The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-09

A. COVington, Pleasant StoVall ana the ln- terests lined up with Thomas Watson or the peoples committee will. combined, have a majority of the votes.
 1t was stated some time ago that Sm,h would announce. that he would enter the race, rather than adopt the policy of a man waiting for the office to come to him. The governor has had a whole week, however. since his inauguration the story going he would announce inn mediately afterward-and since no an- nouncement has been made it is generally believed that there will be none.
 Candidates Hustling
 All the candidates have passed a busy week hustling to get votes, and they come mighty nearly knowing where they are standing at the present time. Of course there may Joe eleventh hour conversions, but the majority of the men in the race would be able to tell just how many votes they will get on the first ballot.
 The friends of Gov. Hoke Smith are ab- solutely confident They claim that the election will be on the first ballot, Smith showing a majority with votes to spare.
 Senator Terrell has been doing great deal of quiet but effective work and re- ports that the situation is very satisfac- tory to him.
 Pleasant Stovall of Atlanta has been kept busy ever since he arrived in At lanta. He intended to go home for the Fourth, then of sudden changed his mind, and remained in Atlanta, making Ia tl,a cIof bn l{x-ad a away from Atlanta to care to make the trip home and back again.
 Judge Covington has been in evidence at all times during the day in the lobby of the Ilimball, busy shaking hands with friends and listening to encouraging re- ports from his friends.
 The stand which will be taken by MT. Watson in the race is exciting a good deal of curiosity Some time ago he came to Atlanta, established headquarters, and was very generally busy. About the same time the peoples committee. so called, arranged headquarters in the Kim ball and started to root for a primary It was generally supposed that Watson and the people were about the same.
 Recently, however. MT. Watson pulled up stakes and went home, and the people did the same, leaving a kind of watch out committee on the scene of action. On Thursday they returned to Atlanta and got headquarters again. pulling as strong as ever for the primary idea.
 The Peoples Committee
 But the peoples committee have been very careful to disassociate themselves and their cause as much as possible from the personality of Tom Watson. Talk to them, and they will give you plainly to understand that the meetings they hold are their. meetings, not those of Mir Watson "Yes," they will tell you, "Mr Watson is welcome to our meetings, well come to make suggestions, too, but then every Georgian interested In good gov- ernment is invited to attend our gather ings and to make suggestions" Trying to give you the idea the whole way through that they are running on their own hook, and that Watson has nothing but an out side interest in them at the most
 It is generally admitted that ,atson will swing a certain amount of strength in the legislature, and exactly what he will do with it remains to be seen.
 He has announced that he is not against or for any candidate, but that what he wants is a primary "a thing which is now of course utterly impossible
 The primary fighters have been grad uany driven from pillar to post. Their last effort was to pledge all the candi- dates to retire, if elected, 50 days before e,to otatur do arit md a tba people to say who should represent them.
 Opponents of this measure said that 1t would not be legal while its friends said there was nothing to prevent the candi- dates from agreeing to resign, if they so wished, the idea probably being that the man who refused to pledge himself to quit would lose point by doing so
 Nothing But Politics
 one thing Is certain. No matter who is elected senator. this race has come mighty close to putting the legislature on the bum'' for the season, so far as any real work is concerned.
 One well-nformed man remarked this week that even if Smith is named, legis- lators will be so busy playing the game for governor, either on their own or their friends account, that legislation will be a matter of secondary importance any, way.
 There has been no real interest mani Tested up to date in any kind of legisla- ton, and there is no strong sentiment back of any bills introduced.
 With a race for governor going on, If Smith won, there would be a good many members of the general assembly, prob- ably, who would much rather leave the prohibition situation just about as it is at present. Worrying over this question has proved a boomerang to great many candidates in the south.
 Should Smith be elected-a contingency on which number of politicians have bene actively counting, there will event. uate about the hottest political race in the history of the stae, race. compared to which the senator's contest would be both tame and uninteresting.
 No clear lines seem to have been drawn up to the present time. It looks as if everybody in the state who ever had g chance wants to be governor at the same time.
 In fact, one man, recently In Atlanta from strong Brown county. said that the people at his ome were hurrahing for Hoke smith to win as senator, so Joe Brown could have another chance at the governorship. ti
 The newest development in the tenta- tive race for governor is the probable en- Nf