Birmingham age-herald., 1894-08-18
IT IS SETTLED And Jefferson Still Has Her
 Thirty Delegates. THE STATE COMMITTEE
ReverseS the Action of the Congressional Committees
 of the Sixth and Ninth.

MONTGOMERY, Aug. T.-[Special. T. This was not good day for congressional executive committees. Ia spite of the din and dust. The Ninth district case sent by Jefferson county to the state committee was easy. So was an appeal brought up by Tom Long from the Sixth district.
 There were nineteen members of the committee present, and when, after hearing the proof and argument on the Ninth dis trict appeal for half day, DLvis of hamil- ton moved to sustain the appeal and re- store the population basis, just 19 ayes responded.
 Hon. A. G. Smith presided. Chairman Tompkins called the meeting to order, but left immediately 10 catch train for vaca- ton at Saratoga and New York ,whereupon MT. Smith was elected chairman pro tenn. MT. Turpin's advisers were conspicuous by their absence, while on the part of the majority of the district committee the de- fense seemed to have conhded to their chairman.
 There was present supporting, the Jeffer- son delegation, a committee of half dozen stalwart democrats from Perry, headed by the county chairman, MT. Fowlkes.
 Jefferson committee, conducted the case for the appellants.
 MT. James E. Hawkins, in opening, pre- sented his appeal, along with that of Jeff ferson county democrats, against the ap- portionment made by the district com mttee.
 MT. c. 8. Bailey, chairman of the com mittee, appeared with his counsel, MT. James B. Webb of Birmingham, and asked for postponement of the hearing, saying he had not had time to advise with the other member of the committee. He thought that in effect they were personally on trial, and each of them ought to be per sonaly served first.
 Bowie of Talladega and Dent of Barbour were appointed committee to report au order of procedure. Before this commit tee Messrs. Bailey and Webb made stout fight for a continuance, but representatives of the Jefferson committee satisfied the committee that the chairman and secretary of the committee had been formally cited in good time, and that the other members had actual notice of the appeal.
 The committed reported Tn favor of re- fusing the continuance, and proposed time limit o In hour and a half to the side for argumen of the case after evidence had been presented. On motion the time was cut to an houf to the side and the report was then adopted without division.
 For the appellants, along with other evil dence, were submitted the transactions of the district commttae and the district con vention of 1892, the population of the sev-
  Cleveland vote and the Oates vote, the Perry protest and the newspaper criticisms from Hale, Blount and Jefferson.
 County Chairmen Mason and Fowlkes were examined as to the unhappy condi- tion of the party mind in their respective counties, resulting from the partisan action of the congressional committee.
 Several members of the Jefferson delega- ton testified too about the variations of Jefferson county's population, showing that it increased sharply in 1891 and 1892, and was now quite up to the census figure.
 MT. Bailey then proceeded to put in evil dence details of the committee meeting at Birmingham, which he thought would acquit the majority ot the com mittee oi any purpose to defraud. This, he insisted throughout, was his sole concern in the trial. He would not undertake to say for individual members of the committee, in their absence, what arguments influenced them in making the apportionment com plained of; he would only try to show that their actions were consistent with honesty of intention.
 At the afternoon session MT. Hawkins opened the argument in twenty minutes speech.
 hour about evenly. Captain White in closing the case for the appellants spoke some thirty minutes.
 After the appeal was settled resolution was carried acquitting the district commit tee of intentional fraud in the apportiou- ment.
 In the Sixth district the district commit tee had ordered prorate of the county delegations. The appeal brought into question the right of the committee to pre- scribe to the counties any manner of vot- ing. The precedents seemed to be Tn favor of county Independence ,and by solid vote the committee reversed the district com Dc ct moi inna fnr a