The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-05

| candidate as eligible to the office o
governor who was willing to recog
nlze certain bond Endorsements, aggre
sating vast sum, as In any manne
obligatory upon the state. Direct an
| unconstitutional repudia tions of ever.
uollar to which the state had beef
pleosed, without the clearest proof o
legality in the form and substance o
Tie Endorsement was demanded by tn.
ofiillant and ardent editor of the Argn
IN every issue of his paper Langdoi
supported him by elaborate argument
lhls most aggressive attitude il
those prominent men mentioned wa
supported with vehemence by the news
paper that possessed a peculiarly strons
influence in the white counties, wher,
| 1t rad thousands of subscribers. colone
w. C. Oates of Henry and the ereal
nnahcier, Hon. F.. S. Lyon of Marengo
claimed the use of its columns TO arsu,
against reputation under any circura.
stances All this occurred before the
hlate democratic and conservative nom.
mating convention met in June and IN.
paftles 10 the discussion attempted Il
prepare The convention to act each ac.
cordlng to its own view Colonel Gate.
hso been an unsuccessful candidate fc,
the nomination for governor before the
convention of 1870 The Argus warnee
the public in the spring of 1874 thai
hei'ner Oates or Houston was in favor
VI repud1ation and therefore neither
was proper leader for the time
me special message of the governo,
was limited to brief statement Of tba-
an inquiry into the real proportions ot
tae bonded debt should be made bN
Ia" with purpose ito adjust and ar.
range such Indebtedness, and this sd.
mention was coupled with the very
SaSacious counsel Ito enact law an.
tncrlzlng the governor, by and with the
advice and consent of the senate. ID
appoint Two commissioners who shall
De citizens of this state, to whom shall
be committed the question of the whole
OF such Indebtedness.
Ihe legislature acted promptly. a
iii was passed authorizing the gov
efhor to appoint a board of two com.
inissioners to be confirmed by the sen
ate, and of which the governor exof-
4iclo should be the chairman, with pow
er 10 advertise for all claims against
| ne state and to inquire into the con.
sideration to the state in the CLAIM, The
latitude of the investigation was with
the discretion of the board, but the
finding to be final must receive the
consent of the next legislature.
me board thus created consisted of
Governor Houston, chairman, and
Messrs. Levi W. Lawler and j. B Be
inca. Mr.. Lawler had long been a lead
ing Gotten factor of Mobile and ms
noted for his intelligent Interest IN
pubic affairs. Mr.. Bethea was cof-
ron planter on large scale, living in
montgomery and with an established
character as a man of affairs
mus was put In motion the twin
pollcy to the call for q constitutional
convention, the two objects in view
Delrs accepted universally as necessary
10 the redemption of the state from the
nongrel rule which for years had nre-
vailed ignominously.
Commissioner Lawler was selected IN
go at once to Wall street, New York
10 ferret out the nature and true
amount of the bonded debt of the state
10 this service he devoted his whole
time al the sacrifice of the priva 70
business which had bound him to Mo
plle for many years and which had en-
fiched him.
The whole commission was startled
at the outset of their work by antiei
pated difficulties. The archives of the
state were most disappointing. What
honds had been issuedp What recis
tration was made of the, debt -ins he
offices of the state auditor and the
state treasurer? These initial INQUIRIES
We're made of the record in those Of
fees, but in vain for complete satisfac-
ton
certain amount of per cent bonds
past due We're known TO be held in
Philadelphia, but no tabular statements
In the proper offices in the capitol gave
any clue to them Inquiry was sent Ia
London and there was found an appar-
entity overlooked credit in the name of
The state to the amount of 1000 and
more.
1t was made to appear that Governo,
Smith had indorsed railroad bonds with
out the necessary registering of them
ti1s successor, Governor Lindsay had
committed the same error
me statute creating the board had
strangely omitted to confer upon /;
authority TO send for persons and
papers The search for evidences OF
lhc DEBT therefore was united TO inn
perfect public records and the volun-
tafy information obtained from the
stateNfiseal officers, some of whom were
OIL uncertain memories, from the off
clals OF railroad companies some OF
Whom had received unlawful help from
the state and from the general public
Tile board addressed an open appeal IL
the creditors of the state. published IL
-Niupdiud, IN New Ork and IN London
lor presentation in due form of theil
claims.
The state auditor of the scalawae
administration of Governor Lewis made
confllcting annual reports VARYING
sZ6o,OOO without explanation. Evidenc:
OF Issue of bonds in excess of the limit
liked by law was palpable The re-
port of the board to the legislature
after concluding its work said: Gov.
cfnor Lindsay and Governor Lewis
made important negotiations, involvina
'dahy hundred thousands dollars. and
yet no formal report OF their transae-
tions can be found by us in any of tile
state departments.
Inc debt of the state at the time of the
iali OF the Confederacy and the beginning
OF the reconstruction time was found IL
be Increased eight to 10 times the orig.
maj amount: the total debt now reported
being $50, ,0S7, ,563
Inc treasury was too depleted to pay
the per diem of members of the consti-
ttnonal convention of September. 1oi5
and to meet this expense and other cor
related items special arrangement was
made necessary The report of the board
said: I'm 1860 thep roperty of the people
OF the state, subject to taxation was es-