The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-13

mated on both sides. he was fairly elected. The same cry was used to assail the title Of Houston. Cobb. Oates and Johnston, and kept up by the same men. down to the adoption of the new Constitution. Judge Jones twice recommended a contest law, and declared that he would approve any that was passed He would indeed. have been despicable under the circum- stances. if he had surrendered the of- flee. and he had no reason to question his title.
 Is the impression sought to be created by the statement that Judge Jones oppos- ed that "ciause of the new Constitution which secures to the white man control of the State in local affairs" Every honest man in Alabama knows he has labored since the war for the domination of the white race as best for both. He has risked his life to insure white supremacy time and again, and done a thousand fold more to that end than The Herald's editor.
 Judge Jones. along with Governor Oates. General Harrison. Captain White, Gen. eral Petsus, and numbers of other patriotic citizens. believed it an insult to the white men to declare they could not pass the same qualifications as those prescribed for the negro. Moreover. these gentlemen believed that the grand father clause" was plainly viclative of the Constitution of the United States, and sooner or later would involve our State in trouble. some intimation of which may be found even In the late decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Giles case.
 The circumstances of Judge Jones's ap- pointment as District Judge are well known, and have been published many times. There has never been any dispute about the facts. The latest of these statements is from Mir. H. H. Kohlsaat of Chicago. formerly owner of The Chicago Record-Herald, in a letter written to The Atlanta Constitution of June 2, 1903, on other matters, in which he says, incl dentaily:
 .'when the question of appointing a District Judge in Alabama arose, there were a number of Republican aspirants for the place. but the President did not see fit to appoint any one of them. Some of the ablest men of the South-Demo- crats in politics-suggested ex-Governor Jones, of Alabama, as a man of fine legal attachments, judicial temperament and unimpeachable character" The President who knew Booker Washington well, told him. when the appointment was under con sideration," he wanted to talk with him about ex-Governor Jones of your State" Washington. to use Mir. Kohl saats words, '.indorsed the selection" The services. life, character. ability and honesty of Judge Jones have made him marked man. These gave him the ap- poIntment. Low indeed. must be The Herald's estimate of the people of Ala bama, when it brings forward as matter of reproach that a mans life and char acter have been such as to impress others. even though black and humble, with the conviction that he Is fair and just Judge Jones'. as The Advertiser knows, was not cognizant that his name was being considered. until advised that the place awaited his acceptance.
 Another astonishing thing, is the charge that Governor Jones while Governor knew of the existence of peonage in Coosa and Tallapoosa Counties. or else- where. As The Herald makes the state ment which is without the shadow of foundation. it is proper to ask. who is its informant? How was the information conveyed? When it makes such a charge, | 1t win surely he manly enough to give it's author. No Governor was. ever ad-. vised of the situation of affairs, and when the facts were uncovered, 1t amazed nearly every man In Alabama. Governor Jones went out of office nine years ago, and peonage was not then in existence, as far as anybody knows.
 It is not high thing to impute mean motives to a man when there are abun-
 dant reasons for his being moved by good
 motives. Judge Jones's course in the | Constitutional Convention, where The Herald pictures him as opposing "the
 white mans control of the State in local | affairs," was certainly not calculated to l VIII VOLcS UT pOtAeANdA P&OhAOeAOA AAS was
 the same then that he is now, and for
 that matter, he has been the same all 1 the days of his life. He never lodged
 an issue, and never failed to follow his
 convictions because they might bring him
 unpopularity. The Herald speaks of him
 as "an ambitious. arrogant, machine
 politician. using every means in his power
 to attain his ends, without regard to justice or consistency" This language
 will fall flat in the face of the history of Judge Joness two administrations as Governor. No man ever held the office
 who was less politician. It is notori-
 ous that he despised the machine, and never sought to build up one; that he was
 not desirous of further political service,
 and when he thought the good of the
 Party and the State would De promoted thereby, he appointed even personal
 enemies to office.
 The Turner trial and it's incidents have
 been rehashed until the people are tired
 of it. Everybody who heard the evidence
 knows that Turner was guilty. He in-
 sisted on pleading guilty. Even his lead
 ing counsel said that he was unques-
 tionably guilty, under the charge of the
 court" It Is notorious that some of the | iurv declared before they went into the