Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-11
MOUNT MEIGs.
Montgomery County Citizen Tells the
Reason Why.


Reason Why.
Mount Meigs, March 10.-(Special)-
In recent issues of your interesting and
! newsy paper you have referred to the
course of the Advertiser in supporting a
free silver, antf-Cleveland candidate for
congress from this district in 1894 against
sound money, administration support
er, citizen of its own county.
You have imputed to the editors of the
Advertiser a failure to stand by their
principles in not advocating in that con-
test the nomination of the gold standard
candidate, as he was in accord with the
declared policy of that paper.
You have not gone to the bottom for
the facts. You fail to ascribe to the
doughty chieftain who yields the policy
of that paper the real reasons for the
failure to support WHY in that cam
paign. 1t is a well known fact that the
Advertiser has for years past had but
one controlling idea, and that is to fight
bitterly IN politics any one whom it dis
likes personally, or whom it fancies has
done 1t some wrong.
1t has continuously and persistently
waged a bitter personal warfare on ev-
cry one whose opinions 1t could not con-
troll and who would not bend the preg-
nant hinges of the knee to it's dictation,
and also on those whom it considered
were more able and popular with the
masses tnan the cnler editor.
The course of the Advertiser In it's open
opposition to WHY springs from envy
wounded pride and rancorous jealousy on
the part of the senior editor of that
paper, caused by the failure OF the voters
of this district to recognize the brilliant
genius and complete fitness of Wallace
Screws to represent them in the halls of
congress in the year 1890 as successor
to Hon. H. A. Herbert, whose seat the
Hon. Wallace wished to warm
Ma jor Screws, previous to the time of
selecting delegates to the congressional
convention in the year $780, was quite
anxious to become a candidate for con-
gress from this district in opposition to
Colonel Herbert. He endeavored for
several months to convince his friends
that he was the proper person to repre-
sent this district in congress; that Her
bert had no claims on the place. and that
he would make the race in opposition to
Herbert If he could be assured that he
had a chance to defeat him for the noml-
nation.
After feeling the public pulse for some
little time and consulting with a number
of the voters in the several counties, he
became convinced that he could not beat
Herbert for the nomination, and there
fore quietly Withdrew from the race
In the spring of 1890 the democratic
county convention of Pike county in
structed the delegates from that county
The refrain was caught up in Montgom-
cry and other counties in the district and
the people rallied with such enthusiasm
to the call from Pike, in such numbers
for their new leader as to almost force
| the nomination of WHY in that conVen-
| ton, held in the summer of $780, notwith-
| standing the fact that WHY had never
| announced that he was a candidate.
When this occurred, presto change, the
| great mogul cried out treason and be-
| came worshipper at the shrine of Her.
| bert a case in truth and fact of "sour
| grapes" etc. The rising in 1890 in the
| political armament of this bright particu-
| lar WHY star so completely obscured the
| feeble, evanescent ray of the Screws
| aerolite that it produced rancor and envy
in the little mind of the mighty cyclops
| of the personal organ of Montgomery
| which has not abated jet until the pres
| ent time. This Is the sole reason of it's
| persistent antagonism to the genial, gift
| ed WHY.