The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-16

handle this tonnage. new systems Wers organised. and new railroads were here in Alabama would build Great industrial city which would become one of the great railroad centers. But suddenly there appeared upon the nor ixon a syndicate of woufd-ee Relorm- Governors--ooverno Glenn or Norsn Carolina, Governor smith of Qeorgias and Governor Conner of Alabama.
 By a system of fntemperate spcscnes, and with all the powers of the govern ments of three sovereign states, sye tetnatic attack was organised ana en- tered upon ag.inst every pupse .ss. sy,Ss ,srr;s tory. The financial credit of these ro or,pxnfes received . shock which sta exered them. The Seaboard and the F A, B. and went Into the hands or receivers. The Southern and the Att iantic Coast Lane narrowly escaped the sarne fate. The stock of the Louisville and Nashville dropped from one hum dred and sixty-four to eighty-eight; | ba nlxs suspended payment, and the ablest flnancfers of the new world were barely able to avert one of the most disastrous panics of the centuries. The people of these States wanted to reg uiate the railroads-they did not want | to destroy them. Every State has found that the question of regulating 1 freight rates Is best dealt with by capable and impartial Railroad Com mission and should not be made the subject of political harangue or parti-
 san politics.
 Governor Glenn.
 l Governor Glenn has retired from of- | flee: Governor Smith has been retired from office: and 1t does not yet appear
 what will happen to B. B. Conner.
 paisn Mn Pfos for % chairmsa of the
 Railroad Commission: he was elected
 and was scarcely installed in offiSs
 before he entered upon his campaign
 for Governor of Alabama. And scarce
 ly was he seated as Governor or Ala
 bama before he began. what Is cur
 rently believed to be- his campaign for l the United States Senate. The fact
 that the Constitution of the State.
 which he had sworn to support and obey, declared against such candidacy. presented no obstacle to him. Ills answer to the difficulty. which to | other men would have seemed insur-
 mountable, was characteristic Of him.
 He said, in effective will change
 the Constitution. And so It Is. ne re- convened his Legislature in extra ses- sion, and caused them to submit a con stitutional amendment for biennial sessions, which, we are warranted In | believing under the circumstances, he 1 supposed would qualify him as a | candidate for the United States Senate. The people rejected the proposed
 amendment by Q large majority. But l this did not stagger him. He again
 session. and one of the especial l grounds which he assigns as justl- | fication for the special session is
 resubmission to the people of the
 same constitutional amendment for biennial sessions; to the end we may | suppose that the people might not be deprived of the services of our great
 and progressive governor in the Senate | of the United States.
 Since his inauguration as governor, the people of Alabama have been in- flicted with continuous political campaign.
 For more than a quarter of cen- tury, the affairs of our State have
 been conducted in a quiet and peace-
 full manner. and former governors Ihaye felt it their duty to remain at the
 seat of government; but under this
 administration the people of Alabama
 are presented with the spectacle of a
 chief executive who is engaged in the continuous and perpetual conduct of a political campaign. The first cam paign Is a vicious attack upon the railroad interests of the State. When the disastrous results of this campaign | announcement of an address from the lGovernor no longer Is sufficient to at- tract large masses of the people, the lpanorama is shifted, and the Cover nor inaugurates what he is pleased to characterize as his educational cam paAgn" and the people of Alabama.
 from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf of Mexico, are regaled with . fast and furious campaign. conducted by their nh 4C4 txfa lwr vngtfh Nsln
 of locating certain pet high schools. which he had created and authorized i to be established. but really to listen
 to his inflammatory speeches against
 railroads, against invested capital and | in glorification of himself and his ad-
 ministration. But sad to relate. it was
 discovered that the location of a school
 in one locality. resulted in offending
 many other localities, which felt that
 they were much better entitled than
 the one selected; and interest in this
 issue waning, 1t became necessary
 that our governor should have another issue upon which to fire the public
 heart. Y
 Another Issue.
 | The one other issue which might 1 be made available was the prohibition issue, upon which he might rally to his support. without regard to past I political affiliations all those extreme
 advocates of temperance who were willing to sink every other considera- ton in order to see the Prohibition lI Party assume control of the political interests of this State.
 But here was presented a difficulty Our Governor was elected as a Demo-
 crat He was elected upon a platform Il declaring in favor of local option, a principle which preserved to every
 community the right to determine for itself as to what was best in the ad- Iministration Of its local affairs. With
 the policy of local option. am in full accord. It Is sound and Democratic to the core. and I have voted for, 1t
 wherever I have had an opportunity. In the local option election in my own
 county, when I saw that our people wanted to try and test the benefits of prohibition. I voted with them; and
 fain would be convinced that 1t has
 brought or would bring a blessing. But we find that not only has Cover Thor Conner, as the trusted leader of a Igreat party, abandoned the principle ] of local option. upon which he was
 elected, and aided in the establishment l0R