The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-15
SENATE TO
 BE LIVELY Two Fights of Interest
 This Week. GOSSIP ABOUT NEW COUNTY Commission Government Bill Will
 Le Up. sPettus countyv oners Most Interest- ing BsttIe--supperters Are Rush. ing Things in whirlwind
 Fashion.
GOSSIP ABOUT NEW COUNTY
Commission Government Bill Will
 Le Up.

Two battles or poilticai interest. second only to the prohibition consti- tutional amendment. are slated for this week in the senate of Alabama. Ad- vocates of "Pettus County have lost none of their cunning or their hustle. They are on the move faster now than they have ever been. So in this one may expect a fight of Titanic propor- tions.
 Frisnds of Commission Government. while not working with such devotion. and singleness of purpose In the Sem ate, as those behind .'Pettus." seem easily susceptible to argument. They lie apparently dormant until things be- gin to stir on the floor. Then. the arr gument flows with marked effect as was illustrated in the House last week when Mir. Urauhart. the author. rallied enough votes to snatch the bill from the adverse calendar It was the sur prise of the session next to the re- markable achievement of the Bessemer stalwarts.
 But there Will be a stiff wall in the Senate as we'll as the House against commission government. II was great boost to the bill to have 1t put on the calendar after 1t had been recommitted to the committee and adversed by a vote of 8 to .. It Is evident that the friends will take advantage of the strong reform sentiment that possesses the Legislature to carry the bill Such seems to have been the momentum which 1t received In the House fight last week. in the face. too. of eloquent attacks on what were characterized as undemocratic features of the measure. But 'Pettus" County probably offers the most interesting fight of the Sem ate. Nobody thought 1t a possible go until it's friends stepped into the lists l like whirlwind and won such a sub- l stantial victory as six votes to spare when it required three-fifths of the Houses strength. With such an en-
 couragement. the menace to Jefferson County can be imagined. Walker. Tus-
 caloosa, Bibb and other counties out
 of which Bessemerltes have always | threatened to cull the new county, may take a notion that the ambition of lower Jefferson will be permanently
 satisfied with 400 miles out of Jeffer- | son. Therefore. why should they not hands off and connive at a victory foI | Bessemer when their own interests
 may be preserved.
 On the other hand. these counties, il is sad, are due to fight "Pettus" Coun' ty and pay back the debt which each mutually made to the other, Jefferson included, when the whole cluster wal threatened in the election last year or the new county amendment. Jefferson | dunoFtntH htc CidiAhAu6 eaiO SAPPNhh VI
 Senators from those counties on thii
 ground--a mutual protection society SO to speak, whose interests are for
 ever; aofnStfsq iIsd Gf1Dh ] M
 But what of the several other coun' ties that are periodically annoyed by
 new county talk? In various parts oi the State present counties rise swift
 ly to their own defense when new county is mentioned. Since the lead ing cry for the new county comes from Bessemer, will the Senators from these counties take this advantage oi the situation to vote for "Pettus" in l the hope that the annoyance which
 comes with each general election will
 be dispensed with7 Bessemer friends claim this will lend them much sup. port in the Senate.
 | But there Is another view of this
 matter. opponents of "Pettus." that is the Birmingham delegation. and others twist this argument into another mould. Theyg claim that if "Pettus'' is
 victorious 1t sets a precedent of leg islative interferencs Ewhcfh means rous-
 ing the jealous hopes of the rebellious
 fellows in other counties. It might
 instead Of silencings new county talk
 actually foster and agitate 1t more. The
 Legislature might uuadrennially be as.
 saulted with local fights of the Bssse.
 mer nature..
 l Anyway. It's pretty battle. and | worth waiting on.
 | AaNr m AA& -N