Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 3203he secured admission to the bar in May, 1873, when but seventeen years old,although, during his period of study he had also engaged in teaching school.He opened a law office at Atlanta and displayed such marked talent that hesoon had as large a practice as he could well attend to and the court recordsshow that he was honorably connected with a remarkable number of importantcases. In 1887, with Judge George Hillyer, he was appointed by the governorto represent the state in the prosecution of the convict leases, and on accountof the thoroughness with which he prepared his arguments and his fundamental knowledge of the law in this connection, his professional ability wasstill more widely recognized. For so young a man his professional standingand rapidly increasing responsibilities were almost phenomenal.Mr. Smith's mind was too alert and his outlook too broad, however, forhis profession to limit his horizon of usefulness. Public affairs interested himand when only twenty years of age he was made chairman of the DemocraticExecutive Committee of Fulton County. Gifted as an orator he very earlybecame a favorite speaker for public interests and in 1877 visited many partsof the state when the question was to be submitted to the voters concerningthe removal of the capital from Atlanta. In 1882 he was a member of thegubernatorial convention and for many years thereafter was particularlyactive in public life, identifying himself with the sound principles of thedemocracy and giving ardent support to the great leaders of the cause.In 1888 Mr. Smith, a pronounced tariff reformer, was president of thedemocratic state convention and lead the campaign for Hon. Grover Cleveland. He steadily fought the domination of the state by corporation interests,and thus, in 1890 championed the cause of Gen. John B. Gordon, who was acandidate for the United States Senate and who was opposed by the railroadinterests, his efforts being justified by the triumphant election of GeneralGordon.As early as 1887 Mr. Smith had added to his responsibilities and interestsby entering the newspaper field, at which time he organized a company andpurchased the Atlanta Evening Journal, becoming president of the companyand the director of its editorial policy. In the national campaign of 1892,when Mr. Cleveland was bitterly fought by the David B. Hill faction, theAtlanta Journal, which, under Mr. Smith had become one of the most influential newspapers in the South, so proved its power that Georgia sent aCleveland instead of a Hill delegation to the convention. Following the election of Mr. Cleveland, Mr. Smith was invited to become a member of thecabinet, as Secretary of the Interior, and public records tell of the honest andsuccessful administration of this important department by Mr. Smith. Inthe presidential campaign of 1896, Secretary Smith engaged in a series ofjoint debates with Hon. Charles F. Crisp, then speaker of the National Houseof Representatives, on the money question, Mr. Smith strongly opposing thefree coinage of silver. Mr. Smith resigned from Mr. Cleveland's cabinet afterthe nomination of Hon. William J. Bryan, to whom he gave his vote as a loyalparty man although he was entirely opposed to the free coinage ideas of thecandidate.Mr. Smith returned then to Atlanta and resumed his profitable practiceof the law and also gave some attention to his newspaper, but, finding thestrain too heavy, in 1900 sold his plant and good will to a company of whichJames R. Gray was the head. For a time Mr. Smith congratulated himselfthat he was out of politics, thereby finding leisure for the practice of his profession, in which the emoluments were large, and for the furthering of privatebusiness enterprises, including the investing of city real estate and countrylands, and, additionally for investigations near to his heart concerning thematerial advancement of the people over the state and particularly their educational progress and opportunities. For a number of years he served as president of the board of education at Atlanta and in his travels throughout the