The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-18

ther than that. That seems to have had no effect. have been travelling upon railroad trains in this State. and have seen judges and chancellors pull railroad passes out of their pockets and hand them to the conductors. have seen members of this Convention do it. I do not pretend to be any | more virtuous than anybody else. 1 | have used passes many and many time, but never have used one when | an officer, and this proposition of mine goes to a mans accepting these favors when he is an officer. When he ceases to be an officer, if the corpor- ation feels like making him a dona- ton of pass, or any other gratuity, that Is with them. The object of this substitute is to prevent that gratuity from being given in the first instance to Influence his conduct. You may say 1t is not given for that purpose. Then what is the purpose for which 1t l IS given? Do you find corporations
 handing around their passes to
 the ordinary common citizens?
 Do you not find them hand ing the passes to men who are
 in official position, or who have the right to speak or to act in reference to matters which concern them? Why are they given, if they are not given for the purpose of influencing the judg- ment or action of parties to whom they | are presented? They may give as many | as they please to people after they | nave nllcd their terms of office, and af- ter they have become private citizens. and you will then fino, gentlemen of the Convention, u at the number Which | will be issued will be materially less. will guarantee the assertion that | there are not less than a thousand | in this State in the course of one year. 1T We could get the truth of it. Ought that to be? Ought a judge, who sits | upon the bench, and who is to decide between my rights and those of the corporation to be influenced in his de- cision by the fact that ne has in his pocket the right to travel wherever he pleases upon the lines of that corpora
 t1on? Should member of the Legis- | lature who comes here to vote on mat
 ters respecting the interests of the
 State of Alabama, have a pass in his, pocket, so as to influence his vote in
 favor of the corporation where their | interests may conflict? 1 am not
 against corporations. They are for the good of the State, but I am against
 any influence, no matter whence 1t
 may come, which seeks to break down
 the integrity, either of the Legislature | or the Bench.
 Mr. Long (Walker)-I did not intend
 to say anything upon this question,
 but it seems they are carrying it to
 such an extent as to apply to every person in the State of Alabama. I sug-
 gested that amendment, but the gen.
 tleman from Montgomery would not
 accept it. We are told it will apply to officers, and those who perform official
 acts. Why If Q railroad gives a man
 an annual pass now, a citizen of this State, it might have an influence on
 him ten years from now, and, therefore, he should be forever debarred from
 holding office in the State of Alabama.
 The only exception, in my judgment, | that should be made, is that. of mem- l bers of this Constitutional Convention,
 who should be excepted from the pro- visions of the act. 1 believe that an amendment like this should be adopted. and if the Convention will vote down the other I shall offer it.: Amend l Section by adding the following: | Hereafter every person who shall sub init to the ignomy of being elected to the Legislature in this State, shall inn mediately after election be sentenced by the Supreme Court, and hung by the neck until dead; provided, that this shall not apply to the members of the Constitutional Convention.'
 | Now. was as much opposed to rail- road passes as anybody. 1 do not think I have ever had my share of them. have never had these big annuals like
 most of the big guns travel all over the State with. I wish I did have them. But we have got to the point of other people, and We have got to have passes occasionally or we will have to walk. I think if a man should run a hack in Montgomery, he should have right to give me a ride in that hack if he wants to. I think he should also have @ right to charge me for it. and if I am such a little puppy as to be influenced by the pass, I should not be entitled to a seat in the Legislature, as low down thing as it is. If you are going to make tt | apply to officials, jet us make 1t apply to everything in the State of Alabama, including railroad attorneys, Presidents of railroads, and everybody else. Apply it to everybody. Why do you except any? In my opinion, the richer man, the more able he is to pay for his tick cts. the more passes he gets. We | should also provide an amendment that J nobody should have a private car to ride through this State. l know dis tinguished citizen of the State of Ala | bama who never rides on a free pass, l but he usually asks for private car | when he wishes to go anywhere. l do not see any amendment in here to pre- vent private cars. I think members of the Legislature should only be allowed in the smoker with the niggers. l don't think they should be even allowed to go in the Pullman. I think they should be strictly barred from going into the dining car, because it costs dollar a meal to go there, and a mem Der of the Legislature is not supposed to have a dollar. and if he gets so poor that he cannot support himself, he is subject to a bribe, and, therefore, you | should limit his expenses down here, so that the corporations won't buy him up with money considerations. l hope | the amendment will not pass, gentle men, I did vote for, and am perfectly l willing to have the amendment offered by the gentleman from Pike adopted, to forfeit a mans office If he rides on | a railroad pass. I think that is going far enough. If not, apply it to every body, and hang the officials giving the passes; hang the man for getting or asking for them. The only exception that I want is that members of this Constitutional Convention shall not be amenable to this act.
 | MT. Oates-I am fully aware of the object of the delegate from Pike. and the delegates from Jefferson and Mont gomery in the amendments they have offered. are striving for the same thing. and am not at all disposed to criticize 1t. I know their motives are good, and