Page Sixteen THE STATE
LEGISLATIVE
PERSONALITIES
THE North Carolina General Assembly has had some interesting
characters in its membership. In this series of articles, Mr. Lucas,
of The Raleigh Times, who has covered the last four sessions,
describes the characteristics of some of these men.
★
Of nil the personalities I have seen
and heard in “covering” the Inst four
sessions of the North Carolina Gen¬
eral Assembly, the late Senator Willie
Mangum Person, of Franklin, who was
a member of the 1029 Senate remains
the most indelibly stamped upon my
memory.
Above all, Senator Person had what
is generally known as color and lie
knew how to use it. People came
from the provinces throughout the
state during that rather colorless
102!»
session just to hear Senator Person
and see him liedccked in his red vest
and wearing his red necktie.
Of all the thousands of legislators
who have come to Raleigh from Man*
teo to Murphy in a generation or
more, so the old timers say, the Sen¬
ator from Franklin — he loved to be
called that, had more “It’’ than 95
per cent of the law makers. And he
knew how to use his “It.”
It was my privilege to “cover” the
1920 Senate for the Raleigh Time a
and I came to know Senator Person
and like him. I like to think he liked
me and now that he has gone to that
Valhalla of solons I often have a
twinge of conscience over a number
of things I helped pull on him.
Former Senator Claude Cauaduy, of
Johnston County, whose sent in the
1020 Senate was just across the aisle
from Senator Person's, and 1 played
a rather terrible trick on the florid
faced Senator from Franklin one
night during the 1020 session.
Senator Person, who pronounced his
first name as though it were “Wiley"
although he spelled it “Willie,” had
announced that on a certain Monday
night he planned not only to wear his
famous red vest, but that he also
planned to speak on the subject, “Who
Killed Cock Robin?" That is, the
Senator said he planned to inform u
rather palpitating state of the identity
WILLIE MANGUM PERSON
- ★ -
of the persons who slew poor cock
robin.
In his announcement to the Senate,
the Senator also said he would turn
seer and from a crystal ball he would
read “the future of the Democratic
party.”
Digressing for a moment, it might
be well to State that the 1929 Legisla¬
ture convened a short time after Her¬
bert Hoover had carried North Caro¬
lina against Al Smith, and Senator
Person and other dyed-in-the-wool
Democrats, who could not lie called
Iloovercrats, were very much put out
over what had happened.
There came that Monday night ses¬
sion. The galleries and lobbies were
packed to the gunwales, and standing
room was at a premium. Richard
Tillman Fountain, then Lieutenant-
Governor and presiding officer of the
Senate, had trouble in keeping the
spectators from getting in the way of
the would-be august Senators.
True to his promise, Senator Per¬
son was in Seat No. 17, on the front
October 14, 193:
NO. 1
WIIJJE MANGUM PERSON
By
Wade II . Lucas
★
row and was wearing not only his rc<
necktie, but also that flaming red vest
that would have stampeded a rangt
full of bulls. He arose and begai
speaking.
He berated the “Hoovercrats,” paid
his respects in no rather complimen
fury terms to the 15 Republican mem¬
bers of the 1029 Senate, and was tell¬
ing his hearers of the poor way he
thought State Democratic headquar¬
ters had conducted the 1928 campaign.
You see, the Senator could not get
over the thought that North Carolina
had just two months before given its
electoral vote to a Republican candi¬
date for President for the first time
since 1872.
He also had a crystal ball in a
conspicuous place on his desk for
every one to see. During the day I
had had occasion to go to see Gilliam
Grissom, former Republican Collector
of Internal Revenue for North Caro¬
lina, who I knew possessed a crystal
ball and after a question or so Mr.
Grissom, a Republican partisan of the
first water, confessed he had loaned
bis crystal ball to Senator Person.
While the red-vested Senator orated
and just before he picked up the
crystal! ball, I called Senator Canaday
behind Mr. Fountain’s desk and sug¬
gested that just before Senator Person
revealed the identity of who killed
cock robin and just before he fore¬
told from the crystal ball the fate of
the Democratic party that he arise
and propound just one question to the
Senator from Franklin.
The question was: “Senator, do you
think you are fair in trying to read
the future of the Democratic party
from a Republican crystal ball?”
Near the end of his peroration, Sen¬
ator Person, whose face had become
as red as his vest as he warmed up
to his finale as the crowd enjoyed the
show hugely, picked up the crystal ball
and commenced gazing into it as he
spoke.
At the psychological moment, Sen¬
ator Canadav arose and interrupted
the speaker, lie propounded the ques¬
tion that had been suggested to him.
The Senator from Franklin acted
very much like a Crescent Limited
