The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-06
LET JUSTICE BE DONE.

lnCuDdtlOn, ElNcS blEtu hO lWO COlQltAt> of wanderings. which it deems a reply to an editorial of last week in The Advertiser. The Advertiser desires to call attention to the fact that The News and a few other papers in | this State, we'll known as Johnston papers, introduced the matter Of the ex-Governor's great business admin istration. and have for several years | tried to prove his efficiency by damning l every other administration of the Gov ernor's ofice. That the present Gov ernor may have fair treatment is our | excuse for entering the field at all. As we stated before, The Advertiser has | no desire to enter upon records of any past administrations.
 In the two coIumnA which The News's article covers, we think we have dis covered that our Opelika contemporary l intends to make several points. For instance. it insists on the idea that the ex-Governor would have made most excellent party to handle the recent bond sale. It dreams that there would have been a great saving in interest to | the State. if he mad had the selling of | the bonds. But the dream is incom- pIete. Why The News should assume that the taxpayers would have had to got through with the bonds, is a pure gratuity.
 We would like. however. to recall our 1 contemporary to the presence of the actual. We asked it to specify some real. actual thing which would prove the ex-Governor's capacity as a .'busi- ness Governor" It would not specify except, perhaps, to say that the recent great success of the Convict Depart ment was along the line set on foot" so ''set on foot" were followed, we inn agine, by the Convict Department dur | ing any part of this administration, and if we should be mistaken in this state ment, The News has the right to name
 the particular line ''set on foot" It will be seen The Advertiser insists on 1 it's contemporary being specific. The very first thing the Board that sue ceeded the ex-Governor's Board did was to unset some lines For instance, the reduction of the expense account of the Convict Department $20.oe0 a year, and this while vastly increasing the income. This is very plainly set forth in the first pages of the Auditors reports of the years 1899, 1900. 1901 and 1902. Here is a text for a sermon, but we will not follow it.
 While we are suggesting reading matter, we beg to call The News's at tention to certain report of a legisla- | tive committee, which will be found on pages 7S4-S0s, House Journal, 1s00-Is0I
 The News does not appear to have kept
 itself informed. It ought to read the Auditors reports and other literature
 bearing on the administration of the State Government. This would eer- tainly save it, if it is capable of taking hint, from some dangerous writing.
 But The News thinks Judge Car michael has done we'll as the head of the Convict Department. It admits that the Department has been well managed, but denies the Governor any credit for the work, although this good work was done by the Governors ap- l pointee Had it ever occurred to our learned contemporary that a Governor handles practically no part of the | States income; that he does not go out
 and gather a taxpayer by the coat and demand the six and one-half mills of lessees of the State convicts with the
 suggestion that they pay up. Surely
 our contemporary knows that no Gov
 ernor ever could establish a reputation | for having a business administration without relying almost altogether on
 other agents. We hesitate to do The News injustice of presuming that it
 has not thought deeply along these lines.
 But Judge Carmichael has made a
 capable servant of the State. The Gov
 ernor is doubtless proud of the record he has made, and we know The Adver- | tiser is He Is one of the States fore
 most men. He is entitled to all honor
 But Judge Carmichael is not responsI-
 ble for the overshadowing change in the convict system. In an annual report
 which he submitted to the Governor
 under date of August 3l. 1903. eight
 months after the new system went into
 effect, the Judge, himself. wrote as fol- | lows:
 While the convicts have been worked i in the mines-mining coal for many years-they were working on lease and
 never worked under the immediate charge and care of this department un- til the present year. When the con-
 tracts were entered into for working l the conVicts under the present arrange 1 ments. many predictions were made that the venture would prove failure | These, l dare say. were made by per- | sons who had not studied the question l However. that may be, it affords me pleasure to state that the new depart | ure has thus far proven a success, and
 lency is 10 be congratulated for having | inaugurated this new method for work ! ing the cOnViCts, for at least two inn
 portant reasons. First. that it gives ! this Department exclusive care of the convicts. and consequently better treat i ment and. second, because the amount realized for their labor is very much
 greater than it was heretofore.
 This report was printed in full in The AdveT=sses and other papers. OuI contemporary had an opportunity to l read it. It will be seen that the Presi. dvnt of the Board gave the Governor credit for the change It was we'll known about the Capitol that the Gov
 ernor was responsible for the change