Next Governor
I T shame* me that I cauuot tell you
I hi* name, although 1 have known
i the lad all the years of my pil¬
grimage, for like his former law
partner. Judge J. Crawford Biggs, he
split* hi* name down the middle. I
have always known him as Melville
or to got real familiar, as “Mel"
and I doubt, if even his children
know wlmt the l'J" represents, wheth¬
er it is James, John or Joseph!
I remember when I picked up a
Washington newspaper and read of the
appointment of James C. Biggs of
Worth Carolina us Solicitor General.
It perplexed me greatly, for I thought
I had a slight acquaintance with the
State Bar, and I knew no such man
— never heard of him! It turned out
to be mine ancient friend Judge
Crawford Biggs, for the government
permit* no splitting of names down
the middle. So now that Broughton
is about to enter into the service of
the government, it should be made
Ли
2i|»|>r;iisal of the man who
will serve as North Carolina's
eliief executive during the next
four years.
И| / И.
C. LAWRENCE
known to tin- public whether it is
John, Jim nr Joe Broughton!
First from Wake
Not sinee the ’80s ha* our metro¬
politan county of Wake had the Gov¬
ernorship, and even then the ineum-
lient was but an im|M»rted product,
for Governor Daniel G. Fowle was a
native of our county of Beaufort. In
fart unless I have to stand corrected
by the accurate knowledge of that
authority on Carolina history. Pete
Murphy', I will sav that Broughton i*
the firsl citizen of Wake to attain unto
the office of Governor, But when they
selected a man this time they went
Wake with a vengeance, for they
elected one whose roots strike deep
into the red and rugged hills of Wake,
and who i* as distinctive in his flavor
as the moonshine of the Hurricane!
For the Broughton* have hee-n around
Wake quite awhile— ye*, indeed.
Hi* father of the same name, was
a Italeigh business man. whose fig¬
ure I remember quite well — a modest,
quiet, retiring man, pursuing his
daily task without fuss or feathers;
high in the confidence of the public;
always seated in the sanctuary on the
Sabbath, for he was one of the found¬
ers of the Tabernacle Baptist Chnrch.
Hi* uncle, Needham B. Broughton,
of the well known printing establish¬
ment of Eil wards and Broughton,
was one of the outstanding men
of his day, a leader in the cause of
both church and state, senator from
Wake County, known throughout the
South for his work ns a Sunday
school leader, a pillar in his chnrch,
ever to the front in behalf of social
service, education, temperance — any
cause which would move a man in¬
spired by patriotism in his heart and
righteousness within his soul. And
there are yet other Broughtons of the
same type, even if not so widely
known.
High in Heritage
It will therefore be seen that our
incoming chief executive was born to
the purple in his high heritage of
good citizenship, and that under the
French doctrine of "noble**e oblige."
much may be . . tod from him. But
he is not the only one who is high in
heritage, for that of our incoming
first lady is as high ns that of her
distinguished husband. She is a grand¬
niece of Donald W. Bain, so long
State Treasurer, otic of th.- outstand¬
ing Carolinians of hi. generation, and
i* a daughter of the late widely known
Raleigh citizen and prominent fra¬
ternal order worker, W. W. Wilson,
for many years Grand Secretary of
the Masonic order. Mr*. Alice will
preside over the mansion with a dig¬
nity and a queenly grace which would
do credit to the executive mansion in
Washington.
The Governor was educated in the
public schools of Raleigh; at Wake
Forest College, where he took hi*
academic degree in 1010; and for two
years he pursued a special course in
law at Harvard University. After a
little knocking around as a school
teacher and as a cub reporter, he lo¬
cated at Raleigh and has been en¬
gaged there in the practice of hi*
profession ever since.
I can best limn the high spots in
his career by considering him in the
three aspects by which he is !>e.st
known to the public— ns churchman,
as lawyer, as citizen : to which may be
appended, as an addenda, just a few
additional words concerning the man
himself. But the three fields to which
I have referred arc broad enough to
absorb the efforts nnd to tax the ener¬
gies of any one man, no matter how
large his powers may he. So far ns
politics are concerned, that may he
dismissed with the statement that he
has served as State Senator, as Chair¬
man of the Wake Democratic Ex¬
ecutive Committee. Presidential elec¬
tor-one or two little thing* like
that.
So soon as he located in hi* native
city for the practice of his profession,
he was called into the service of the
Tabernacle Church, where he head*
not only its Diaconate, but where he
