The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-30
Bx wul T. sheehan.

for to you most Of all Is 1t due. You started me fin public life. You first of all gave me a commission from the people. You first of all. committed to my care trust. come to you 70 tell how that commission has been borne. how that trust has been dis- charged.
 You sent me to the Alabama Legis- lature twenty-six years ago and m doing 1t, you started me in public lire. For those twenty-six years have been in public life and my record has been written. come to you to give an account of my stewardship and 10 invite you to examine the record that has been written In the book"
 Dr. Cunningham stood in two horse wagon that had been pulled under the shade of the beech trees at Shilon Church today and talked to his old friends and neighbors face to face It was another picnic and barbecue occasion. There were assembled to greet. him and the other speakers a crowd that numbered perhaps 1000.
 It was big gathering, remarkably big when one considers that this DOT. ton of Franklin County Is one of the most sparseIy settled sections of Ala bama. But bills had been sent out and when the time had come for the speak ing the rocky hill sides about Shiloh CnHFc1s were Dtdck Wltff ptOpit-.
 So great was the crowd that It was impossible for them to find place in the church building and it was arr ranged to have the speaking in the open under the beech trees. The mules were taken from big Stude- baker wagon. The wagon stood by big mountain spring and the crowd clustered along the rock hillside within hearing of the speaker of the day
 Under the biggest tree the members of the Russellville Cornet Band, hon. ored guests for the occasion, were given special places.
 To such a place and amid such sur- roundings, Dr. Cunningham told his old nefghbors and his old friends of the record he had made, of the things he had dAne in his public life of twen- ty-six years.
 He told them of one of the first fights, the young county doctor whom they sent to the Legislature had made --the fight for a mandatory Railroad Commission. He told them as far back as 1881 he had stood out for and fought for a commission which should have full power to 1t and regulate freight rates in the State. At that time he was bitterly opposed to the farce called an advisory commission and he had opposed it to this good day. Going forward with his record he brought 1t up to the year of 14es when he had supported and fought for the Barnes -Boylxin bill which sought tn confer power upon the powerless Railroad Commission.
 He spoke of the steps forward that had been taken in the Constitutional Convention fin the regulation of the rail- roads of the State, and recalled that he had assisted in this work. He recalled to his hearers the incident of the last Leg is1ature when the vote on the elective feature of the present Railroad Com- mission was a tie and the fate of the bill hung in the balance. He re- minded his hearers that he had cast the vote which united the tie and which made the Commission elective in 1904. He told his hearers that even Mir. Conner acknowledged that tf II had not been for the vote Cunningham cast Conner would not have been able to go before the people as a candidate for President of the Railroad Commits sion In 190A-
 Not only the rate issue but the oth- CT issues of this campaign Dr. Cun- bingham discussed for his political and governmental ideas are not limited to any one thing.
 He described the change in the sys- tenn of working convicts which had proyed such a marvellous success and which had so filled the vaults of the State Treasury. He gave Governor Jelks full credit for establishing this system, but claimed the original idea as his own. He expressed his eatis- faction that in recent interview Gov ernor Jelks had given him credit TOT the idea and had acknowledged the in- valuable advice and assistance that Dr. Cunningham had given him In his dif7cuit work of reforming the con- vict system of the State.
 The sneaker had a most apprecia- tive set of hearers. They were not content to pay him the compliment or close and attentive hearing but when he had finished and had gotten down unon tAe ground they crowded around him to shake his hand and say their words of frienalinsss to him Three or four of the older men or the crowd pressed forward to say. .'We'll. I'm one of the men who voted | for you for the Legislature in 1880 and I have always been glad or IL | And if I live I'm going to vote for l you for Governor"
 M. Patterson. an old man of the neighborhood, said to the Lieutenant | Governor
 we elected you to the Legislature | in 1880 and we are going to help elect | you Governor in 1906. MT. Conner will | have to get his votes from some other place. He hasn't any around here that | I know about. never hear any Conner | talk at all around here"
 1 A supporter of Dr. Cunningham. even | more vigorous is Hon. Berry D. Finch, l ex-member of the Legislature from Franklin County. Mir. Finch is a farmer. | pastor of the Presbyterian church, and | one of the most influential men in the | county. He is one of large number l of Franklin County men who are ae- 1 lively and aggressively at work in | this county to make Dr. Cunningham l majority as large as possible
 we gave MT. Conner an overwhel- l ming majority two years ago." said
 Mir Finch. When he was running | against John V. Smith, we did all we
 could to line up the votes for him 1 What was the result? The total vote cast fin Franklin was about soc. Ot | this total, MT Conner got more than
 600. This time he is going to lose
 Franklin County by the same sort oi
 a majority that he carried 1t by two years ago.
 l We were for MT. Conner because we | believed him when he said he was go-
 ing to bring about rate reform If he
 was elected President of the Railroad
 Commission. He claimed at first thai
 his two associate commissioners woulc
 not permit to bring about this rate re-
 form. We'll If he will stick to this post
 we will elect two other associate mem
 bers of the commission who would hell
 him in this reform. But now h'
 wants a bigger office. He wants tt
 be Governor.
 We never got in behind him to hell
 him be Governor. We wanted him al
 President of the Railroad Commission