The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-05
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

Little did I think when Dr. r. b. Wells handed me a copy of The Dade- vile Banner, published before the Civil war, that I was going to get three stories out of it.
 Having written on the way in which lawyers and physicians advertised with a follow-up story about general 1 advertising. am going to now try and
 give some national political events winch held the attention of our fathers sixty years ago.
 We are apt to think because candi- dates are hurrying up and down the | state in droyes that it is something out of the ordinary, but while the crop l is unusually large, Alabama is accus- | toned to hearing her leading citizens | on the hustings, for the stump speaker" thriyes in this climate. | It is a bit curious that a campaign 1 should be going on at the same time | to elect a long term and a short-terr1 senator. The entries are rather nu-
 nerous, and the contest, as the pri- | mary approaches, is warming up. The weather, while drawback to farming 1 operations. has played into the hands of the speakers, who have been able | to get good crowds.
 l But while attention is specially riv- eted on Alabama, politics it is easy to 1 gather from the papers that the presi- dential election is beginning to get
 well under way, for each state is grooming "a favorite son." It seems
 to me, however, that so far both of 1 the great parties are at sea without
 being able to agree on proper pilot
 for the ship of state.
 l Many of the asprants are embar- rassed because it is no longer permis-
 sible to use large sums to contHol the | doubtful states in the matter of getting
 a delegation. Time was when the bar
 rel" played a big part. at least in the
 republican party. when it came to >getting the south lined up. No candi- date thought of corralling the vote without the wise expenditure of coin | Of the realm.
 1 I remember score of years back when there were three presidential
 candidates, each having a long bank | roll. Now, it was considered good 1 form to separate them from as much | Of 1t as possible. Few thought it wrong for a bunch of it to come south l of the Mason and Dixon line. and so 1 the leaders naturally went to work to | organic" a plan to relieve those hav- ing the power of distribution. I am indebted to a republican friend | Of mine who lived in neighboring g state for the following story. He was a member of law firm made up of three gentlemen who made politics a side line, and so havng anvassed the situation they went into conference and drew straws to settle which one should have first and second choice, This being settled, each one boarded the train and set out for headquarters to make a touchdown.
 My friend drew Levi P. Morton, and his tale of his trip to New York to see Henry Clews, who it seemed, was re- sponsible for the turning loose of the | campaign funds, was one of the richest stories I was ever let in on I have merely cited the above instance in or der to show that there has been a new conscience aroused on the subject of pouring out money to control elections, the Newberry scandal bringing it to
 head at a most inopportune time for
 some of those flirting with the presi- dency.
 The case of the Michigan senator having caused some uneasy qualms even in the democratic ranks for 1t has been whispered that certain ones in our own household have been a bit too free in the use of the "root of all evil.' It has given other candidates chance to come out boldly and prom ise to come clean by publishing a full statement which will satisfy the pub t1,, <hN,r l. than the law allows them to do in the hunt for office*
 In August, 1860, the issue of The Dadeville Banner was full of a presi- dential election. Nailed to it's mast was J. q. Breckinrdge of Kentucky, for President, and Joseph Lane, of Ore gon, for Vice President Then came tEe platform of the democratic party,
 adopted in committee at the Charleston convention by a vote of seventeen to sixteen states, reaffirmed unanimously by the convention of twenty-one seced- ing states at Baltimore, and endorsed by Breckinridge and Lane.
 It affirmed the platform of the demo- cratic party adopted at Cincinnati. with some explanatory resolutions It 1 ls interesting to note that one of the pis lnlHsS set out was the status of the territories. One resolution fa- vored the acquisition of Cuba on such
 terms as would be honorable to the
 United States and just to Spain. This in the light of the Spanish American , war and the way in which the Cuban matter was handled shows how time works many changes in public mat 1 ters.
 plank was inserted expressing the
 desire for the passage of some bill to the extent of the constitutional au- thority of Congress for the construc- ton of Pacific railroad from the Mis- sissippi river to the Pacific ocean. Attention was also called to the need Of protecting naturalized citizens. whether at home or in foreign lands to the same extent as native born citizens. This is @ matter of grave concern at present, and personally feel that our naturalization laws need to be revised and amended.
 
 Naturally, the slavery question loomed big, as the following para
 graph in the explanatory resolutions will show; Resolved, that the enact
 ments of state legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the fugitive slave law are hostile in character. subversive of the constitution and rev olutionary in their effect" It was also
 burning issue as to whether Con-
 gress could pass laws for the protec-
 tion of slave property in the terri
 tories.
 I quote from the leading editorial