The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-06
TEN YEARS OF ALABAMA
 1865-1874
No. -Administrati on of Governor Smith
1865--1874

Governor Smith stands alone in his class of politicians in high places. None of his associates in political degradation could have filled his office with so little offense against the decencies of public life as he He had weakness. His moral courage was unequal to the op- portunity before him, to enter the field of adventure. where Clanton, with less intellect, ranged abroad with spontaneous and exorbitant Joy.
 Smith desired to enter the Confederate congress and had he succeeded, the ser vice would have been faithfully per formed by him. Tn his disappointment, his only recourse was the isolation of his up- country home. Probably he had never risen to a full appreciation of the argu- ment of the confederacy. His environ ment did little to quicken his contempla- tons of it. The military conscriptions of the Confederate government soon forced him to leave home. He must go to one army or the other. His high intelligence, manly beauty of form, great energy would be a passport to favor across the line, in the invaders domain. He rode across and for obvious reasons could never come back. He followed Sherman in the DaI- on-Atlantic campaign He recruited many hundreds of northern Alabama farmers for the ranks of the enemy. among them being some of the companies that com posed the cavalry regiment of Colonel George E. Spencer.
 Governor Smiths prompt demand that the legislature should remove the disabil- ities of suffrage from the whites, as a general rule, and his veto of Postmaster Bromberg's bill, to give that body the appointment of the electoral college of the state, removing the ancient pracr,ce of giving it to the ballot box, drew a deep line between him and the foreign element in control. Nevertheless he seems to have been complaisant where policy required The legislature had no authority to name to the governor the probate judge, sheriff and all other ofrl- cers of Lowndes county, to receive con- missions from him. The usurpation. how ever, could do no harm, better selec- ton would not follow any other mode and no mode would be legal or rational that could be adopted. The governor signed the bill and hurried Dalton, his Secre- cary, off to the House with notice of his action.
 A very early act of the legislature declared the municipal offices, high and low in the chartered towns vacant and required the governor to fill them by appointment. In the case of Mobile. much contention with the executive arose. The carpetbaggers and negroes had fixed upon one Meyer "a black guard,'' said the local press, for the mayoralty. This element sent forward their mans name for appointment. The governor appointed Price instead. w. D. Turner led the Meyer faction. He had been in close correspondence with the negro members of the legislature from Mobile, Gregory and Caroway. The appointment resulted at once in a great riot. At least 400 negroes were in line of the disturbers. Price acted with courage. He soon had the ring leaders, all negroes, behind bars. Twen- ty-four councilmen were also appoint Cd in the same way
 By virtue of the same law the gov. ernor appointed city council for Selma. He used utmost liberaiity in the selection of persons. The eight men were all residents of established char acter. Among them was Associate Jus tice B. F. Saffold
 When Governor Smith vetoed the act Of the August session, taking the ap- poirtment of the electoral college away 2 the legislature, that body adjourned in very bad humor They fixed upon No yember to resume. They failed to pass a registration law as part of the scheme of throwing the appointment of the electoral college upon the legis- lature. The general election day was November 3.
 The governor declined to take the back seat made for him by the carpet happers We have seen that as soon as the Bromberg bill was returned to tbe senate with the veto Gen. Datus F. Coon of Ohio. senator from Dallas sprang to his feet. offering to bring "9O 900 freemen" to the rescue of lfb- erty in the legislature. Billy Burley Jones scalawag senator from Marengo eilenced the effusive foreigner on the floor but he immediately rushed down. stairs to the executive chamber. There he became so boisterous the governor showed him out the door. The war be-