The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-24

referred to the saving to the people by
 tne reduction in the tax limit. He said
 Ine people ought to vote for the new Constitution solely because it ties the
 hands of the Legislature. Local legisla-
 ton had been almost wiped out and
 under the new Constitution log-rolling
 would almost be a thing of the past. l Legislatures were only to meet every
 four years. the Governor was to serve
 four years and was made ineligitle to succeed himself. A Lieutenant Governor
 had been created and this, General Har- rison said. would give the people an op- | portunity to select the man who was to l succeed a Governor in case of his death. Corporations are Restricted.
 of restrictions by the new Constitution l of municipal corporations was applauded by the audience. He said the RQwers of both private and public corporations had ents to the Constitution had charged a | majority of the delegates with having | been railroad lawyers He said 1t was a species of demagog1sry and, and an t insSl, snars to that the men elected by the people had | tried to legislate in the interest of the | corporations.
 | In conclusion General Harrison contend ed that all changes in the Constitution had been to bring the government closer to the people The Constitutional Con vention. was composed of Democrats who believed in white supremacy and they ! had gone little further and brought the government closer to the white people. In other words he said srom the beginning built to meet the demands of experience | and of progressive people.
 ! Dwelling upon the paramount import ance of white supremacy General Harri- l son spoke of the negro meeting in Bfr- mingham and said that these are strange times when a white man can sit at table with a negro. . 1 God grant the time will never come" | exclaimed General Harrison with pas | sion, when a Governor of Alabama or | any other white man in Alabama will sit oT, down at ts9s Ms Ttn % psErS a ana aase Continuing. General Harrison said that others might choose for themselves in such matters. but that he hoped the white | purity and sanctity of their homes. He | said the new Constitution insured white | supremacy by law and when 1t was adopted a brighter day would dawn for General Harrison closed at s:3o o'clock and when he sat down he was roundly | cheered.
 l The Nominating Committee then report ed the following officers. who. were uIian- | imously elected on motion of General J. | w. A. Sanford:
 President, Hon. Gordon Macdonald Secretary, A. H. Arlington.
 Vice -Presidents-J H. Hartley, Thomas | H. Mizell, T. F. Harrison. J. J: Sullivan. W. W. Screws. Horace Hood, w, c. Ray. T., | lin, Jerry Harrington, Jaques Loeb, F. M. Ryan. w. D. Westcott, John Chsby. McD. Cain. F. o. Walsh, W; F. Vandi- yer. c. G. Ahercrombie, Alex Rice, w. | Tanner, Thomas Howe.
 MT. Meyer surrendered the gavel to MT
 Macdonald. who, in accepting the presi- dency of the Club said that he appreciat- ed the honor. At another time and on another occasion he said he hoped to say something about the great work before the Club.
 ing Hon. J. Tom Hefiin of Lafayette.
 Remarks of MT. Hefin. 1 Mir Hef1in was eheered when he arose | to begin his remarks. He expressed his
 pleasure at being able to address the cit izens of Montgomery County. He said would live fifty years under the new Con-
 stitution.. He said this because he thought the white people of Alabama were very
 much in earnest about this matter. 1 Then Mir. Hefiin referred to his service in the State legislature. He said that in iS9S he supported call for Constitn-
 tional Convention under an urgent mes-
 sage from Governor Johnston. He re- minded the audience of what followed | and called attention to the reunion of the 1 white people in 1900 under the leadership l of the lamented William J. Sanford. The
 Democratic Convention had declared that | the new Constitution was Democratic measure. The Constitutional Convention had kept every pledge of that Democratic l | Committee had met and declared that the | Constitutional Convention had kept faith with the platform. He declared that the Constitution was a son of the Demo- cratic party.
 Mir. Hefiin said that the 155 delegates had labC red faithfully three months and | had built this instr ument and yet now ana t' en SC me opponent of the measure gets up and reads about nine lines of the new Constitution and then solemnly de- clares She's unconstitutional The Negro Eliminated.
 After paying an eloquent and forcble clared that down to 1867 white men stood guard around the ark of liberty-the bal lot box. He pointed out that in 1853 the Supreme Court of Connecticut declaitd that the negro had no rights as citi- zen. Then MT. Hefiin described the con ditions during the reconstruction period. and showed that negroes sat in the Com sututicl al Convention of 1875 and par ticipated in the construction of the pres ent Constitution. The Convention of 1Si5, he said, was compelled to do certain things to meet certain conditions. The Convention of i9c1 met to take away from the negro the right to vote and the Convention had done this in such a way that F't deral interference was lying help less at the feet of the white men of Ala bama.
 MT. Fehin explained the registration clause of the new Constitution, and de- clartd that the people were for it. and that on November II there was going to be "a powerful and pcstiferous tub birg." He said that every delegate to the Convention did not get what ne wanted. He compared it to jury duty and said that some of the best provisions in the new instrument were brought about by compromise. He declared that none of the prominent opponents of the Con- stit&ion had made a single suggestion to the Convention, how it was to per form its duty. They were willing to stand around now, however, and criticise it.
 Describing the operation of the suf- frage clause MT. IIetlin told several good stories He declared that if he was a registrar in Macon county he would dis ment was wildly applauded.
 Referring to the distrust of some white people. MT Hefiin said that man who distrusted his own people was a suspi- cious character. He said the people knew that the Board of Registrars would be fairly and honestly appointed by white men.
 Roosevelt Washington Incident.
 Tn conclusion MT. Hefiin paid his re- spects to the leaders of the opposition. He sad that if they expect to reap po- litical advantage upon the prostrate forms of the white people of Alabama they will be mistaken. He declared that the sacred arm of the law was to be thrown around the negro, but that the ballot box was to be reserved for the white men.
 that the President had ruined the South ern negro and it was to be hoped that the incident had ruined the President (Applause.) MT. Roosevelt might believe he was elevating the negro, said MT Hefiin. but the incident would cause some young negro bucks to be elevated by ropes He admonished every white man in Alabama to stand on guard on Novem-