308 HISTORY OF THE WHEEL AND ALLIANCE. 



unpretentious manner. He is firm in his convictions of 

 right and unswerving in integrity. As a presiding officer 

 he is without a superior. As an organizer he has displayed 

 extraordinary skill. He possesses the qualifications of a 

 leader without being hampered with the fault of selfish 

 ambition. His sympathies are with the laboring classes. 

 He is an enthusiastic advocate of united action upon their 

 part. He is opposed to national banks, perpetual bonded 

 indebtedness and all forms of class legislation. He 

 believes if a party is sincere in their expressions of 

 sympathy for the laboring masses, that they would incor- 

 porate the principles expressed in their demands into their 

 platforms. He despises hypocrisy in all of its forms and 

 takes pleasure in unmasking the schemes of political wire- 

 pullers and machine politicians. At the meeting of the 

 National Wheel at Meridian he was re-elected President of 

 that body, making the third time he has been honored 

 with that important position. At the consolidation of trie 

 Wheel and Alliance he was elected Vice- President of that 

 body. In his calm, clear and cool judgment the people 

 recognize a safe and successful leader. 



S. M. ADAMS. 



S. M. Adams, President of the Alabama State Alli- 

 ance, was born in Dallas county, Alabama, on the loth 

 day of December, 1853. His father died in the Confed- 

 erate service, leaving Mr. Adams as the only means of 

 support to his mother, two sisters and a younger brother. 

 With the same devotion to duty and true manliness that 

 has ever characterized his life, he labored faithfully to 

 supply every want of his mother, to rear and educate his 

 sisters and brother. As a result, his early education was 

 almost entirely neglected, but after a hard day's toil he 

 studied assiduously at night, and with these limited facili- 



