The Augusta Courier

IT WILL BE HARD TO SAY
GOODBYE TO MR.
CHARLIE

(From The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia)

When a new governor succeeds the old, the old familiar department heads change, too.

That is as it should be. The heads of state departments are policy makers and ought to be the governor's men. For it is by their actions that the administration is judged.

T. V. (Red) Williams has been named by Gov.-elect Marvin Griffin to succeed Charles D. Redwine as revenue commissioner when the new administration goes in. Mr. Williams is an unknown quantity to most Georgians, but Mr. Redwine is not. He is a well-known and respected figure over the state. It will be sad to bid him farewell as a public servant.

Mr. Redwine has been a friend of the Talmadges for three generations and was a confidante of the late Gov. Eugene Talmadge. Governor Herman Talmadge had the wisdom to appoint this businessman friend of his father's to the revenue post and never had occasion to regret it. For Mr. Redwine is a man of rectitude and calls his shots as he sees them.

The post of revenue commissioner is one of the key state jobs. Its operation can make or break the reputation of a governor. The breath of scandal never touched Mr. Redwine's division. Gov. Herman Talmadge paid him the ultimate compliment of a chief executive several years ago when he said that revenue was one department that never caused him worry.

During his six years as revenue commissioner, Mr. Redwine showed himself to be an honest and conscientious public servant and a loyal friend to the son of an old associate.

A large part of the reputation of the outgoing administration was built on the rock of Mr. Redwine's integrity. When he retires in January along with Gov. Herman Talmadge, he will return to Fayetteville with the esteem, affection and good wishes of his fellow Georgians.