- Title
- State
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-
- Date
- January 03 1953
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-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
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State
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Hundreds of Millions
in Improvements Add
to Stdte/s Resources
By JOIL\ MARSHALL
Former Private Secrnary to Governor Scott
Governor
Scott's
Go Forward Program is Completed
Five years ago. lacking only a few
days, W. Kerr Scott. North Carolina
Commissioner of Agriculture, told a
startled group of agriculture depart¬
ment employees gathered around a
dinner table that he would not be a
candidate for re-election.
A few weeks later the "Man from
Alamance" was storming from Man-
teo to Murphy soliciting votes for the
governorship.
His opponent, veteran State Treas¬
urer Charles M. Johnson, seemed a
sure bet to be elected governor. He
had been actively running for a long
time, and most of the recognized po¬
litical leaders in all sections of the
State had pledged him their support.
Scott, unorthodox in manner and
methods, did not seem to care. He
ignored the politicians and called to
arms the farmers, working men and
women, small business people, school
teachers, and the over-all rural popu¬
lation.
He promised to take the rural peo¬
ple out ol the mud — to lift from them
what lie called the "mud lax"; and to
work for the expansion of electric and
telephone services.
He condemned in no uncertain
terms the fact that some $90,000,000
of State funds were lying idle in the
banks and promised, if elected, to put
those idle dollars to work. This more
than any other campaign issue was re¬
sponsible for his election.
On January 7. 1949, W. Kerr
Scott, wearing for the first lime in his
THE STATE. January 3. 19S3
