The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-09

Section 10, the Committee on Munich pal Corporations proceeded to consider and recommend to this Convention a st hemr for the organization and cias- sihcation of cities, which so far as their investigation extended was the best they knew how to present to this Convention. 1 desire to say. gentle men, that in my opi3.Gn one or me great evils resulting from local legis- Iation has been the fact that every
 municipal corporation in the state ot Alabama has to come to the Legislature for Its charter The census reports snow that there are now 20S muhici pal corporations in this State. and that in 1890 there were 11G. All Of these new corporations have to be cnartercu by the Legislature. and on taking into account the various amendments wnich have been passed to city charters. there being in my town particularly three amendments at the last Legislature a great body of this increased legisla- ton has been demanded by the need or the municipal corporations or Aiana- ma Other States in the Amerlcan Union have felt the same trouble. ana the result is today the Constitution or sixteen States in the United states provide for all cities in the State being classified and governed by general laws. No matter what this Conven- ton may do with this section as re- ported by the committee, in view Of your action already taken this Con- yention will be compelled of necessity to adopt a certain portion of tha section whether 1t establishes 1t all or not. So far as the committee Is concerned 1t does not make any difference to them, but say if you desire and If you wish to provide for the incorporation and government of any city in Alabama not now incorporated, all of that part of Section 10 beginning with the words Federal census on line 10 must be adopted by this Convention. So far as the committee is concerned the amend ment offered by the gentleman from Hale Is not objected to. There is no desire on the part of this committee to interfere with any prohibition laws now existing in the State. or to inter fere with the rights of any city to conduct and operate a dispensary sys- tenn, or to interfere with any regulation with regard to the restraint or the sale of liquor. But. MT. President. 1t is insisted that some general system than that now prevailing shall be adopted by the people for the purpose of forming suitable governments for the municipalities of this State. You take by way of example the city of Anniston. It las a perfect and almost complete law for the assessment and collection of taxes, and in my own town the assessment and collection of taxes is influenced only hy the disin- cl.nltion of the people to see their names in the papers. You take the city of Florence as another illustration where we have a perfect and almost conSolete
 system of street Improvements, the result of an act passed by the Legis- lature, and other cities in the State nave never been able to procure such Legislation. We say gentlemen that if all towns In the State having similar population, similar situation and simi- lar institutions. were to combine their apllity and their experience and their Wlsoom in this matter the result would De a more perfect and complete sys- tenn of munlcipal governments. As if now IS the question of a munjcinal charter IS only question of the snrewdness and ability of the narticu- Tar City Attorney who happens to hava charge of the matter.
 one word more upon the subject of classlfication. No man who under stahds the first principle of munich PaI government will contend that a clty like Montgomery. Mobile or Bir- lnlnsham should be governed by the same system of laws that should pov~ ern village of less than l. GOO neonIe ana a Village or small town of that size should not have the same author ny Tn all matters that a large city has
 Mir. Sanford (MonteomervlSS " not? way
 MT. Weakley-The reason is that in larger place. there Is a better orga- hlZed government. and they are bet ter able to pay experienced and skilled men for executing the laws and carry Ing out the requirements of the char ter. In a city of small size, it is not necessary to have a regularly orga- nlzed and equipped fire department nor IS It necessary to have, as large cities have. a large police force. NeIth CT is it necessary for them. as large cities do. to maintain an engineering department, nor is it necessary for them to have departments of sewers ana public works and all those things which large city requires, and A small one does not.
 It Is the experience and opinion of those people who have studied this matter that the magnitude of the in terests involved in a large city are such that 1t Is not wise to submit them to the operation of the general law which should apply to the small cit les. and consequently this Committee has reported a scheme by which any city in this State having a population of more than 20.0e0 people may frame it's own charter to conform to the needs of the particular city. I consid- CT. gentlemen. that that is the high est type of local self government This is no new proposition. It Is em- braced In the Constitutions of the State of California. of the State of Missouri. of the State of Washington and of the State of Mississippi. and under the operation of this provision in the Constitution. the cities of St. Paul. Minneapolis. St. Louis and San Francisco. have all adopted, by a vote of the people. municipal charters which are pronounced by experts in that line. to be a marvel of city gov ernment. l see no reason why the cities of Birmingham and Montgonl- cry might not be able to do the same thing. l say. gentlemen. that the city charters which have been adopted by the legislatures have been the product of the Board of Aldermen and the city attorney? l say that, under this scheme. the city charters in the cities of this State will be a result of the vote of the people. It is provided that upon an application to a Circuit Judge commission shall be appointed to frame charter and provide for a gov ernment for the city. and then submit it to d vote of the people. Now, MT. President. another propositions: If there are any cities in this State that