey
Hamilton, T. DeWitt Talmage, and a number of others. The editor of the
Atlanta _Evening Journal_ graduated from the city editorship of the
_Constitution_ in 1887, and was succeeded by Mr. J. K. Ohl, who still
has charge of the city department. Mr. R. A. Hemphill had acquired some
stock and was in the business department. The _Constitution_ under the
management of Mr. W. J. Campbell has built up a large publishing
business and now does the printing for the State. The weekly circulation
is in charge of Mr. Edward White, who has an army of agents in all parts
of the Union. The western edition in the last month has grown to large
proportions.
In 1883 the _Constitution_ had outgrown its three-story building on
Broad Street, and the company bought the present site on the corner of
Alabama and Forsyth, and began the erection of the new _Constitution_
building. It was completed in August, 1884, at a cost of $60,000
including the site, and the $30,000 perfecting press and other machinery
ran the whole cost of the plant up to $125,000. The site is the best for
its purpose in the city. In the heart of the town and on an eminence
above most other points, the editorial rooms on the fourth and fifth
floors overlook the city and the undulating country for miles around. On
the north, historic Kennesaw rises, a grim monument of valor, and the
white spires at its foot are visible to the naked eye. On the south,
Stone Mountain raises its granite dome fifteen miles away, and to the
northeast the eye reaches the first foothills of that bracing region of
the moonshiners where the Blue Ridge breaks up and makes a Switzerland
in Georgia.
In November, 1884, the _Constitution_ christened its new building with
the first news of Cleveland’s election. The Legislature then in session
filled the _Constitution_ building at night, eagerly and
enthusiastically watching the returns. When at last one morning the
result was definitely known, a joyous party went from the _Constitution_
building to the Capitol, where occurred the memorable scene when Mr.
Grady adjourned the Legislature.
A great crowd had collected about the _Constitution_ office, and when at
eleven o’clock A.M. it was known beyond a doubt that Cleveland was
elected, a brass band was brought up, and Mr. Grady and Captain Howell
headed the procession. The march through town was hilarious and
exultant. The crowd carried a huge can of red paint which was lavishly
applied to sidewalks and prominent objects on the line of march. When
the procession passed up Marietta Street its enthusiasm led it into the
Capitol where the Legislature was in session. Leading the head of the
procession to the hall of the House of Representatives, Mr. Grady passed
by the door-keeper into the main aisle. Colonel Lucius Lamar, of
Pulaski, a man of imposing presence, was in the chair. His long hair
fell over his shoulders, and his bearing was magnificent. Advancing down
the aisle Mr. Grady paused and, in the stately formula of the
door-keeper, cried, with the most imposing and dramatic manner:
“Mr. Speaker; A message from the American people.”
Catching the spirit of the invasion, the dignified Speaker said
solemnly:
“Let it be received.”
With that Mr. Grady pressed up to the speaker’s chair, and quickly
wresting the gavel from his hand, cried in imposing and exultant tones:
“In the name of God and the American people, I declare this House
adjourned to celebrate the election of Grover Cleveland, the first
Democratic President in twenty-four years.”
At this there was a whirlwind of applause, and the House broke up with
the wildest enthusiasm.
Mr. Grady often said that he and Oliver Cromwell were the only two men
who ever adjourned a legislative body in that style.
From the occupation of the new building the _Constitution_ took on
tremendous growth. Mr. Grady had conceived an idea of making the
greatest weekly in America, and since 1881 that edition had grown
prodigiously. When it was enlarged to a twelve-page form in 1881, it had
only 7200 subscribers. Special contributors were engaged, special
correspondents were sent out, and a picket line of local agents was
thrown out all over the South, while sample copies were doing missionary
work in the northwest. The first year the circulation jumped to 20,000,
the next to 35,000, and when the _Constitution_ went into its new
building in 1884 the 50,000 mark was reached. In 1887 the weekly passed
100,000, receiving 20,000 subscribers in December. In December, 1889,
while Mr. Grady was in Boston, the paper broke the record with 20,000
subscribers in one day. During the month 27,000 subscriptions were
received, and now the circulation is 146,000, of which 140,000 are
subscribers and about 6000 sample copies.
The inspiring and reconstructive work of the _Constitution_ culminated
in the Cotton Exposition of 1881. The whole country was warmed by a wave
of prosperity in 1880, and the people of the South, invigorated and
enthused, entered heartily into the purposes of the Exposition. When
they came to see that wonderful collection of resources it was a
revelation and an inspiration to them. The ball was in motion, and
through the decade it has rolled with steadily increasing momentum. The
development of the South has already gone beyond the expectation of the
most sanguine, and already this region has a firm hold on iron and
cotton, the two greatest industries on the continent.
Over all this helpful and inspiring work Captain Howell, the
editor-in-chief, had a watchful eye. His heart and his purse were
enlisted, and he backed up the vigorous work of his paper with earnest
personal work. He was concerned in the leading enterprises as organizer
and subscriber to the stock. In the flush of enthusiasm he was a
balance-wheel. He added the safe counsel of a mature business man to the
enthusiasm of his more youthful partner, and then backed him up with
money and prodigious energy.
The Kimball House burned down one Sunday in August, 1883, and
immediately the _Constitution_ set to work to raise the immense sum
needed to replace the magnificent hotel. It had been the pride of
Atlanta. Conventions and distinguished visitors from all sections of the
country had been entertained there. It was Atlanta’s reception room, and
was a necessity. It must be replaced, and the _Constitution_ threw
itself in the breach. Captain Howell became president of the new Kimball
House Company, and bent himself to the enormous task of raising
$650,000. The whole town was enthused, and Mr. Kimball’s magic services
were again called into requisition. On the 12th of August, 1884, exactly
one year from the day the old building was burned, the directors of the
new Kimball House took tea on the fifth floor, and within six months the
magnificent structure was completed. At the grand banquet which
celebrated the event Captain Howell presided, and Mr. Grady was one of
the principal speakers.
In all this development and upbuilding the other owners of the
_Constitution_ backed up its work with personal effort and financial
support. Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Inman are stockholders in almost
everything about Atlanta, and Mr. Swann, though now a resident of New
York, continues to invest his money largely in Atlanta enterprises.
Perhaps the greatest service the _Constitution_ ever did for Atlanta and
the State was its work for the location of the Capitol here. The
Constitutional Convention of 1877 left the question of location with the
people and the election was held that fall. A vigorous campaign was
precipitated almost from the adjournment of the Convention. Atlanta was
in great straits. The Capitol had been removed there from Milledgeville
by the Republicans, and the rank odor of reconstruction times and of
negro and carpet-bag rule hung over the spot where their disgraceful
transactions had been enacted. The glorious memories of the past were
associated with Milledgeville, where the great men of the century had
been in training. Macon, Augusta, Savannah, and the press of Southern
Georgia sought to array these cherished associations against Atlanta,
the dashing new city that had the audacity to set new patterns and do
things in her own vigorous way. Something had to be done; enormous
obstacles had to be overcome, and Atlanta resolved to do the work. The
city council met and decided to spare no pains or expense to get the
Capitol. A general campaign committee was organized with Captain J. W.
English at its head, and the work from that center was begun. In
addition to this a prudential committee of three was appointed and given
a _carte blanche_ to carry the election, with unlimited means at its
command. On this committee were ex-Governor, now Senator, Joseph E.
Brown, Major Campbell Wallace and Captain E. P. Howell, editor of the
_Constitution_. The advanced age of the other two members made it
necessary for Captain Howell to take the heaviest part of the work upon
his shoulders and he worked night and day. Every county in the State,
except those about Macon and Milledgeville, was covered with men talking
for Atlanta, and the whole State was flooded with Atlanta literature.
Some of the most distinguished speakers in the State were on the
hustings, and the heaviest timber was on Atlanta’s side. It was a
campaign of hard work. Every voter, white and colored, was reached by
type and talk; and when the day came Atlanta won by 44,000 votes
majority.
While the leading citizens of Atlanta, including the editors and owners
of the _Constitution_, were personally at work in the campaign, the
paper was the chief point of attack in a bitter newspaper war. Rancor
ran almost to bloodshed. Atlanta editors in those days were prepared to
talk it out or fight it out as their adversaries pleased. An editor’s
courage was in demand as constantly as his pen, and there was no milk
and water in editorials. The _Constitution_ held the fort for Atlanta,
and its flag flaunted serenely in the worst of the war.
Then came a long fight for an appropriation to build a new Capitol. The
_Constitution_ steadily advocated it, and its influence was thrown into
the Legislature to back up Mr. Rice, the Atlanta member, who introduced
the bill. Finally when a million dollars had been appropriated, the
editor, Captain Howell, was put on the Capitol Commission to succeed the
late Mr. Crane as the member from Atlanta.
Since then the _Constitution_ has been a power in political campaigns,
and its influence was triumphantly exerted in behalf of Governor
Colquitt in the famous Colquitt-Norwood campaign, when part of the
Democratic Convention split off and nominated Norwood after Colquitt had
been named by the majority. Mr. Grady took charge of Governor Colquitt’s
campaign, and to his efforts, more than to anything else, Colquitt’s
election was due. In the Bacon-Boynton campaign the _Constitution’s_
influence was exerted for Governor Boynton, and finally for Governor
McDaniel, when Major Bacon had almost run away with the nomination. When
Governor Gordon dashed into the State in 1886 Mr. Grady took charge of
the campaign headquarters in Atlanta and directed the work for Gordon.
The General’s wonderful magnetism was backed up with such prodigious
work as the State had never known. The local influentials all over the
State were largely pledged to Major Bacon, and it was thought he had the
nomination in his pocket. Week by week, as the returns came in, the
Gordon column crept up on Bacon’s, and in the closing weeks the General
swept by him with a rush.
The prohibition campaign of 1887 was one of the most remarkable episodes
in the history of Atlanta, and the division and tension among friends
and neighbors was strikingly shown by the position of the gentlemen who
owned the _Constitution_. Captain Howell, the editor in chief, was an
ardent anti, and Mr. Grady, the managing editor, was the leading
advocate of prohibition. Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Inman were for
prohibition, and other stockholders were against it. The campaign
committees on both sides loaded down the columns of the paper with
bristling communications, while the editor-in-chief and the managing
editor had thrown their whole strength into the campaign on opposite
sides. Both were on the hustings, and it so happened that both spoke the
same night, Captain Howell to an opera house full of antis, and Mr.
Grady to a big warehouse full of prohibitionists. The whole town was on
the _qui vive_; one-half the people were hurrahing for Howell and the
other were cheering for Grady. The editors drew more than the houses
would begin to hold, and their audiences were in a frenzy of delight.
The speeches were the talk of the day, and for days afterward their
arguments were discussed and repeatedly mustered into service by the
other speakers.
On the afternoon of the day they were to speak the _Evening Journal_
contained the following spirited notice under the head of “Howell and
Grady”:
Jack Spratt
Could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean,
Between them both
They cleared the cloth
And licked the platter clean.
The reproduction of this ancient rhyme is not intended as an
insinuation that Mr. Henry W. Grady, the silver-tongued
prohibition orator of to-night, has any of the attributes of
Jack Spratt, or that Colonel Evan P. Howell, the redoubtable
champion of the antis, has any of the peculiarities of Jack
Spratt’s conjugal associate. The idea sought to be conveyed is
that the fat and lean of prohibition will be energetically
attacked by these gentlemen to-night at the same hour from
opposite sides of the table.
It goes without saying that between them both the platter will
be licked clean, and it is to be hoped that this hearty
prohibition meal will be thoroughly digested and assimilated to
Atlanta’s system, that growth in her every tissue will be the
result.
It would be hard to select two more effective speakers and two
more entirely different.
“What is Colonel Howell’s style of oratory?” said one newspaper
man to another.
“Well,” said he, “you have heard Grady? you know how he speaks?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Grady makes you feel like you want to be an angel and
with the angels stand, and Howell makes you feel as if he were
the commander of an army, waving his sword and saying, ‘Follow
me,’ and you would follow him to the death.”
Both of these speakers will raise enthusiasm at the start. As
Grady ascends the platform the band will play “Dixie” and the
audience will be almost in a frenzy of delight. As Colonel
Howard comes forward the band will be likely to play the
“Marsellaise Hymn,”—some air that stirs the sterner nature—and
he will be received with thunders of applause.
With infinite jest and with subtle humor Mr. Grady will lead his
audience by the still waters where pleasant pastures lie; and
there he will “take the wings of the morning and fly to the
uttermost parts of the sea.”
Howell will march his audience, like an army, through flood and
fire and fell; he will cross the sea, like a Norseman, to
conquer Britain. In Grady’s flights you only hear the cherubim’s
wing; in Howell’s march the drum-beat never ceases. Grady’s
eloquence is like a cumulus cloud that rises invisible as mist
till it unfolds its white banners in the sky; Howell’s is like a
rushing mountain stream that tears every rock and crag from its
path, gathering volume as it goes.
Mr. Howell will doubtless deal in statistics; Mr. Grady will
have figures, but they will not smell of the census. They will
take on the pleasing shape that induced one of his reporters to
plant a crop of Irish potatoes on a speculation. To-night
Atlanta will be treated to a hopeful view of prohibition by the
most eloquent optimist in the country. The contrast will be
drawn with all the ruggedness of a strong, blunt man.
The day after the election, when 1100 majority had been announced
against prohibition, Captain Howell and Mr. Grady printed characteristic
cards. Captain Howell, from the standpoint of victory, gave in a few
words his reasons for his course, and closed by saying:
A word about my partners. I have differed from them on this
question, and I know that they have been prompted by the same
consciousness of duty which caused me to so differ. I love Henry
Grady as a brother, and no one appreciates more highly than I
his noble and unselfish devotion to our city; no one knows
better than I his earnestness and faithful attachment to her
welfare. Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Inman are as true and tried
citizens as Atlanta has, and are among my warmest personal
friends. Nothing that has occurred during this campaign could
mar the relations existing between us. The only regret I have
about the campaign is that I found it necessary to differ with
them, but I am confident that they will now join hands with me
in carrying out the purposes (uniting the people) as expressed
above.
Mr. Grady declared his unshaken affection for his partner, and pledged
his aid to him in his purposes to unite Atlanta and keep the sale of
liquor within bounds. As for his own part in the campaign, he expresses
himself in these remarkable words:
When everything else I have said or done is forgotten, I want
the words I have spoken for prohibition in Atlanta to be
remembered. I am prouder of my share in the campaign that has
ended in its defeat than of my share in all other campaigns that
have ended in victory. I espoused its cause deliberately, and I
have worked for its success night and day, to the very best of
my ability. My only regret is that my ability was not greater.
This reunion of the owners of the _Constitution_ was the prompt example
which set a pattern for the community. Within a year from the close of
the bitterest campaign in Atlanta’s history, one in which many a house
and many a family was divided against itself, the acrimony had almost
entirely disappeared. The wounds of the campaign were healed and the
soreness of defeat had disappeared; Atlanta was re-united, and on every
side were signs of prosperity and good-will. In another twelvemonth she
had to enlarge her girth a quarter of a mile all round; nine hundred
houses were built, every one was filled, and there was a pressing demand
for more. The _Constitution_ turned from this struggle with its owners
more strongly cemented by personal friendship than ever before, and in
the closing weeks of 1889 the paper touched a higher mark of prosperity
than it had ever known.
After Mr. Grady’s death the _Constitution_ pursued the even tenor of its
way. Saddened by that great calamity the late editor’s associates
realized that there was great work for them to do. The succession to the
management was as natural as the passing of one day into another. Mr.
Clark Howell, Jr., eldest son of the editor-in-chief, had been on the
paper six years, first as night editor and then as assistant managing
editor. In Mr. Grady’s absence he had been in charge, and in taking the
position of managing editor at twenty-six years of age, he assumed
duties and responsibilities that were not new to him. He was fortified
by an extensive personal acquaintance formed not only in his newspaper
experience, but in two terms of active service as a representative of
Fulton County in the Legislature, having been nominated for the first
term before he was twenty-one years of age.
Mr. Howell won his spurs as a newspaper man before he was twenty. On
graduating from the University of Georgia in 1883 he went to the New
York _Times_ as an apprentice in its local department. It was Captain
Howell’s policy to throw his son on his own resources, and the moderate
allowance during college days, was almost entirely withdrawn when young
Clark went to New York. A young reporter working on twelve dollars a
week was sorely put to it to make ends meet in a great city like New
York. From the New York _Times_ city department Mr. Howell went to the
Philadelphia _Press_, assisting in the news editing department. It was
while he was in Philadelphia, with very little cash, that he seized an
opportunity to make some money and a good deal of reputation. Samuel J.
Tilden was being urged to allow the use of his name for the second
Presidential nomination. He had not said yea or nay, and the country was
anxiously awaiting his decision, for his consent would have settled the
question of Democratic leadership. Mr. Howell went to New York for the
_Constitution_, and his interview with Mr. Tilden was the first
announcement of the old statesman’s determination not to enter the
contest again. That night Mr. Howell telegraphed the news to two hundred
papers, and the interview with the sage of Gramercy Park was read on two
continents. The young journalist who had scored a scoop on all the
ambitious newspaper men of the country received flattering notices from
the press, besides the comforting addition of $400 to his almost
invisible cash.
Mr. Howell then came on the _Constitution_ as night editor, and was
afterward promoted to the position of assistant managing editor. What
native ability and six years of training did for him was made manifest
very soon after he assumed his new responsibility.
For days the letters and telegrams of condolence and tributes to Mr.
Grady filled the paper, and to that and the monument movement all other
matter was, for the time, made subordinate. When at last the burden of
the people’s grief had found full expression, the _Constitution_ turned
itself with renewed vigor to its work. Captain Howell was on deck, the
new managing editor plunged into every detail, and soon a general
improvement was the result; the _Constitution_ took on new life. Then
Mr. Howell turned on all his energies and put the magnificent machinery
at his disposal up to its full speed. The daily issues drew daily
commendations of their excellence from the press, and the first
twenty-four-page Sunday’s edition was pronounced by many the best the
_Constitution_ had ever issued.
The people realized that the _Constitution_, though it had suffered a
great loss in Mr. Grady’s death, was still in strong hands, and from all
parts of its territory came renewed expressions of confidence and
sympathy. So the _Constitution_ continues its work, enlarging and
improving as it goes, ever looking to the future while it cherishes a
magnificent past which it could not and would not let die.
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