In the panic of 1893, he was one of the factors that averted financial disaster to Birmingham. He was one of the organizers and first president of the Sloss Iron & Steel Company; so that when he became governor he had behind him large business experience, and a wide knowledge of the conditions and resources of Alabama.
He was nominated for governor in 1896, in one of the most exciting campaigns the state ever witnessed, and in spite of the opposition of the railroads, great corporations and money power.
When he became governor he found a large deficit in the state treasury, the public schools languishing and the public credit impaired. When he quit office, after serving two terms, the deficit had been wiped out, the terms of the public schools largely extended, more competent teachers secured by wise laws compelling examinations, the credit of the state at the highest point ever reached, and the public service the most efficient in the history of the state. Every department of the state government had lasting impression made upon it by the firmness of his grip; the laws and policies he established, though severely criticised at the time, have remained, through adverse administrations, untouched, and stand yet as monuments to his justice and sagacity. We find from his record that he began ten years ago the fight on graft that is now sweeping the country; that he has a mailed fist that does cheerful and effective battle with corrupt interests and all interests that conflict with the laws and with the rights of the public, and that he can serenely stand under fire until an ultimate victory appears out of the smoke of battle.
When we consider Mr. Johnston’s past services, his indomitable spirit, his unvarying regard for the public interest throughout his entire career, his fearlessness, aggressiveness and candor, his large experience in practical affairs, as well as American politics, it is not difficult to see why the people have chosen him for successive honors.
It is rare that dominant qualities of the kind possessed by Governor Johnston are coupled with a personality so genial and winning and so rare a faculty for attaching warm friendships. The boy released from the Army of Northern Virginia, with his five scars, courageously leaving the home of his fathers to begin life in Alabama with a capital stock consisting of a mule and wagon and a box of tobacco, was no more friendly, no more kind-hearted and approachable than is now this man of affairs and broad renown, who has been chosen by the democrats of Alabama for succession to the United States Senate.
One of the heroes of the battle of San Jacinto, that victory won by sheer force of despair, was General Edward Burleson, who commanded the center at that famous encounter with the blood-thirsty Santa Anna. Subsequently, when the little republic of the Lone Star was added to the gallery of nations General Burleson was made Commander-in-Chief of the army and was one of the early vice presidents of the republic. Originally from North Carolina, General Burleson removed in early youth to Tennessee and followed Jackson on his campaign which ended at New Orleans, serving as one of “Old Hickory’s” lieutenants. This experience made him immensely valuable to Sam Houston. The last legislature of Texas placed a handsome portrait of this pioneer public servant upon the walls of its magnificent capital amidst a goodly array of great and good men whose efforts lifted Texas to her present proud position among the commonwealths of the union.
A. S. BURLESON
General Burleson’s son, Major Edward Burleson, was also a soldier of the young republic and helped to frame its constitution. He settled at the head of the lovely San Marcos river and there the subject of this sketch, Albert Sidney Burleson, was born on the third of June, 1863. His father was away fighting for the Confederate cause at that time, as were five of his mother’s brothers—one, Fergus Kyle, a captain in the Terry Rangers. It would seem that young Burleson was pre-ordained to be either a soldier or a statesman, with chances more in favor of the former than the latter. After graduating from the State Agricultural and Mechanical College and from Baylor University (founded by his cousin, Reverend Rufus C. Burleson), he decided on the law, taking his degree at the State University, and serving as Assistant City Attorney at Austin for six years. He next served four years as District Attorney and was then elected to Congress. He is now serving his fourth term at Washington, where he has served his state ably and well.