The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-11

this letter to any one you wish.
 | Yours truly,
 | John W. InLer.
 Mir. Spears-Mr. President and gen. tlemen of the Convention, l hope you | will give me yoIr kind attention *nlle I undertake to explain the situation in St. Clair County. As the report or the Committee shows you, St. Clar | County is divided, into two parts oy what is known as the Backbone Noun | tain. which reaches from the cast | boundary line of ,ne county :o the l west boundary fine. This Bdckoons Mountain is very rough, rugged. 'lai- ren and difficult i" cross, 1t Is hdfd 10 get up and hard to get down for man CT beast. The county site, the town or | Ashviile, is on the north side or BACK bone Mountain. Between the foot or | the Backbone Mountain on the nort1 side and the county seat we have strip of land that we call the lat wood. It is a boggy place and you can hardly get through it in wet weather. This country averages in width from | three to five miles, so the people or the Coosa Valley on the south side or Backbone Mountain where It Is pro posed to build a Cour: House. nave to go through that flat woods and over the mountain. These people in going
 
 the moun ain, and when they get across have to go through the flat woods. A great many of the people of St. Clair County on the south side, where We want the Court House. Eve forty-ff miles from the Court HcIse. They never have any business on that side of the mounta.n except the busi- ness of going to court and dischacging their duties as citizens when sum I | ot,tS p have no other business in that Iart of the country at all, no more than in Montgomery County. They never go over there to trade, never go over there for doctor, have no business what ever, and it is to go to court and to go to court alone that takes the people of the Coosa Valley to Ashville. Now, let me call your attention to another fact In 1888, We had an act passed by the Legislature at Montgomery author izing an election to move the county seat from Ashville to a more convent ent place. We did hold the election. and the question was removal or no removal and the people decided to move the Court House by about 500 ma jority. Then the next election provided under the act was for the location of the county seat. We had a second election and there were so many towns
 
 and that left the Court House at Ash vile. where 1t is now. We had so much bitterness and so much prejudice and bad feeling engendered in the minds and hearts of our people grow ing out of that campaign in 1888, that we have never wanted another election. and we have looked forward to this Convention with a great deal of anx- iety and hope. expecting when this %1z get relief from the troubles our people have endured ever since the State was admitted into the Union. l say that the people of the Coosa Valley have looked forward to the holding of this Convention with the greatest anxiety, expectation and hope, believing that this Constitutional Convention would give them relief from the dlmculties that they have labored under so long. I hope you will bear with me little further. When this Convention was called we all expected that the Conven- tion would reduce the area of the counties from 500 to 400 square miles. hope you will bear that in mind, that we expected that. Judge Inzer expect ed that and came down here and went before the Committee on State and County Boundares in advocacy of that policy. I went before the Committee and made a talk and l was in earn est. Before Judge InZer left the city he and I consulted together, and we concluded that we had discovered that a majority of the Convention were averse to cutting down the size of the counties; we thought we discovered a disposition on the part of the major ity of this Convention not to reduce the minimum size of counties to 400 square miles. We had talk and Judge ! ~ and jail in the Coosa Valley somewhere convenient, to be selected by vote of the people at an election to be held for that purpose, we can do that and tax the whole county to build Court House and jail, and give you people on your side of the mountain all the relief they want. I will go home and talk to the people on the north side of the mountain on that subject and he did go home. and he d'd do what he prom ised. He went there and talked to the biggest men, the richest men, the Democrats at the Court House and all along the north side of the mountain and l have letters here written me that Judge Inzer went to see those peo- pie, that he had been there talking to them on the subject. After getting all these letters, I introduced that ordi- nance. Now, let me say something else
 AIT. JeHklHS-OdH you DullQ a court house and jail in your county by the act of the legislature?
 MT. Spears-We could do it. We be- lieve we could do it, because the peo- pie are united upon this point. But whatever the legislature can do in a matter of this kind, another legisla- ture can undo. and 1t would make it the political foot ball to be kicked here and there. for the politicians that might want to run for office in the county or for the legislature. We talk ed that matter over and we do not want to build a court house and jail and set out shade trees and induce people to buy land and then have some politician to raise the question and stir up prejudice and tear 1t down as they have been doing in Blount Coun- ty Therefore, we conclude it better to have relief given by this Conven- tion so it would give it kind of con- stitutional character and when we leave it to the people to select the place by a vote they will build a court house and let it stand.
 Mir. O'Neal-If we give you the ad- ditional court house that you desire in your county, would it be popular among your people and would the peo- pie of your county ratify the Consti- tuition, in your judgment?
 MT. Spears-I will say this in reply to that question.
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