The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-27
SLEMP MAY COME T0 PROMOTE PEACE
Alabama Republicans Still At Dagger's Points Over Con-
 trol Of Party

Birmingham republicans have not get been advised formally whether Bascom Slemp. secretary to President Coolidge will be present at. the meet ing of the state republican committee which has been called for Saturday morning at the Tulwiler hotel. MT. Slemp is making a trip through the south which will require couple of weeks and information to the Age Herald from Washington was to the effect that he would include Alabama in his itinerary.
 MT. Slemp's trip is for the purpose of lining up southern delegations for Coolidge and it was thought his serv- ices might be utilized in bringing some harmony in Alabama where the ng-Thomas wing of the party is favoring a preferential primary and has named w. l.. Chenault to make
 the race, inferentially as a Coolidge advocate while the Street-Atkins wing
 represented by the state committee which meets Saturday proposes to call convention and instruct It's dele gates for Coolidge directly. Chairman Atkins of the state committee issued statement last week against the action in running Chenault in the direct primary and Wednesday Frank Req, secretary of the Republican club of Alabama, replied.
 It is certain that these gentlemen will never willingly permit the re- publican voters of Alabama to pass judgment upon the way they have conducted party affairs in this state or express choice for President, said
 the statement. They insist upon a convention the delegates of which
 must be passed upon by bought and paid for committee controlled by deputies of "Brother-inlaw, Snead," :"
 the Kennamer brothers, known local | ly as the Gold Dust Twins and a i few postmasters, So they meet in solemn conclave behind closed doors | undistributed by public opinion.
 Defense Is Amusing.
 "The labored defense of Streetism would be amusing if it was not so
 ridiculous. He would have us believe l that the unselfish Street had secured
 nothing for himself Let's see. He secured for his brother-in-law Snead l of Marshall county, the collectorship | of internal revenue, with 100 deputies one of which is the son of Chairman l Atkins. He secured the appointment of
 his kinsnian the postoffice at Jack 1 sonville. He secured for his next-door
 neighbor, Charles B. Kennamer, the
 United States attorneyship. He se- cured for Thomas J. Kennamer, a 1 native of Mrashall county and a brother of Charlie, the United States marshalship. The only reason Street
 did not grab one of these places him. 1 self was because he was waiting for
 bigger game. a federal judgeship, the | one great ambition of his life. We l have no fight to make against office holders per se, but we do most em- 1 phatically oppose the selfishness that | awards three of the four, major fed
 eral positions of north Alabama to the one county of Marshall in order to | give Street, strangle hold upon a | federal judgeship, if vacancy should occur.
 Streets Poor Race.
 i Chairman Atkins tries to explain | Streets poor race of last year by
 saving he was kinfed. It was because
 republicans were disgusted with fam l fly politics. Who knifed him in his home county of Marshall, where liar i ding received 3,900 votes and Street
 only 1900, and where the democratic
 majority in 1920 with Street not on the ticket was less than 100 and in
 1922 with Street heading the ticket l it was 1900? In Chairman Atkins,
 own county of Cleburn, why was it the county republican tacket won by sev-
 eral hundred majority and Street lost
 the county by several hundred? Did i Atkins himself knife him? How about
 Jefferson county. where Street re-
 ceived only 424 votes and Harding
 received 7,126? There is no wonder
 that our party was wrecked and our
 vote decreased from 75,000 to 30,000 | Had its not been for the straight tick
 cts voted on account of the county 1 tickets, Street and Armbrecht, would ] not have received 5000 votes. The white republicans of Alabama, are i mot for self. but for republican ex- pansion" Then why not the repub- 1 licans express themselves in a pri- ! mary?"