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Represent the Old Second District IE 53d CONGRESS Was the Decision of the Convention. ‘IS TRUE DEMOCRACY, SOUND ARGUMENT, . in for Him the Support of All Democrats. OHTV GOOD HEADING FOR THK VNTBRRIFIBD. SELL m STEVENS INTERVIEWED, CMrexlon In Reinllf With n He- vlur •( Ilia Cnmpnlffn From •lari to Flnlmli. TUESDAY. “Mlaag •( the Democratic IIom* * | Iatervlew* With the Candidate*. ndlng I " 'Tl. ju.t before the battle." And It promises to be a battle royal. All the prelemlnary skirmishing lias done, and the most remarkable cat campaign ever witnessed in the id Congressional district has been tight to the eve of the Anal contest the warring factions and con forces—final, at least, so for as Democratic nomination for Congress m this district is concerned, le.convention meets in this city at ock to-morrow, and already the are gathering. Great interest is by the people as to the result of this yeution, and the occasion will bring Ither more of the politicians and tative men of the fifteen coun- now composing the Second Con- -onal district than hnve ever met district at any time before. A Review ot the (Inuiimign. The campaign now drawing to a close, far as the Democratic nomination is cerned, has been one without a pre- L Influences have asserted thein- and complications arisen that arc HON. BRN K. RU8SHLL. tirely new in the politics of the dis- and a review of the campaign, from beginning in the early part of the r, np to the eve of the assembling of convention which is intended to firing the people of the party together inder one banner and in support of one tandard-bearer, will be interesting, and Hrrald here undertakes to give it ith' fairness and impartialitly. Its Campaign Begin.. '» reapportionment of the Congres- * districts of the State after the of 1890, by which Georgia was ' an additional representative, put phase on the J politics of this sec- of the State, and especially of the district According to the reap- ent made in 1891 by the Geu- ibly,Lowndes and Brooks coun- which formerly belonged to the district were transferred to the rict Brooks county being the of Hoh. H. G. Turner, the present representative of The Second, He goes under the new apportionment to the Eleventh. This left the Second districtas practic ally new fighting ground for Congres sional aspirants, ahd naturally enough several at once sprang into the field thus opened up, while others were spoken of prominently as capable of filling the po sition. The First Candidates. Among the Congressional possibilities first spoken of were Judge J. H. Guerry, of Dawson, Col. C. B. Wooten, of Albany, and Hon. R. G. Mitchell, of Thotnas- ville. The friends of each of these gen tlemen brought them prominently be fore the people as candidates for the nomination by the Democratic party, and before long it was understood that the race for the nomination lay between these three candidates. Of course others were spoken of prominently in connection with the nomination, among whom were Judge B. B. Bower, of Bainbridge, and Col. W. M. Hammond, of Thomasville, but neither of these gentlemen could be In duced to announce himself os n candi date. The race then lay between the three first mentioned. And then came The District Alliance which was organized just at the opening of the campaign, and before it had been gotten well under way. This organiza tion, which is peculiar to the Second Congressional district, in that it is found in no other, was organized in January by o convention held nt Thomasville. This convention was composed of dele gates from the different county Alli ances, instructed to meet- and organize a District Alllnnce for the purpose of tak ing a hand in the politics of the district, and if possible, of running them their own way. This done, they began to look about them for a candidate who would lean to their way of thinking amt whom they ■night put in the field with tlielr en dorsement ns a candidate for the Demo cratic nomination for Congress, thinking ns they did that they could control the dlatrict politics. No definite plans could be reached, however, and as they were in a hurry to bestow their endorsement upon whoever they might choose to represent them, n convention was called to meet nt Cuth- hert on February 22. On the day appointed they met Pre vious to the meeting, however, there had been some talk of Judge Guerry, of Daw sou, as the man on whom they would conter their endorsement and whom they would recommend to the Demo cratic party ns the man whom they de sired to support in the Congressional race. But “there’s many n slip ’twlxt the cup and lip," ns the old saying goes, and just here is where) Mr. 41* B* Steven" entered the campaign. Mr. Stevens, who was a member of the Terrell county Alliance, was sent as n delegate to the stump speaker, and it was conducted principally through the Alliance, circur lars, letters and other methods. On the 31st of March the District Ex ecutive Committee met in Albany to take their part in the campaign, and to reduce it to one of system and order. Among other things they recommended that the primaries for the election of delegates to theCongressional convention be held in all the counties on the same day, July 30th being the day set for such action. In April they held another meet ing and reiterated this action, putting it in the shape of a strong recommendation, but going no further. This recommendation is what caused the row. It was satisfactory to the friends of Col. Wooten, but the friends of Mr. Stevens held that the district committee had no authority to take such action, even though it was merely a recommendation, and they advised the county committees to go ahead and hold primaries whenever they saw fit, and not to await the pleasure of the district com mittee Terrell having already acted before the recommendation was made, of course an exception was made in its case by the district committee, but of the other counties, Clay, Colquitt, Early, Quitman, Randolph, Thomas and Worth, acted before the 30th of July and chose Stevens delegates. Colquitt, however, did noc act until the 39th. Mr. Stevens went into this county before the regular day appointed, for the primary and in duced the county committee to hold its primary on the 29th, which it did, and nearly every one, thinking that the 30th was the regular day for the election, failed to turn out and vote, so the coun ty went to Stevens. lion. Ben B* Russell Comes Ont* In the latter part of June, Colonel Wooten’s health began to fail him, and when he was on the high road to suc cess, he found that he wus unable to fill appointment after appointment which lie had made, and so was compelled to withdraw from the race. Hon. Ben E. Russell, of Bainbridge, had been spoken of before in connection with the nomination, ami oil the with drawal of Col, Wooten he was induced by his frietids to announce himself as a candidate. From the time he entered left the ground and benches so wet that It would be exceedingly uncom fortable and, perhaps, injurious to health for the people to assemble there. So Willingham’s hall was decided on. This hall will furnish ample accom modations for a large crowd, and the peanut gallery will be put in to-day, which will make it Btill more roomy. The Clnas Assembling* Crowds began assembling on the street corners early this morning, as a good many of the visitors came iu late last night. Everybody was discussing the proB- pect, and making predictions as to how things will go to-morrow. Vari ous were the speculations and corn- merits indulged in on all sides, but Stevens men were scarce and are like ly to continue so for the next two or three days. The rally, Ben Bussell and antl- Stevens sentiments were discussed on all sides. Everybody wanted to see Guyte McLendon and Editor Winter come up and tell what they didn’t know about Second Congressional dis trict politics. The Rmbadu Arrive. Abuut 10 o’clock President Jones, of the Democratic Club, began to get Ills crowd together to go down and meet the only original mossy backs from Decatur county, together with the Thomasville delegation, which cnine up this morning at 10:40. The train came in on time mid was welcomed with a good old Democratic s|iont. About 100 Democrats came up from Decatur county, bringing lion. Ben E. Bussell with them. They had a spec ial car decorated with moss, and each wore a bunch of moss on the lappcl of Ills coat, symbolic of the name which had been so lovingly given them by the Third Party of that county. The weather kept many of them back, and another crowd from Bainbridge will come up in time to attend the conven tion to-morrow. A large crowd also came up from Tliomnsvllle, and among them came Col. W. M. Hammond. They were joined en route by Col. W. N. Spence and other prominent Democrats from the race he 1ms shown liimself a hard >t||at section of tile country. When the fighter and a steady campaigner. Ill company with Col. W. M. Hammond and Col. W. N. Spence lie stumped tile entire district before the day appointed for the primaries to be held, and gained the strong ground which lie occupies to-day. The Prlwnrlea are Jleld. According to the recommendation of the District Executive Committee, all the counties but Colquitt, Terrell and Quitman held primaries oil tile 30th of July. They were among the counties which bad acted before that date, and lind gone for Stevens. Clay, Early, Ran dolph, Thomas and Worth acted a sec oud time, and this time all but Early chose Russell delegates. Early went for Stevens, and tile consequence is that contesting delegations will come from the other four counties. This leaves tile result of the primaries as follows: HON. d. 11. 8TKVEN8. Cuthhert convention, ami went ostensi bly as a supporter of Judge Guerry, who, it was thought, would receive the en dorsement of the Alliance. Mr. SteveiiB, however, had another candidate ill view, a mail to whom lie could give his support and endeavors, more heartily than to Judge Guerry, and that man was Mr. O. B. Stevens. Ac cordingly before the convention ad journed it had endoised Mr. O. B. Ste vens, and recommended him to the Democratic party as a candidate for the nomination by them for Congress. The convention adjourned and shortly thereafter Terrell county held a primary, elected delegates to the Congressional convention which meets here to-morrow. They were instructed straight out for Stevens, Judge Guerry’s home county having gone against him he was practi cally out of the race, and a few days later so announced himself. It is said that all three oi the candi dates then in the field received votes in the Cuthbert convention, though there has always been some doubt as to wheth er any were cast for Col. Wooten or not Hon. R. G. Mitchell,.who had, up to this time, a fondness for the Alli ance, and had based some hopes on its action, saw them fade away after the ad journment of their Cuthbert convention, and following in the footsteps of Judge Guerry he was soon out of the race. This left the race for the nomination by the Democratic party practically be tween 41*1. C. B. WMKl and Hon. O. B. Stevens. Col. Wooten prosecuted his campaign for some time, making speech after speech from the stump in different parts of the district, until he stood a fair chance to gain the nomination. Mr. Stevens' campaign methods were more quiet, as be himself was not a Counties. Russell Stevens. Doubtful 2 2 2 Clay 2 Colquitt 2 4 •> Dougherty Early Miller "T 2 ...„ 2 2 2 4 Worth 2 Totals 10 10 8 Worth county has been put in the Russell column, although it may send contesting delegations. The truth of the matter is, the regularly elected dele gates were for Russell, and those who were chosen and instructed for Stevens, were irregularly appointed by the con vention which met to elect delegates to the Senatorial convention, and that body had 110 power to take the action it did in appointing delegates to the Congres sional convention. Thus it will be seen that the conven tion to-morrow will organize with 16 Russell delegates, and 10 Stevens dele gates. There are eight doubtful votes, Worth having been taken out of the doubtful column, and these come from Clay, Randolph and Thomas. The committee on credentials will have this matter in charge, and before it will come the discussion. No predic tions can yet be made as to what the re sult will be before that committee, as all the evidence will have to be presented and the different cases decided strictly on their merits. The friends of both cancidates are confident of the success of their favorite, but nobody will know until after to morrow’s work. Thus has culminated tile political drama of which to-morrow will present the last act but one. Go to the big Democratic rally to night. It will be held in Willingham's bail. This was decided this morning when it was found that the inclemency of the weather had made it impossible for tbe crowdsjto assemble in the big Chautauqua tent. Tbe rains last nigbt train arrived It liad on bonril over 200 stanoh, dyed-dn-the-wool Democrats. Flags were Hying from the Russell car and Democrats were shouting on nil sides. Many were the comments ns they drove up through the city. "Yonder go them mossy backs,” said one as he gave a prolonged Demo cratic shout, ‘‘Wonder where is Winter?” yelled ano,tiler, ns the stanch old Stevensite drove-up through the city In a drng, Hnrly’N Democrat. In spite of the fact that Early coun ty went twice for Stevens, there is many n loyal, true-blue Domocrnt within that county yet. They oame up to-dny full fifty strong, slid there's more yet to follow. They ordered Cox & Livingston’s drag to meet them nt the train, and by special order lind It decorated with bnnners announcing their allegiance to tile Democratic party and to Hon. Ben E, Bussell. “Three cheers for Early’s Demo crats,” and they were given lienrtily ns the crowd drove up through the city. All of them wore Democratic badges, and Russell’s inline appeared promi nently nlong with that of Grover Cleveland. llon> Os 11s Micron* Here# lion. O. B. Stevens enme-over from Dawson tills nfternoon nt 3 o’clock, ac companied by a retinue of fifty or sixty Stevensites. They went to the Stev ens headqunrters at the Albany Inn. Things looked lively around the headquarters of the two candidates tills afternoon. Mr. Stevens is quar tered at the Inn, while the City Coun cil chamber and adjoining rooms have been prepared for Mr. Bussell, and with that as headquarters the remain der of his campaign will be conducted. Large crowds eame in on tlie trains this afternoon from every direction, nearly all of them wearing Bussell badges and a broad. Democratic smile. To-day and to-morrow will be the liveliest and most interestingtbat have been seen in this section for some time. The Presrsnue far Te-Nlghl. The hour of meeting for the Demo cratic rally to-night will be 8 o’clock, and the speaking will begin promptly at that hour. The following programme has been arranged for tbe occasion: Judge W. T. Jones, Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of Dougherty County will preside and introduce the speakers. The Speakers on the list are: Col. W. M. Hammond, of Thomas ville, Judge M. L. Mention, of Brunswick, Col. A. L. Hawes, of Bainbridge, Editor J. MoK. F. McCook, of the Brun9Wiok Times. And they will be introduced in the order above named, Members of the District Democratic Executive Committee are invited to seats on tbe platform, and accommo dations will also be provided on the platform for representatives of the press. Both the candidates for the Demo cratic nomination for Congress arrived in the city to-day. The Herald sought them out indi vidually and herewith presents what each has to say in regafd to the race in this district. Mr. Hnui-ll Talks. Mr. Russell was found at his head quarters this morning, and greeted the reporter with a cheerful smile. “ What have you to say in Regard to your campaign?” was asked. “.I don’t know what to say,” replied Mr. Bussell, “except wlint you have already said In the Hkkald. Your po sition throughout the entire campaign has been.mine. “I will say, however,” continued Mr. Bussell, “I am a Democrat and have made the fight as a Democrat, on Dem ocratic principles, and I am willing to abide the action of this convention. It is the duty of Democrats to support whoever they nominate, and I will do all I can to elect the nominee. “I can say, from an intimate ac quaintance with the Democrats of the district, that they are as full of fire nnd fight as they ever were. The In telligence of the district is with them and it always has been. I entered the canvass with no Con gressional usplrations nt nil; in fact, I don’t know that I have any now. I went In with the purpose of making a protest against the methods by which a certain gentleman was nominated at Cuthbert. I found that the leaders of the Democratic party seemed to be quiescent nnd not Inclined to make any protest at all, nnd I went In the campaign for the purpose of mnklng this protest. When invited from coun ty to county I found tlint the majority of the Democratic party was with me. Never has there been a Inrger in terest manifested in any campaign. The rallies were always attended by from 500 to 8,000 people, and the larg est rallies were held in the agricul tural districts. Berrien county was most unanimous ill Its Democratic ex pressions, and brought large crowds to our meetings. “ Cols. Hammond and Spence aided me when the fight wns opened, when the Democratic Lion, so to speak, be came aroused. These gentlemen came up to the mark and did service. “After the ;flght was regularly on, my name began to bo mentioned in connection with the Congressional nomination. Various gentlemen were suggested 111 connection with the nom ination, nnd I always said that if they saw tit to take the leadership it was at their disposal. I would only be too glad to surrender the Hag to them, but they didn’t see fit to do it, nnd ns I wns in a position where I could not well retire I fought the battle to a dose. “I will stand by whatever the con vention does. I have made the can vass 011 thoroughly Democratic prin ciples, principles involved in the Chi cago platform, and linve avoided nil side issues, such as are found iu the Ocala platform and elsewhere. I think the Democratic party, in its wis dom, had sulfldent sense to put wlint they wanted in their platform at Chi cago, and that is my political religion.” Mr. Mtcren* Interviewed. Mr. Stevens came in from Dawson with a crowd of Ills constituents at 2 :55 this afternoon. A Herald reporter called oil him nt his headqunrters and asked if he had anything to say in regard to the situ ation. "I don’t know that I care to say any thing more than we have already said,” replied Mr. Stevens. “You know we claim to have twenty votes duly elect ed by the authorized primaries, and this we have claimed since the prim aries were held. “I know nothing about what will be done to-morrow, and can 8ay nothing further now than I have said all along during the campaign.” WEDNESDAY. *R IIobbn, Chnirmnn,” Call* the Con* ▼cation to Order# war-cry Hurrah for Bussell! That was the Democratic heard on all sides last night. Just before the rally a crowd as sembled in front of the Albany Inn, and spent a few moments in guying one another and shouting for the can didates. At 8 o’clock the crowd gathered in Willingham’s Hall, which was crowded to overflowing. Standing room was at a premium, and many had to remain outside for want of space. The stage itself presented a lively scene, filled, as it was, with stanch Democratic leaders, among whom was the loyal candidate of the Democratic party, in addition to which were half a dozen or more newspaper men, all busily engaged in taking notes of the proceedings. ■ A few moments after 8 o’clock tlie meeting was called to order by Judge W. T. Jones, who, in a short and tasty speech, introduced the first speaker of the evening, Col. W. M. Hammond. Hundreds of anxious Democratic faces bent eargerly forward to catch every word that fell from the speak er’s lips, and time and again his words were stopped and the thread of bis argument momentarily.broken by the prolonged cheering and merited ap— plause. Col. Mnmmeud Speak". In a few well chosen words Col. Hammond thanked the audience for the warm welcome which they hkd ex tended him. Col. Hammond told how he, although not 11 politician, had traveled through the district, laboring in the oause of Democracy, because he thought the people should he mnde aware of tbe dangers which threatened the party from many sources. The first, nnd one of the strongest of these dangers, lay in the weakening of the party through the organized In fluence of concentrated capital. He then spoke of the danger to the party iii the desertion of it by many who were not its enemies but its friends, who sought to form a new party because they thought the plat form of the Democratic party needed to be further amended—men who were seeking to prostitute the use of party to private and mercenary, ends. Here lay the greatest danger In breaking of party Unity and the destruction of party harmony. The speaker then closed ills addres by a few words of eloquent praise of the manner in which the campaign hail been conducted in tlie Second dis trict, the overwhelming defeat of Re publicanism and Third Fartyism, and appealed to all to stand by the old party to the last. The speaker closed amidst a perfeot storm of applause. The audience went almost wild. Men stood upon benohes and waved their hats in the air, shout ing until the sound of a cannon, had it been fired in their midst, could not have been heard. Col. Hammond was tendered quite an ovation. Jmlge Itlerahou’i Talk. Judge M. L. Mershon, of Brunswiok, was next introduced to the crowd and make a characteristic speech. He said he came here to-night to see the death of Third Pnrtyism in the Second Congressional distriot. Ill ilia, district it lind died in the cradle. He said that tlie Ocala platform began with a lie. It claimed to be in favor of equal rights to all and special privileges to none. Then they wanted to lend funds from the national treasury to the farm ers at two per cent. But the lawyer nnd the doctor and the merchant could not borrow money on any of tlielr se curities. He spoke of the evils resultant uporr the formation of the Third Party which sprang out of the Alliance, and the evils of.Ocnlalsm, and said that lie would like to see them all fill the same grave. Judge Mershon paid a glowing tribute to Mr. Bussell, whom lie char acterized ns a true and loyal represen tative Democrat, and wound tip by a touching anecdote, bidding a sad fare well to brother Stevens. He was greeted, like Col. Hammond, with several rounds of applause, and the crowd attempted to cull him back to the stand. A Word From Col. IIm.Fi. Col. A. L. Hawes was next intro duced to the audience. He made a loyal Democratic speech. It was tlie proudest moment of his life when he could stand and speak before the unterrifled Democracy of the Sec ond. He spoke of the only true Demo crats as those who had remained with the party, mid helped to maintain, party unity. He denounced the one- Tliird Party, as it liad been denomi nated by Col. Hammond, and told, in eloquent terms, how it wns striking at the liberty of the individual, and seek ing to place a burden on the many. He spoke of the old mossbacks as men who had been true to principles, true to self and true to party. No power on earth could ever over-ride Southern Democracy, or crush out Southern manhood. The battle has been fought and the victory won. He appealed for conser vatism and an honest vote for the loyal nominee of an honest party. The Fleeter From tke Eleventh. Hon. MoK. F. McCook, editor of the Brunswick Times and Presidential Elector from the Eleventh district, was next brought before the audience by Judge Jones. He spoke on the same line, denounc ing the Third Party and its adherents. He said the people of the Eleventh took a great deal of interest in this- campaign because they had one so much like it in their own district. He spoke of Hon. H. G. Turner as stolen property, but said they had treated- 1 that stolen property with the respect and honor which It merited, as Mr. Turner had received the unanimous vote of the Congressional convention in his new district. Ruuell ! Russell! Bussell! The crowd then began calling for Russell with all their might, and would not be satisfied until the veteran cam paigner had advanced upon the staged before them. For a few moments it was impossible for him to begin, so great was the applause and cheering. Mr. Russell made one of the character istic speeches for which he is every where famous. He 6aid: “I am proud to stand in your pres ence to-night. I am proud that this assembly of unterrifled Democrats has. Centfuned eu Pn„e seven.