The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-29
GOVERNORS RACE
 IS MONOTONOUS Hoke Smith Is Speaking While
 Brown Is Writing
MANY RUMORS ARE AFLOAT
Campaign Will Be Costly For Both Candidates, as They Have Big Blu reaus To Send Out Polit-
 icaI Literature.

Atlanta, April S-(Special. )-The gover- norship contest has swung into a rut of rather dull monotony the past few days. The state executive committee failed to inject into it anything of the sensational. The prohibition issue has disappeared, and there remains but an expiring struggle of an effort to rehabil- itate the disfranchisement question whose settlement is now in the hands of the people, as they will pass on the consti- tutional amendment in the regular elec- tion next October
 The campaign has, therefore, got down to somewhat more of an argumentative basis with Governor Smith daily on the stump and MT. Brown writing numerous letters and getting out heavy loads of political literature. How long it will stay there is a question, put the people will at least be thankful for a few days of relief from the strenuous side of it.
 All sorts of rumors are af1oat here such as that Governor Smith would withdraw from the race in favor of Seaborn Wright of Floyd, the well-known prohibition leader, and others equally unfounded. Traced to their source they would prob- ably be found the products of the vivid imaginations of some idle political brain. It has even been said that Tom Watson would get into the race for governor. Probably the sole foundation for all this sort of talk was the recent visit of Seab Wright to Tom Watson at Thomson, about which MT Watson has promised to tell in this weeks issue of the Jef- fersonian. MT. Wright's silence on the subject of the conference has been con- strued to mean that he did not accom- plish all that he hoped for when ne went to Thomson
 Reports from Governor Smiths meet ings over the state indicate that he is getting good audiences, but that there is a lack of the enthusiasm of two years ago. Again numerous questions are fired at him from apparently unfriendly sources, while two years ago most of the questions asked him from the audi ences were by friends and intended to stress some of the strong points of his speech.
 Scenes of Activity.
 Headquarters here of both candidates are scenes of activity. There are visitors at almost all hours of the day, and in side rooms stenographers and clerks are busy writing letters, mailing literature and sending out campaign buttons.
 oc that the campaign will cost Governor Smith somewhere in the neighborhood of $1G000, in which the main items will be postage, campaign butt ms, salaries and clerk hire and travelling expenses This is exactly the amount of his sal ary for his two-year term. Doubtless the cos. to MT. Brown will also reach that figure for although he is not travelling extensively, he has larger advertising bills than his adversary, and these rapidly mount up.
 It has never been known here before just what it costs to make campaig1 fer governor with opposition, but curiosi ty in this direction will be satisfied this year. for under the executive commit. tees rules each candidate or each nomi. nee must file with the convention a sworr statement of his expenses, properly item. ized, showing both from what sources he received the money and to what pur. poses it was put. This is made an es- sential requirement befor- the candidate can be declared the party nominee.
 The sum looks like a large one, but it is ultra conservative when it is con. sidered it costs s4OOo for postage alone tc send one letter to each of 100000 regis. tered voters in the state. There were registered two vars ago approximately 27O,O0O voters, and there were 165 0OO votes cast in the primary
 There has been no change in the aspect of the campaign so far as is apparent at this point The governors friends realize that great deal of hard work has got to be done in order to overcome the adverse sentiment and there is but a short time in which to do it. Whether they will succeed or not is a story thai only the primary will tell.
 Campaign Issue.
 In the excitement of the campaign tht 1act that the summary removal Of Rail road Commissioner Joseph M. Brown nov a candidate for governor, by Gov. ernor Smith. because of a lettef writer by the commissioner to the governor which the latter says he considered 8 threat, is to be investigated by the legis. lature at the session which meets a few weeks after the primary, has been tenn porarily overlooked.
 Under the law the governor will have to report the matter to the legislature with his reasons for removing Mir Brown and it will then remain for the legisla ture to say whether the removal was proper or not.
 Should MT. Brown become the democrat ic nominee for governor many consider that such would be a full vindication The matter, however, would still have to be considered by the legislature, but it can hardly be conceive, that the iegis- lative decision would be adverse to MT Brown in the event he was made the