The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-27

and of the intelligence, sense of honor and instinct of honesty of members the Alabama Press Association, we regret very much to see such publications as the following in so reputable and mo. ally hlgn l toned a journal as The Montgomery Jour nal;
 "Rountree is secretary of the Alabama Press Associa ton, and in recent years ne For this trouble he has had take outs. Everybody knew this who has had any | thing to do with these press excursions and It has been tolerated There may have been some attempt at concealment
 of the facts but it was notorious enough | to be common talk for years among mem- bers of the Association"
 | We believe The Journal is talking wh9i- | ly without reference to the facts. Tn the | first place Rountree has not been getting up these annua, excursions. It has been | the Ala abama Press Association that mas
 been getting up these excu; sions; houn- | tree was simply a salaried official em. ployed by the Association. We doubt II any member knew he had take outs. IT | they did they were recreant to their own honor in not promptly reporting that tact | to the Association and demanding D. | tailed report from Secretary Rountree. No honest man. a member of the Association could condone the act of an employe or the Association in making 1t private graft.
 We deny enphatlcally that 1t was com mon talk among members of the AsSo- citation that Secretary Rount ee was using
 his position to make money for himself
 by swindling his brethren. If any had
 known 1t their self-respect would have
 compelled them to have brought the mat
 ter before the Association.
 ''He did get the be:t possibe rates, and
 for this troube he asked those on the trip
 to pay him. They seem to have done So.
 But Asa Rount!ee didn't tell the boys
 anything. He preferred to go ahead and
 drive the bargains possible for the mem
 bers of the Association, and he estimated
 the real value of the trip to the boys and
 placed the figures where he could have a take out without he thought, hurting anybody. There's where he did wrong.
 Though certainly. everybody who cared to know anything about it, knew he was
 making money out of the excursions whether he told 1t or not"
 IL may please The Journal to write In
 this strain but it is not credtable to it.
 Asa RoIntree didn't get the best rates.
 He got nothing The rates were obtained by the Alabama Press Ass ociadon. The Pullman Car Company rate was SS per capita. The tip down the St. Lawrence $;.Sj per clpita, total $11 .9c Secretary
 Rountree as the trusted agent or the Ala bama Pres Association obtained these rates. end kepi"g the knowledge to him se f, pretended that il was S.9, put ing tle s17 from each one in to his pocket. And Tn the extracts from The Montgomery Journal quoted above the public can see
 the opinions Of that paper on such con- duct.-Be sseIHe" Weekly.
 Tn Committee appointed hy President
 Yerby to investigate the charges against
 J. Asa Roultree, sec etaIy ot the Ala
 bama Press Nsso iltior. met at BirminS-
 nam Friday of last week. tititor Frank
 Glass of The Montgomery Advertl CT, was
 the chief witness again-t Mi. Rountl ee.
 Colonel J. M. Fdlkner of the l.. and N.
 Railroad was also present and exposed
 the impo ition aped upon his road.
 NJ. RDun'ree was represented by an att
 torney, who tried t. ,ake advantage of
 every teclnicality. Every charge p:c.er-
 red az linsT R 1untrea was sustained, and
 guilt faS tened abs Jlutely upon him. He
 presented written statement, in which
 ne ackn Jwledged that, out of the 1,9 per
 sons whom he took on the Canadian :our. the were only fifteen e1itorS and twclV e ladies who were constitution fly eligible
 to go on. the trip the re .nainlng 152 per sons Icing rank outsiders. He admitted
 with an lmperturLle sang froid that he did make money out Of the trip, and fol- lowed il up with the stultifying state
 rnent that he had the right to do so. This right was based on the iact, if 1t be q fact-anl we are unwilling to accept the mere statement of such a man s a fact that he personally assumed responsibility to the transportation companies fer the expenses of the trip and guaranteed the !cqa 5ite number of personS attenGi.g in order to get the reduced rate. The plea hasn't even the rcspec bility of spe- ciols argument, It is too flmsy and rot ten for even moments consderati tiln. If he de sired to make money, why did he not
 tour. or "Rountree's Grand S1ecial Four tecn-Day Limit. Free for-AH (harring
 newspaper mem Canadian Tour and then work his $4,000 graft? Why did he advertise it as q Press Trip and use
 the stationery and office of the Alabama Press Association to work up his person . ally responsible" outing? Why did he
 urge and urge upon the members of the Press to go, when he could have gotten | hundreds outside of the Association who were not editors nor entitled to the privi- | lcge? Why-oh. thunder! the whole thing
 Is nauseating and disgusting.
 Another feature that ought to bring
 down the righteous indigna .s,n of every member upon tho luCkless head of the get-rlch-quick' Secretary is. although the railroad and transportation compa-
 nics were extending every courtesy and
 doing all in their power to afford the
 members of the Associa ton an econom-
 ical and pleasant outing. the genial Sec retary placc1 the cXperses of the tr;u so high. Tn ordHr to get in his graft which his holy right" entitled him to. that it
 deharred 9) per cent of them from going. Where were the newspaper mems rights
 in this natter Surely, they had a right To go on their press excursion. Following MT. RountreeS S0Dhstry to its rcductlo
 ad abSurdam ct ad nausaam he had an
 inc 1ntestabJe fright" to en' inh bis private purse at the expense Of the members Of the Association to tEe extent even, of denyng them their right U go on tNeir own press trips! What a Er~at man Is this Secretary Rountree and his peculiar | rights" anyhow!
 Getting ba K to the milk in the cncoa- nut. Mir. EoGntrac ought to ho exoaIla5 from the Ass 1cation Almost every d1v this week wa have been asked in our of
 tlte nnd on the street by the laity: What
 is the Press Association going to do with t 'uht"eSt The honor of the Association demands this coursc:- t,c self-reenart of tAe members demands it. If the p:ea of non-a"thorltv to act prevails at the call rT"9tin@ in Rirnlngham on the S) inst. men let the decent, self resp ctirg mem hers of tho p~es- throughout tbe statc t;rm a new organization -Decatu News.