The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08
New Men Are Brought Promi-
 nentIy to the Front
GUBERNAT0RIAL LEADERS
WeakIey Drafts Prohibition Measures and Stakes His Reputation on Their Being of Steel Arnored
 Class When Tests Come.
BY HERVEY w. LAIRD.


 Montgomery, August 7.-(specla1 l-As intimated in this correspondence some weeks ago, the extra session of the legis- lature now in progress, has run in spite of anybody's efforts, largely to politics and some men who are not thought to have had any such motive in mind are drawn into 1t. One man has been brought prominently to the fore as gubernatorIal timber, another whose place in the pos- sible class was already well fixed, is made more noticeable and another who was in the running was brought out with more definite position on a popular policy.
 Three Being Watched.
 These three are A. H. Carmichael, speaker of the house; Judge S. D. Weak ley, legal advisor of the anti-saloon and general prohibition forces, and H. s. D. Mallory, already announced for the nom- ination to the highest office. Given the place of greatest notoriety In the pas- sage of the prohibition bills, MT. Car michael has risen much in the eyes of the people who think as he does about the liquor traffic, and who, all must ad-
 
 He made the closing argument for both the Carmichael bill and the constitutional prohibition measure, the two big ones passed in the house, and thanked his colleagues for the honor of calling the first one by his name.
 Weakey Kept Busy.
 Weakley has been kept busy writing Il, drafted under his advice and counsel. He has been studying the various features for many weeks and is putting his best talent, that of man who has served on the supreme court bench, as well as a lawyer of note, into them. He says they will stick, that the provisions are inside the possibilities of law trouble and he stakes his reputation in large measure on their being of steel-armored class when the attacks come. In the meantime, this being known, he is kept in the lime light by his friends for some good reason, whether it be governor, supreme court chief justice or the United States Sen ate, none can tell. As for the judge him self he will not talk politics. saying that he is too busy to think of the personal element at this time.
 Will Carmichael Run?
 The belief is general that Carmichael will run for governor and that he Is re- strained from saying so by two reasons, one that he does not care to have it said that he has done what he has do9 in this session for politics, and the other be- cause he is not willing to throw himself in the way of Weakley. The latter req son is conjectural, of course, but 1t is well known that these two men, long close personal friends, do not desire to be on opposite sides of even a personal question. This may cause Weakley to come out and say something whether he wants to or not It is frequently said these days that he will either have to inform his friends or relieve them of any feeling of fealty to any political ambition he may have within the next few weeks.
 Mallory Comes Out.
 H. s. D. Mallory has come out in the open for constitutional prohibition. Dur ing the early days of the session his mana ger, J. B. Ellis, of Selma looked in for day or so on the legislature and went away The latter part of this week he came back and in few hours Senator Reese of Dallas in speech in the senate put him in direct line with the movement for constitutional prohibition. So 1t Is that if this is Carmichael or Weakley thunder that is being taken over, one or the other, or both, may get busy to lay claim to 1t in a short time. On the other side is the fact that the old lin Nal lory people in this section are sore be- cause he has done so, and number of the Mallory club members in Montgomery will likely get out, as they are not as rue the prohibition followers.
 In the Open Soon.
 A wire grass man, from which Speaker Carmichael came, said the other night that Carmichael would run. that he did not want to say anything at this time, but that the pressure had been so great that he would have to make the race. Another man thinks that Wealzey will be elimin- ated by running for the United States Senate in case Governor Conner finds that he can not get in the fight and yet another believes that the race may line LID with Mallory, Weakley and Car michael in the running. but this Is thought to be a "bum steer" as 1t Is not really thought that Carmichael and Wealsley will run for the same office un- der any circumstances. t.t.-