Show ton Make Smith I ho A Chat Wlththo Now Socrotnry of tho Interior About Hlm solf and Public Questions How IMe Smith Lcdl Mi ami Jaliitit Mill of Work and nloll loon ttonylln onJirful Sutttsi at a 1IIIfItrIi1 faMWith Ike Cam6IelO AfIznaII 11114 hoes II Ciiie tj Co Mt Iht Cittnil anJ TaU of Hit f > enufftr SlnHtUlnf llmt lltt Itnittn DtlMfn frhrt StctiorutiiiH in Iht Ktrtk Titan in Ilit SouthThe Futuit of He South and IRt ItvfoteJ Wntirn Tip llKinl CtrrnrmJiiM It tea Mv lie will bo thirty eight years oM neat September lie stands tie feet two In stockings and weighs Sao pounds He U as straight AS A Lake Superior oak And a line dropped from the hack of his big round head would Jut MNS the heels ol lib polished boots I refer to the Ion 1 fluke I Smith the new Secretary Secre-tary of the Interior lie Is the biggest strongest And healthiest personality who his been at the hood of this department fur years Noble was fat and flabby tllas was lean nervous and Irascible Lamar was absent mtnded and djspep III and both Teller and Schurz would not together weigh much more than I Hole Smith I spent an hour with him it the Interior Department this morn I Inc It was my first meeting with him andl I found him a far diiTcrent man than I the papers have painted I loke Smith Is not fat though t he does weigh over I rte pounds Ills big frame Is padded nimetilcally > with muscular flesh and j i his body looks to be as firm ns that I of Corbet the prize fighter lie sits straight In his chair and stands firmly en his feet There are no crows feet of worry at the corner ol Ills dirk blue errs and his brunette complexion has n healthy 1 tinge lie 1 ha n large forehead a good strong nose coda liens mouth lie Is smooth shaven and his dress shows that he keeps a good 1 tailor There are no frills and furbelows about him I and he Impressed me as a nun physically and Intellectually sound now JIOKK SMITH eaOKI Secretary Smith Is ono of the hardest corkers we have had In the cabinet fore > for-e rs I have made a number of Inquiries Inqui-ries about him at the department and I an told that he spends twice AI many hours there as Any or his clerks lie yets to the interior Drpartnent about r Inir p oclock In I thin morning and works away steadily i untilfi or 7 In the evening rir Wn UI g After dinner he corned back and lib light Is often burning In his office nnill after midnight During my talk with him I rl I noted f no signs ol overwork on his features and f asked him how lie managed to keep In such good condition And put In so many hours lie replied that he did not think tint work hurt any mm and that he toil learned to work without worry Slid he Idotiny I tat I thinking 1 about i a mailer when I Ills I before me I try to look upon all sides of It and when I have passed upon It It Is settled for good as fir in I am concerned fi ti cerned I think that worry ishrgelya matter of habit and that concentration of mind can ho acquired by training I never let any lhing outside of the matter at Issue bather I me II an > lhlnK I else Vne I come up 1 put It adde instead ofmak lug a note of It I have a fixed time everyday for thinking over the little I things I r llh I ought to do and at thin time 1 jot J them down 1 hive trained myself so that I can go to sleep as soon as 110 1 to bed I never talk or read In bed and I dont think except when I am sitting or intruding tip If I my mind seems to run on anyone subject 1 dis I miss It and the result is Ions I never I troubled with Imomnli hae I worked I right along on legal canes until oclock In the morning and the turned In and slept like a baby HOKtt BUIIir AS A LAHlfiR The conversation here turned to law and Mr Smith spoke very modesllv of f himself I as a lawyer saying that he I liked I the practice I and that he would go back to it as soon as the present administration I administra-tion was over He I ft 1 jon know one of f the ablest lawyers of thin United States and an ilimalc friend of his told me the other day that his fees from the law during I the past year had footed up Just II J rirl IJrj about f 40000 He Is thoroughly groun ded In the law and hr has one of the finest private law libraries the United States Ills HuJy his been of the law not of cases and ho keeps adding to his I relar SiJedb legal knowledge by constant application I Not long ago he books fancy to the decisions of Judge Cooley of Michigan and bought I 11h the Michigan I state reports re-ports In order that he might read these decisions lie I anolates his books w bile reading and not long ago a fimous equity case came un In the Georgia courts and he was called 1 upon to plead He had I onlyn few hours for preparation and he surprised mere one by his mastery of the use In dill He gave reference after reference to decisions I rearing on the subject and Iheroiirt gamed trill open mouth on what it con ildered an effort of intmor As he left he court for his office his brother who Is also good lawyer asked him how he was able to prepare such n CMC in so little time lie I replied that he had just been reading cipjhy cans and that his notes just lilted into this cats 1MB FICIIIT WITH OAMDIERS Mr Smiths early law practice was full of incident There was nothing II of the couatd about him and though every Inch of his six I feel two Is made up ol re good breeding he Isis shown I himself to be A brave man Slid one of bits friends pesterdayt I lloke Smith wa frr It the fist lawyer to fight the gambler I of Atlanta It was when he was twenty two when his blood was holler than It is I tut that he was called upon to prosecute pro-secute a gambler for shooting a man In the buck Die cause was the Improper relations between ul ew murdered Ir man and the gamblers wife and Hoke Smith tent the gambler to the penllentary life There were a number of the gamblers gam-blers friends in the court room and they were all looked upon as dangerous men Mr Smith defied them He told them tint they were A set of scoundrels cowards and bullies who went about shooting men In tho back whom they were alrald to fight face to lice lie told them that he supposed tiny would attempt to shoot him In the back if he hid not bin face turned toward them The result of this plea WAS such that this unusual verdict was given After the c usea us o > erltwas currently repotted re-potted about Atlanta that these gamblers gam-blers i3u they would shoot nolle I Smith on sight That night he concluded conclu-ded to gUe them n chance lie was wearing n sack coat and he put I two pistols i ins his 1 coal tC pockets and walked down to Chlsholnl saloon which was their chief resort and ordered at the bar n glace of lemonade A crowd I ol 1 gamblers were preMtit but they did not dare molest him Till nilITISO TKACIIKH 1 have heard of another case of his nerve continued thlj man which happened when he WAS acting n < schoolteacher school-teacher at the head of the WRynCl borough IIIlh School lie wan only sixleenattlne time nllt hn Ins over sin feel and was lean and wiry One of the hays of the Ihool was unruh cam I Mr Smith goon him n good cOllntry school thrAshlnr The father of hue boy objecleuhanuh rroposeltowfpcanth e Irolln1 with Mr Smith hot the bor ey school teacher whipped him as II eland I el-and tint In such u way that during the r rciialndtr of his term the Waines borough High School ir was the < iilct < stand st-and most orderly In Georgia and Mr Smith got thin title of the fighting teacher I dont Ihlnk he likes to talk about these Incidents of his youth He Is 1 a very quiet linn and has nothing ol te ndl the holly about r him donI think he I would stand Imposition however an11 I believe that he has the courage to do what he thinks best and right ilK TALKS 01 TIIII LAWS LAW-S < < retnry Smith Is I worth I am told about fjooooo Ho I has made the most of his money in law 1 prattler and he practices law because he likes It Ills newspaper has been merely a side I t enfriI life and he el tells I me that he expects sell the Atlanta Journal and to give up 1 Im connection with It before hnooyeears 8tS II teKci hwttkriunl many tears While I chatting with him today 1 1 asked him when hi hail runt decided to become a lawyer Ile replied I cant remember wh > nl I did not expect to study law It w is my earliest ambition be good hearer a ndthe I began my practice vcn > oung AUhcageoftuenlneI I think I had I about the I best lt practice In Georgia I and I am never happier than when working on legal questions I had no Idea l of being be-ing a member of IresMmt Clcv Uands 3tIC S 3t cabinet I and when I I found 1 was to IM offered a Mltton In It I Imped that the place given ma would lie that of attorney attor-ney general lIull I And that tin Interior ilepaitment has about 4 much law con Jiected with it as the attorney generals olhce Icgal questions aru constantly cnmuifr up and the work U musts the ante snow UK won MAUL CAnlNRT MI STEK fleas tell me something of the circumstance your appointment Mr Secretary I asked 1 dont know that Yd Isaston worth publishing I connected with them nits the reply I had never met reel dent Cleveland until n few weeks before hla election and 1 had no idea of ircipt I lrlolr lr rl I m hag any place or of entering ollicial lile I became r active In politic I In Georgia ta largely through I Iicsldent Clctihnd gI1 I hnc taken pail In them to a certain extent all my life though I need wAnl ne-ed nor would 1 have acedrteul afice In uses however when 1reldrnICleve land I put fourth his free trade oalle R number of the I trading neuspasers of dlt the 1 IOo advocated the R for views f-or the party and were for protective tariff Some time before Hill I had become be-come interested In the Atlanta Jiuniit It was being publlihed In 1 building a Ihrhl I had bought I for nIt Uw ollicen n-It had only about a ooo circulation and I found that the mm who owud It wanted want-ed to Hell I thought there was room for a good newspaper whiclrbould ad locate dllferent principle than those espoused liI by the other j papers and be oll 1f run on dillerent lines The result was Ihnll I bought tin paper for f 11000 and I 1 made a stock company ol la I got a good business manager I who was at the I head of one of the printing oflices of the town and 1 n managing ediloi who was then city editor of the Atlanta Con cllr fffll dilution Ijch of these men took I twentyfive per cent of the stock In the newsiuper and 1 advanced the money to the editor keeping hU stock us I co erjl1lion I In addition to these two I took several other parties Inlothe concern i but kept the controlling i Interest f myself Well I the paper paid from the start The editor sold out the othtrday with a clear profit of thus too and re values f the stock has doubled again and again I I Tim paper has now 5000 more rircula lion IhAn any oilier paper In Atlanla and Is Ins Ixcomc a power In Die state I have not had much to do with It ex dept in aiIIIIt we p I wrote oil the editorials t to favor of n low J tariff mul 1 I sgain wrote for It when we were makerIl the 1 fight against machine politic oral also against the third party in Georgia llelore the convention some of the best papers in the state were for Hill and igalnstClevelmds nomination lure I I in n favor of Cleveland for I believed that 1 he would I run his I administration I I II In the I Interest of thov who were out of ufhce rather than those oho were InIII other wools in the Interest of Hie people rather than of rings Well I was In New York 011 legal bnsineM during the campaign I and I went over by I Invitation to see President Cleveland i r and nil I spent So day with him We talked together over the situation In the south and In Georgia but there was nothing slid as to the cabinet Shortly before the announcement of my name as secretary of the Interior I was again el In New York and II I went to see him by arrangement We had a half hours 1 chat together and during I hlal he offered me the position r So there you have the story TIHT PhNSION DECISION I here 1 spoke to Secretary Smith as to l his decision regarding the pension I r law of tSsiowhich is creating somuchdis I cession among the soldiers of the United Stales IIr said I made the decision became I believe It to be right and the law w ill be carried out It will result In a saving something 10 OUOOOQ for I am told Hint I neatly one Half ojthepennlonsgrsnlydantherlhat l I act were Illegally granted The question Is I not a mailer of sentiment with me It Is I a matter of right It Is I a matter of law There is no doubt that my t construction con-struction ol the law I Y1A is 1 correct and I I can only go by the law 1 have Iwcn advised advis-ed by some that my action Is open 1 to criticism because I come from Georgia This it I ridiculous Ileciuse lumlrum I I the south sh ill I not do right I am metcly the agent of Congress I am to carry out the law which it enacts If Congress should pass a law to give each min who was In the late war a certain sumo Money no mailer how large if it were possible it would be my duty to do It Ilut Congress hat not passed any such law and I can only act according to Its Instructions I think the perple arc gcnerallly l In favor 1k the decision and I dont think that my construction of the law has yet been disputed BUCTIONALISM AND TIIK SOUTH Vou are too young a snap to have been in the contederala army cNve I Yes was the reply I was nine j ears old when Iho war closed Had I been old enough I would probably have been a confederate soldier Ilut that makes 1 no dillcrcnce Isll I am as good a Union nun ns there is In the United i Stales Many people of the north have a wrong iaen of the south I As for section l iliim there is more of It I In the north than In the south Henry Gradys speech which I created such a stir over re Ioi the whole country sl only the utter I cede Jrl the nentiments which had prevailed pre-vailed in Georgia for years hn 5 which 1 ho hid been heeringabout him every I day The fact that the north was en Iliuslisllc over It was n surprise to the south I dont mean to disparage Grady or his I eloquence but he told I 1 no new story when he spoke of the Intent patriotism 1 and lion sectional feeling III of he southern people I Sectionalism has long been dead in the south The people have n sentiment it Is true for their heroes In that conlllct They revere their memorv They weep over their I craves They honor their brethren thin they do not mourn the lout cause nor feel antigonistic toward their conn tr > nor their brethren of the north Wo have as good Union men In the south ns LOll will find anywhere and we love the United Slate as much as any people In Itf TIIK camas or Tint gouilr How about the future of the south Mr Secretary The south is n great empire was the reply It Is hued with marvelous resources It his mineral and agricul birth wraith untold l and It has muiclc and brains necessaiy to develop It The mIJl cellr south will grow right along Our young people ore workers live Industrious and H patriotic How about the northern mm In the south southHcU HcU perfectly welcome and lie has I all the Jllrtr and liberties of t anyciliien We hive lots of good 1 northern blood In Atlanta and lnl the people I In whoso veins It stows are ns much respected 1 as our 01111 Tim NFOKO u < PSTION How about the negroes They m getting along very well Many of Iliem 1g are Incoming educated i and not a few ate RrcuollllaliaIJlfolerty 1 hey are better our now thin they have been r for years The tent elrctlon of Grover Clevelandhnd more to do with the improvement of the negro thin any thing rise It showed them that they te tlc r t tl1 need not fear democratic rule As it t Is now the better classes of them ire with the democratic party and they vote generally with the whiles Nearly all the bishops of the colored churches In my slats voted tar Cleveland I IIIq I low about I social I equality l Will the two races ever come together No was the reply The blacks are as proud as tho whites and 1 are as anxious to keep separate We have no white teachers I In the I colored schools In Atlinta and the most ol our Methodist churches will not employ white preachers preach-ers There is less mixing with the races In the south than ever before and It may 1 surprise you to heir that many of mlIlo the pure blacks look 1 down with con ten pt upon the mulattoes whom Ihey despite as being the products of the Immorality of their ancestors WILL GO VVbhT How about the west Mr Secretarv Have you ever traveled much through III No was the reply I liars never been west of SI Louis but I Intend to make a trip throughout the west as soon as I can I want to visit some of the Indian reservations among other things and 1 will I think go to Yellowslmic kltI Iall Park this fall Next year I will probably i go to the Iiclfic slope and I want to g0 Into the Indian territory and make s study of the Indians and tlte Institu II lions as they are at home THANK G CAKIIINTER |