The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-23
By Will T. sheehan.

his opponent, B. B. Conner, his arm up- raised and his voice hoarse with earnest ness, declared in the hearing of over 30( voters of Jefferson County Your cir eulars distributed throughout the State, with their errors and unfairness. have created deep seated. unfounded and un- just prejudice against the Railroad Com mission of Alabama"
 Mr. Smith had read to his audience the circulars of Mir. Conner which are play ing such an important part in the cam paisn for the Presidency of the Raiiroac Commission of Alabama. One of the cir crlars. Mir. Smith pointed out, declared without eouivocation and without quail ficaticns. and in spite of the explanation Of Mir. Conner, that the freight rates in Alabama were 30 per cent higher than those of Georgia.
 AS to the second circular, MT. Smith declared that the only construction which could be placed upon one paragraph was that Mir. Conner, if elected. would estab- iish the Geourgia rates in Alabama.
 The Second Meeting.
 Tt was the second time the candidates had met. They clashed first in Deca- tur. The Decatur discussion had shown the strength and weakness of the de- baters. It had revealed each mans
  lay the points in each champions armor. The two of them went in to their second passage in the oratorfcal lists with the confidence born of knowledge and con ,fidence. The thurst and parry of each man. his offense and defense, had been measured by the other, and both drew for the onslaught in greater confidence than they had felt fin the opening pas sage.
 The two orators came together for their second afgumentative duel in the audi torium of the city hall The large room was filled with q cordial, enth usiastic crowd. It was partisan crowd. the hall to give cheer and comfort to then favoritc candidate, and they were In no. wise slow in making known their pref. erence. The head and forefront of ths Merchants, Consumers and Shippers As sociation, that organization which has directed and sustained the fight against existing railroad conditions in Alabama 10 located in Birmingham. MT. Conner fol a dozen years or more has been the di recting and presiding genius of this as. His associates were out in full force to hear him. They were there tc give comfort and applause to their choser champion and this they did in no small measure. a
 Yet in this Birmingham crowd. ths number and activity of tho smith sup, porters was surprising. The Middle Al abaTia candidate wac given a hearty His logical, argumentativS speech was punctuated with frequent and continued applause. The air throughout and counter cheers.
 A TixnmI~r MAak@vna
 It was all together a lively and enthtI. siastic pofsticai meeting. And yet, tht joint discussion was much tanner thar the first passage at arms at Decatur. The element. the rather heated an6 Sahrp attacks which enlivened the Morgan county meeting were lacking in tonight encounter.
 MT. Smith not only charged that Mir Corners circulars were erroneous and but he asserted that the glar. Ing errors they contained would never have been modified or corrected if he had not challenged Mir. Conner to joint He charged, further, that MT. Comers correction of the errors fir the circulars was not made until his had been issued.
 On the other hand. Mir. Conner defend ed the accuracy of the circulars, and said that he would still stand on them. He asserted that Mir. Smiths speech was the same speech that MT. Stahlman had delivered fourteen years ago in Montgom- cry, and that railroad men were still de- livering that speech. He told his au- dience that old story of the jumping frog that was filled with buck shot to destroy its usefulness and ability as a jumper.
 MT. Smith, he declared, with apologies for the comparison, had been so filled by the railroads that he would never get around over the State.
 Kettig is Chairman.
 The debate began in the style of all old-fashioned political meetings. Captain s. F. White. when the crowd had assem- bled, called 1t to order and nominated w. H. Kettig as chairman. The nomination was made unanimous. Mir. Kettig, a prominent merchant of this city, accepted the chair in a few well chosen words, be- speaking for the speakers respectful and courteous hearing. Amid some ap- plause he led forward Mir. Conner, the first speaker.
 Mr. Conner began with review of the crusade waged by the Merchants, Farm CTS, Consumers and Shippers Association for lower local freight rates In Alabama. In working towards this end, the Associa- ton decided that 1t was desirable to elect a legislature which would give thN State an elective Railroad Commission. This fight, MT. Conner declared, had been won hands down. The vote, as he re- membered 1t, had been about ninety for an elective commission to ten against.
 ''Mr. Smith has seen fit to deny some figures I have sent out in circulars, de- claring in the papers that they were in- correct" said MT. Conner. ''Now. want to tell you gentlemen, as your repreSen- tatives in this fight. that these figures are correct. They were read before the Alabama Railroad Commission and they were not denied. They were read before room full of railroad officials. and not one of them rose to deny them. They were put on file in the office of the Rail- road Commission. and they have been on file there ever since. Nobody has dis puted or denied them"
 Conner Explains Circulars.
 MT. Conner explained that there were two circulars. The first one contained the rates in Georgia on twenty common arti- cles and this circular showed the Georgia rates were 80 per cent lower than the Ala bama rates on these particular articles. Ills second circular, MT. Conner declared, showed that on all articles the general average the Alabama rates were 40 per cent higher than the Georgia rates.
 q tell you.' exclaimed Mir. Conner. to the front row of his hearers. raising his clenched first high above his head, that on common articles a dollar of Georgia money is worth $1.SO of Ala bama money; and, more than that, did you know the Alabama rates on tomb stones were four times as high as the Georgia rates? One dollar of Georgia money is worth $4 of Alabama money. Why. gentlemen, these exorbitant rates follow you even into the grave"
 A burst of applause greeted this: