The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-27
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 Q. Who Is MT. B. B. Comef? A. He is a very shrewd man who has | made a great deal of money. Q. What does he propose to do if elect GU Railroad Commissioner A. He proposes to reduce the revenue l of the Alabama railroads by nearly three million dollars a year. Q. What will be the result of such re- | duction? AtI A. It will bankrupt nearly every rail- road in Alabama unless 1t can increase interstate rates to make up the loss. c. Will this help the farmer. iaboring man and consumer?
 A. No. 1t will hurt them and will hurt tl.e State in every direction except possi- ply some special business interests. Q. Why is Mr. Conner In favor of such | a course? A. Because he t...nks 1t will help his special business interests. c. Is Mir Conner spending any money | to secure the election?
 A. Yes. he is spending many thousands of dollars for that purpose. o. Has he been in the h abit of spend- ing his money for the benefit of the peo- pie of Alabama
 A. Mo- he has not. He has only spent money when he believed it would bring him much more money in return. o. Has Mir. Conner or have the rail- roads sacrificed anything to help Ala bama? A. Mir Conner has not. He has got full return ana large profits for everything he has done. But the railroads have in the development of Alabama spent millions of dollars for which they have never re- ceived any return,
 o. What is a good way to judge wheth- CT a man is public spirited and trust worthy in public office!
 A. One very good way Is by the es- teem in which he is held by the people in the community where he lives. c. Is MT Conner well esteemed in Bir- mrngham where he lives? -
 A. He is not. He is a very unpopular mar and has remarkably few friends considering his long residence there. He could not be elected constable or to any local office. His only hope to be elected to the position of Railroad Commissioner is to inspire the people with enough hatred of the railroads to make the vot- CTS support him. e. Is there any other way by which a man seeking public office can be justly judged?
 he treats his employees, and what they think of him. Q. What are the relations between MT. Conner and his employees?
 A. Those relations are not good. He employs 9 great many people in his cot ton mills and elsewhere. He Is harsh and ,unfriendly in his treatment of them and is very much disliked by them. c Is there any other way to judge the fitness of a candidate for office? A. Yes, another way is to know what he thinks of the people. If he has contempt for the people he is pretty sure to disregard the true interests of the people, if he gets in office. Q. What does MT. Conner think of the people?
 A He seems to have a very poor opinion of them. He thinks the people of Alabama haven't had sense enough to govern themselves for the past twenty years. He claims that every member of the Railroad Commission for the past | twenty years has been corrupt and false to his trust and that every Governor of Alabama for the past twenty years has 1 been grossly false to his trust by ap- pointing and re-appointing members of the Commission who were traitors to the cause of the people, and he seems to think the judges of all the courts in Alabama haven't the sense to make rail roads pay claims or observe reasonable ! car service rules. If Mir. Conner believes ali these things, then he necessarily thinks the Alabama people haven't any sense for continuing to elect men to public office who regularly betray their public trust. Mir. Conner all the time brags on the people of Georgia and how the law is administered there. Yet the Railroad Commissioners of Georgia have always been appointed by the Governor just as they have been in Alabama until the last Legislature, and the judges in Georgia are elected by the people just like they always have been in Alabama. So MT. Conner seems to think the people of Georgia are very smart and capable and that the people of Alabama are very silly and helpless.
 c. Is MT. Conner right when he says Georgia is more prosperous than Ala bama?
 A No. He is entirely wrong. Ala bama is as progressive and prosperous as any State in the South and has in- creased more rapidly than Georgia. q. Is it possible that MT. Conner is | right in his claim that all the Governors of Alabama for twenty years have been inefficient and untrustworthy and unable to protect the interests of the people?
 A. No, MT. Comer's claim is untrue and absurd. Alabama in the past twenty years has had many Governors, who were brave and true men and friends of the people and without special business in- terests to serve such as MT. Conner has. 4L AS lar SdAGE AfAOEO Just NO IelY on and believe in the fidelity of the public men of Alabama who have fought for her in war and cared for and uplifted her in peace than to rel:' on the interested statements of @ selfish man like MT. Conner who has always devoted himself exclusively to advancing his private in- terests.
 Q. If MT. Conner were president of the Railroad Commission. and the railroads would give him special rates. lower than the rates given to the general public. for his grist mill at Birmingham. and for his Avondale Cotton Mills. and for the products of his farm in Barbour county. would that satisfy him
 A. I don't know: but 1t has been sug- gested by those who know Mir. Conner intimately that he has never been satis- fled with anything since he reached mans estate. and that if in his power to do so. he would revise the Deealogue and amend the Lords prayer.
 e. Is 1t not a fact that MT. Conner discharged a little boy who had becn
 working in his cotton mill at Birming-
 ham, and when the little boy returned to
 the cotton mill to get the wages which \ uAre dt1a him did not Mir. Conner nave