The age-herald., 1899-03-31
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE

Many pOHticfanS rom various counties | of the state were in Birmingham yester-
 day, most of them on their way home from l the meeting of the state democratic con-
 vention at Montgomery. All roads lead to i Birmingham; and every politician of any 1 responsibility in the state finds his way to
 this city during the course of each year. i The wise ones come hither as often as pos slble, and stay as long as they can. They
 acquire information here that can't be quired elsewhere. Birmingham is the po-
 litical clearing house of Alabama. All of yesterdays visitors interested in politics | were talkative, even argumentative. Many 1 were filled with what is called fire These
 latter Were excited and conductive in their
 moods, and swore that the constitutional convention should "carry.'' Other persons reviewed the political situation calmly, and didn't seem Ito care whether school kept.
 
 The substance of all the political gossip
 was this: The people of the state have be-
 fore them some nine months of turmoil. The active fight in favor of constitutional
 convention will begin as soon prac ica- ble, and will last till the election next July. In August the convention will as-
 semble at Montgomery, and iks work will extend possibly to November, or it may be later; for various temporary adjourn- ments are certain. After the constitution shall have been framed, 1t will be submit ted to the people, and the democratic party will conduct warm campaign in favor of its adoption by popular vote. So the great questions now to be considered may not
 be finally settled within even year from
 this date. The state of affairs would seem to call for the highest degree of wisdom, courage and unselfsh devotion to the com mon veal now existing in the democratic party of Alabama. Such, in brief was the substance of the opinions expressed yester- day by the politicians, who were so numer
 ous as to make Birmingham appear very
 much like there was a state convention
 assembled here
 Speaker Charles E. Waller of the house of representatives was prominent amongst
 .ne visitors. He was delegate to the con- vention, and spoke in the warmest terms commendatory of the conventions work.
 '"The platform is the broadest, the most enlightened, the most just and praise worthy utterance yet put forth by the dem ocrats of Alabama, he declared. Tt has the great merit of perfect sincerity, and it means great good for the people. It means
 in sense the political regeneration of the state, for 1t puts heart in the white peo- pie to strive more than ever for good gov ernment. We shall have purity of the bal lot, honesty of elections"
 MT. Walters words ring clear and will be heard and needed by all thoughtful citizens. No man is moro familiar with existing political conditions than he; for he is of the Blackbelt, and has been hard worker in politics and a close observer at all times. The proposed new constitution means emancipation in one direction, at least, and Mir. Waller sees the purport of all the present movement. He is an able man, a leader of his party; and he is in this fight for the constitutional convention to win. In his determination the speaker of the house is a type of his party.
 Representative Thomas L. Bulger, of Tallapoosa, who was nominated for dele gate from the state at large is in the city. q believe we shall carry the constitu- tional convention by 5000 majority he declared "The platform adopted by the 
 white man in Alabama. It covers briefly and succnctly all points of vital import to the white race and the only possible ob- 1ection to the constitutional convention, it seems to me, can come only from those white men who desire to continue the ne- gro as a disturbing, demoralizing and dan- gerous quantity in state politics. On no other ground than this can white men op- pose the convention to be elected in July. The platform pledges the honor of hun dreds of the best men in Alabama, and these hundreds represent and are author ized to pledge the honor of almost the en- tire white race of the state There is no corner left into which any man can dodge or hide There is no sort of room for any sort of legitimate excuse for white men to oppose the election of constitutional con vention."
 Former Probate Judge William F. Will kinson of Autauga, is about to open an of- flee in Birmingham for the purpose of rep resenting the Georgia and Carolina Plant CTS Company, of Augusta, Ga. Judge Will kinson has been appointed the Alabama representative of this company the chief business of which is to introduce and pop ularize the round bale of cotton. His duty will be to labor to induce the ginners of the state to put in round-bale presses. One of the leading cotton exporting firms of the United States, Judge Wilkinson says has pledged forty-five cents a hundred pounds more for round bales than for square bales. Judge Wilkinson has been judge of probate of Autauga, has served many years on the state democratic committee, and is well known and esteemed all over the state.
 Former State Senator Sol D. Bloch. of Wilcox, who had been spending several days in Birmingham, went to Montgomery yesterday afternoon. Senator Bloch is the promoter of the Montgomery, Haynevile and Camden railroad, which 1t is proposed to build from Montgomery to Camden, in