The Golden Egg

Each of the 16 chief executives who assembled in Atlanta last week for the Southern Governors' Conference received, courtesy of various Georgia industries:

A set of bed linens and blankets, a box of chicken, ham with pecans and peanuts, a polished-granite desk name plate, a baseball signed by Hank Aaron, a decorative wall carpet, a wristwatch, three bottles of liquor, a marble-headed golf putter, tennis rackets, fishing gear or hunting outfits, a box of King Edward Imperial cigars, and a real goose egg decorated with gold-leaf filigree and imitation pearls. The Governors' wives received pendants dangling a nugget of Georgia gold.

The total value of the gifts was probably no more than $250, a mere trifle on the grand scale of serious payola. Still, there was something a little tasteless about the Governors of the nation's poorest region consenting to accept such material favors. Perhaps it could have been worse. "One year, in another state," said an aide to Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, "all the wives were given mink coats. That may have been a bit much."

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