The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-12
MASS MEETING
 CALLED TODAY
Ccontlnued From Page One,

NCOMuaACu E EDAB ENKe OmG.t
 in Birmingham. Out of this grows the reticence of the business people The reason for the reticence of the poll ticians and the military men Is obvious.
 But Birmingham has awakened to tn e terror of the situation. and the busi- ness men have determined that relief must come and come quickly. W. ". Crawford, the bank president who was the leading spirit in the meet ing held yesterday at which a com mittee of twenty-five was raised talked freely today.
 Come what may" said Mir. Craw ford. I've have determined that there shall be law and order in this district. It is true that some business men have oeen disposed to be slow in speaking tneir minds, but they are with us now, IT you go up and down this street you VIII find that every merchant stands with the committee of twenty-five in chaos" 'u' 'i
 w edo not propose to make A fight on union labor. or on any class of men: We do propose that every one living in JeiIerson County shall respect the law"
 MT Crawford chopped out this last sentence with an emphasis that sbnw ed determination and the earnestneas that comes of long suffering.
 Must Have Order.
 are going to have respect for law in this county, and we will 1o the IInlt to have it. You may put it any way you want to put it. The real fact is' body of determined, patriotic men nave gone into this thing. and we will not recede. Bad men will he 6riyan from the State if 1t becomes necessarv', :,
 There was some secrecy yesterdav about our plans. but today we ara in the open The men who signed the caII TOT meeting at the Bijou Theatre +o- morrow mean business. They stord TOT the best in Birmingham and above all. they stand for the law"
 ., what do you think of the proclama- Crawford was asked. MT
 It has good ring" he renlied .,r4 satisfes me. It was all he conid do now He has promised to use eI,ar,, power or the State to stop these ont. rages. and has said he win hrjnq aI1 the soldiers of the State here and sun,- necessary" o0i"eS
 Do you think that this is A t,ma to threaten the lawless element? wonI6 II not be firmer policy to take some
 'The Governor will take the neces- sary action at the proper time" said MT. crawford: "It is the duty of all Of us to stand by him now"
 And this is the view of a maior,tv of the Birmingham business men. They realize that their interests are in The keeping of Governor Conner. They are helpless in his hands. To criticise one of his temper at this stage of events might not be safe.
 Disappointment in Proclamation.
 Several business men exrpess frank. " their disappoiS tment at the procla- nation issued last night. They had been led to expect that the Governor would quit temporizing. and take a | light grip on the situation. Not one | who expressed this disappointment | would allow the use of his name
 Men who hold these views are men who would like to see either martial aw or a sufficient number of soldiers lere to awe the lawbreakers into sub mission to peace and decency. They egard the number of soldiers here as mere handful to cope with the situ- .tion. These are the men, too, who want the military to take supreme com nand Undeniably Sheriff Higdon fs popular here, but many good citizens uestion the wisdom of using deputy heriffs at the mines who are believed 0 be in the pay of the mining com anies. They say these deputies are ver-zealous in the interest of their mployers and often intensity rather han mollify the feeling of bitterness mong the strikers. Again, it Is said hat in many instances the deputy sher- fs do not work harmoniously with he soldiers. The soldiers are in iso- ated places; their officers must rely emewhat on advice of these deputies nd th5s advice. 1t is not believed. is lways good.
 My solution of the difficulty" said ne prominent business man today. would be to relieve every one of the eputy sheriffs of duty. and put the lines in charge of the soldiers alto- ether The people of Alabama do not real { ,e the immensity of this strike and he delicate problem it presents. While he number of men on strike is popu- arly placed at 11.00O, 1t Is said that ] f least 17.000 men are involved, and hat probably 10000 persons are idle. he strike zone runs from Gadsden on | he north to Blocton and Tuscaloosa ' n the South. The counties of Etowah, . t. Clair, Bluont, Jefferson. Walker, tuscaloosa and Shelby are affected. Within the mineral district there are ] IA coal mines. and few of these are . xempt from the trouble. A force of . sveral thousand men would be naces- q lry to guard these mines and insure gainst lawlessness. f
 Qulet Day is Passed. ! Today has been a quiet one in the