State

Volume 1 ^ TH E STATE Sf? Number 23 . - A Weekly Survey of North Carolina Kntered .. «"fOod-cUM m»lt«r. Jut.. 1. 1933. at Iho Го«о»с. at H.t.lrb, North Carolina, under the Art of March November 4 1933 3. 1879 PUBLISHED NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME: - THE INSIDE STORY OF THE MASTER POLITICIAN Col. A. D. Watts By BEN DIXON MacNEILL EVERY old-timer in North Corolina political circles will always remember Col. A. D. Watts. "A political juggernaut" wos the descrip¬ tive term applied to him by some of his con¬ temporaries. He unquestionably wielded a world of power during his day and time, and there have been few men who have been in as close touch with the political pulse of the state as he was. Herewith is the first installment of an article by Mr. MacNeill in which ore told some facts hitherto unpublished in connection with the characteristics and the career of Colonel Watts. The remaining installment will be published in next week's issue of THE STATE. D.WVN was gray in Martin Street and the oast reddening toward the beginning of an¬ other day that would be hotter tlum yesterday had boon, but with the stirring of light there had сото n faint stirring of a wind. For a little period of time the steps that Mr. Daniels had, for reason that has al¬ ways perplexed me, eaused to bo flagged with marble slabs, would bo ns comfortable a place as tiny to cool olT after an entire night of tabulation. It was in the June of 1920, and the dawn was the seeond dawn after the momentous primary in which much history had been made. Eastward along the street, coming up from the Union Station— trains still carried passengers in that remote day— n stocky figure moved placidly. Obvious¬ ly, I reflected, a passenger who had found a Pullman no supportable resting place on such a night as this had been. A magnani¬ mous company would have allowed its patron to loll in a berth for three hours yet. The figure was alone, save for n laggard Negro boy bearing a hag somo paces hack of him. In the deserted street Colonel Alston D. Watts ig¬ nored n lad who erupted from the alley beside the building end offered to sell him a copy of that morning's paper. Idle speculation as to what curious reason the Colonel might have had for not buying a paper which concerned itself, that morning, with the нопнп- tional inconclusivencss of the issue between 0. Max Gardner and Cam¬ eron Morrison, occupied me. One would have expected the Colonel to literally grab the paper, but lie ig¬ nored the boy utterly nnd cnine placid¬ ly to a halt at the foot of the steps. The greetings were casual. My ac¬ quaintance with the Colonel was not six months old, and had been marred by no untoward personal clashing. He then surprised me by directing the bag-bearer to proceed to the hotel with his burden. The Colonel seated him¬ self on the steps. “Any news!” the Colonel inquired with a detached indifference that could not have been assumed. In the while that I glibly told him th<> conclusion of the night's tabulations, which showed that nobody knew whether Gardner or Morrison would Ik- in the lend. I couldn't avoid the feeling that I wa« being glib about sonn-tliing that was of no least con¬ cern to my audience. It confused me, this feeling that the Colonel had no least interest in the revela¬ tions I was making. He listened, nnd when I had finished, lie made no com¬ ment about any of it. “You've been away, Col¬ onel Г I concluded lamely. “Just been up home,” th.- Colonel said. He smoked reflectively, a p parent I у waiting, out of a sense of politeness that was not for politeness sake, but was ob¬ served as a time-saver, to see if 1 wore quite through with the statistics about Mr. Gardner and Mr. Morrison. Other |юор1с. infinitely lcs- concerned than he ought to have been, had waited up all night to see the re¬ sult of our tabulating. I offered him no more of the fruit of my laboring, and after a while he said: “What you got on the Supreme Court, boy!” Until that moment 1 doubt that it had occurred to anybody in North Carolina, apart from the three men who were candidates for one place on