The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-14

body that has spoken and oth- CTS taking the contrary posieeon! Then
 in the light of the fact that MT. Kirk
 land is not here and that MT. Mulkey
 is absent as are also two of the repre-
 sentatives of the other counties that are
 to be affected by this and in view of the
 further fact that the representatives
 of Henry county stand, by the highest
 authority in the party, instructed
 against the reduction. notwithstanding
 l am in favor of giving relief to De-
 than if it can be done consistently, l
 think it would be unwise for this Con-
 vention to act precipitately and hur-
 riedly in carving county out of these | three counties without even consulting the wishes of those counties, that 1t
 would be unwise to make an exception in this case with the representatives of | two of the counties absent and as far as I represent Henry county must
 bow in humble obedience to the ex- pressed will of the county convention
 of Henry county and vote against this
 proposition notwithstanding my desire
 to favor Dothan. I therefore move that
 the section to which this is an amend | ment, together with all amendments,
 be postponed for say six days. The req
 son for that is that the Circuit Court | at Geneva Is in session and there are | six or seven capital cases and MT. Nul- key is attending that court and would | like te have <he matter postponed un- | til he can return
 l MT. Parker (Cullman)-I move to lay | that motion on the table.
 | Mir. Oates-I will ask the gentleman
 to withdraw that motion
 | Mr. Parker (Cullman)-I will if you
 will renew It.
 MT. Oates--I will yield the hoor to
 you SO that YOU can make the motion. | Without any arrogance on my par'' 1 1 say it, because it is fact. Know
 more about this territory involved than
 any of these delegates. because l was
 acouainted with 1t before some of them l were born and have been all over it
 I have been where the city of Dothan | now stands when there Was nothing
 there but the poplar spring and a Ill.,
 tie log grocery house. I never cast a
 vote anywhere in my life except In
 the good old county of Henry until the
 last two elections when l had bsrome
 a citizen of Montgomery county ana
 had changed my voting place to thls
 city. I, too. have represented that
 county in the Legislature and repre-
 sented the Senatorial district which my | brilliant young friend now represents
 in the Constitutional Convention or l 1875. and l represented all of that ter | ritory in the Congress of the United | States for fourteen years. l have at- l tended court in each one of those ooun- | ties. l was acquainted with that sec- | tion before Geneva county had an ex-
 istence. l kno the people of that
 country very well and hence my desire | to be heard upon this matter.
 | It is a mistake to suppose that Henry | county is only twelve or fifteen or sev-
 enteen miles wide. It Is upon an aver
 age more than twenty miles wioe' | MT. Malone-As matter or fact
 have here the township and range lines
 and there are three whole sections at
 the widest part and maybe at the bend
 of the river 1t might be eighteen miles, MT. Oates-I understand 1t perfectly
 well. I have the good luck to own l lands in all parts of the county.
 know where the lines go and while 1t
 is true you may find some points that
 are as narrow as eighteen miles across
 owing to the crooks of the Chatta-
 hooche River. the general average IS
 more than twenty miles and the length
 about 6s miles.
 Mir, Malone-The county is nearly rectangular and if it is twenty miies I wide and sixty-nine long, that would
 give it 400 square miles and the coun- | ty has not that many square miles In l it.
 Mr. Oates-I am talking of the old | county of Henry. You start in at the Florida line and to the upper part 1t | is between ,sixty-ive and seventy miles, and the average width Is twenty miles.
 | MT. Malone-It cannot be twenty miles with that length. That would make 400 square miles.
 Mir. Oates-L don't say It Is over 1 twenty miles all the way through. say it would average that much, and I believe it will That was before Geneva was made and before any of | the county was taken of. At one time | in the early history the counties of Dale. Geneva, Coffee and good part or Barbour were all in HegVy County, named for the grand old patriot and l orator of Virginia. All of those coun- ties have been carved off of 1t. The | Court House was once located at a point either in Dale or near Coffee. It did not remain there long and was removed to Columbia on the river and remained there until it was changed | to AbbeVille where 1t is now. l re- | member in 1859 the terrible contest the | people of the county had upon the | proposition to change the Court House | from Abbeville to another point which | was thirteen miles south of Abbeville l in the piney woods. It went even to | the extent of bloodshed before it was | settled. It was a hardship for men to | come from the lower end 9f the county | fifty miles up to Abbeville and a branch court was established at Colum-
 bia and subsequently since the won derful growth of Dothan and the de- velopment of that section another was established at Dothan.
 l Now a word about the instructions of the County Convention. I have heard | the explanation of my friend the dele gate from Henry as to how that oc- cured and I have not as much respect for instructions or platforms of con- ventions as I had when ] was young man. I know how such things are fre- quently procured and unless it is a matter thoroughly discussed. well un- derstood and fairly settled by the con- Vention. it never has a great deal of weight with me. but 1 believe the mo tien made by the delegate from Da'e tMr. Sollie) to postpone this matter for five or si xdays, or until the other portions of ths report are d1)osed of. should be carried. As he has stated that one of the delegates from Dale and the delegate from Geneva are not present, and 1 think that Is a first class reason why q postponement should be had. The delegate from Ge- neVa Is doubtless trying to represent his people according to their wishes and is aware no doubt or one state of affairs in that county which has not