The age-herald., 1901-08-07
CONVENTION PROVIDES
 FOR THE COUNTIES TO
 ELECT SOLICITORS
Circuit System Abolished Under Substitute Introduced by Mr. Ashcraft-0ficas to Be Paid According to the
 Burden of Their Duties

ted the right to elect their solicitors and that no lobby of solicitors or prospective | solicitors should defeat their will We have heard, he said, a great deal about heredity in the convention, but we do not l want a heredity of solicitors-it ought not to be a family office. If the solicitors were not afraid of leaving their election
 to the people let them get out of the convention and leave the delegates to settle 1t. Do you want to perpetuate system of fraud and corruption? Come out in the open and let us have a general discussion of this matter. If then the majority want your amendment will as have always done. accept the will of the majority.
 MT. Hefin of Chambers replied to MT. | Graham and denied that there had been | any corrupt lobbying or fraud over this question. He advocated the election Of solicitors by the Legislature, saying q solicitor would not be vigorous prose cutting officer If he was elected by the people.
 Mr Rogers of Sumter here moved that the privileges of the floor be extended to State Senators Arlington and Morrow and F. s. Moody of Tuscaloosa. This mo- tion was adopted
 MT. Merrill of Barbour spoke in favor of the maority report. He said the com mittee desired to put the solicitors in the same condition with the other officers in the State and had put their terms at four years. He thought the people, who were
 
 the sources of all power, should select the officers who were to represent them If they were incapable of electing their officers then republican government was a failure.
 he Asheraft Substitute.
 MT. Ashcraft of Lauderdale offered a substitute to the whole section which provided that solicitor in each county shall be elected by the qualified electors | in each county every four years, and whose salaries shall be fixed by law ac- cording to the requirements in each county. The office of circuit solicitor shall terminate at the expiration of the | terms of the present incumbents. MT. Ashcraft spoke in favor of his sub- stitute, saying the people wanted to se- lect their own solicitors. local solici- | tor in each county would understand the conditions better and respond more read- fly to the demands of the occasion.
 MT F1tts of Dallas spoke In favor of MT. Ashcraft's substitute. He said the county solicitor did most of the work and that the circuit solicitors were prac- tically useless. The people of the State were tired of them. The .-tay they were now elected was by traEsAg and combi-i natlohsi mr' Sanford of Pike said we ought tss Z discuss this matter in a dispassioned way so as to arrive at a correct conclusion. That since 1619 to the present time the state had been in control of the Demo- cratic party except when under the seal awags were In office, and during all this time the solicitors have been elected by the legislature except under scalawag rule when they were elected by the peo- | pie. and this system proved woefuI faiI- | ure. We must chose the lesser of two | evils if they are elected by the people the nominating conventions will be held | in Montgomery and there will be the same or worse manipulation there as in | the legislature. Talk about the people | electing offcers-they haven't elected an | officer for twenty-five years except | through their agents. If candidates go | before the people it will mean going into | the barrooms and the adoption of simi- lar methods to gain an election. | MT. Macdonald of Montgomery spoke in favor of having the solicitors elected by the people
 Governor Oates Speaks.
 Governor Oates said we wanted to es- tablish that system which was best at this time. The circuit solicitor system was a good one at the time 1t was estab- 1ished and other solicitors were an able set of men. It was not, however, the best at the present time. He favored a coun- ty solicitor for each county who should be prohibited from practicing law and | made to give all his time to the office. A circuit solicitor had to go from county to county and he was obliged to employ | an assistant who was neither elected py the people or the legislature.
 Judge Taylor of Perry said that last year the State had paid $29.840 to circuit solicitors. In addition to this. in sixty counties there were deputy solicitors. In recent years the whole trend had been to county solicitors. In the one branch of criminal law the State was now paying about $100000 a year. He said, as mat ter of economy, that 1t would be better to have A county solicitor in each county. The Legislature elected in 1902 will be the most important one we have had in years. Under the minority report adopted they will have to elect these circuit solicitors, and we want this body of men to be free from such influences and to be a patriotic body of men.
 MT. Rogers of Sumter spoke in favor of the Ashcraft amendment.
 Captain Blackwell of Morgan favored the establishment of county solicitors and the abolition of circuit solicitors. He said the people of his county favored this: that the county solicitor did all the work and the circuit solicitor was practically a fifth wheel. He favored MT. Ashcrafts substitute.
 Judge Walker of Madison said the sub stitute previously adopted would require the circuit solicitors to be elected at least | two years before they went into office. He favored the Ashcraft substitute.
 Mir Kirkland of Dale called for the previous queBtiOn-
 Mir Hefiin of Chambers moved to table the amendment and substitute.
 Mir Spragfns of Madison withdrew his amendment An aye and nay vote was de- manded on the motion to table the Ash craft substitute. This was lost by vote | of 6 to A.
 The Ashcraft amendment was then adopted, on division, by vote of 7z to S2 and the original section as thus amended adopted.
 Justice Courts.
 Section % was then read as follows:
 Sec. %. In each precinct not lying with in or partly within, any city or incor- | porated town of more than twenty-five hundred inhabitants, there shall be elect ed. by the qualified electors of such pre- cinct not exceeding two justices of the peace and one constable. Where one or more precincts lie within, or partly with in. a city or incorporated town having more than twenty-five hundred inhabf- tants, the General Assembly may provide by law for the election of not more than two justices of the peace and one con stable, for each of such precincts, or an inferior court for such precinct or pre- cincts in lieu of all justices of the peace therein Justices of the peace. and tho l fContinusd on Second Psg~l