The age-herald., 1900-11-25

tured Congressman has been so long ab- sent from the shelves where the beauteous heTpine of the Yelled Prophet of xhorassan lies dreaming of her Azm that he may be paFdoned for inaccuracies of quotation But how may his admiring newspaper friends be
 excusedzfor presenting these errors to d cultivated patronage? Colonel Brewer does not hazard jot of his literary prestige,
 but the newspaper writer-the public edu- cator-runs risks. Colonel Brewer, as with
 the king, can do no wrong, and, with pro- priety may reprove the writer in the words of Hermione, who commanded Pyrrhus to
 be killed and then drove Orestes mad by asking, Who bade thee do this deed?'
 No, no; when afar from the chains of tho mistress of home and heart the Sage of the Black Belt" can know no Marguerites but the daisies on the April greensward.
 Colonel Brewer is of the admirable type of Southern citizenship that adheres to the grave and ceremonious polteness of the old Southland To the powerful and humble alike he gives respectful attention, affabil- ity and kindness. He has the courage of thought and action, and knows the value of discreet and seasonable silence, and con- demns incorporate and pryng curiosity that would make a rent in the veil of the most sacred sanctuary. These are organic laws in all of the old Southern households.
 Referring back to the political conditions that confronted the South from 1868 to 1882 and the patriotic part Colonel Brewer took in beating off and driving away the human vultures from their prey, and coupling thls with the fact that his political friends had the management of Lowndes and Tallapoo- sa counties in their hands and permitted his defeat, I can but conclude that this crowning act of patriotic honesty-this em- phatic avowal that, at his own sacrifice, the "old methods" should not apply in a contest between white men, although his friends thought they had strong ground for retaliation and reprisal-I say, this re- fusal on his part to achieve victory at the expense of virtue will live in history as the bravest service to his State this able man has performed. In a manner, 1t Is the ini- tiative; it is the gauntlet thrown doWn-a direct challenge for an honest ballot; and coming, as it does from the heart Of the Black Belt, where once the slumbers of US women and children were full of dark and threatening speetres, other sections of Ala bama are bound to be mpressed-profound- ly impressed-with this significant admoni- tion that the necessities for violent meth ods in politics in the Black Belt have been overcome and the purity of the ballot Will henceforth be as sacredly guarded as has been their firesides in the past. Let the honors of the Southern Pantheon be ad- judged to Willis Brewer!
 We all know well enough what made the evils of the ballot box imperative, and we all hail with joy its passing from the scene, but fear a worse evil is confronting us. I mean the use of money to control elec- tionf It has often been written that men inaccessible to influences in politics are rare. This is possibly, but not probably, approximately true The control of the bai- lot box by money Is far worse than the Black Belt methods for it has no founda- tion in virtue Of this evil Carlyle says in his usual style of denouncing immortality: Jesus Christ counts for no more than Ju- das Iscariot al the ballot box. Judas LOOKS Jesus calmly in the face and asks proudly Am not I good as Thou! Better pet- haps,' skipping his brooches pocket In which is audible the cheerful jingle of thir- ty pieces of silver. Thirty of them here thou covering pauper!" If there be state of matters under the stars which de- serves the name of damnable and damned, this I conceive is it. It has been said that the gloomy pathways of fate cannot De studied without profound anguish of heart. If this be fate, then indeed mas 1ate pc come a paltry huckster bartering in hlth and garbage, and the heart should spurn Il from it's sanctuary
 The idea of rehabilitating the "Old fourlh District as one of the Congressman di- visions of Alabama is being agltated by many patriotic men. When we remember what those five counties did during the "dark days" of Alabama, 1t seems to be singular injustice to patriotism that not one of the citizens of those glorious eoun- ties is today member-elect of the House of Representatives. It impresses one with wonder if not with resentment, against this freak of fate. In years to come there VIII be traditions and legends of her prov ess during the Yankee usurpation era that will inspierre the youthful Alabam1an with patriotism; then let the patriotic young men of our State take active steps in that direction and rebuild the "Old Fourth Dis trict' to live and stand forever as monu- mental warning to adventurous pohtical vermin that future revolution might ioise upon our great commonwealth.
 A. E. CHAFFEE.