The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-26
MIR. LONDON ASKS
 MORE QUESTIONS
Wants Watson to Define His
 Organization
WANTS TO GET AT TRUTH
Says He Has Letter From a Rep. utable Lawyer Who Claims to Rep resent Sherffs' and Clerks
 Association.
To the Editor of The Age-Herald.

To the Editor of The Age Herald
 In your issue of yesterday, during my temporary absence from home, appeared card signed by Mir. I. F. Watson, pres ident of the Circuit Clerks association of Alabama, in which he says that the charges I made that the office holders trust had paid lobby In Montgomery Is untrue, and winds up by saying, but the assertion that the Clerks associa- tion have a paid lobby In Montgomery Is false from the beginning"
 MT. Watson, like the rest of the of flee holders engaged in sending people to the penitentiary to pay costs. winces whenever the fact is made public. but If he will be good enough to lay aside his passion for moment and read the articles again he will discover that I made no such charge as that which he
 says Is false. l did say that the Sheriffs' and Clerks association had paid lobby in Montgomery, and I said so upon a letter I had received from gentleman whose veracity is certainly equal to that of Mir Watson, whether he has any knowledge of it or not, in which this gentleman, a reputa- ble lawyer, wrote me that was the sole representative of the Sheriffs' and Clerks association at the recent ses- sion of the legislature" Whether MT. Watson auth oriZed this employment or not l neither know nor care. but If MT. Watson had been In Montgomery dur ing the winter session of the legisla- ture, or had been down there since the summer session opened, he could easily have ascertained that the gentleman who wrote me this letter was assuming to represent the Sheriffs and Clerks association
 Having replied to MT. Watson with perfect frankness. and as he has as- sumed the responsibility for the Clerks association, I think I might with pro- priety ask him to indulge in little frankness towards the public and in- form the people at large the purpose and object of the Clerks association
 and to be kind enough to specify in that connection what these few laws were which the Clerks association have induced the members of the legisla- ture to pass?
 MT. Watson might also enlighten us as to the number of days prisoners from Calhoun county are now serving out to pay costs due to his office? He might also enlighten us In regard to tle case or the poor boy StlleS, and many others who have been sentenced to the mines to pay costs from Calhoun county; and in fact might demonstrate, if he would, that this Clerks associa-
 tion is a perfectly harmless and be-
 nevolent society formed for the pur-
 pose of eleyating and enligh tening the
 people, and not for the purpose of in-
 creasing the cost of court prosecution l upon the poor and the helpless.
 I have desire or DurDOSa to mis- represent any facts in regard to the compensation of officer holders in the state, for the Lord knows that 1t could not be made any worse than the real facts disclose, and I trust MT. Wat son will be the prophet to make plain to our people the benefit to be derived for the people Tt large from a com bination of the fee e-making offices of the state, and Mr. Watson might also refer specifically to some legislation of general benefit which has been se- cured by his, or any other association of fee-making officers.
 ALEX T. LONDON. July 25 1907,