The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-12

them they will approve 1t Mr. Presi-
 dent, a distinguished citizen of my
 county, If I mistake not, was the lasi
 Lieutenant Governor of this State, the
 lamented Dr. E. H. Moran, and it is
 my recollection that the fact that he held that office, likely prevented a
 bloody riot within these walls. That
 he by his courage took charge of the
 Senate of Alabama, and the joint con-
 vention of the General Assembly, and
 proceeded to canvass the ballot in the
 presence of Federal bayonets. That
 was one time, gentlemen, in the his-
 tory of Alabama, when a Lieutenant
 Governor was needed. It may go for
 forty years before 1t is needed again,
 but if it is, the slight expense that it
 will cost will be thousand times re-
 paid. If the fact that this Convention
 creates the office of Lieutenant Gov
 ernor prevents a contest. prevents lit igation, or riot within the lifetime of
 the present generation, then our work
 here will not have been in vain. And.
 gentlemen of the Convention. I think
 that this provision by the Committee
 on the Executive Department is emil
 nently wise and should be adopted by
 this Convention.
 MT Boone (Mobile)-Mr Presi-
 dent. favor the retention of the words
 Lieutenant Governor in the first sec.
 ton of the Article, for reasons which I shall give briefly. In the event of the
 sickness, disability, removal out of the State of the Governor, as the Con-
 stitution provides, the people will have elected a man to serve them as Gov
 ernor. They will have passed upon that proposition, and will have chosen
 that man with the view. if such .
 contingency arises that he will be the Governor. Now, MT. President, how does it operate at present? An elec-
 tion is held. It is true under the suc-
 cession as the law now is. in the event
 of the disability or the death of the Governor, that the President of the Senate and then the Speaker of the
 House come in respectively, but do the
 people know who that man will be? A majority of the members elect the Speaker. and seventeen men elect that President of the Senate. The people do
 not elect him. He is not chosen as the
 Chief Magistrate of this State should
 always be chosen, and that is by the people. and that is why I support the
 Committee in creating g. Lieutenant Governor for this State.
 MT. Oates-I think my friend, the delegate from Walker. is laboring un- der a misapprehension. and think understand particularly why the dis tinguished Chairman of this Commit tee is in favor of creating this office.
 It is fact, sir. that when the cam- patgn was on in favor of the Convsn- tion in 1875, the Democratic speakers did in common with other innovations which had been made on our formeY system of State Government, denounce the tenant-Governorship as wholly unnecessary. That was twenty-six years ago. and men ought to. if they do not, learn by time and experience. They change things and show many times necessity for something Der. haps which was not necessary a quar- ter of century prior to that time. Now, sir, in the recent illness of our present excellent Governor, before ht was sworn into office, 1t was a de- batable question whether he would be able to be sworn in or not, and re- member well that the distinguished Chairman of this Committee, an ex- Governor of the State, and myself, con. ! ferred together. about the difficulties that might be engendered in the event of Governor Samfords death before 1. he was sworn in. It had been ascer- 1 tained that the then incumbent. Gov l ernor Johnston did not believe if Cover nor Sanford dies, that he ouhgt to sur 1 render tie Governorship to some Pres ldent of tiie Senate. elected thereafter. It would have presented complications. and 1 think there is another delegate or two on this floor, who studied that question tker and expressed doubtsr about it. Now sir, that is one of the troubles which is solvable by the prop osition of this Committee. A Conven- ton would naturally, when they nom- mate a candidate for Governor, select an excellent man for successor to that Governor. in tho event that he should die before he was sworn in, or after, anl then l e Is elected by the people, by the voters of Alabama. The ap- prehension of my friend, the delegate from Walker, that it is creating a new office, with higher salary, is not well founded. Delegates will see that it is Jeff to the General Assembly to fix the salary of the Lieutenant Governor and it does nlr follow that 1t should be large salary. It ought to be some thing n.Har to the salary that is paid to the Pi esident of the Senate, and there is no doubt but what the Gen eral Assembly, or Legislature, which ever We will then call it, will look at 1t in that way, and make provision not greatly dissimilar or in excess o1 the amount now paid to the President of the Senate.
 Why, sir, some gentlemen, and used to when was younger than an now, and had seen a little less of the world, became prejudiced, especially ir those days when We suffered so much from IeC obstruction, against every in novaticn that had been made as wt characterized it by carpet-baggery upI on our former institutions, and wt knocked them out for that cause, rath CT than for anything founded in reasoI and good judgment. But wish t{ call the delegates attention to a thing not now before them, as an illustra ton. They invented some good things though they did it imperfectly. Oni was a Commissioner of Industries. Ina was abolished unceremoniously by tha Now experience ha brought us around to making it an ad dition to the office of the Commission CT of Agriculture-the only objection t which is the double name,-(that Is me.) 1 think the Commissioner of In dustres would cover all, and that tn General Assembly ought to require hiri to make report to the Governor. anl and the public every year, as to tn progress. and extent of the industrie in coal production, iron ore and stee and in fact every industry of the State because all will be informed then of ou N wealth and productive capacity These, as well as agriculture, ought al ! to be embodied in a report. and it is nc { essential that he should be called Com { missioner of Agriculture to reach jus what we want. But it would be ob 4