attacked this high tariff.  Stuart more and more turned to his track record on “Jim Crow”, and his performance on the issue during his drawing up of the State Constitution of 1906.  This was an era when even national politicians campaigned on a “Jim Crow” platform. 

As an example of the rhetoric Stuart used in his campaign for Congress, the following quote is an example: “It was impossible to reason with a Negro - that the only way to keep him in his place was to keep them under fear.”  Another quote from Stuart is, “If it was wrong to give the Negro the right of suffrage, it was right to use every means known to the superior race to take it from him.” 

Each side had spent an estimated $250,000 in the campaign, which was an enormous sum for that time. Vote buying was common on both sides, with the average cost per vote being $15.00. One vote was said to have been sold for $100. When the election was over, Slemp was found to be the winner by a scant 227 votes. 

Martin had proved himself to have been a prophet, as Stuart had almost won the election against the entrenched Slemp. True to the deal, Martin appointed Stuart as Governor. Indeed, Stuart ran without opposition in the Democratic primary.  

Stuart had some major accomplishments during his administration besides the “Jim Crow” legislation. There was an emotional touch point in the Commonwealth at the time, because both the state and counties were taxing personal property.  Stuart got legislation passed which “segregated” taxable items so that only the County, and not the State, could tax real property. 

He also shifted the amount of taxation that corporations, particularly railroads, were to pay. This was deemed to be a more equitable spread of taxation, especially as concerning the farmers and their farming machinery.  

During World War I war industries had explosive growth at Hopewell, Virginia. This created a new population of 20,000 people, and an atmosphere of lawlessness developed. Stuart declared martial law in Hopewell, and sent the State Militia there to restore order. 

After leaving the governorship, Stuart helped pave the way for the future Byrd political machine. Byrd inherited the Martin Machine, and in his later years Stuart made a certain sort of accommodation with this machine. The main political concern of this era, and one that became the hallmark of the Byrd political machine for as long as it lasted, was a “pay-as-you-go” basis for state highway construction. This proved to be the closing act of Henry Carter Stuart’s political career, as he retired back to Elk Garden to pursue his farming and business interests.