The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-15

turned out, the people were yet sad
died with debt of s5,000,000 left over
from the state bank and its branches
Ihere was no call for a. class IN
terjectlon in the government of Ala
pama. The farmers by reason of their
numbers actually had governed and
stlll governed. In recent times the
farmers had called for reduction of
the state debt and the debt had been
reduced from $3o,000.000 or more to less
than SlO00O.O00. George s. Houston,
Levi w. Lauter and J. B. Bethea, the
uebt commissioner. that had negotiated
that wonderful financial transaction,
We're all large farmers. The farmers
called for the sunset and sunrise law,
and got 1t. They called for the rail-
road commission and got it. They
called for a crop lien law. and got It,
They called for stock laws prescrio-
ing districts for fencing and got them.
They demanded reduction of the state
tax rate from !. mills to T. and their
demand was enacted into law
Passing on to the influence of the
farmers organization upon Congress, it
was easy to identify it there. Two
bills had been offered recently in Con-
gress to establish the subtreasury
scheme of the st. Louis Ama1gam, the
National Farmers Alliance and Indus
trial union. Both covered plans utterly
impracticable and neither could become
law. "Black Friday would be nothing
to the ruin these bills. if enacted into
law, would visit on the country" ex-
claimed the orator
The subtreasury proposed for the
purpose of supplying a deficiency in the
volume of circulating medium was a
mistaken resort. Colonel Jones con-
tended He said: "a sound and stable
currency of sufficient volume to do the
business of the country is the poor
a q hna fri ~ IL = h.
scarcity of money and consequent high
rate of interest by the free coinage Of
silver for, the present at least, and by
revision of the tariff. The other eco
nomic conditions which oppress us are
beyond the reach of legislation and
must be borne with patience until our
ever growing Industries shall bring us
relief"
Colonel Jones next spoke at Green's
boro. Hale county, another stronghold
of Kolb and the alliance. All other
candidates but Kolb remained dumb.
Commissioner Kelb with tireless en-
ergy and his familiar resourcefulness,
prosecuted his own campaign for the
party nomination. He issued two cir
cular letters urging the alliance men
to support him. ATTEND the conven-
tion," he wrote to the laity. Help
me and the delegates you have Sc
lected to defeat the. plutocrats who in
unholy alliance are against the peo-
pie"
Battigell. with his Alliance Herald,
was daily upon the ragged edge of
financial wreck at Montgomery, but
with defiant bearing he fought on. In
the issue of May 10. next preceding
the meeting of the state party conven-
tion, he urged alliance delegates to
come to Montgomery the day before
the meeting assembled. He would have
the convention work .1aid out and
pushed through without unnecessary
delay"
The Alliance Exchange, on Ta1apoosa
street, would be Headquarters for Kolb
men. The headquarters of each of the
other four candidates was in the Ex-
change hotel. Every manager of each
of the five candidates was on the
ground at his assigned place the day
before the appointed day of the meet
ing of the convention. Not since the
secession convention of 1861 had a pub
lie meeting in Alabama been accom-
panied by so intense excitement.
JOHN WITHERSPOON DUBOSE.