The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-13


 by striking out ''six hundred" in the minority report and inserting Your hundred"
 The change suggested by the Presi- dent by unanimous consent was allow ed. and the amendment was then read as follows: Amend the amendment, the minority report, by striking out the words six hundred where they occur and inserting in lieu thereof four hum dred.'"
 MT. O'Neal-What becomes of the minority report signed by Messrs. Moody and Miller?
 The President-That, relates to the third section and 1t will be taken up as soon as the third section is reacneo.
 Mir. Howell-I asked to be allowed to give a few reasons for offering thae amendment. ,,,
 appreciate the fact that we will lead a forlorn hope from the expres- sions already had on this subject, put we have some reasons. and, to our minds, very plausible reasons, why the constitutional area of counties should be reduced to 400 square miles.
 In the organization of this state in lSls in consequence of the sparsely settled condition of the country. 1t took 900 square miles to make county. Possibly that was well enough Tn that day. Thirty-six years after that when the State had settled up and there was a demand and a reason for it, the Con stitutional Convention of 1865 reduced if from 900 to 600 under which num- her of new counties were organized in Alabama. Waste places were built up and people were situated much more conveniently at their county towns than they had been before. Thirty-six years have come and gone since that and if there was reason for the reduction of the area or coun- ties in 1865 the reason is stronger now whv the constitutional area should be still further reduced. I have no per sonal interest in the formation Of any new county, because situated where my home is. it would be impossible for the creation of a new county to put me any nearer the Court House than l am at present and 1 have no p.que or ill-will against any town 50 that have no interest in the formation or counties. I am too old to desire any office, and it occurs to me in framing this organic law that we hope will De the organic law for years to come, ana in the rapid increase of the population and the development of our great State, are we prepared to say in all the years to come there shall be no county less than 600 square miles? There Is to my mind a number of req sons for this measure. l appreciate the fact that the county towns, the Court House towns of Alabama as rule are opposed to 1t because they are situated conveniently to the Sourt House and are put at no disadvantage in attending courts and going to the town and they feel like everybody else is the same way. They remind me very much of the old lady who went out visiting one evening and before she returned there came up cold blizzard, and when she got back to her house she was nearly frozen, and she said to one of her servants, you hitch up old John and go to the coal house and get some coal and take over to Widow Smiths. While the man was hitching up she went in and got thor oughly warm, and then she went around to the coal house and said, John, think it is turning some warm CT, and you need not carry the coal to Widow Smith's." So these gentle men cannot appreciate the disadvant ages of the people of the rural dis tricts, that have to take a journey of forty miles to get to the Court House. I had a personal experience this win ter. During our County Court, which Is in the place of a Circuit Court, there were witnesses before the jury that had to travel anywhere from twenty five to forty miles and the weather was bad and the roads bad and some of them had to walk and they were summoned and on account of the weather they refused to go. Attach ments were taken and the Sheriff was sent and they were brought there and the Judge fined them $10. That is only one case out of many. Now, they tell us if you disturb the present status of the counties it is going to beat the Constitution. I risk nothing in saying that that will be counterbalanced on the other side. I know sections of the country where they will say If this privilege is not given, let the Consti- tuition go to the dogs.
 There are various advantages that grow out of the organization of new counties. Compare the State of Geor- gia with Alabama. Everybody who knows anything about Georgia knows 7 there is not a State in the Union whose citizens are better satisfied with their State and the conditions than the State of Georgia. While that State has scarcely more than eight or ten thous- and square miles more territory than Alabama, she has 137 counties to Ala bama's sixty-six. Every man in the State of Georgia can get up and eat his breakfast, go to the county seat, and get back home before night
 A Court House in sparsely settled district is civilizer and an educator. l remember just after the war new counties were organized along the Geor- ga line under the Constitution of 1865. Up to that time men had to travel forty miles through the piney woods to get to the Court House. Now the court houses are built up and you can see the marvellous improvement social ly and every way and all attributable to these county towns in their midst. They are great educators. A man lives eight or ten miles from the Court House and he goes out and talks to the doctor and the lawyer and the preacher and the merchant and then he goes back home with a fund of in formation which his family gets. You put him forty miles from the county seat and he never gets there unless the Sheriff is sent after him. 1 am surprised at the Chairman of this Committee. I remember and so does he some years ago that there was a mighty barren section up where his county is. It was said that a crow could hardly fly over 1t without car- rying his rations. But there came a colony of Germans and settled down there and the first thing they did was to ask to organize a new county. Of course that was opposed by the fel- lows who live around the Court House. I reuemher that the Chairman of the