The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-15
fB> .RUCE KENNEDY.l

Opttlhds OCt. 1f-t0pcCldt.J-AAV hehAA~- some new court house of Lee County was the scene today of a spirited debate between Hon. John B. Knox, President of the recent Constitutional Convention, and Hon. Jesse F. Stallings of Butler County. The subject was, of course, the question of ratifying the proposed new Constitu-
 ton. Mir Stallings spoke a piece" against ratification. and Mir. Knox made | a quiet, calm, dignified and earnest argu- | ment in support of the instrument in the | building of which he bore so conspicu- ous rart.
 The debate took place in the commo- dious new court room, which has a seat filled. The crowd was estimated at 500 persons, about 100 of whom were negroes. The negroes sat together in the tier of seats on the east side of the room. The fame of the statesman from the red clay hills of Butler had no doubt reached them and they were on hand to cheer him in his opposition to the measure which throws no cloak over its purpose to elim-' mate them from the political life of Ala bama forever. And they did cheer Mir. Stailings. Whenever he made a good point against the new Constitution. solid shunks of applause went up from the negro benches and hurtled among the sand dunes of Lee.
 The white people in the audience were largely farmers. Few of the business men of Opelika were present. This appa- rent lack of interest on the part of the business men was explained by John T. German, Secretary of the County Cam paign Committee for Ratification, who said that Opelika would give 90 per cent of its white vote to the Constitution. It was a busy season, he said. with the merchants, and they found 1t impossible to leave their places of business. MT. German, by the way, was pleased with the result of the meeting, and said many new friends were made for the proposed Constitution.
 "Jess and John" Met Friends.
 The meeting was arranged by Capt. T. D. Sanford chairman of the Commit tee for Ratification, and MT. Stallings had been invited to meet Mir. Knox. The distinguished Annistonian came to Ope- lika Sunday afternoon, and was the guest of Captain Sanford at his cosy cottage home In West End. MT. Stallings reach ed Opelika Sunday night He stayed at a hotel. Messrs Stallings and Knox were down town early this morning and they were cordially greeted. It was Hello, John:" Hello, Jess." wherever they went MT. Knox tells that he was once approached by a citizen who cordially grasped his hand and called him Jess. :" He said he thanked the gentleman for the compliment and corrected him. The ever ready Mir. Stallings said that he. too was approached by citizen who slapped him on the back and said, Hello, John" He declares that he so appreciated the mis- take of the citizen that notwithstanding his reputation, he was for the moment taken aback. He recovered his equanim- ity, however, and corrected the mistakes saying that he regretted that he was not the ablest man in all Alabama"
 The story fitly illustrates the utmost cordiaIity that exists between the two speakers.
 The speaking began at Il o'clock this morning and continued until after two. Gen. George P. Harrison presided and introduced the speakers
 Under the time agreement, Mir. Stall ings opened and spoke one hour and fif- teen minutes. MT. Knox then spoke one hour and a half, and MT. Stallings closed in fifteen minutes. MT. Stallngs gave a characteristic exhibition. He bounded into the ring. opened with few of his Stallingese expressions and sailed into the Constitution hammer-and-tongs With remarkable audacity he addressed MT. Knox as John" and closed many of his sentences by saying, Now you know that's so, John" He asked the audience with the greatest show of sincerity ito take the matter home, go behind the chicken house and pray over it" His time was consumed almost who'll ly in treating his subject with levity and 1t impressed me that he had been sincere earlier in the day when he told me that he did not have much interest in the mat ter adding, "I am in this thing inde- pendently and just came up here to speak because l was invited"
 MT. StallingS received a liberal share of the applause, however, although the enthusiasm of the negroes over his speech and the cheers with which they received him appeared to give him some annoyance. ...
 A Lion in the Circus.
 When Mir. Knox stood up before the audience. 1t was like the transition from the ring of an immense hippodome to the menagerie tent. There was the lion. the king of the beasts. Majestic of bearing dignifed in appearance, clean-tongued and defiant. He had a great cause about which he was to speak, and he looked secure in his position. He began by tell ing the people of Lee that he had been en- tertained by the levity and witticisms of his friend. MT. Stallings, but he had been astonished that one of such great intellect would treat a matter of such grace importance so lightly. Then MT. Knox launched out into careful argu- ment of the merit in the new Constitu- ton. He devoted a portion of his time to digging up the buried past of Messrs. Stallings, Shelley, Johnston and Denson. described them as "the Big Four" and quoted from some of their public utter ances in the recent past. He gave con siderable time to discussion of the suffrage subdivision of the new Consti- tuition and carefully elucidated it's pro- visions.
 Mir. Knox was given the closest atten- tion and was repeatedly applauded.
 Only One Note of Discord.
 The meeting passed off smoothly. There was but one note of discord. While MT. Knox was speaking, John Motley, former Back Tax Commissioner of Lee County under Governor Johnston. interrupted him several times by telling him to leave out personalities" MT. Knox had not dealt in personalities, and he became somewhat irritated. When the interrup- tion was repeated. he told Motley. who sat almost under him, that he would not be interrupted again, and he would not permit him to direct the nature of his remarks. Several gentlemen. among them Hon. Reed Barnes, surrounded Motley and put a quietus on him.
 This was the statutory day for open ing the Circuit Court of Lee County, and Judge A A. Evans got here this morning from his home in Clayton. He went on the bench at 10:30 o'clock. The sheriff