Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-26
CLARKE AND HIS CANVASS Condemned by His Own Ad-
 mirerS and Sympathizers. DOES IT MEAN RULE OR RUIN? His Pretension Q ''rength in Jefferson County
 s RidcuIed "
 NOT WITH eSTHt RANGE OF POSSIBILITY That Ht n Carry This County Over John sto' She Consensus-Generally Con- ,s,ded That His Coming Means e War to Harmony.
DOES IT MEAN RULE OR RUIN?
NOT WITH SSTHE RANGE OF POSSIBILITY

The able and opulent young | men who propose to save the
 nation by bringing Congressman
 Clarke here to defeat Capt Joseph F. Johnston in his own county engaged
 'em man yesterday who toted around
 a paper soliciting names for Clarke | club with which to beat some sense into | the heads of Jefferson county democrats who supported Captain Johnston two | years ago and who propose to support | him again. It will thus shortly trans | pire that the able and opulent young
 men have been at work and will soon | have the consolation of feeling that if
 they don't succeed in getting up real
 hot campaign that they will have cer-
 tainly have worked real hard to get it. Much has occurred that immediately affects the bearings of every individual democrat of Jefferson county. The ac- | ton of the democratic state executive | committee, as popular expressions | through the State Herald have shown,
 is generally approved here, especially as | 1t relates to a more liberal policy towards | democrats who have been off nursing | grievances. The indicati tions are that the sentiment indorsing the committee is | overwhelming in Jefferson county Many | democrats have been highly elated by the l policy of the committee as the best ever 1 adopted for the party in Alabama. It was to them striking assurance of har- | mony, when To, cloud-if no bigger than | mans hand or as large as his cheek, still cloud-palls the political horizon and sets Jefferson county democrats to thinking again, and thinking deeply, over | and over the conclusions they had al- | ready reached, and endeavoring to ad- ipc hnr fn hn pf I, la l for principles" within the party about l to confront them.
 | State Herald reporters talked to demo- crats yesterday with the interesting re- l suits given below. approaching alike l those who indorse Captain Johnston and
 those who agree with MT. Clarke as to his principles" The observations taken l refer solely to the action of the state ex-
 ecutive committee and Mr Clarke's pol- l icy:
 Ex-Mayor Lane said: It Is an unusual | and, might say, an almost unheard of | thing for candidate for governor to un- | dertake to carry the home county of his | opponent. MT. Clarke's effort in this in- | stance argues to my mind that he and his friends consider his chances deSper-
 ate. I have great respect for MT. Clarke and regret that he has departed from the | honored custom. His efforts In this coun- | ty will be utterly futile, for. in my 5adg- l ment the county will declare over- WntlHlluBly lOi JOHilSloH
 l C. w. Hickman, attorney-Mr. Clarke's propositio ion to come here Is unwise and l in my opinion out of the order of pro- l priety. As to his confidence of carrying l Jefferson county, think that is absurd. l If the rank and file speak they will de-
 clare overwhelmingly for Johnston. Dan A. Green, attorney-"Goldbug," l so-called as I am and administration l democrat" too, if you please. MT. | CIarke's appearance in Jefferson. as 1t tsa1 faN l governor by the help of this county's del- l egation to the state convention, Is ridic- l uous; it can do no good, and may do | harm to the party here.
 H. l.. Underwood, attorney and mem- l Der of the democratic executive commit | tee of Jefferson county-I have caD~ | vassed the leading sound money demo- | crats of Birmingham and find that as a | rule they are for Johnston for governor | because of his loyalty to the democratic | party. Clarke's coming to Jefferson can | do him no good On the contrary, 1t will, | in my opinion, injure him, as well as in- yite trouble in the party.
 l Nat L.. Miller, clerk of the city court | and secretary of the democratic county | executive committee-For MT. Clarke to | force fight here for the purpose of em- | barrassing Captain Johnston's campaign and I conceive that to be the only pur- pose of MT. Clarkes coming here-not with any reasonable prospect of winning | JefferSOn COuntyS ueleSdtlOH cdl oDiy tend to imperil party success here. MT. | Clarke and his friends seem reckless of the party's good in this county, and, | moreover, as the result may effect the | election of United States senator. It | should be remembered that we have sev- | en votes for United States senator. in- | cluding the state senator. from Jefferson, | and that at the last election we won on- | ly by small majority. It can be seen
 how narrow is the margin between vic- tory and defeat. Consider. too, that a transfer of our seven votes means change of fourteen votes against us. We I need united party undsturbed by fac tional fights to carry Jefferson county. | M. A. Porter, attorney-I regard MT. Clarke's proposed campaign in Jeffer- | son county as the worst thing for the party, and as far as his chances of car | rying the county are concerned, his com | ing Is utterly useless. My notion is that | neither he nor Johnston should go into | each others home county Harmony Is what every good party man should most | desire.
 | Robert J. Lowe. attorney-Mr. Clarke, | of course. has right to come here, and | so has Johnston to go to Mobile, but the | gentleman from the gulf city has, In | my opinion. a forlorn hope.
 | Henry Perry. merchant-I am heartily | for Captain Johnston. and notwithstand- | ing my views on the money question, what influence possess is his to com mand. I am ready to take off my coat | for him, Mir Clarke notwithstanding. J. A. Allen. merchant-Clarkes propo- | sition to come here on the assumption | that he can carry Jefferson county Is to l me rather amusing. and 1t is comical I that he is just now learning that gov ernor is to be elected.
 | J. A. May, capltalist-Mr. Clarke may l come. but he will not get a handful out of | Jefferson's big vote.
 | F.. K. Campbell. attorney-It has not | been customary for candidates to go into | each others home county to make per- sonal canvasses. I don't think 1t wise | in Mir. Clarke to ignore the custom of | ~-~-~~~~ ~>-~>>-- ~-------. (Continued on Second Psre.)