The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-13
port for Section 2 as follows:

port for Section as follows:
 1 l,,c. :. lne Snancs. ..ur-, Judges of the Circuit Courts, Judges or the Prooate Courts, Solicitors. and Judges or the inferior courts, from which an appear may be taken directly to the supreme Court. may be removed from ofnce TOT any of the causes specified in the pre- ceding section, by the Supreme Court' under such regulations as may be pre- scribed by law.
 Mir. Long (Walker)-Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: This is an important section. rive members of the Committee on lmpeach- | ments have seen proper to slsn the minority report. l regret that MT. Thompson and Judge Robinson are not here to defend this report, as we ex- pected them to lead the fight. In my judgment, if the majority report IS adopted. it will seriously interfere with the ratification of this Constitution. The report of the majority will require every sheriff of the State of Alabama, no matter what he is charged with, II | articles of impeachment are nled against him, for failing to make levy | for one hundred dollars, or to turn over | fifty dollars that some attorney might claim, to come before the supreme Court of Alabama to defend himself against impeachment. It is much more radical, to my honest judgment. than the report of the Committee on Execu- | tive Department, which was a slap. as said, at every sheriff in the State of Alabama. I want this Convention to adopt Section of the minority report which leaves 1t exactly it is in the old Constitution, without single change whatever. Now. the distin- guished chairman of the Executive De- | partment, as we all know, saw ht to encroach upon the Article on lmpeach- ments and added to the Article on FIX ecutive Department a provision which allows the Governor of the state or | Ala bama to impeach the sheriff without hearing him and without hearing the evidence. This report makes the sher- | if come before the Supreme Court; while it denies to the Executive the | power to suspend from office, 1t re- | quires the sheriff to come before the Executive not only in cases of lynch | ing, but for every other charge brought against him. Now, I appeal to the Convention in the name of the sheriffs of Alabama, who are eood people, as to whether there are any good reasons
 why the majority report should be adopted? There is TO reason why sheriff should be required to come here to Montgomery and stand trial before the Supreme Court of Alabama. Leave l the whole Article exactly as it is in the old Constitution. The distinguished chairman (Mr Jones, Montgomery). in addressing the Convention on the Ar ticle on Executive Department. asked why should not a sheriff die in de- | fense of his duty, the same as an en- | gineer at the throttle of his engine? l will tell him why: the engineer at the throttle has perhaps numbers of inno- cent women and children in his charge, and it is his duty to stay there and save them if possible; but a sheriff may have some black brute that is guilty of taking from some white woman in this State that to the loss of which death would be a thousand times more preferable, and would cause her kin people to the fourth or fifth genera tion to hang their heads in shame. IL is not his duty to die in defense of a black villain like that, and l never | want to see the time come in Ala bama | when there is not disposition to carry out this opinion to such an extent that whenever a black brute in Alabama shall ravish a white woman he shall be lynched regardless of law, and white women should not be permitted or re- quired to go into the court house to testify against him.
 l adopted. It is the same constitutional provision we have lived under for q long time, and I tell you the sheriffs of Alabama will do their duty-I have never seen one who would not do his duty-but I never have thought it wa as his auty to die, to give up his fife. for prisoner that the law should not pro- tect I know that mob law is bad thing, but I know there are laws a IAN- |, lN lou tN1 this State, and you can say what you please, but the time will never come in this country when the white mans blood will fail to boil to such an extent all over this country that they will rise
 up and demand the execution of a brute, be he white or black, who takes things in his own hands and seeks to destroy virtue in this country. You take a "ni6ger" as black as the ace of spades, with a hundred dollars behind him, and he can keep his case in court for five or ten years in spite of justice, and in spite of juries. l tell you that this is an important section. It should
 be adopted exactly like it is in the old Constitution and there is no reason why it should be changed. There is no good reason given why 1t should be changed. We did not go before the
 people of Alabama and tell them that
 we were going to suspend the sherlffs
 of this State without the right to be
 heard and require them to come before the Supreme Court to defend the case.
 It should not be done. No good reason
 can be given for it. I tell you the sher-
 ifs are human beings, like we are, and
 this thing of singling them out and
 putting the whole burden upon them
 for what mobs may do in the State oi
 Alabama is wrong. You want them t.
 stand up there and die, and l dare say . there is not a man here, if he had a
 man of that character in his custody , who would not take to the thickei
 rather than die under such ctrcum'
 stances. You would do it, and l would do it. Death is a very serious thing
 and it is not our duty to die for people who are not worthy to die for. . MT. Pillans-Are we 10 understand , that all the lynChings that take place l in Alabama are for that ottense? : MT. Long-No, sir; we are not to un . derstand that, but why don't you fix Il so in here that it will excuse in cast l of rape?
 MT. Pllans-Are we to understand that the gentleman thinks the Constitu , tional Convention of Alabama should legalze-
 7 MT. Long-Yes. sir; think they should legalize it in that shape, and would be willing to vote for 1t
 ? MT Pillans-The gentleman is no l even willing to have the question asE"' ? before he knows it cannot be properly answered.
 l MT. Long-I beg the gentleman's par