The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-29

i An inesive disappointment, unantici-
 pated as it was humiliating, fell upon
 the hopes of Parsons. Alex White, As
 sociate Justice Saffold and most of all
 upon Lieutenant Governor Mclnstry
 with the news from Washington that the
 commission sent there to represent the court room legislature and procure for il
 the recognition of the administration, had met with positive rebuff. The personnel of the delegation had been adroitly se- leeted-former Governor smith, former 1 Congressman Norris and State Auditor
 Reynolds, one native and two aliens. 1 The purpose of the expedition was to procure the dispersion of the capitol leg l islature by direct order from the Pres
 ident and the delivery of the capitol building to the court room legislature | that or nothing.
 | The President referred the case, after
 hearing Peter Hamilton and the capitol committee. to Attorney General Williams, lawyer of eminence and liveral. The Attorney General declined to set up a | legislature for Alabama, but would pre- pare plan by which the two repellant bodies in session at Montgomery claim ing to be each valid might be reduced to one, with the least liability of revolution ary effect
 The plan" failed to recognize the court room body, failed to eject the capitol leg islature and left open to the merger the choice, to vest in one claimant or the other priority of vantage in the result.
 Rice, Parsons, saffold and White were in the front rank of men of intellect in the state, in the order here written, as be- tween themselves. In the late general election, 1872 all voted for Grant, not upon the argument of Alex Stephens, but upon that of New England. Nevertheless, in 1868 Parsons led the Alabama delega- ton to the New York national democratic convention, Rice canvassed the state for Seymour and Blair, Saffold and White were foremost in the cry for white su- premacy." At Selma August 8, 1866, the first political state convention, after the war White was the main orator. The new state constitution in force enumer- ated all the negroes and Congress had proclaimed the thirteenth article of amendment, but in that experimental po- litical movement MT. White ardently con- tended the negro race could not be trans lated" into the rights and privileges of freemen because9 negroes were natural slaves. The orator would have Alabama and Alabamians study the law of nature in the premises and act accordingly MT Saffold immediately after Appomattox wrote to Governor Parsons, arguing for speedy deportation of all the freedmen, as it was absurd to expect the race to en- gage in any kind of wage earning labor. The provisional governor seemed by his answer to acquiesce in his correspondents view
 Evidently Judge Rice, the master mind, was amused at the perplexity of his as- sociates, He told a story wherein he him. self appeared as the hero. One of the spasmodic temperance" movements of the old era engaged town and village folk. A strong temperance society" sprang up at Talladega. Judge Rice went up from Montgomery by invitation to deliver an appropriate address before the society. of course the orator was pathetic and in- structive. He never fell below his meas ure on the rostrum. The forenoon among the good people of the village was given up to the excitement of the meeting. After dinner a gentleman, desirous of enjoying the society of the noble orator walked on the street to find him. Passing the sa- loon he was astonishcd to hear sounds of Judge Rice's voice behind the screen, half creduous peep exposed the full pie ture-Rice his checks aglow his great eyes beaming with joy, as his red glass rlf ra1 t.rit ba ro1 companions. Taking the arm of the apos- tie of the forenoon, the gentleman led him out for a stroll Judge are you for temperament" queried the citizen host. 'Oh, don't be alarmed, old man. Every good thing has two sides. 1 helped one side before dinner The boys called me and helped them later in the day"
 There was the fact of an active degra- dalton of government at Montgomery fact of baseness of purpose and deprav- ity of method which few great minds native to the soil. found themselves inn potent to maintain as against right and truth. The democrats played for the highest of stakes. Had their opponents possessed equal conscience they would have possessed courage to use their op- portunity and using it. Boyd, Oates San ford. Willis Brewer. Robert Tyler and Screws and Mckee would have been no safer than highway robbers on the road to Windsor palace.
 There was no halfway ground for either side. There was no point upon which dis putants could meet, light the pipe of peace and discuss compromise. The conqueror sAtheory of negro equality must die. The fabric of society had been so shaken by this alien contention that a handful of our best men had dropped away.
 In our time. analytical study of the events of 10 years of experience in Ala bama, following Appomattox, is studiously ignored all through the course of educa- tion. The body polite is debilitated by the loss of natural function-knowledge of the things done then. We can obtain no satisfaction from Rhodes. He says. among other things. that after Calhoun resigned the vice presidency to enter the Senate. in lS3l he lost the spirit of ma tionality' to sink to ''provincialism." Cal houn died in 1850 15 years before the ma ] tion' or provinces" appeared. His con
 tention was for the prevailing system. the republic of republics. and there is no | line or syllable of his to controvert that ! fact. After Calhoun re-entered the Sen ate and became the victim of provincial 1 ism he led in the settlement of the pub l lie land question, which incalculably ad- yanced the growth of the union. lie led