The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-01-11
SURPRISE CAUSED |. BY ANNOUNCEMENT OF 1. B. MUSGROVE Painter Released Statement Putting Jasper Capitalist
 in Race for Governor LOCAL OPTION FORCES PLATED OvEROUTLOoK Musgrove in Washington When An nouncement Made--Kilby, An
 other Prohibitionist, in
 Race to End
By LEON c. BRADLEY

|
 local optionists elated, at the announce
 ment yesterday of L. B. Musgrove for governor.
 l Cnpredicted and unexpected, the official signed document which places the Walker
 county capitalist formally in the field
 came out of Montgomery. And in tn.
 meantime and for several days past, the cadidate himself has been enjoying the sights and pleasures afforded in the na- 1 tion's capital.
 ! To be sure, for several months or more
 the name of MT. Musgrove had been men, toned for governor. In fact for two decades there has hardly been race | in which he had not been discussed as a possibility for congressional or guber-
 material honors. Two times at least, have his friends announced him, and twice has he refused to run.
 And with it all, there is an air of mys- tery. That MT. Musgrove when he left Alabama some days ago, expected to be a candidate for governor before his re- turn was not the belief of many of his friends. In fact, he had unequivocally reiterated his determination not to run SO often, he had painted in such glow ing colors the joys of life in the Walker county metropolis with his tri-weekly visits to Birmingham as added pleasure. that they had come to the conclusion that political preferment had no lure for him.
 PAINTER GAVE IT OUT | Phil Painter, editor of the Advance,
 and active for many years as an associate " + Mir in II q iOnS
 sta ted last night that he had turned over to newspaper men in Montgomery the signed statements of MT. Musgrove. MT. Painter who resides in Birmingham, failed to explain why he had made the t1ip to the Alabama Capital City to give out this announcement. He is authority for the statement that a conference was
 held in Montgomery Tuesday and that it was following this meeting that the con fidential documents were released. Whether the announcement hinged in any way upon the result of this conference in Montgomery was not revealed by MT. Painter.
 This secret gathering in the Capital City was attended neither by Mir Musgrove himself nor the Rev. Brooks Lawrence. superintendent of the Alabama Anti Saloon League Both of them were in Washington at that time. Just who was present, MT. Painter has not yet seen fit to inform the public. All of which. adds to the interest and air of mystery surrounding the announcement. Already. and for several months past, there has been one prohibition candidate in the field. Lieutenant Gov ernor Thomas E. Ki1by of Anniston. In view of his well known record on the prohibition question, made during term in the senate and later as presi- dent of that body. he could not be classed other than as the candidate of the dry forces. The Anti-Saloon league trustees, the headquarters committee and the Rev Brooks Lawrence, super iptendent, in meetings, through the press and through the columns of the Alabama Citizen. had declared une- quivocally against more than one rep- resentative of that faction making the race.
 DIVIDE DRY FORCES Repeatedly attention had been called to the disastrous results which had at tended the prohibitionists in the past when their forces divided between two or more dry candidates and the deter imitation not to repeat in the coming campaign had been very pronounced. That MT. Musgrove. as a member of the headquarters committee and the chairman of the finance committee, 2dS III HcdTty dCCOTQ WlCn In1S lQea was generally credited by all. It had been suggested that an agreement be reached in regard to all the prospec- tive dry candidates in order that vic- tory might be reasonably assured. Po- litical leaders throughout the state felt confident that before any more dry candidates entered the field they would make an effort to reach an agreement to prevent split in the ranks. In discussing this phase of the sit- uation. the following dispatch from the Montgomery correspondent of The Age Herald will be of interest: "The announcement of MT. Musgrove caused unusual interest in political circles Wednesday. His name had been connected with the contest for some time but no word had come from him officially. He has been figure in Alabama politics for several years and became known throughout the state when he openly supported and financed the campaign of Richmond F. Hobson for United States senator over Oscar W. Underwood, two years ago. Local optionists claim to have found great
 cause for rejoicing in the statement
 of MT. Musgrove. They believe the pro-
 hibition section of the party will be split. that MT. Kilby will refuse to go over to MT. Musgrove and that MT.