The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-26

me gfeat pleasure to give my | reasons for opposing the proposi- | ton notwithstanding 1 recognize the | juRtness of pensioning soldiers and the wives of soldiers. Mfr President, We have our militia. there dey3ives upon l them certain duties. There are large i number of them. we never know when | they are going to be called into active duty. they come in along with the class l with policemen and the other persons | called upon to discharge executive due | ties. which makes them forfeit their lives in the discharge of duty.
 Mir. Jones--wnl you permit me to ask a question?
 Mir. Sollie--f would be glad to answer one question at time.
 MT. Jones-I did not know anybody was asking you one now. | Mi. Sollie--Mr. Spears asked me | about five questions and 1 was an-
 swering them. If along a different
 line you may put 1t in, and will an-
 swer them all together.
 Mir. JoneS-Never mind.
 Mir. Sollie-I was proceeding to an- | swer the several successive questions | of the gentleman. The soldiers come | in the list of persons who have to dis l charge these duties that are dangerous
 and that may lead to loss of life. Po- licemen may have to do it. citizens all over the State may have to do it. Now this constitutional provision pro- poses to single out from the total number the sheriffs of the State and while the counties remain as they are, only sixty-six in number. and tae accidental posses who may be sum- l moned and leave all the others unpro- vided for in the Constitution. We are here to make a Constitution, not to leg
 islate. There are shown up already in our proceedings two propositions from which dissent and which, in my sudg-
 ment are open to grave and serious criticism.
 One is that there seems to be an inordinate desire at this point aud at that among the | members of this Convention to
 cause the Convention to reach it's hands down into the pockets of the people | of Alabama and make disbursements
 or direct disbursement. According to
 my observation the Legislature of Ala
 bama Is sufficiently prone to sauander
 money and
 Mir. Rogers (Sumter)-will the gen.
 tleman permit me to interrupt him. Mir. Sollie-Certainly.
 Mir. Rogers--I would like to suggest I to you this thought: Can't the legisla- l ture if 1t desires to do So, already un-
 der the present law. pension the Sher- l if if they want toY
 Mir Sollie-Of course.
 Mr. Rogers--And why the necessity for putting Constitutional provisiony Mir. Sollie--Exactly, sir. You have
 my idea precisely. Mr. Presi- dent, members are prone to find this and that pretext as an excuse for reaching their hands into the State Treasury and disburs- ing the money which should be kept
 there to defray the legitimate expenses of State.
 Then the other tendency is to get away from the object of making a Constitution and to go into legislat- ing for this and that individual and for this individual enterprise and for that individual enterprise until If these ideas shall obtain in all their length and breadth of proportion our Consti- | tuition will be greater than the statute
 laws compiled by Napoleon, greater | than the statutes of Alabama, until a man who wants to read our Constitution
 must devote months to It. I say these two tendencies in this cohven-
 tion to load down the Constitution with appropriations and directions for appropriations and with legislation cen-
 stitute 8 grave and serious error which | will call in question before the critical eye of the world, the common sense of | this Convention. It will subject us to | the gravest criticisms, before the en- l frightened world. Why should the Ala bama Constitutional Convention, made | up of lawyers and bankers and men supposed to be wise and intelligent,
 subject itself to criticism of this char | acter.
 If we are going to pension the 5her- | ifs and their posses and going to pen
 sion them in the Constitution, lat US
 pension all men who may probably go
 into like situation and who stand in | the same category. Would not that be l fair and just. Let us pension pGljce- men who lose their lives, let us pension the soldiers who lose their lives, ard not adopt the policy that the legisla- | ture may do the peuSIoning, but that we, the constitutional Convention of Alabama, all powerful will usurp tne legislative functions and go on and pass the laws or put peremptory mandates in
 the Constitution that the legislature shall pass them. I say that Is false policy. If it is well that the Sherifs
 should be pensioned, let the legislature
 pension them. I repeat that whenever an appeal of this kind has been made,
 the legislatures ha' been ready
 enough to respond to it. We need not
 fear anything on that score. Now, 1 do not know that l care to
 pursue this question further. have
 about covered the grounds of my ob-
 jections, and I respectfully submit to
 the Convention that WI may well leave this matter to the legislature without saying anything about it in the Con- stitution.
 The suggestion of life insurance for sherif4s Is made by some gentlemen of the Convention, but I don't know how pertinent that is.
 Mir. Burns-I move that it be laid upon the table.
 MT. Morrissette-I move the previous question.
 MT. Sollie-I rise to a point of order. that a motion to table
 The President-Does the gentleman withdraw the demand for She previous question?
 The Convention expressed dissent.
 The previous question ordered.
 MT. Jones (Montgomery)-Mr. Presi- dent I send up to the clerks a substi- tute which at the proper time l wish to offer. I regret exceedingly that there seems to be so much impatience upon the part of some of our friends, to hear discussion on great matter upon which Alabama may be well misunderstood by the civilized world if, after this proposition has been made we shall vote 1t down or put 1t upon the table. It has been asked, cannot the legislature do this? Yes. it could, but the language of the substitute which
 will be offered presently. and the lan-
 I,. Nxyn a