The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-08

| emphatic protest against the repeal of | that measure. In his message. Governor | Johnston completely reversed his former | arguments and policy and became the | friend and defender of the Constitution of 1875, and of the conditions which ex- | isted under it.
 Thus he said:
 | "'Wc have practically ceased to hear l any arguments to show the necessity for
 the overthrow of the present constitution, except that some convention or commit I tee ha1 so declared.'
 "A Il referring again to the black belt | of which he had spoken in 'S96 he clearly | disputes the necessity of any constitu-
 tion.u relief fer that large and fruitful
 section of the State, for he said:
 "'A'l the officials and members of the | General Assembly from the black belt
 heli urclouded titles to their offices; most
 of them received every vote that was cast
 in thei- several counties and districts and | have the confidence and respect of their | constituents. What necessity demands | an expedition that will necessarily in | vlovs a large expense to the people and
 threatens to stir up passion and pre- l judi,e. discord and dissension, is not ap- l parent
 And what was the expedition to which
 he referred? It was simply the calling l | ventior to revise the organic law the
 necessity for which he himself had shown | in h.s message of 1896 and he had on.y to I consult that message to make the neces- | sity apparent.
 Emphasized His Desertion. | Proceeding further and to emphasize 1 his assertion Of the cause for which he
 spok" so valiantly in 1896 he employs
 the language of warfare and speaks of | his former allies,th advocates of a con-
 vention, as if he had always been their | most determined foe.
 The advocates of convention" he
 said have retreated from one position to another until they are now fighting behind 1 the las: breastworks of defense-the party | issue
 But the remarkable message did not | stop with this. Forgetting the warning given but a few months before, in the
 messagi of 1898. that members of the Generl Assembly and the Governor | would b. recreant to duty if they tenn porized with conditions that were preg- | nant with evil, he now praises these con- | ditions, and agrees that no necessity ex-
 ists to change them. He even criticizes 1 the orderly procedure of the people to prepare for the convention under the act l he had approved as 'haste-hot haste that will not permit reflection and invokes the | curse of holy writ against those who re-
 move ancient landmarks.
 '"To further defend the constitution of | 1S75 Governor Johnston, obivious of his | message of 1896. that the iron bands which
 have prevented our growth and develop
 mert. should be stricken off. now finds | in that instrument the cause of the | growth of the State during the preceding | twenty years. for, after reciting such | growth. he says:
 "A constitution that has fostered all | this growth and development, that has sheltered the homes and persons of our | people so many years, should not be over
 thrown with impunity. The curse of | holy writ is upon those who remove an- | cient landmanks.'
 Expensive Special Session. "The special session of the General As- sembly lasted fourteen days, and cost the | people, in round numbers. thirteen thou | sand five hundred dollars. It resulted | in the repeal of the Constitutional Con- | vention bill; no amndments to the con- | stitutor of 1875 were submitted to ue
 vote, on by the people; and at the end | of the session the constitutional reform | was in the same position 1t occupied on | December l. 1896, except that Governor | Johnston, instead of being allied with
 its friends, had joined himself with its
 enemies He had marched up the hill and then marched down again. The ad- vocate of 1896 had repudiated his own argument and was temporizing with con- dtions that were pregnant with evil. "Eefcre the expiration of Governor Johrstons second term. he becam can ddate for the Senate, to succeed Hon. John T Morgan. In the primaries held in April. 1901, he was ingloriously defeat ed, and to this defeat, his inconsistent fla nf stitutional Convention largely contribute ed.
 AS a result of the primaries in the several counties of the State, Senator
 Morgan was retained in his place at Washington and delegates were sent 10 the State Convention to nominite State ticket for Governor and other off1cers These delegates. fresh from the people, were overwhelmingly in favor of a constl- tutional convention, and. on Apri 70, 1900. that convention, which nominated William J. Sanford for Governor, passed the following resolution:
 Resolved, That it is the sense of this convention that the General Assembly should provide for the submission to vote of the people of Alabama the ques- ton of holding constitutional conven- ton, with such safeguards may be necessary to preserve the limitations upon the right of taxation now existing. ana such Ger safeguards as the General Assembly, in it's wisdom, may find to be necessary and proper in the premises
 Could Not Endorse Johnston.
 Tt is complained by Governor John- ston that this convention did not, by formal resolution, endorse his second ad- ministration; he appeals from the silence of that convention to the Democratic Vot- CTS of the State to give him the vindica- ton and endorsement which that conven- tion failed to bestow.
 .'In view of his record on the great question of a Constitutional Convention. it is obvious that the State Convention could not have endorsed him without stultifying itself. The leading feature of his second administration was his antaS- onism to the calling of Constitutional Convention. and his defense Of the Con stitution of 1875 and how was it possible to endorse his administration in that re- gard when the delegates sent by the peo- ple were. in their behalf. demanding Constitutional Convention? An endorse ment Is either an empty formality or 1t
 must be given in sincerity and in truth | To be of value if must be deserved. and 1t must be hol estly bestowed. The cam paign which resulted m the election Of delegates to that convention had devel- | oped a strong demand among Democrats | for a new Constitution. and strong cen- | sure for Governor Johnston for opposing | the movement. It was therefore made | impossible to endorse him by resolution | without convicting the party of rank hy- pocrisy and paralyzins Its efforts to hiring ahOut this great reform