The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-14
GRAVES DECLARES GOVERNMENT FIRM, NEEDS EXECUTIVE.
Pays Respects to Various State Boards and Bureaus, of Which He Favors
 Abolition


 Referring to the nine points in
 the platform of his opponent for
 governor, Col. Bibh Graves last
 night declared that the eleventh
 hour document wkich even Solo,
 mon himself advocated 1000
 years ago meant nothing specifi-
 cally as a pledge to the people,
 but were mere glittering gener-
 alities after the fashion of ora
 tory practiced by the candidate
 as a platform for adoption by
 the democratic party in Ala
 bama.
 Has Faith in Platform
 My platform, like my record. Is what I expect to live or die upon" the former commander declared. When the democratic executive com mittee set the time limit for quaiifi- cations for candidates in the demo- cratic primary, I formally qualified. My opponent has been In the race for long while, holding public office since '96. He is a good campaigner and attempts to make capital of my tardlness In entering the race, but I have adopted as my slogan Vote for me this time, you can vote for Bill anytime for he'll always be run hing"
 Plays Fair With Opponent
 Colonel Graves paid his re-
 spects to his opponent in what
 he said he believed conscientious
 @ut gny. Az
 said he expected like return, hut
 he took occasion to refer to the
 press of the state ns attempting
 to "conceal from the people the
 fact that there is more than one
 candidate for governor in the
 present race" and bitterly arr
 raigned a local afternoon paper
 for misquoting his Monday eve
 ming speech in which it wns an-
 nOunced that the candidate was
 an advocate of strict Blue Sunday
 laws fin the state should he be
 elected chief executive.
 Governor Peoples Servant
 The governor of the state is the servant of the people" the speaker reiterated. Tt is clear cut propo sition that that servant should tell the people just what his platform is upon which he goes before them seeking election. These nine points which he calls his platform embrace nothing specifically except perhaps the assertion that he will abolish the county tax adjusters. Those other things mean nothing. The proposi- tion Is now just what 1t was before he announced recently in The Age Herald, he either hasn't got a plat form or he doesn't want the people to know what it Is.
 House Cleaning Program
 In returning to his house cleaning program, which he says he will launch should the people honor him as their chief executive, the candi- date declares that he would save the state more than s225,O00 yearly by legislating the present encumbents from office who function the same as the tax assessor who now Is merely a clerk in the various county tax offices. q would also abolish the board of control and economy, a useless office created for soft jobs dished out to political campaign man agers. which is newfangled idea of creating new bureaus and boards for which the government on Goat Hill in Montgomery has become famous for some time. Abolition of this of- flee alone would save for the people a like sum of approximately $225, ,00O annually.
 ''If your government is sound,
 1t Is as sound in Jefferson county as In any other county fin this great state, whnt we need is bet ter locnl self-government.v Here the gubernatoriaI aspirnnt paid his respects to the public service commission by adding that the powers which were dele gated to them have been usurped, that their dockets have become
 so cIuttered up with matters that
 pertain chiefly to municipalities,
 thnt they are passed oyer with
 such casual consideration that even industry itself has branded
 the commission ms fntoIerable.
 Advocates Commission
 "I do not favor abolition of the commission" he insisted, but merely to return to the municipalities those rights which necessarily belong to them, upon which fundamentals our government was founded, to encour- age industry and not persecute 1t merely because there Is hue and cry against the word 'corporation.'
 Exemptions Under Fire
 Tt Is strange thing" he added, that "in one part of the old state house there Is a commission which says a public service corporation is assessed at so much and at the other end valued at perhaps $43,00o, ,0o0 more. That Is where the explana- ton exemption explains much. I want to see industry in the state de- veloped and made profitable to It's investors; want to see a contented people. not burdened with taxation. but 1t Is the invocation of the round system in one section and the flat system in another that I can't really grasp. What we should do Is go after the intangible resources and leave the tangible resources to our people who have made the dear old state what she is worth today"
 Guaranteed Profits
 Guaranteed profits, which the speaker declared is a federal nour- ished Idea. conceived In Congress and nursed by republicans, also met bit- ter arraignment during the course of Colonel Graves speech He also re- ferred to his West End speech in the beginning of his Jefferson county campaign Monday night upon com mercialization of the Sabbath. and championed the death of the convict lease system of the state, and de- clared If he. Is elected governor that when the convicts are brought from the mines of the state, as chief ex- ecutive of Alabama newt Ton,,ory l. .