The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-12

not to accept an appointment or elec- | ton to the Senate of the United States turing the term for which he shall nave been elected, and within one year thereafter. At this time, the Commit tee rests the Justification for that cnange upon the public history of the | state, and the recent experience of the people.
 There is one other change connected With the. office. and that is that a specific sum is named in the Constitu- ton itself for the salary of the Gov ernor. There were two reasons why the Committee thought it wise to make tn,s specific provision in the Constitu- ton, instead of leaving it to the action or the General Assembly. The article contains the usual provision that the salary of the Governor shall not be in- creased nor diminished during his term.
 we all know that the Legislature meets about the 14th day of Novem- Der or thereabouts, and the Governor IS inaugurated on the 1st day of De- cember. That leaves only sixteen days in which to act upon a matter of that importance; and if there is the slightest opposition to 1t, although there may De an overwhelming majority of both | houses in favor of it, it is practically impossible to increase the Governor s I salary before his term begins, and
 therefore practically it is prevented under the Constitution.
 There was another reason. The re- ported article in large measure dis franchises the Governor from other public employment of any sort, for q period of five years commencing with the date of his inauguration. That | ha ic .piSa. hut
 when we put such limitations upon men, the State of Alabama should cer-
 tainly provide such compensation for | me office that many of the best men In the State shall not be excluded from | aspiring t0~the office. Ii is the peoples omce. He is our Governor. No mat | ter what the people may think of the | incumbent. I am satisfied that go where you will among the masses of the people. there will never be any ob- 1ection to providing for fitting re- muneration for the man, who more than anyone other typifies their dig nity. their power and their majesty.
 These were the reasons, in short, MT.
 President, that induced the Commit tee to make that recommendation.
 There are some other minor changes in the Constitution to which I shall re-
 fer very briefly. Under the present | Constitution, which copies the Consti- tuition of the United States and many | other States. the province of the Speaker of the House of Representa- | tives when he counts the vote in joint | convention, is a matter of some doubt. | We all remember the extravagant claims that were made on either side l as to the power to declare the result in the unfortunate contest that grew up I in hA +sa1 election. So 1t is provided, as we think 1t was manifestly the intention of the framers of the Constitution, that the Speakers duty in counting and declaring the result should be minis
 terial purely and subject to the control of the joint convention.
 | There are other provisions relating to the veto power. They provide, in sub l stance, that when the General Assem- | ply passes bill, and the Governor re- turns 1t, if the two houses see fit they may concur in his desires. amend the | bill and send it back. At the same time, the provisions are so guarded as 1T, no way to curtail the power of the | two houses, if they deem it proper not even to consider the Governors recon , merdation, but to proceed to consider and determine whether they will pass the bill over the veto.
 l There is another section which the | Committee considered with great care
 and that Is the ascertainment of dis | ability, which under the Constitution | causes a succession ir the power ot the | office of Governor. Governors, un- fortunately, are subject to all the ills that flesh is heir to. We might have the case of an executive of unsound mind. declaring that he was of sound mind, exercising the powers of this | great office, and no constitutional machinery or legal machinery pro- vided, by which he could be legally declared incompetent and put out of office. So tremendous are the conse- | quences in change of executive power | in all governments. that legislators and l statesmen have hesitated to frame the i details by which disa bility shaii se | ascertained and enforced in all cases; | but 1t is the common practice in some l countries, where the king or monarch becomes insane, for the Privy Council sometimes calling in the heir, to con- suit about it. and finally referring it to the government like parliament which Is omnipotent. and thereupon parlia- ment declares a regency. The Com | mittee can conceive of no safer body
 no more august body, no body less lia- ble 10 temptation to use the power for | political gain or any other improper | motive. than the Supreme Court of l Alabama. The further safeguard was | provided. in case of the unsoundness | of mind of the Governor, that the | Supreme Court should not take cogni- | zance of it. unless that question was | brought before that body by some of- ticer not next in the succession. We | have provided in this article not only | for the case of the death of the Lieu tenant Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, but we have added to the officers who shall succeed to the Governorship, the At torney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer and State Auditor.
 Another important change recom- mended by the Committee is a Board | of Pardons The Committee thought it wise to restrict the Governor only l in the matter of felonies. The ordi- | nance creates a Board, which meets on the call of the Governor, hears pet- | tions in public, and advises him in l writing. There the Committee thought that the power of the Board should end. and that the final responsibility, no matter what the advice of the Com mittee, should rest upon the Chief | Magistrate himself. Under the plan proposed, the Executive will be largely | relived of the distressing impOrtuntiecs and personal solicitations which he must otherwise undergo, and he will
 have the advice and assistance of sworn officers of the law. chosen by tn
 people. There is not one time in nd AK-hh iHh