The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-01
HUNTER TALKS IF
 SYLACAUGA AFFAIR Thinks the City Has Been
 Badly Treated IS AN ANTl-C0MER MAN syIacauga Committee Contemplated Inviting Conner, Cunningham and Heflln to Speak to the Editors.
 Never Thought of Politics.
IS AN ANIl-COMER MAN

Never Thought of Politics.
 Montgomery, June 3O.-(special )-The Journal today says: pr. J. J. Hunter, edi- tor of the Sylacauga Progress, was in the city last night en route to Mobile, where he goes to resume his work as govern ment quarantine officer on a vessel be- tween that port and one of the yellow fever infected ports.
 Dr. Hunter was instrumental in getting the Alabama Editorial association to agree to meet at Sylacauga this year, having presented the invitation to the association at it's last meeting, and he is deeply chagrned over the turn af- fairs have taken.
 T do not think that Sylacauga has been treated right by the Alabama. Press as- sociation," said Dr. Hunter to a Journal reporter last night. "and the people of my town are naturally indignant, and l believe they have a. right to be indg nant. The effort to place sylacauga in the wrong is only adding insult to in- jury.
 T think the action of the executive committee in calling a meeting to recall the acceptance of the Sylacauga invita- tion was an outrage and is unprecedented in the history of the association, so far as know. In the first place the execu- tive committee had no right to recall the invitation and change the time and place of meeting. The association itself had selected the place of meeting and the committee had no right and no power to change it. A motion was made in the association to give the committee the right to name the time and place for hold ing the next meeting and upon my motion the association voted this motion down. : There was not, so far as l know, dis senting vote against my motion. The convention thus decided emphatically against the committee having anything to do with it, and certainly the commit tee being a creature of the convention is not greater than the creator.
 Extended in Good Faith.
 "The invitation of Sylacauga was ex- tended in good faith. Sylacauga went ahead and raised one thousand dollars for the entertainment of the editors, had hundreds of photographic views taken of the town and surrounding places to present mementoes to the editors as pleasant reminders in the future of their visit. They had arranged for a day S outing at Talladega Springs, one of the | finest summer resorts in the state. if not in the south, and had arranged also for l barbecue during their stay, which would have been a genuine treat to the ! newspaper men. We had arranged to l carry the members of the association to our marble quarries and to make the day there one of the pleasantest and most delightful of their stay in our | midst.
 Tn fact. we had already provided some amusement and pleasure for every hour that the members of the associa- tion would be in our city and it was all | without one cent of expense to the news paper men. After all these preparations, l our people are very naturally wrought i up over the clash that has come and we consider it little less than an out rage"
 Conner Incident Explained.
 Referring to the invitation exterded to MT. Conner to speak on the occasion | of the visit of the association to the city. | Dr. Hunter said:
 | While on one of its outing trips and after barbecue was over, the committee of arrangements having the matter of en- tertainment of the editors in hand con- cluded that something ought to be done to add to the enjoyment of the day, and the committee concluded to invite several prominent citizens, among whom were Conner, Dr. Cunningham and Congress- man Hefiin, to speak They had not ex- tended the other invitations, having plen- | ty of time in which to do so, ana MT. Conner, having large interests iu She town and being frequently there t was easier to reach him first. The coannittee had no other idea than that Mr. Conner would | eschew politics. It had not occurred to the members that Conner was nos we'll bred man. a gentleman who could and would appreciate the proprietias of the occasion, and that 1t would be necessary | to suggest to him that he should limit his remarks to certain subjects. The pre- | sumption of right doing and right think ing Is always in favor of the ger tleman In extending this invitation 1 want to say that there was no though- of poli- | tics in it. l am an anti-Comer man, aud l was chairman of the committee that in- | vited him. Not only is this true of my self, but nine-tenths of the committed were anti-Comer men, but the action of the press association has made Ccmer votes in the town. I judge this rom the indignant sxe-assi ,1s hearu cn Q.,nc st every hand. VAS ara am still against | Comer anl expect to :cmaln ST It resent, with eveis citizer of Svlaca pla, the outrage rus treatment of my town and community Tn this matter"
 Treatment Rather Discourteous.
 Dr. Hunter then told of the features l of the meeting of the executive commit- tee at Birmingham. called for the purpose of recalling the acceptance of the invi- l tation to meet at Syaeauga so far { | they had leaked out of the executive | session, and of the rather discourteous | treatment of the citizens of Sylacauga who had been invited to be present, ana the rather unusual debate over the Co- mer incident that had occurred in the l committee meeting in the presence of the ! Sylaeauga delegation, after they had been admitted to the committee room, and said | that in view of what had been said and | done on that occasion the Commercial | club had nothing left for it to do but to 1 withdraw it's invitation which had been extended in good faith and had been ac- cepted in good faith and most cordially i by the Press association.
 Dr. Hunter left last night on the Louis vile and Nashville for Mobile. but will return to Sylacauga at the conclusion 1 of the season to remain. During his ab- sence his daughter is editing and manag- ing his paper. And he said: ''She is managing the paper and editing it better | than l could if I were there"
 JUNE'S FIRE RECORD.
 T"ere Were Fifteen Fires During the