The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-11
AlabamA Public Men
 and Next Years Election
BY WILL T. STEPHAN

They are pitching the big tent, saw dusting the ring. dressing the issues and grooming the performers for the regular performance next year Of Ala bama's grand. glittering and gorgeous political circus. It's going to be great performance this tifne-thc greatest ever.
 The full program has not yet been announced by the ring master, but the performers have their ear to tho ground to find just what the audience wants. Incidentally. the audience, the people of Alabama, Is taking only a cursory interest in the big shoT. The performance has to be gone through with and the audience is awaiting the opening act with resigned patience. Still when the fanfare of trunipcts Is given, when the chief performers dash around on their favorits issues the in terest will be worked up to high pitch and the audience will get semi intoxicated with excitement. Such IS Alabama politics.
 Under the strict meaning of the con- stitution the terms of office of Cover nor William D. Jelks and a number of other State officials, will expire in Jam uary of 1907, and their successors must be elected in November of 1926. In the late spring or early summer the Dem ocratic party of Alabama will select those officials. The Republicans will also name ticket. The men on tne the Republican ticket will get their names fin the papers two or three times and that will be about all for the Re- publicans. The Republican ticket has the same sort of show in Alabama thas company of befogged and beuni- formed Russian horse guards would stand against division of seasoned fighting men of Japan.
 A Republican sidesh0w.
 The political circus is entirely a Democratic institution. The Kepubli- cans run a little cheap side sEow. but the thing never has paid expenses. The Republicans seem to like to Go 1t anu the Democrats don't mind. It gives the ring men a sort of introduction to the dispensers of Federal pap
 But what is to be the great climax of next years performance. the startling and sensational feature that is to eclipse and overshadow anything else? It looks now as If the star feature was to be a great railroad tanning act, or a great demonstration oe trust busting. The audience is entertaining the strong suspicion that the performers are training to give them something now in the railroad tanning act. It looks as if the issue that will be ridden most, up and down in front of the audience and which will be made to turn soner- sauits, to play dead, to walk turkey, to eat from the naked hand, will be the railroad issue. It may be possible that several or all of the star performers will ride a railroad issue of different color or of different build. It looks like the circus Is going to be rough- riding competition with the railroads playing the part of the buckins broncho and taking the whip and spur of the busters"
 The great, vital question, at this time, a year before the primary, IS What Is Conner going to do? Nobody knows now. Perhaps, Mir. Conner nini- self does not know. If he does ne mas Kept the information to himself If MT. Conner has any intentions and would make known those intentions to the public everybody would know what sort of campaign the State wlll have next year. If MT. Conner announces as a candidate for Governor 1t will be mo- tice to the railroads that they had bet- ter take care of themselves. It may be that the railroads will feel called upon to do that anyhow, regardless of what MT. Conner does, inasmuch as two associate Railroad Commissioners are to be selected in next years primary. If MT. Conner should decide to make the race for Governor he wolId un- doubtedly make it as the only original railroad tanner, none genuine without the label and all others commercials and spurious imitators.
 Conner and Cunningham.
 MT. Corners attitude is important at this juncture because he could probably give the keynote to the campaign. It does not necessarily follow that be- cause a large majority of the voters of the State wanted him to be President of the Railroad Commission that the same number of voters want him to be Governor, which is 6 different proposition. His personal following is undoubtedly sufficient, however, to make him some sort of a factor in any sort of a race for a State office.
 Lieutenant Governor Cunningham at this juncture is the only announced candidate for Governor. The Lieu tenant Governor is in a much better condition to make the announcement than any other prospective candidate He has just finished serving eleven months as Governor of Alabama and nobody would be so prudish as to say that 1t was improper for him to tell the people of the State that he liked the job first rate and would be mighty glad to have 1t as regular thing. Moreover, the friends of the Lieutenant Governor have not hesitated to express themselves as being more than satis- fled with the record the Lieutenant Governor made holding down the exec utive chair while Governor Jelks was i'll in New Mexico. His friends are claiming that his eleven months service to the State, the way in which he handled the office is a mighty fine thing for him to go before the people with.
 The Jefferson County man, too, was undoubtedly able to win a little ad- vantage over his prospective opponents while he was in the Governors office. In the natural course of events. in the ordinary discharge of his duty, he was bound to get close to the boys who are in the political trenches in the sixty seven counties of the State. These boys are mainly county officials who have had business to transact with the Governors office and who keep in touch with the dominant influence on the one hand and the dominant popular senti- ment on the other. The Lieutenant Goveror has also the advantage of be- 1 ing personally known to thousands and thousands of Alabama voters. He has been an indefatigable speechmaker. | There is probably not a county in Ala bama in which he has not spoken one or more times. There are but few communities in which he has not spoken on one subject or another. A well known Alabama politician has uttered the sentiment. Tn a primary a man always votes for the candidates | that he knows personally" The ele- ments of strength that the Lieutenant Governor will enter the race with are outlined here somewhat at length, for the reason that he is the only avowed