The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-04

| who assumes to be on the inside. says MT Conner is keeping his hands out | of the speakership fight, and out of the organization of the House, for that mat l ter.
 Now both men voted for Mir. Conner in the primary. So it looks like a pretty fight and the wiseacres may be right when they say at this junc- ture. fits any mans fight"
 Fight for Nomfnations.
 I There's the same sort of uncertainty about the friendly but spirited contest which is going on over in the Senate. The important question as to who will I name the committees of the Senate. which after all is the principal item of a presiding officers power. Is as much unsettled as the question of the Speak ership is across the hall Lieutenant statement has said he was assured of 1 enough Senatorial pledges to make cer- l tain his naming of the committees. But some friends of Mir. Thomas have lintimated that if such is the case. some
 of the Alabama Senators have given promises both ways. MT. Thomas himself has said nothing. This may be the reason aEood many people be- lieve he has the best of it. because in I politics 1t Is considered a rule that l the man who talks the least Is like l the man who sits in poker game and . mas the pest nanu. NO pTSulCtlOn lS certain. and nothing will be known l definitely until Senator Thomas comes l from ,Eufaula and shows his hand, | which may or may not take the trick. Tn the meanwhile. Speaker A. M.
 Tunstall will call the House to order and preside over it until 1t has selected his successor. MT. Tunstall will then
 take q place among the members, he having been elected a member from the county of Hale.
 l Tn the Senate, lieutenant Governor Cunningham will call the Senate to order. He will preside over the Sen l ate until his successor. Col Henry E. Gray, has been inaugurated with the new Governor. It should be understood I that the Legislature will have been in session week lacking one day. when the Governor takes the oath of office. The Legislature will meet Tuesday at noon, January 8. The Governor will be inaugurated Monday at noon Janu- l ary IA.
 Hon. Joel W. Goidsby, the present Senator from Mobile. and the President pro-tem of the Senate. will come to Montgomery for the exercises attend ant upon the inauguration and the or- ganization Of the Senate.
 Railroads Most Important.
 Of course, the most important mat | ter with which the Legislature will
 have to do. will be the passing of the railroad legislation. the discussion of l which has so filled Alabama during the
 past four years. It was the issue in
 the last campaign. and Legislature in favor of certain legislation was select ed. No trouble in enacting this legis-
 lation is apprehended. The House and Senate are in accord with Mir. Conner | upon 1t. It was put in the last Dem
 ocratic State platform. and the party was called upon to put It into effect.
 Briefly reviewed, 1t calls for a class iflcation of the railroads of the State,
 the fixing by the Legislature of law I made rate on hundred articles Of common merchandise. q reciprocal de- I murrage act, and among other things the changing of the law and practice by which in damage suits the railroads were supposed to get the best of the
 common people.
 The railroad legislation. because 1t
 has such cut and dried aspect, will
 not attract, perhaps, the attention that certain other subjects will, the subjects
 of education, for instance. If Mir. Co., | mer's friends reflect his views on edu- | cation. and there seems to be no doubt
 but that they do. he is going in heav- | fly for the betterment of the education al facilities of the State It will be recalled that in recent address. Gov
 ernor Jelks said the surplus in the State had been piled up for the schools | of Alabama and for no other purpose. It Is said tho new Governor has the same views as the old Governor, and that the schools are going 10 get more money than they ever got before. 1t | is further said that the colleges and the
 University of the State. are going to be l treated liberally, as well as the com mon schools.
 It will develop that the school 1egls- ation will be one of the most interest ing subjects before the coming sea- I Ww.NTf f. tE.A farl it, too. for it's a mighty poor legislator who did not go out in the last cam paign and talk eioquently on the sub jeet of education. and he has the old speech ready for delivery on a mo- ment's notice.
 Fight on Local Option.
 There's another pretty little fight l shaping, too. The one on the propos- cd local option act. The Anti-Saloon | League claims to have enough votes in l the House and Senate to run such bill through without a bit of trouble, and | the League may be right. But the opponents of the bill are not going to be licked without a fight. although but little has come from them on the subject. Then there is the fight on bucket shops It looks now as if the wire houses would be put out of business. The situation may change, but at this | 1uncture the luc bc6 ture appears to be dead against u 2 houses that deal in futures, and handle options It Is likely a fight will he | put up, and 1t may be possible the wire l houses will weather the storm, as they | have weathered 1t in the past, but the | prospects for them does not look en- | couraging.
 Another bill that will cause howl | to go up from all over the State, is the | bill which will be introduced by Rep- l resentative Jerry c. King of Jefferson | County The bill proposes to abolish the fee system in it's entirety, and put l all county officers on salary. If that | is done, a number of other people will | have their toes stepped upon, and they l are county officers who are accustOm- | ed to political fgthing and who help l ed make members of the Legislature. | will the bill go through? Not with | out a hot fight. and not until the | county officers have raised row
 There is, for instance, the sherln or | Jefferson County. He is said to get 4o,0Oo, or eight times as much as the | Governor of Alabama The office or | probate judge of the same county Is nearly as good from standpoint of | dollars. The sheriff and the judge of | probate of Montgomery County both ! get so 1t Is said, under the fee system, l twice as much at the Governor. So | it can be seen there are many possibil- | ities for trouble in the proposed meas 1irn