Birmingham age-herald., 1894-10-28


 who has, and you know who it is that during these long years of apparent cordial 1ty and fraternity with the white people of this section of the state, and of the south, when the command comes from Washington to take part in the great bama is to be translated from the demo- cratic into the republican column, gets his consent, contrary to his professions and his associations, to be taken behind the door or in kitchen, or corn crib, and consulted on politics and dictated to as to what positions he should take, and what he should do in order to get these white people again under his power. Nov am talking pretty plainly, and God for Did that in the presence of the truth l should have anything else than plain words to utter. [Applause.l It is no time now, fellow citizens, for light con- duct or light actions; no time for inani- ton on the part of men who must feel, Ii they can feel at all, the dangers that the present crisis involves, so far as the fed eral relations of this state are concerned, and to the destiny of our splendid people, for years and years to come.
 ALABAMA DEMOCRACY.
 I have been speaking of the republican party and the republican leaders-lhe peo- pie who do the manipulation for the repub- lican party-and have called your atten- tion very briefly, not by any means so
 
 some of the very prominent evils which we have suffered at their hands. l will turn now to another side of the question and take up the democracy of Alabama, and h the United States, and will endeavor to portray before you, very briefly also, for I have not time to go into the depths of these questions, the attitude and conduct of the democratic party of this country towards all the people thereof.
 First, in this state, by 8 supreme effort ,<f tha of every white man in the state of Alabama, we had at last acquired the power in this state of self government, and had exer- cised that power as our fathers had before us, and as the Angl o-Saxon race will always exercise it, for the purpose of establishing peace, security and prosperity in this splendid state. We inaugurated new con- stitntion and new officers, from chief jus tice of the supreme court down to consta- ,bie, and placed this state in their hands. We cheapened salaries, we reduced taxes, we dispensed with superfnous officers, we scntdown the pay of jurors, the fees of tax Scollectors and did everything that was re- quired of us to accommodate the state gov- ernment to the impoverished condition of sthis people. And we have gone on now, since the inauguration of George s. Hous- tonf as governor of this state down to this time, not without some strife in recent dav5 not without some danger in very re- cent times, but we have gone on until at last we have gained Q place of honor and have received the seal lsof appreciation of the tend to maintain good and rightful gov- sernment h the state of Alabama in the hands of these white people, say nay who may.
 ,Now, let us see what has been done in this state during thattime. Who has ever witnessed in all the world such progress aud such degree of prosperity as this state has experienced in that tfDief What government, or form of government, can claim for itself the magnificent results that you see about you in every direction, oom pretending all that is essential, useful and beautiful in the very highest state of pro- gressive civilization? What hes enabled us to do that? Was it the men who preyed upon us in republican organizations until 1874? Have they brought these results about? Have they contributed to them? Bave they even been satisfied with them when we, through our virtuous action and our sacrifices, have been nually de- veloping in every way and everywhere in church and state and school houses this splendid civilization we have around us now? No; they have never contributed a hairs weight to it. They have stood by mouthing and grumbling and fighting and scandalizing and abusing the men who were in authority in this state and criti- cising all the actions of the state govern ment. They have had nothing but excori- ation, the vituperationr ths vitriol of hatred to heap upon us during all this time, and yet we have had the forti- tude to conduct ourselves and our af- fairs without fear, favor or affec- tion, straight to the frcnt-to the mainte- nance and building up and thorough es- tablishment of the grand scheme of gov ern ment which we5 fnaugurated when George s. Houston was made governor. l look with more profound admiration upon the history of Alabama for the last twenty years than l do upon the history of any aggregation of people that has ever existed in this world. It's parallel cannot be found for excellence of wisdom, justice and wise economy. No state in the American union or country in this world has developed the real progress that we have made in the achievement of wealth and in the prepara- ton of the foundation for untold wealth to come. Now, if have a fault to find with the people of Alabama, it is that they do lot appreciate their own state. They do not seem to comprehend all that is at stake in the political and moral government of these people. They seem to undervalue these magnificent 52, 900 square miles of territory, the description of which, if one had never seen it, would inflame the mind of stoic. When today, l. saw with my own eyes for the first time, though 1 have known for years and years past something about it, the1 development of that ledge of iron orein Red mountain, which HAS NOT ITS EQUAL IN TEE WHOLE WORLD, either in the quantity of it's metallic yield, the ease of handling it, the ease of mining it, being so placed in the mountain that when you have blasted it out you can merely tumble it to the furnace-this mountain, forty or fifty miles long and every mile of it furnishing iron ore enough to supply the people ofDthe United States for 100 years-I.saw the reality of my pre- yious conjectures. In unlimited and inex- shaustibie quantities we have iron. ore from ioh xzift a lo nf- nfru md Ixsith the coal which lies. but, a short dis itance across the valley, together with un- limited quantities Of limestone, we can make the best ironof hematite ores that