The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-09
MR. COVERS LATEST DELIVER
 aNCrc

ANGIE.
 Mir. Comers speech at Tuscaloosa was somewhat different from the one he delivered at Clanton last Saturday. There was farmers meeting at Clan ton, and whether by accident or design, he turned up there for a speech. He has sought always to make 1t appear that the railroads were the pitiless en- slayers of the men and consciences of Governors and legislatures. but in his | last speech he would have it appear 1 that the farmers. in spite of their great | numbers in Alabama. two or three times more than all other callings, are mere nothings when it comes to rum ming public affairs The farmers. ae- | cording to our understanding, are well | posted, better so on the average than | the town men. They are always in | terested in public affairs, and are more prompt to register and pay poll tax l than those who live in towns and l cities.
 | Yet, in this day of enlightenment, Mir. Conner would have them believe they are mere ciphers and don't amount I to anything in the politics of the day. | Of course he is posing as their friend when he thus talks. but WIG submit 1t l is d poor compliment to them to tell them that d minority of the people of | this State sets them, the immense ma jority, aside as not amounting to any thing when it comes to the admins- tration of public affairs. We greatly mistake their feelings if they do not resent such attempts to belittle their influence as governmental factors.
 We print the speech in full to-day. and suppose it will be in order month hence for some paper supporting him, tllke The Birmingham News) to print a revised speech and seek to discredt the one that was taken down for The Advertiser by skilled stenographer, as the words fell from his lips. In four weeks time he can do a sight of re- fiection and discover that what he shoots out from his mouth in a speech is perhaps not so polite as close cham Der doctoring can make it appear. All the same The Advertiser is the only paper which went to the trouble and expense of obtaining an exact report of what he said there. None of the pa pers supporting him did so. and we submit that it is unfair to come tagging behind us a month later and seek to discredit the accuracy of our reports, when they had equal opportunity with us to report him verbatim etsiitera- tim.
 We would like to impress up- on our readers that Mir. Co., mers own speeches make him out wonderfully successful man as merchant. farmer and manufacturer, He was all the time dealing largely with railroads and we undertake to say that freight rates are immensely | lower to-day than they were even five years ago. Yet he would have it ap- pear that every body is being robbed and made poor by railroad exactions, and extortions. He managed, how ever,to add more and more to his es- lAtate. He will have to quit boasting About his own success if he wants the people to believe he has been so badly treated. ss MT. Conner puts in a saving clause after talking at great length in a de- precatory way. about how the farmers are ignored and sighted by saying 'no part of this speech is intended for the i purpose of creating friction or of creating prejudice. for it is not" This is on a par with his actions in telling his audiences explicitly what manner of men must be elected to office. and then entering a disclaimer of intention to dictate. It Is or the same line of political cunning as when after lam booming past legislatures. he finds a Senator or Representative in his aud fence and -disclaims any reference to them. 1 He was much more mild in his criti- cism at Clanton of past administra- tions and public men, than he was at any other place at which he has 1 spoken.