The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-02

palgn. ] need scarcely TO say TO sou
that in these terms | am referring to
the ccnspiraeies in the years of 1890 and
1s92, in witch my title to the office
now seek was confiscated by the then
leaders of the democratic party You
shall not accept this rough conclusion OF
a fact as a mere matter of opinion from
me, and for fear that as an interested
party my charge may seem to rest upon
an unsupported personal conviction, bor-
rowing its claim from chagrin and de-
feat | shall permit no less a disinter-
ested party and distinguished a witness
than the Hon. Braxton Bragg Conner to
testify in my behalf. And [ must say
in advance that never was q fpournful
truth more luminously told. than in this
forcefm diction and powerful eloquenee
of the ex-governor, on this occasion OF
his repentance and confession. to a fraud
to which Governor Conner himself is
guilty party
Testimony of Conner
Listen at his oVerpewering statement
of my case
before the democratic convention Thomas
G. Jones went in with a trifiing follow
ing. Captain Kolb had the majority of
that convention, but through machine
politics was manipulated out of 1t, ana
Jones put in, with the same methods that
were used in the Hayes-Tilden contest,
only In Alabama counties were used, anu
in the other states. In the election of
1882 Judge Jones was the only man in
Alabama who does not know that koio
beat him by the largest majority ever
given any governor in this state. The
grandfather clause was not In IT, negroes
dead or alive. at the polls or away were
counted The black belt witnessed
Saturnalia of fictitious and facticious
t.sDo ofl1t n
politics, and the wounds have not yet
healed
Fellow citizens, l am calling upon
you not to allow Governor Comer's ter
rible Indictment of the authors of a stu-
pendous political crime to which he was
a party to be written into the pages OF
Alabama history without that atonement
expressed in the bestowa1 of title that
is in your power to confer. The stifed
voice of the majority of the people of
Alabama cries across the gulf of 20 years
against it. The integrity and purity of
our elective franchise, through which the
guarantees of our social fabric are pre-
served, and on which the honor of Ala
bama as a commonwealth depends, re-
Dukes it. The interest of public virtue
and the cause of political morality. con-
spire to condemn it, And above all, a rev.
erance for the ideals around which clus-
ter our legacies of the past our hopes for
the future, as a state and people, pre-
scribes and forbids IT.
MY candidacy then fellow citizens, by
virtue of the claim forged in what Gov
ernor Conner has denounced as "a trag-
edy in our body politics. appeals IS
something more than an aspiration for
the honor to be made governor of Ala
bama. 1t demands in the name of de-
layed justice and an untainted democracy
the confirmation of title to that honor
that has already been twice ordained in
the peoples WILL and suspended in the
commission of a political crime. 1t is for
the restitution of witholden gift, fash
ioned in the choice of the people of Ala
bama through their ballots as free men,
that / am contending. 1t is for atone
ment of an acknowledged and unjustifia-
BILE wrong of which I am the victim that
] am asking. 1t is for a correction Of
Alabama history in tho interest of honor
truth and decency that | am seeking
His Supporter Now
Are there those in the democratic
party to upbraid this protest against the
wrong that throbs in wounds which Gov
ernor Conner declares I have not yet
healed?' Are there those who see in the
scars it has inflicted no cause for re-
dress and restitution? / thank God he
has spared me to time when thousands,
who knowingly, or unknowingly, shared
In the injustice that clouds my title to
the sovernorship of this state, are among
my strongest defenders to regain 1t.
thank God that after lapse of 20 years
tie innate sense of right and justice
which controls the consciences of high
minded men, is finding triumphant ex-
pressions in the loyalty of old political
foes, and that among the voting ranks
that are battling under my standard in
this contest. none are more faithful or
true than they. TO me this addresses
the proudest reflection that can aimate
me as a candidate OF soace me as a
man. 1t has obliterated from my heart
every trace of bitterness that the treat
ment of former years may have driven
into my soul, and as / look back through
the vista of those dark, unhappy times,
that unfold this tragedy on our body
polite 1 can truthfully declare in re-
spect to the wounds that tragedy in
flicted, that I forget that 1 remember
and remember that / forget In the joy
of that forgetfuneSs / can dismiss this
episode as a standard by which to be
recalled and remembered in the public
annals of my native state. l have no
Aspiration nor wish to be canonized as
O. political martyr. Rather l would have
as a reward for whatever I may have
earned on the score of service in war
and in peace to the people of Alabama
the boon that | am now seeking at their
hands as a finishing crown to an ambi-
ton that is addressing its last appeal for
the realization Of beautiful life dream"