The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1919-05-02
r. A. Montgomery
for the Legislature

vailed upon 10 CueE MS SERVICES III thc
present crisis in the affairs Of our beloved
state, in the person of Hon. R. A. Mont
gomery. Upon the earnes. and insistent
solicitation Of friends and voters from
every part Of Holmes county he has de-
cided to subordinate his personal predi-l
lections and interests TO the public good
and has authorized The Advertiser TO an
nounce his candidacy for member IT the
legislature, subject TO the action OF the
Democratic voters in the primary elec-
tions to be held in August Of the current
year. He enters the contest with g full
realization of the grave responsibilities
that an election to the next legislature
will entail The coming session will be
one of hard work and win require the
best thought and craftsmanship that the
various counties of the state can muster
to meet the perplcxing problems that now
confront the state. There are questions
of finance and Of other matters of vital
public policy to be settled in order to
place the state on safe basis. The
states present predicament is partly due
to legislative ineficicncy in the past and
the passage of laws that prove detri-
mental to progress and advancement.
There are altogether too many laws on
the statute books now, and the member
Of the legislature who secures the repeal
Of vicious enactments does his constit-
uency much better service than the one
who is ''eyer and eternally" trying to add
more laws TO the statute books in the
hope Of having his name 20 laundering
down the corridors Of time as the author
Of this or that measure. Mr.. Montgom-
cry is no novice in the legislative game,
having served in the 1912 and 1914 ses-
sions. He made record there TO which
he invites the closest and most searching
scrutiny and investigation. He did his
very best to serve his constituency and
the state and has no apology whatever to
offer for any action he took or vote he
cast. He feels confidently certain that
his record, when closely examined, will
meet the hearty approval of all fairmind-
ed people. The published proceedings of
the 1912 and 1914 sessions of the Missis-
sippi legislature show that R. A. Mont
gomery missed very few roll calls. 1t is
manifestly impossible for member to
be present at every meeting, as COM
mittee assignments or other public duties
may require his presence elsewhere. The
occasions he was absent on a visit home
or on purely personal matters were very
few indeed. He believed that the voters
had sent him to Jackson to be strictly ION
the Job" and he attended closely to busi-
ness and eschewed social frivolities and
distractions. While always ready and
amply able to take part in the discussions
on the floor of the house, he devoted the
greatest attention to the work in the
COMMITTEES rooms. There Is where the
regi work of legislation or law making III
done. There is where honest and alert
men are required to scotch any snake"
that might rear its head or eliminate any
"joker' that any enterprising lobbyist
might want inserted into measure in
order to make it ineffective or render it
capable of being construed otherwise than
originally intended. Some of these
"jokers" look mighty innocent and might
easily be overlooked when presented for
passage in the house. After emerging
from the committee room with the recon-
mendation that it "do pass" most meas
ures are given but scant attention by the
house, as the members generally deem it
the duty of the respective committees to
duly look after the bill entrusted to them,
Under these circumstances, Mr.. Mont
gomery very properly preferred to do
his principal work in the committee room
rather than court plaudits or seek l&urels
as an orator on the floor of the house
Mr.. Montgomery has followed the voca-
ton of farming all his life and has made
success Of it, despite boil weevils and
various and numerous other obstacles or
handicaps. By most conservative esti-
mate two-thirds of the people of Missis-
sippi are farmers. In the past they have
been satisfied to be represented in the
halls of the legislature by men of other
professions; at least the number of
farmer members have been disproportion-
ately small. But of late years the farm
ing classes are demanding more adequate
representation by members of their own
profession, and as they have the votes
to elect whom they please the farmers
win doubtless be in the majority in fu-
ture legislatures in this state. Mr.. Mont
gomery is typical Mississippi farmer
and fully cognizant of the needs and
aims, the hopes and ambitions of the vast
majority Of the people of the state. He
is very progressive and desirous of plac-
ing Mississippi in the very forefront of
the sisterhood of states, agriculturally,
industrially and educationally. He is
proud of the record so far made, and is
anxious that the good work be kept on
unabated. Mr.. Montgomery is no uni
versity or college bred man, but never
theless a well-inforned man. He Sc
cured a splendid education in the COM
mon schools, which has been greatly
broadened and extended by subsequent
reading, study and research. Principally
has he read copiously along agricultural
economic, sociological and political lines,
and is pre-eminently able to cope with
the problems that confront our state in
these days Of reconstruction and ever