690 



UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. (ALABAMA.) 



respectively 842,809 and 79,453 tons. The total 

 shipments from the Southern field in the first half 

 of the year aggregated 987,716 tons, of which 904,- 

 014 tons were pig-iron and steel and 83,702 tons 

 were cast-iron pipe. 



Labor. A strike took place in the mines of the 

 Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company in 

 the Birmingham district, involving about 4,500 

 men. It arose from the refusal of about 70 of 

 the miners to allow the assessment for the anthra- 

 cite strikers to be withheld from their wages. 

 The company held that it could not collect the 

 assessments against the protest of the men, 

 and a strike was ordered Oct. 1. It was settled 

 Oct. 15. 



Mobile. The celebration of the bicentennial 

 of the founding of Mobile, the first capital of 

 Louisiana, at Twenty-seven-Mile Bluff, on Mobile 

 river, began Jan. 22 with a grand civic parade 

 and the placing of a tablet in honor of the broth- 

 ers Iberville and Bienville. The inscription on 

 the bronze memorial tablet on the stone base of 

 the colonnades supporting the portico of the coun- 

 ty court-house is as follows: " 1902. To the 

 Glory of God. Erected in Honor of the Illustrious 

 Brothers Lemoyne Bienville and Lemoyne Iber- 

 ville, who Founded Mobile, the First Capital of 

 Louisiana, 1702." The exercises of the second day 

 were held at the site of Fort Louis de Mobile. On 

 the site of the old fort the granite shaft unveiled 

 bears this inscription : " Erected by the People of 

 Mobile, Jan. 23, A. D. 1902, to Commemorate the 

 Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Founding 

 Here of Fort Louis de la Mobile by Pierre Le- 

 moyne Sieur d'Iberville and Jean Baptiste Le- 

 moyne Sieur de Bienville." 



Alexander City. This little place of 1,500 in- 

 habitants was practically destroyed by a fire in 

 June, the loss reaching by estimate $750,000, 

 which was not nearly covered by insurance. 



Congressional Appropriations. For im- 

 provement of waterways wholly or partly in Ala- 

 bama, Congress made the following appropria- 

 tions: Mobile harbor, $300,000; Alabama river, 

 $20,000; Black Warrior, Warrior, and Tombigbee 

 rivers, $374,000; Tombigbee, $20,000; Choctow- 

 hatchee river, $16,000; Chattahoochee river, $100,- 

 000; Coosa river, $35,000. A survey was ordered 

 to be made of the Coosa and Alabama rivers with 

 a view to determining the advisability of securing 

 6-foot navigation in them and the probable ex- 

 pense; also the advisability of further prosecuting 

 the present project for locks and dams in the 

 Coosa river. 



The amount for the public buildings at Annis- 

 ton was raised from $50,000 to $75,000; and that 

 for the post-office and court-house at Montgomery 

 from $185,456 to $250,456. 



Political. State officers were elected this 

 year in November, the time of the State election 

 having been changed. In view of the general de- 

 mand in the Democratic party for the nomina- 

 tion of candidates for State offices by a general 

 primary instead of by convention, the State Com- 

 mittee, at its meeting in July, ordered such a pri- 

 mary by a vote of 15 to 12; the date was fixed 

 at Aug. 25. If a second primary were necessary, 

 it should be held Sept. 15; and if a third, Sept. 

 29. There had been some sentiment in favor of 

 making it a general white primary ; but the action 

 of the committee limited the right to vote to 

 white Democrats. 



Gov. Jelks was a candidate for renomination, 

 and opposed to him was ex-Gov. Johnston. The 

 candidates for other offices were: For Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Russell M. Cunningham, Charles E. 

 Waller; Secretary of State, J. Thomas Heflin, 



Frank N. Julian, J. L. Tanner; State Treasurer,. 

 J. Craig Smith; State Auditor, T. L. Sowell; At- 

 torney-General, James E. Cobbs, Alex. M. Gar- 

 ber, Alex. Troy, Massey Wilson; Superintendent 

 of Education, Thomas L. Bulger, Chappell Cory, 

 John G. Harris, Isaac W. Hill; Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, R. R. Poole. 



At the primary, Aug. 25, Gov. Jelks received a 

 majority of 25,746 out of a total of 89,236 votes. 

 polled. For the office of Attorney-General a sec- 

 ond primary was needed to decide between Messrs. 

 Garber and Wilson; and for Superintendent of 

 Education M issrs. Harris and Hill also would 

 have entered the second had not Mr. Harris with- 

 drawn. The ticket as finally fixed was: For 

 Governor, William D. Jelks; Lieutenant-Gover- 

 nor, R. M. Cunningham; Secretary of State, J.. 

 Thomas Heflin; Treasurer, J. Craig Smith; Audi- 

 tor, Thomas L. Sowell; Attorney-General, Massey 

 Wilson; Superintendent of Education, Isaac W. 

 Hill ; Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries,. 

 R. R. Poole. 



The State Executive Committee of the Repub- 

 lican party met in Birmingham Aug. 2 and called, 

 a convention to meet there Sept. 16 to nominate a 

 full State ticket. The most important action of 

 the committee was the adoption of the following 

 resolution : 



" Resolved, That only those shall be recogni zed 

 and permitted to participate in the State t,nd 

 county conventions and be at meetings who are 

 duly qualified voters under the new Constitution, 

 of Alabama." 



The effect of this is to make the Republican, 

 party in Alabama a white man's party, as under 

 the new Constitution of the State the negroes are 

 practically all disfranchised. 



No negro's name appeared upon the report of 

 the Committee on Credentials for the convention, 

 which was adopted, although on the list of dele- 

 gates from more than one county there were 

 names of negroes when the credentials were given, 

 to the subcommittee for action. 



The platform of the convention as reported re- 

 affirmed the Philadelphia platform, favored " the 

 organization of labor for its legitimate protection 

 and the enactment of laws for the peaceable and 

 fair settlement by arbitration of disagreements aa 

 they may arise between organized capital and la- 

 bor," favored child-law legislation relating to- 

 work in cotton-mills, condemned " the spirit which 

 seeks to arouse the prejudice of the people against 

 the railroads," and advocated the " enactment of 

 laws so regulating the railroads as to adequately 

 protect the interests of the people, but is opposed 

 to any drastic measures." The platform then ap- 

 proved "the wisdom of the Dingley tariff law," 

 urged a continuance of that policy, and expressed 

 confidence in the administration of President) 

 Roosevelt. 



When this was read there were loud cries of 

 " No! No! " This opposition is understood to liave 

 had its origin in the action of the President in re- 

 moving William Vaughan, retiring Republican) 

 State chairman, from the office of United States 

 District Attorney for North Alabama for alleged) 

 neglect of duty. 



After the reading of the platform, J. A. W.j 

 Smith offered a substitute, the same as the o -i<ri- 

 nal report, except that it omitted all reference to! 

 an indorsement of President Roosevelt for reTioin- 

 ination. The substitute was vigorously debated, 

 and the convention was thrown into tun mil. 

 Finally the roll was called, and the substitute 

 was defeated, 158 to 146. The platform as origi- 

 nally reported was finally adopted, including the 

 indorsement of President Roosevelt for the 



