The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1911-02-02
Montgomery. January

Montgomery, January 1.-(Special)-
The citizens of Bessemer received such a
shock this afternoon at the hands of the
legislature that they were awakened out
of their long and persistent slumber, and
their dream of new county of Pettus
was olliterated forevermore.
Imperial Jefferson remains imperial JEFF
ferson, cne OF the biggest and richest
counties of the southland, and one of the
very few entitled to the honor of an in
divlduai congressman. So positive was
preston of the legislature, that it is now
considered a certainty that before an
other effort for Pettus county is made
many years will have flown away
The vote on the Easts resolution pro-
viding for an election on a constitutional
amendment occurred this afternoon.
voted it to death. 1t had the support of
81 members. There We're 21 absentees.
Had every member who was absent voted
In favor nf the resolution the vote would
have been So against, 81 for.
For the resolution to have carried it
must have received three-fifth of the en-
tire vote.
Pcgram Overlooked Bet
When the resolution of Mr. Eastis was
presented for passage this morning, Mr.
Fegram of Marelgo displayed a hearty
interest in its favor, and 1t was generally
considered thet he would lead the fight
for it's adoption
In the first place, following the state
pient cf the Information that the bound
ary of the new county was not definitely
fixed, he prepared an amendment coun-
teractiny that defect.
The house alj,uined from the morning
session to convene again at 8 o'clock On
convenlng, though Mr. Pegram was abb
sent, the house acted favorably upon his
amendment.
REPRESENTATIVE Percy of Jefferson, after
the conclusion Of the preliminaries to the
big battle, led off with a speech Of ten
minutes, in which he proved that there
was no just cause or reason why new
county should he created. He made a
good impression and it is understood
that his argument changed several votes.
Following his remarks it was the psy
Geological moment for the reply of the
other contingent.
Eastis Realized Danger
Everybody wondered why Pegram was
absent For moment nothing was said.
The whispering of the pages and the
scribbling of the reporters alone disturbed
the silence.
Mr.. Eastis, reading the handwriting on
the wall, leaped to his feet with a motion
that further discussing of the Pettus
county proposition be carried over until
tomorrow at II o'clock.
Representative Judge of Jefferson, how
ever, was alert himself and his resolution
laying the resolution of Mr. Eastis on the
table. which was adopted, settled the fate
of Pettus county.
The vote was then called for Those
who stood for the preservation of the
boundaries of imperial Jefferson responded
heartily and with spirit to the roll call.
Some of the answers Of the Pettus advo-
Gates we're so mildly expressed that 1t was
necessary on several occasions for the
clerk to hesitate, repeat his question. and
listen attentively.
AS the roll call was concluded and Pet
tus county had died a-borning, Mr.. Pc
gram walked into the house with amaze
ment on his face and chagrin in his heart.
In conversation with members of the Bes-
semer lobby after the defeat Of the
dream, Mr.. Pegram stated that several
representatives Informed him that had
he been present to reply to Mr.. Percy the
anal result would have been different. The
final vote was as follows
For the amendment: Bell of Pickens,
Brown OF Pike, Capps Darden, boswell,
Eastis, Edmonds, Fowlkes, Fuquay,
Helm, Jenkins of Bullock, Johnson of
Elmore, Jones. Lane, Letson, Martin OF
Calhoun, Matthews. McCurdy. Pharr.
Pittman, Popwell Quin, Richeson, San
ders, Smith, Strickland Twombly. Walk
or, Whatley, Wheeless, Wright-31.
Against the amcndment-Mr. Speaker,
Acker, Arnold Avery, Bell Of Autauga,
Boswell, Brown of Tuscaloosa. Burton.
Butts, Carroll, Chamberlain, Crawford.
Dennis Flanagan, Gewin. Griffith. Hol-
lis of Walker, Hood. Jackson, johnson
Of Clarke, Judge, Kilburn, Knight, Law
ender, Lawson. Lee, Long, Lloyd, Lump
kin. Martin Of Jackson, Mastin, Merrill,
Merritt, Miner. Motion, Mulkey, McDon-
aid, McGowen, ONeill. Overton, Percy.