The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-09
C0MER ID RESIGN ID MAKE RACE FUR
 BANKHEAD PLACER Gossip Has It That the Gov- ernor Will Resign Not Later
 Than October 1
GRAY WOULD SUCCEED AND SERVE LITTLE OVER A YEAR
Present Indications Point to Spirited Campaign Between Conner and Bankhead for United States
 Senate Next Year.
BY c. M. STANLEY.

There Is every indication that B. B. Conner will not be governor of Alabama after October l. According to apparent ly well grounded opinions he will tender his resignation in order to make the race for the United States Senate next year against Senator J. H. Bankhead.
 If tbis plan is followed out Lieutenant Governor Henry B. Gray would succeed to the governorship and serve for about IS months or until December 31 1910 Mr. Gray was not in Birmingham yesterday. Among the well informed Alabamians who are attending the sessions of the Alabama Bar association now being held here there appears to be belief that this programme will be carried out and that Alabama can expect a very exciting political fight next year when the pres ent governor gets into the field against the senior senator, whose term expires March g. 1913.
 There have been rumors for year that Governor Conner was eager to go to the Senate and that he had been making his plans accordingly but nothing tangible has ever been disclosed about the plans number of things have occurred re- gently, however, which apparently add force to the statements that the gov- ernor proposes to resign.
 For instance, Lieutenant Governor Gray was the first man in the state to an- nounce his candidacy for governor in the race to be run next year. In spite of the fact however, that several other can didates for the place have recently come into the field MT. Gray's name for the place is not now being pushed to the front. In fact, some of Mr. Gray 8 friends go so far as to state that years service as governor would satisfy Mr. Gray's present ambitions.
 Again, the governor has been very &C., tive recently in all parts of the state. He has been making addresses In nu- merous counties and has in other ways kept himself more in the public eye than would naturally be expected of a man who was not soon to appear before the voters for further favors
 It will be recalled that section 116 of the state constitution reads: And the governor shall not be eligible to election or appointment to any office under this state, or to the Senate of the United States, during his term, and within one year after the expiration thereof" In other words. if the governor Is to be a candidate for the Senate he must resign before December 31, 1909, because his term of office expires constitutionally at the end of 1910 Under Alabama's sena- torial primary system the candidate nom- mated next year will be elected by the legislature which will convene at the be- ginning of 1911, the new senator to take his seat March f. 1913, upon the expira- tion of Senator Bankhead's present term.
 It is said among those who keep in touch with the situation that there is a possibility for two constructions of the constitutional provision prohibiting the governor from becoming senator until after one year after the expiration of his term of office as governor. For in- stance. few maintain that inasmuch as the new senator's term would not begin until March, 1913, the governor would be eligible to the office even though he served out his term as governor to the end of 1910. It is said though, that the governor prefers to leave not the least doubt in the minds of the people about his eligibility and for this reason will. according to current opinion, tender the resignation more than a year before he would naturally retire from office.