The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-11
lr. oates-Yes. that is the mean.

| MT. Oates--Yes, that Is the mean ing.
 Legislature, which supports those
 schools entirely, ought to have control | of them?
 | Mir. Oates--They ought not to grant any special privilege to one over an- | other, but they ought to treat them all
 alike. At least, that was the view of the committee. It was to secure great | CT uniformity in education touching | the matter of legislation. Not to sup press it, not to injure any particular
 school, but as this thing seemed to be ! continually growing, giving particular | localities favoritism and advantages
 not enjoyed by people generally, and
 it ought to be stopped as far as future | legislation is concerned. I have no idea that any member of the commit
 tee intended anything of deariment l whatever to the existing schools. but | only that that practice should be stop I ped and not indulged in by any other | Legislatures. That was my view of it, | and l think l state the view Of the | committee correctly.
 MT. Boone-Governor, I will ask you | if, under this Subdivision 30, as ar gued by my colleague, MT Smith, if | the Legislature should repeal the Act | of 1854 with reference to the schools of
 Mobile County. could the General As
 sembly thereafter, with that provision | in the Constitution, renew or re-enact | the present system?
 | Mir. Oates-I think they could not pass any original law, if it was once | repealed, though the enactment of this | provision, nor its absence. would pre- vent the General Assembly from re- ! pealing the law. It does not affect that question at all.
 MT. Macdonald-I will ask the chair | man of the committee whether 1t was | not the purpose of his committee to di-
 rect this subdivision merely against | private schools as cont-adistinguished from public schools. When it speaks of | common schools or private schools. it l speaks of schools organized and started by private individuals. Is it not to prevent the incorporation or granting of special privileges to such private I schools as contradistinguished from the public schools of the State? MT. Oates-That was one considera- | tion.
 MT. Macdonald-That was my un- | derstanding when voted for it. Mir. Oates-I will say that my friend | was on the committee and participated
 in the discussion and understands 1t. |
 know why you do not put normal col
 leges and universities in as common
 schools?
 | Mir. Oates-I cannot give you any req
 son. I do not know why they are not 1 in there. Tkey are generally estab- lished under charters, like other | schools that have been mentioned. and
 this provision was not intended to have | any retroactive effect at all. l do not
 care to say anything more. but I de-
 sire to yield the floor to the gentleman from Mobile, who withdrew his motion
 at my request.
 MT. White-I desire to ask the gen.
 tleman If this is adopted will 1t not give Mobile and Eufaula an exclusive
 right along that line of special priyi- leges that no other town or city can | ever get. Those that have special priv | ileges now, will they not continue to possess the special privileges until the Legislature shall repeal the law, under | this provision, and at the same time | will it not prevent any other town or city from securing a similar privilege MT. Oates-That was the leading ob- ject of the committee, to put stop to
 1t where it is.
 MT. White-I would like for 1t to go
 on a little longer, until it strikes my
 end of the country.
 MT .Oates-The delegate from Mo bile yielded to me, withdrawing his
 motion to table, and 1 now yield the | floor to him.
 MT. Smith (Mobile)-If the gentleman from Jefferson will renew the motion, will withdraw it.
 | MT. White-I will do so. am in fa-
 vor of tabling the proposition and will l gladly make the motion, but I am in | favor of it for a different reason than ! those who have favored it heretofore. | am in favor of it because I do not | think that the schools that have spe- | cial privileges at the expense of the State ought to be left permanently to enjoy those privileges when other cities | and towns can never have the oppor- tunity of enjoying them. In other
 words, if Mobile is to enjoy the entire
 amount of liquor licenses collected in
 that city and apply them to her local | schools, and if Eufaula is allowed the
 same privilege, or any other town or city is allowed that privilige, just as soon as we can do it, I want to get Birmingham in that class. I do not see any reason why We should not be put in that class, and I would like to see
 the city of Montgomery enjoy the same
 privileges. I believe in schools as
 much as any delegate upon this floor,
 but I believe in schools being main tained upon terms of equality and right, and for my life cannot see why
 the richest city in Alabama, the city
 of Mobile having more wealth per cap
 ita than any other city in the State of Alabama, should retain for it's local schools the exclusive use of the liquor licenses derived in that city, when every other city in the State. with a few exceptions, pour 1t into the general fund. They say that it ought to be
 left to the Legislature. I say, Mir.
 President, that if the Legislatures had
 the opportunity since 1854, and have
 not acted up to this time, it is time
 that the Constitution makers should
 take charge of it.
 Mir. Oates-I will say that instead of
 going backward, that the Legis-
 lature has been progressing in
 that direction, and extending
 these privileges to one place after an-
 other.
 MT. White-Yes, and it is perfectly
 right, if they are to enjoy it. then the
 others ought to be allowed the same
 privileges. That would equaliZe it pos sibly to some extent.
 MT. Kyle-I would like to ask the gentleman if it is true that a great wrong has been done the people of the State by these special privileges, why should not this Convention abrogate those special privileges and put the people upon a plane of equality?
 Mir. White-That is what I advocate
 and I say that I am in favor of strik- ing down this provision, because it will continue to give these cities