State

June 30, 1934 THE STATE Page Nineteen LEGISLATIVE PERSONALITIES No. 38 Alexander Hawkins (iraliani By Wade II. Lucas ★ MENTION the name Alexander Hawkins Graham in many places in North Carolina and in all probability it will fail to regis¬ ter with many of those who dabble in politics. But mention the name “Sandy” Gra¬ ham and most of those who hear the name called will at once think of a rather handsome fellow who lives at Hillsboro nnd who is at the present time Lieutenant-Governor of North Carolina. It was during the 1927 General As¬ sembly that I gradually became cog¬ nizant of the fact that in Mr. Graham, Orange County had a man destined to rule some day over the House of Repre¬ sentatives, of which he had been a mem¬ ber since the 1921 session. When u county sends a man back for more than two consecutive terms it behooves news- aper reporters and others, too, to watch im, for sooner or later he will be among those legislators who take the lead in making the laws of the State. My newspaper job at the time was to watch the Senate, but in the mani¬ fold committee-covering work 1 had to do it fell to my lot to attend the House Finance Committee, of which the amiable “Gentleman from Orange” was chairman. Ever the soul of courtesy, Mr. Graham may not remember it just now, hut he certainly made things easy at times for one greenhorn newspaper reporter then endeavoring to find out what it was all about. Some folks assert “Sandy" Graham is “high-hat," that he cannot bring himself to the point of being as effusive toward John Q. Voter as can Senator Robert Rice Reynolds. The truth is. Mr. Graham is not at all constructed like “Our Bob,” but to like the man one only has to know him. I have seen other widely known North Carolinians constructed much like Mr. Graham and I believe I can say truthfully that the longer “Sandy” Graham lives the bet¬ ter he will be liked by those who get to know him. I like to disagree with those who sav Hillsboro's noted son is “high-hat.” It has been talked for some time that Mr. Graham will be found running for the gubernatorial nomination in 1936. "SANDY" GRAHAM - ★ - Whether he will or not is something I cannot say, hut I do believe that if he runs some of those most inclined to speak ill of him will get somewhat of a surprise once lie takes to the hustings. But it is “Sandy” Graham the legis¬ lator whom 1 wish to discuss this week. I rather think Mr. Graham supported Richard T. Fountain for Speaker of the 1927 House in the latter's three- cornered race with Henry Groves Con¬ nor, of Wilson, and N. A. Townsend, then of Harnett. Anyway, Mr. Gra¬ ham became chairman of the 1927 House Finance Committee. He did a good job in helping raise revenue need¬ ed by the State during the 1927-1929 biennium and when the 1929 session convened “Sandy” Graham was elected Speaker without any visible opposition. As Speaker, he became known as an extremely able parliamentarian nnd never did he seem to look like he was trying to solve a Chinese puzzle when some intricate parliamentary question arose in the House, lie is equipped with a triggerlike mind and can think as fast ns any legislator I have ever seen. Alex Lassiter, who apparently never realized the 1929 session of the House would be the lust lie would serve as its principal clerk after a clerkship ★ lasting 30 years, never had to turn around and whisper to Speaker Gra¬ ham to tell him the correct rule to make when the members became entangled. Comparisons are odious, I know, but I would put “Sandy” Graham up against any presiding officer of a legis¬ lative body I ever saw. State or nation, ami ho would not have to take a back seat when it came to plain and fancy handling of the gavel. And when he raps for order he gets order or else some lawmaker’s face is likely to turn a deep crimson. It is a delight to see him preside over a legislative body. When he was Lieutenant-Governor from 1929 to 1933 Richard T. Fountain time and again hail a tough time with his job of presiding over the State Sen¬ ate. The Senators occasionally like to cut eajters and many of them feel it would be a hanging crime for them to sit as docile in their seats ns many of the House members do. Mr. Fountain got many a headache, I am sure, in trying to keep the Senate sessions of 1929 and 1931 from resembling three- ring circuses. It was a different story when Lieu¬ tenant-Governor Alexander Hawkins Graham, victorious by a wide margin in his race for the State’s No. 2 elec¬ tive job in 1932, closed up his colonial¬ like law office in historic Hillsboro and came to Raleigh to wield the gavel over the 1933 Senate. The way the man handles a gavel sometimes mnkes a per¬ son feel he must have been taught al¬ most from the cradle the manner in which a gavel should be handled. In writing what 1 have of Mr. Gra¬ ham. 1 would not have you think he is utterly incapable of making a mistake with the gavel. His job calls for quick thinking and he does that. Sometimes he in his quickness has seemed to make a ruling that caused certain legislators to see "red” and his penchant for mak¬ ing a legislative body orderly may mili¬ tate against him in time to come. Rut I do like to watch him wield the gavel over the lawmakers.