The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-04-24

started out as a six mule farmer Now I am a 200 mule farmer and in my time I have been merchant manufacturer and shipper What you want me to tell you about though is the one great over shadowing issue of this eampaign-shall the railroads of Alabama rule the state or shall the people of the state be their own rulers? As Dr. Cunningham has mentioned the subject, however. l must tell you that Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas pay their old soldiers al- most twice as much as does Alabama. This Is not right. We should pay these old heroes more and I am in hearty sym pathy with the proposition.
 More important than immigration IS making conditions in this state such that those who are already here will not leave.
 The Important Issue.
 There is but one important issue before you now Dr. Cunningham Is trying 10 bring in too much. In his Brewton speech he said that when he was a young doc tor he had q case of whooplng cough and he had a whole lot of things that he wanted to try on the case, so he put them all in the same bottle and shook them mp. He said the only trouble was that when he shook the bottle up it broke. That s what is going to happen to him right now. He is trying to mix too many subjects.
 q will talk on three phases of the railroad question-prompt payment of claims demurrage on both sides and re- vision of rates. l spent SS000 in my for mer campaign to educate the people of Alabama on the rate question. The rail- roads spent thousands 10 educate sthe people 10 hate me. They flooded the state with money and as for you. Dr. Cunningham (wallJing ovef directly in front of his opponent ] have never heard you raise one word of protest against this lniqnitons attempt of outside cor porations to corrupt the electorate Of your state.
 There was once preacher who kicked his sermon graphophone out in the street because someone had said some bad words Into 1t. Now. doctor. wouldn't you like to kick this whole rate business out into the street Doesn't it worry you? Wouldn't you like to be rid of it all?"
 Speaker Becomes Dramatic.
 The speaker at this point became dra- matte and if there are those who think MT. Conner is no orator they should dis abuse their minds of the idea at once. There was thunderous applause as he shouted:
 They say l am destructive. They say my ideas are drastic. They mean that I have had the record all my life that when I say I will do a thing I will do it or die. and pr. Cunningham, they do not believe you will.
 They don't know where you stand. You say you voted for rate regulation in 1881 and In 1893, but nothing ever came of it. You dodge you shirk issues. An. politics; how many sins have been com mitted in thy name. But you know, don't you, doctor that he who fights and runs away will live to fight another day?'
 Men of Opelika and Lee county Think of crossing your state line at West Point and decreasing your freight rates 70 per cent Do AS Texas did. Assert yourselves Say to the railroads that you intend to rule your state forever, and pass it's rue down to your children unim- paired Tell the railroads if they don't like it to get out. They wont get out They are building more in Texas than ever before.
 "Dr. Cunningham. what do you know about railroad rates, any way2 You know nothing. What do you know about child labor? You know less about this than you do about railroad rates. You