The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-08

tkA0DC people who are in favor of enforcing the law that you shall not have sys- tenn by whicm they will enforce the law. --'
 Now another thing. The judges are elected by the people. They talk about since fS19 the Legislature has elected cellor or circuit judge and have one years elected the circuit judges, and in fact up to 1875. Is there any com plaint about the people electing their ciDcuit judges? Don't they give us good judges? Is there any complaint about 1t? None at all Now Is there any complaint about the circuit solici- tors? Now you have heard what the gentleman from Talladega has said, there is universal complaint against the enforcement of the law.
 MT. deGraffenried-Can ask the gen. tieman a question? Would it not be just as consistent to sbolish the chan cellor or circuit judge anr have one judge with plenary Jurisdiction and powers for each county as to abolish the solicitor?
 Mir. Pitts-That Is the tendency right now in every county of 10000 inhabi- tants to have one judge, (applause) and ] am in favor of it. and it has been adopted.
 MT. President. I did not propose to say anything about it. but these are delegates on the floor of this Conven- tion who have witnessed violations of the law in my county. who have been there on one occasion. and there are delegates here. if they will testify to it who have seen where open barrooms were kept in violation of the law, where blind tigers were kept and where gambling rooms were open, and the solicitor was right there a witness to it and yet no indictment was ever pre- sented or ever will be presented.
 I want it so that the county solici- tor will be elected by the people and if he fails to enforce the law that the people may hold him responsible for it. Ithink the proper way to do 1t is to make the people responsible for the election of their solicitors. A man who comes up here with three or four votes behind him can trade himself in- to office. It has been done and it has been frequently done and the will of the people has been defeated.
 MT. Coleman (Greene)-Was this a county solicitor?
 Mir. Pitts-It was a circuit solicitor right there a witness to the whole of it, and no indictment was ever pre- scented or ever will be presented. I be- lieve if 1t had been a county solicitor the people would have said to him, you have failed to perform your duty, but what can they say to a circuit solicit or? They don't elect him. and he can say. I am not dependent upon you at all for election. I am dependent upon the other counties. They say. this body is composed of great many lawyers and it will be creating offices for the lawyers. That is idle talk talk to the winds. Don't anybody pay any asten- tion to that. It is said for the pur- pose of intimidating the lawyers of this Convention.
 If any lawyers in this Convention can be intimidated with, any such speech as that, they are certainly not fit to represent the people of Alabama as so- licitors. Out of sixty-six counties in the State. I say that sixty-four of them have lawyers able enough to rep resent the State of Alabama. If that is true, why defeat a system that is the best thing in order to satisfy two counties. But I go further, they say a good many Republicans and Populists will be elected. am a Democrat, and am black belt Democrat and believe about as good as any of them, but I " dhL LO say anu dIl IlOL aSnan0Q or 1t. if a majority of white people in the country are Populists. I believe they ought to control it. If a majority of people in the county say they believe in certain principles, the minority ought to yield. and allow them to have it, just as the majority of Democrats in a county insist that they have & right to control 1t. If they want to elect Populite, know Populists just as good as any Democrats. If they want to elect a Populite, let them elect him if a majority of the people in the county want him. Hold him re- sponsible for the enforcement of the law. Now that is the only form of government we have-that the majority must rule and I believe in it. and I believe in local self government and believe in letting the people in the county say whether or not they want a certain man for solicitor. and if they don't hold him responsible, they will be responsible themselves.
 MT. Coleman (Greene)-Mr. President and gentlemen of the Convention, my friend who has just taken .lis seat told you of the condition of affairs in his circuit; that circuit solicitor had knowledge of the open viola ton of law, ana that the parties had never been indicted and never would be. Now. I wish to call your attention to a fact which of itself would satisfy me of the wrong of the plan suggested by him. 1 ask him to rise in his seat and say whether or not the solicitor selected was not chosen by a primary vote of the people?
 MT. Pitts-Yes sir, he was.
 Mr. Coleman (Greene)-Ah. he was. Who wants any better argument, MT. President. to show that the selection of solicitors will not answer the ends Of justice in this State? His own arr gument and his own solicitor have demonstrated that this is a power and a proposition you cannot intrust to the people by their vote
 MT. President and delegates of this Convention, you find the same dispo- sition and the same principle prevailing throughout this Stale when you entrust the duties of a prosecuting officer to d man selected by the people. When I read the report of the committee and saw that the election was to be either by the Legislature or by the people, l cared very little for the two principles or plans. To my mind. as an individual with some experience in the office, it seemed to me that the old plan was the best; tl.at 1t comported more with the dignity of the office than the new idea suggested here. that it had been tried q long time ard had proven effective and satisfactory to the State. But while not concurrlng in the wisdom of the conclusion that the people should elect them 1 expected not to raise my voice one way or the