The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-02
MIR. CoMER LODGING

MT. Conner is very much worried over his child labor legislation record. He fails to meet the facts promptly and boldly. The Birmingham News of Sat urday had this in relation to the mat ter:
 Mir. Comer's attention was called to the letter of Rev. Edgar Gardner Mur- phy. published the other day in The Montgomery Advertiser. which scored MT. Conner for antagonizing the child labor law when before the last Legis- iature; After very rapidly glancing over The Advertiser. MT. Conner said:
 T haven't seen this before. 1 have not time now to read 1t carefully will say, however, that any statemen ent that I antagonized the child labor law before the last Legislature. or contrib uted in any way towards its defeat is false whoever may make the statement The bill was agreed upon by commit tee. who desired legislation on the sub ject, and a committee of cotton mill men, none of whom, so far as l remein- Der. opposed 1t, after 1t had been intro- duced into the Legislature"
 Now that looks like lodging, and it Is not very artistic lodging. Dr. Mur- phys assertion was not that MT Conner "antagonize1 the child labor law be- fore the last Legislature" or that he opposed 1t after 1t had been intro duced into the Legislature" pr. Mur- phys entire letter related to MT. Co., mer's attitude in the conferences be- tween himself and the other mill men on the one side and Dr. Murphy and the Child Labor Committee on the other. It was in those conferences that the
  before the Legislature itself directly The conferences took place here in Mont gomery while the Legislature was in session, and there were one or more child labor bills pending at the time. The following extract from The Ad- vertiser's news columns of January 23 1908. shows that MT Conner took part in those conferences:
 Several conferences were held at the Exchange Hotel yesterday between the Legislative Committee representing the committee representing the Executive Committee on Child Labor Legislation.
 'The committee of cotton mill men was appointed at meeting of manu- lecturers held in Montgomery Tues day. It consists of B. B Conner of Birmingham, J ". Tullis of Eufaula and D. T. Goodwin of Anniston. The committee on the part of the Child Labor Committee consists of Judge J. B. Gaston of Montgomery and Hon. Alex London of Birmingham.
 Tt was said last night that 1t was probable the mill operators and the friends of child labor legislation will reach a common basis concerning the measures to be presented to the Leg islature 10 regulate the working of children in factories.
 "A number of cotton mill men who were in Montgomery Tuesday night left the city yesterday"
 This shows clearly that there had been a previous meeting of cotton mill men in Montgomery that a committee on child labor legislation had been ep- pointed and that Mir. Conner was at the head of that committee.
 The following Wednesday, January 2S. The Advertiser published a state ment that 1t had been announced that the committee representing the cotton mills and the interest of the children of Alabama had reached an agreement on a measure to be presented to the Legislature. The bill which was sub seouently introduced in the Legislature was set out in full with the statement that the following agreement had been signed:
 'The undersigned representing the Child Labor Committee and the cotton mill industry ot Alabama, respec lively, hereby agree to the terms of a bill 10 he entitled An act to regulate the em- ployment of minors in factories or man. tlfacturing establishments in this State and to provide for the punishment of violations or the resuia'i0nS pre-
 U. B. Gaston, Edgar Gardner Mur- phv. Alex T. London. representing the Child Labor Committee.
 B. B. Conner, John w. Tuujs, D. T.