The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-14
THE MOBILE HERALD AND THE
 ADvERTIaEH.

\ 1 Several times recently The Mobile Herald has departed from its accustomed dignity and decency to make the most bitter attacks upon Judge Jones. The Advertiser at first ignored these attacks because Judge Jones requested 1t to do so. They were simply the threshing over of old straw that The Alliance Herald and other Populite enemies of that honorable gentleman originated in the campaigns when he was a candidate for Governor. and which even they abandoned when run I to cover.
 | The Herald however. has persisted in It's bitter spleen towards Judge Johes. It sounds as if some old political enemy of that honorable man had taken hold of the desk that Hon. Erwin Ledyafd once graced. The leading men of Mobile must be shocked at the course of The Herald in this matter.
 In consequence of this attitude. The Ad- vertiser finally penned q mere paragraph protesting against The Herald's extraordi- nary display of personal spleen. This provoked from The Herald a most for midabie columbiad. displayed across two columns. This piece of yellow hys- terics was devoted even more to a roast of The Advertiser than of Judge Jones. Inasmuch as The Herald has practically no circulation outside of the municipal | limits of Mobile. The Advertiser will not give the article publicity throughout the State by giving it space on this page. The public can get sufficiently at the gist of 1t by the aliusions to 1t in our com mept upon 1t yesterday and today. l The Herald attempts to answer The Ad- vertiser by averring that fudge Jones either writes The Advertisers editorials defending his position or reads and revises them before publication" Now the reading public of Alabama has known the work of The Advertisers staff well enough for years not to doubt that 1t has sufficient capacity within itself to hold its own with any contemporary in the State. That has been demonstrated every week in the last thirty-ive years, since the present Editor of this paper has been at Its helm. The Advertiser would especially not need as- sistance when 1t has in hand discussion with a novice who is boiling over with personal spleen. as in the present case Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.
 The Advertiser is free, therefore, to admit that in the present matter. Judge Jones was asked to furnish this paper with some material for it's use in it's arr ticles on the Turner case This material was almost entirely legal and technical in character. It was freely handled. elab- orated and altered in this office. That was legitimate. and discreditable neither to The Advertiser nor Judge Jones. The Advertiser never goes off half-cocked: it is sure it is right before 1t goes ahead. It takes pains to know what it Is talking about and that is one reason why the Alabama public stands by, it so geper- ally.
 Now will The Herald be equally frank and straightforward? Will it say who 1t is that has been furnishing 1t so much distortion as to Judge Joness political career, and who Is the friend whom it es- teens so highly as to reverse it's policy of years to favor at this juncture?
 The Herald admits that The Advertiser is within it's rights" in standing by Judge Jones, and declares that they were closely associated In all their politi- cal movements of the past ten years" "A severe criticism of Judge Jones is apt to make old granny vince" Very true. and we are proud of 1t. There is~no man of higher character. greater ability. more unselhsh patriotism and more absolute fearlessness in the discharge of public duty in all the State. This paper and he have rarely differed in any matter of mo- ment for more than ten years. The se- cret doubtless is that both have convic- tions, and a persistence of convictions that generates tenacity of purpose in ac- tion Neither is liable to take position, or to abandon one, because of popular drift or popular clamor. This sympathy does not make The Advertiser vince at fair criticism of such a public man, but it does arouse its sense of justice and provoke its combativeness to see such un- just assaults as The Herald's. In this particular matter, however. public senti- ment has been largely with Judge Jones. The Advertiser has found very few State papers in company with The Herald.
 Our contemporary cites several in- stances of The Advertisers persistence of purpose, and condemns this as nagging.
 Our contemporary's anti-Jones, anti-Ad- vertiser writer Is apparently lacking either in the mental vision or the moral perception to size up this papers point of view. When it sees a duty. 1t takes po- sition, and takes 1t deliberately, intelli-
 gently, with an end to attain. Then it
 goes in to enforce that view. If the matter has a principle at stake, that
 principle is worth fighting for. We don't
 abandon our purpose until the end is at-
 tained, or there is no longer an issue. Some people may call this obstinacy, others stick-at-iveness.w wPerhaps the bet ter term is steadfastness. But be 1t what 1t may, we keep hammering away with all our might. That is what has made The Advertiser the journalistic success the political influence. the moral power that 1t is generally conceded to be in Alabama today.
 With all due modesty, we commend The Advertisers methods to The Herald. We believe 1t can profit by them.
 S-U-S-
 The Birmingham Age-Herald is com |