The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-26
COUNTRY POLITICS LIVELY.
sAvANNAHs NEIGHBORs STIRRED
UP BIZ LEGISLATIVE CONTESTS.


Pops Are Making a Hard Fight for
COntrol-Bryan's Ere eff IA II
Race-CoI. CliftOn's Friends Work
ing neutrality-suspicious. Want
! New Congressional Committee.
Some Old Time MnjoEities in GeOr-
gia.
Liberty and Efingham counties have
legislative fights on hand that are Of
more than passing interest Liberty may
be restored to white domination and Eff
/ bingham has a struggle ahead to prevent
the Pops from taking it from the ranks
of the Democracy.
Since the war there have been but three>
white representative in the state legisla-
ture from Liberty-Col f. P Miller, A
S. Way, Esq, and N J. Norman, Esq
The negro population of the county is
probably considerably greater than the
white population and when the Third
party movement brought the division
among the latter it seemed that negro
control of the legislative representation
was fixed for many years to come.
The Misrepresentation of the county at
Atlanta that ensued. though, has brought
the whites together again, and Mr.. John
NJ. Harden, an independent, has been put
| in the field as a fusion candidate against
f. r. Sims, the negro Republican candi-
date. The registration. a Liberty county
man stated yesterday, is about 72O colored
and 700 white, but when the lists are
purged there win probably be less ne
groes entitled to vote than whites.
! In addition to the probability of the
white vote being larger some of the ne
groes will vote for the fusion candidate,
and the outlook Is that Mr. Harden will
be elected by a substantial majority Once
the Republicans are whipped thoroughly
in legislative fight like this, it is be-
lieved there win be no trouble in keeping
the county entirely under white control.
| Up in Efingham the contest is between
Col. Morgan Rawls a veteran politician,
who has been in every campaign since
the war; and is regarded as invincible, and
Mr.. William Speer Mr.. speer is ono
or the strongest third party men in the
| county. This is his third effort to break
| into the Georgia Legislature and the Popu-
lists are working harder than ever before
| 10 win. -Four years ago Mr.. Speer ran
| against Mr.. Angus Bird and on the face
OF the returns carried the county by four
teen votes. He took his seat in the legls-
lature, but only to face a contest, which
led to his being unseated.
Mr.. Hogan, now the candidate of the
Pops for Governor, was on the COMMITTEES
on elections at the time, and is stated to
haye voted to unseat Mr.. Speer, being
satisfied that the returns were not a true
statement of the wishes of the people as
! expressed at the polls.
| Two years ago Mr. Smear ran
Col Rawls for the first time and was de-
feated by about $50 votes in a total vote
of about 900. This time the county regis
tration is 923, of which 694 are white and
2z9 colored. Mr.. Speer is an ardent pro-
hlbiuonlst, 1t is stated, and while this
| strengthens him in some respects it is re-
garded as weakening him to much great
| er extent. Col. Rawls is an out-and-out
| local optlonist and made his last campaign
on that line. One thing that Is said to
weaken Col. Rawls in the Guyton district
TINS time Is the passage by him. in the
| last legislature of a bill under which spe-
chic taxes were levied on the merchants
OF Guyton. An opposition has been arous-
ed on that score, which may lose him
some votes in that town. His friends,
though, are confident of sending the
'coloneP back to Atlanta by a handsome
majority. But the Pops are working with
as much determination as ever and the
night may be closer than they anticipate
Bryan county will send staunch Demo-
crat to the legislature again, but who he
may be no one knows. They have scrub
race on IN that county, free-fOr-all hin
podrome, with four or five probable en-
tres up to date and no one can tell
whether some dark horses may not be
trotted out in the next few days
chatham will have an indirect special
representative in the State Senate in the
person of Col. William Clifton Col Cliff
ton is making a hot race over in the Sec
ond, and there is hardly chance of his
not pulling through with a gratifying ma
Jority. The fusion in Liberty county on
| the representative is calculated to assist
nm, 1t is believed, and in Mcintosh the
| democrats are pulling together in a way
that indicates that the 'old war horse
has not lost his power to get his friends
TO work when his interests are at stake.
There Is number of Republicans In
savannah who do not believe that the
congressional committee of their partv
Will be called together to nominate a can
| dldate in opposition to Col. R. E. Lester
who returned home yesterday, and Is in
| readiness to look after any campaign work
that may be necessary If he has a fight
on his hands. According to the Republi-
cans referred to. the present chairman of
the party in the congressional district.
Hosea Maxwell, and a number of the
members of the committee are afraid to
call meeting, knowing that they will be
| called on to provide for the election of a
| new committee and chairman.
| The term of the present COMMITTEES ex
pired last month, but there Is said to be
a decided indisposition on its part to sur
render its powers and privileges, especial
ly as there is still some hope of small pat
rouage. 1t is more than minated That
the real object of some of those working
to get meeting of the committee called
is not so much to get a congressional can
didate in the field as to have chance to
force the present committee out
The new committee, If one Is provided
for, will be elected by mass meetings in
the country counties and by primaries in
the several districts of Chatham county
! At the same time some Republicans are
doubtless sincere in their belief that they
would have a fighting chance in a fusion
candidate, and point to the fact that the
Democratic candidate for Congress two
years ago only got a majority of 1888 votes