The Washington critic., 1890-05-22
AN AIAnAMA REvoLurIoN.

AN ALABAMA REVOLUTION.
1t begins to look as though the Farm.
ers' Alliance were about to achieve a
great and significant victory. Hereto
fore the Alliance have, in almost every
instance, contented themselves with
purely local operations employing their
influence in small neighborhood affairs
or at the most, rallying 10 the support
Of a county candidate for Legislature.
This year, however, the organization in
Alabama has gone in for the big stake,
and their representative is now forcing
the running for the Gubernatorial nomi-
nation in a style that astounds the old
party managers and threatens TO de-
stroy one of the most powerful and
efficient machines in existence.
Reuben f. Kplb, now Commissioner
of Agriculture and immigration for the
State of Alabama, is the aspirant upon
whom the Alliance have concentrated
their strength. He is native Of the
South, was Confederate soldier, and,
until called to his present office few
years ago, had always followed an agri.
cultural life. As Commissioner he dis
played extraordinary energy, not only
in looking after the interests of the
farmers, but in securing the immigra-
tion of large number Of white farm
ing people from the West and North
west Upon his record thus made he
has been taken up by the Alliance as
the man most thoroughly in harmony
with their views and purposes, The
canvass has been extremely spirited, in
some quarters very bitter, and in one
particular instance as acrimonious aud
angry as is to be found in the annals OF
pet baggeIy and Reconstruction. Tn 2
uld.stock anathemas and property
Spooks of the party managers, however,
seem to possess no terrors for the Ala
bama Alliance, nor does the machine
appear TO have the same fine. nervous
grip on the Democratic voter that It
has enjoyed so many years. Captain
Kolb is running away from a whole
field of favorites, and when the Demo
cTatics convention assemblies next week
he will almost certainly appear with an
overwhelming majority of the delegates
either instructed for or pledged to him.
Strangely enough, nobody outside the
narrow circle of the established bosses
seems 10 be alarmed by the situation.
The Montgomery Adcertiser, which
represents the old regime, and which
antagonizes every innovation and i'm.
provement in political methods and
PHILOSOPHERS, has devoted itself to the
task of crushing the Alliance candidate
not only by personal abuse and dis
paragement of the man, but by noisy
and hysterical appeals to the old mean,
of destroying adversaries which wer,
so effective when applied, years ago, t,
carpet baggers and scalawags. 1t ha
been found impossible, though, T.
frigbten Captain Kolb's supporters, an
equally impossible TO caiole or trio
them. The Alliance have pursued th
even tenor of their way, and few anon
tnCf VI -1luDtul
have been persuaded to believe that an
danger to white supremacy and homes
government attends the situation or vii
follow its development.
The fact is that there is, throughou
Alabama. as in nearly every othe
Southern State, scarcely suppresse,
impatience. Thoughtful men are get
ting tired of the regime of the ma
chine, sick of the arrangement unde
which nomination, no matter no,
unworthily bestowed or how disgrace
fully procured, is equivalent to a
election. They have chafed under
for years, and nothing but an appre
hension of that greater evil whic
would result from negro domination
has held the Democratic lines intac
and maintained the efficiency of the OF
ganization. The present campaign
however, is divested of that issue, be
cause Captain Kolb has the entire con
fidence of the Democrats of his State a
TO party questions, and occasion ha
thus been given for an exhibition G
the cheerful enthusiasm with whic
the Southern voter will, when he ca
safely do So celebrate his distrust an
dislike of the machine.