ALABAMA – In 1935, a state representative of Russell County proposed a bill that would have done away with the election of county commissioners and had them appointed by state legislators. It also would have created five districts of nonequal numbers of voters with equal powers, giving added power to the more rural districts. The legislator behind the bill was disgruntled over a vote to move the county seat to Phenix City from Seale and believed the portion of Lee County where Phenix City had been located was moved into Russell County to change the county’s political power. The legislator felt he could halt the coming changes to the county by making charges of incompetence against the current commissioners. Needless to say, the actions of the legislator failed, but not before he caused a stir in the county. The following is a report in the June 7, 1935 Phenix-Girard Journal concerning a meeting in Montgomery before the legislative committee overseeing the bill in question.
Russell County Citizens Oppose Tompkins Bill
At a meeting of the committee on local legislation at the Gay-Teague Hotel in Montgomery, Tuesday night, there were more than two hundred representative citizens from all sections of Russell County to appear before the Committee, and who registered their protest to the bill Representative Tompkins has introduced to oust the present County Commission. Only a few were present who favored the bill, among these was Dr. R. B. McCann, of Seale, who jumped into the limelight when he ordered one of the speakers to sit down. Mr. Tompkins spoke first, and instead of discussing the merits of his bill, he dealt almost exclusively in personalities, showing very clearly that it was a personal matter with him rather than trying to do something constructive for the benefit of the people whom he is supposed to represent.
Mr. Tompkins criticized the present county commissioners, because they have tried to fix the poor house where the old and the infirm might live in some degree of comfort and ease during their last days on earth. He said in effect “Why look at the money they have spent on the Poor House, they have fixed it up with electric lights and running water, the equal of other people’s houses in Russell County, even mine,” he says, and he found those present very resentful of the fact that he was objecting to these old and poor folks being taken care of decently.
He also asked for all those who were on relief, or who had been employed on C. W. A. projects to stand, but Mr. Britton objected to this, for the reason that it was unfair to make this request of a man who was doing all he could to make an honest living in an honest way, and no one stood up. Mr. Tompkins then changed his request and asked those who were employed by the county commission to stand and there were only eight out of the large number present, and one of these Luther Johnston, stated that he had been employed by every county commission since 1904.
During the course of his remarks Mr. Tompkins stated that the former Commissioners had built the roads, and that the present Commissioners had only kept them up and built a few roads into private plantations. This statement was vociferously booed by the crowd present.
Roy L. Smith was the next speaker, and he showed that in the two Northern districts of the County, as described in the bill, there were approximately twelve thousand white people, while the three Southern districts around Seale has only seventeen hundred white, and he protested this arrangements of the districts as being very undemocratic for the reason that only those living in their respective districts could vote on a county commissioner from a particular district in which he lived. That District number five had only 399 white people, while districts one and two had approximately six thousand each, and that it was very unfair for 399 people to have the power to elect a commissioner with equal voice to a commissioner elected by 6,000.
He also showed that county roads were in better condition than ever before, and that the county was in better financial shape than it had been in years, due to the present county commissioners reducing the indebtedness of the county by approximately fifty thousand dollars within the last four years.
He also stated that every beat in the County, except Seale and Pittsview, had voted to remove the County Site from Seale to Phenix City by a majority of eight to one, and that the citizenship of the county at that time knew that the present County Commissioners would have the responsibility of locating and building a court house and jail in Phenix City; and he warned that if this bill of Tompkins should pass it would endanger the moving of the county site as well as building a court house and county jail.
H. A. Ferrell spoke next and stated he lived at Seale and was in one of the three proposed districts where there were only seventeen hundred whites, but that he was opposed to the bill, for the reason that it was not democratic, and that he believed that the people should elect their own commissioners. That the election was next May, less than a year off, and that the people could elect whom they wanted at that time.
Representative Britton was the next to speak, and he stated that Mr. Tompkins had offered him the job as a one man commissioner for the whole county, but that he was not there to look after his selfish interests, or any other man’s interest, but that he was doing the best he could to represent the whole people of Russell County. At this time he asked all those who opposed the bill to stand, and more than two hundred stood up, he then asked that all who favored the bill to stand, and there were only seven. He then turned to the Committee and said “Gentlemen, it is just this way all over my county.” Supposedly, Mr. Britton, in deference to Mr. Tompkins, his colleague, refrained from embarrassing Mr. Tompkins by asking all those to stand up whose salary had been cut in the interests of the taxpayers of the County during the years of the depression. It is generally conceded that the cut in Tompkins salary is the motive behind this bill.
Mr. Britton proposed to Mr. Tompkins to submit the bill under consideration to the people of Russell County for their approval, and if they voted for it, he would not offer any further objection, and he dared Mr. Tompkins to accept his proposition, but Mr. Tompkins refused to accept.
Then Mr. Britton proposed to Mr. Tompkins that should he introduce a bill to which Tompkins objected or if Tompkins introduced a bill to which He was opposed, that they agree to put a section in the bill that “this bill become a law when and if ratified by the people of Russell County.” Mr. Tompkins objected to this and stated “that he knew that Phenix City and other sections of the County could out Vote him. because Phenix City had been moved from Lee County into Russell County in order to dominate the County politically” and he refused to consider either of Mr. Britton s propositions.
Mr. Britton then called attention to the campaign pledge made by Tompkins, advertised in the daily papers in Columbus, and also printed in circular form. He read from the circular which Tompkins distributed thru the county. Mr. Britton held the circular in his hand and said “Mr. Tompkins says here ‘I am, and always have been willing to abide by the wishes of the people of Russell County’,” and Mr. Britton also read section ten of the same circular, which quotes Tompkins as saying “I am against SPITE legislation” (the capitals are exact copy of the circular)
Tompkins had a five minute rebuttal, and in this time he refused to accept Mr. Britton’s proposition which had been made in accordance with Tompkins’ written campaign pledge as recited above.
The Committee went into executive session, and in only a few minutes returned, stating that the committee had voted to report the bill to the House of Representatives without recommendation, this being clearly a victory for Mr. Britton, in as much as Mr. Tompkins is a member of the committee and Mr. Britton is not.
