The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-02
Conner Should Refund

OOlueT OHOuIu hetuN0
Il claim, in view of his responsibility
for this uncalled for loss to the tax pay
ers of Alabama, that b. b. Conner is NOR
ally bound to refund this stolen money
before he should qualify as a candidate
for position that might enable him to
repeat this inexcusable wrong on the peo-
pie of Alabama. These are few of the
things, fellow citizens, that will hardly
be included in Governor Comer's promised
Confession of Faith that should be con-
sidered along with the demands that his
candidacy addresses; and it is proper that
he should be measured by them, or az
least that they should not be forgotten,
in fixing his claim to again serve you
In capacity in which he has SO griev-
ously blundered and failed
81 have said nothing of Mr.. Conner and
the railroads. l have purposely refrained
from alluding to this strenuous claim of
his notoriety as disturbing factor in the
affairs in the past four years, for two
reasons:> The first and paramount one
is that I don't believe Mr.. Conner be-
lieves that his radical and revolutionary
theories regarding these corporations are
possible as a thing of legislative accom-
plishment, and that they could ever be-
come a rule of administrative policy.
s1f he could do nothing upon the lines
of his extreme views regarding rail
roads, when these views were for
time, or appeared to be, the dominant
idea Of the people. and when he mad
sympathetic and obliging legislature.
to enforce them into effective laws
what could he expect to accomplish at
time when the Minnesota rate case
decision, later followed by the opinion
of Judges Shelby and Grubbs. sustained
in the popular sense of reciprocal fair
ness between the people of Alabama and
these great agencies of their material
development. have transformed the is
sue of railroad legislation from a sub
iect of partisan politics into a question
to be governed and handled by the
people. through established laws ad-
ministered under a railroad commission
of their choice and election?
my second reason for silence upon
this hobby of Mr.. Conner. is because II
is too rapidly becoming known, that he
is trying to revive 1T. as a red rag for
purposes limited to this campaign for
me to dignity his efforts at another
row. by giving his Views the claim to
an Importance that he himself does not
feel for them. Mr.. Comer's main hope
of election in this contest, springs from
the belief that he can inflame enough
minds into prejudice against the rail-
roads of Alabama, to tighten his path
back to the governors office. This Is
the head and front of. his railroad pro-
paganda, and the people are finding it
out in such way that 1t needn't sur
prise anybody to see him renoInce II
as serious issue before the end of
his campaign.
"Mr. Seeds Unfaithfulness
Lieutenant Governor Seed. another
candidate before you. is party to some
of the Wild things that will drive Gov
ernor Conner to the defensive line in
this contest. 1t stands the lieutenant
governor to nationally explain to the
people some matters which he has failed
to mention as articles in his platform
One of these In his Endorsement in the
last election of an attempt to change the
states constitution in order to write
into that document radical law Ia
contempt of his party's expressed de-
mand against such an invasion. At the
very time hs was thus defylng the
wishes OF the democratic party. ex-
pressed in its platform. he was the re-
cipient of one of Its highest offices. and
elected to 1t upon the very platform
he aided and assaulted. soldier who
will fire on his own colors cannot be
trusted to bear those colors as stan-
dsrd bearer. and this fact in itself
should eliminate Mr. Seed as n leader
in this night.
His amusing effort to disclaim his
past connections and sympathetic part
in the frenxtod drama Of xr. comess Z