National Reports:
SHELDON, COURTNEY R. & GORDON, WILLIAM
National Reports San Francisco: Frank Mankiewicz. Minneapolis: Sam Romer. Chicago: Albert N. Votaw. Boston: Courtney Sheldon. Dallas: Bicknell Eubanks. New Orleans: John Carmichael. St. Louis:...
...He also netted 302 county-unit votes, to roll up one of the most impressive victories since "Ol' Gene" Talmadge, the present Governor's father...
...First of all, the people really had no clear choice in picking a candidate...
...Public opinion, as racetrack interests are the first to recognize, works in cycles...
...A Journal-Bulletin editor assailed the Governor's remarks on all counts...
...Thus, the anti-Talmadge forces, the liberal elements and the Negroes are still pondering the question of what gave Griffin his victory...
...Grace Wilkey Thomas, who declared she would "uphold the United States Constitution...
...M. E. Thompson, former Acting Governor and one-time school teacher, ran a poor second by polling only 162,007 popular and 56 unit votes...
...But there are other implications, deep in the roots of Georgia politics...
...In many instances, like the recent election, Negroes have split at the polls...
...Talmadge Forces Gain Strength By William Gordon ATLANTA THE GHOST of Eugene Talmadge, local political observers say, helped nominate Lieutenant Governor Marvin Griffin for the Governorship, put anti-Talmadge forces to flight and left liberals here in a state of confusion...
...He has pushed himself into the national spotlight by getting on television occasionally...
...Richmond: Lawrence King...
...All the contenders capitalized on segregation, with the exception of one, Mrs...
...His apology was accepted graciously...
...Thomas and a sizable number to Charles Gowen, who ran fourth...
...Even more important, in recent years Negroes have lost faith in the old leadership and have not readily accepted the young leaders who come on the scene...
...New Hampshire's Nagging Problem By Courtney R. Sheldon BOSTON GOVERNOR HUGH GREGG of New Hampshire focused attention on New England racetrack issues recently when he deliberately accused newspapermen of unethically obtaining stories detrimental to track owners...
...The problem of reorganizing the Negro vote in Georgia therefore is a big factor today and will continue to be one for some time to come...
...The figures show, however, that, even with the Gowen and Thomas vote, Thompson would have lost to Griffin...
...He pointed out that tracks have a unique relation to city and state governments and that this relationship is commonly recognized in the special license and tax laws governing them...
...Since it was understood among newspapermen that the Journal-Bulletin did not obtain its facts from this source, the Governor's specific charge was ignored...
...If remarks like the recent one by a Massachusetts racetrack manager--let's not kid ourselves...
...Its significance, however, is in the interest displayed by almost every editor in racetrack activities...
...So deep is the feeling on this issue in the minds of many white Georgians that they completely ignored the $100-million farm disaster and the state's "scorched earth" problem...
...Eligible Negro voters in the state constitute a third of the total electorate, but this looks good only on paper...
...Besides Mrs...
...Herman is not the classic type of racist politician who found it expedient to take a bold stand against Negroes and liberal whites...
...In recent years, unlike his father, he has been gaining in popularity throughout the state...
...The Governor had charged specifically that confidential racetrack information given to a New Hampshire commission studying racetrack affairs had been leaked to the press by a commission member who was also a newspaperman...
...The Governor had barely completed his talk when his naivete was challenged from every corner of the room...
...Instead, he has called for an educational program that benefits Negroes and whites, and the state's annual educational budget is $109 million...
...A protege of Governor Herman Talmadge, Griffin defeated eight other candidates in the September primary by polling 234,690 of the 648,690 votes cast and carrying most of Georgia's 159 counties...
...Some of them have failed to consider the well-organized political machine headed by Herman Talmadge...
...She polled a little more than 6,000 votes...
...Political experts here see one dim hope for defeating Talmadge's organization in the future: They say that the Negroes and anti-Talmadgeites must lay aside their inhibitions on racial issues and join forces behind a single candidate with sufficient strength and prestige to win in Georgia...
...Racetrack affairs, the Governor argued, should be given no more attention by newsmen than other corporate affairs...
...He is also a shrewd politician who can dramatize issues, operate quietly behind the scenes, and recite portions of the United States Constitution--especially to protect states' rights...
...The tracks in New England have had things pretty much their own way for 20 years now...
...Another problem is getting a suitable candidate to oppose the Talmadge machine...
...The dilemma is that many so-called luke-warm liberals and progressives have fallen for this line...
...During his administration, too, the state has been made attractive to business...
...and, in other instances, some have been reluctant to vote because of intimidation...
...He has asked for equalization of salaries for all teachers and has called for an increase in teachers' pay...
...Massachusetts track owners are especially wary...
...Atlanta: Joseph Fiszman...
...Another fact is that Georgia has often suffered from bad government, but Herman Talmadge has been about the best Governor the state has had, so that many people hesitate to remove him...
...He had apparently obtained his information from his executive assistant, a former newsman, and before the debate was over he admitted frankly that he had not had his facts straight...
...the strong urban bias against Eugene Talmadge does not exist today...
...He was especially concerned because, as he admitted in a talk to managing editors of Associated Press newspapers in this area, the Granite State avoids income taxes on its residents only through taxing "sin" heavily--racetracks, liquor and tobacco...
...One paper, when it followed up the Journal-Bulletin's stories, received a telephone call from substantial racing interests who admitted they were concerned lest a spark burst into flame and destroy their profitable enterprises...
...Louis: William Wyant Jr...
...Bay State counties will vote in November on the legality of pari-mutuel gambling...
...Without giving the source of his paper's information, he insisted that it was the people's right to know and the newspaper's duty to inform them of racetrack-Government ties...
...Thomas, Thompson was the only real anti-Talmadge candidate in the race...
...The collision between the Governor and the newsman occurred at Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire, and was only sparingly reported throughout New England...
...when he returns to Georgia, people proudly call him the state's "best public-relations representative...
...this is strictly a gambling proposition"--get wide currency, the racetracks may have to spend more generously from funds they have set aside to improve public relations...
...Backed by ex-Governor Ellis Arnall, he tried to split the Talmadge-Griffin vote by a strong appeal to Negro voters but lost out when the Negroes split three ways, with a few going to Mrs...
...His theme was that racetrack operators are no different from other businessmen...
...Thompson, whom Negroes and whites have faith in, was buried politically September 8. This was his third bid for election, and he went down swinging with less support in each successive campaign...
...While it is doubtful that this interest will be translated immediately into a New England-wide crusade against track interests, the latter will certainly bring pressure to bear wherever possible to forestall editorial action...
...Griffin had only to hammer at the theme of segregation in the public schools and promise to carry on the Talmadge program...
...Fresh in everyone's mind was the Providence Journal-Bulletin's expose of pay-offs to newspapermen and the questionable means by which tracks spread their influence among public officeholders...
...Some political leaders have looked to the Negro voter as a means of cracking the Talmadge machine...
Vol. 37 • October 1954 • No. 40
