The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-24


 the records of his own administration, that claiming to be the unreIenting foe or selfish special interests, no man who ever sought the office of governor was more completely under their domination ana control.
 "I challenge any man to point out III the whole course of his administrator single statute progressive in its character insnired by the purpose to secure greater social justice and equality of opportunity to the tolling masses of our people. Where and when, in the whole course of his public life, did a generous charitable or phlanthropic motive ever actuate his official conduct?
 "Denouncing in unmeasured terms all who engaged in the liquor business, he has himself admitted that he commenced his career by selling rum to negroes; and have no doubt it was of that cheap adulterated and poisonous variety that would easily bring out in the members of that race all the latent savagery of their nature.
 ..From the toll of little children, from the hire of convicts, from special privi- leges and exemptions from taxation, from railroad rebates and pauper wages, he bnilded up his fortune, until today mill lionaire, typically representative of his class. he seeks to mslead by protesta- tions of love for thos~ whom he op- pressed hypocritical sympathy for those whose lives have been made harder 1 by his selfish greed"
 The governor then carefully analysed MT. Corners record, referring to his ef- forts in behalf of the exemption of tax ation of water powers. and another law exempting cotton mills from taxation. Referring to the development of power sizes, the governor said:
 ssyThe deyalonment of these mower sites will become a blessing to the state if the | consumer is only exacted just and req | sonable charges for the power he uses. I am unable to reach the mental attitude l of B. B. Conner, who is willing to trust l the interests of the state and the con- | srmer to the tender mercies of a monop- oly The interests of the state and the people he represented demanded that be- l fore granting such extraordinary and generous powers and making so princely | a gift to these foreign corporations, that he should have established a public uti1- | ity commission. with full power and au- | thority to regulate the charges which they exacted from the consumer as well as providing that the grant of the state should only be for limited period, and that the state should receive some rev. enue for its magnificent contribution. l "In the letter which have mentioned Secretary Garrison says; The state | a scheme by which in consideration of an impost. or of a slight impost, the dam and other works at the end of a I fixed period become the property of the | state In other words, the state might
 say, instead of taxing you. or getting 1 a revenue out of you, during the life 1 of this Nfranchise, we will abstain from so doing and take our payment, as it were, in a lump sum, namely, the inn pr ovement which shall thereupon become | ours If wise suggestions like these had
 dictated MT. Corners policy what q 1 splendid heritage would have been left for future generations. The state would l after a period of years. have acquired all of these water power improvements, and it's revenues from that source alone would in the future have supported our educational system, if not our state gov ernment.
 "Yet, all of this splendid heritage B. B Conner generously surrendered. He put every consumer of power in Alabama al the mercy of the monopoly. He gave tc that monopoly power to sell to whom II pleased, and thus to drive all rival enter prises out of business. He, and he alone exempted them from any control by the state as to charges they should make and gave them the power. under his laws, by absorption ana merger, to ac quire every rival power plant in th' state and thus put our people at the mercy of q monopoly more powerful ana exacting than the Standard oil ever be- came in the palmiest days of It's rule He gave away all the power in our navi
 gable streams
 | Local Option
 MT. Conner has stalked over the stat' I denouncing me as liquortte, the pliRn tool of the liquor interests. because sd
 vocated the platform of my party anu
 stand for the principles of local option Ic I am not mistaken, the same element
 supporting MT. Conner and denouncint
 nie have also denounced sne leader of thu
 democratic party in the House of Con I gress, that superb democrat and states
 man whose triumphant election as serla
 tor of the United Statos ts now conceded
 as a liauoritc and an ally of the liquc