The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-25

E xou therefore give your General As nenbly no chance or opportunity to in- crease the salary So that it would ap- ply to the next Governor and the effect of that is to put 1t off for four years &nd first be given to some man who is Elected in the far future, and upon a sssssssrra tschnicaiity the next ingoing Governor will be deprived of any bene- Dk of that increase. If 1t is proper, if the General Assembly sees s1t to make this increase of salary, ernor to have an opportunity to nnjoy 1t as much SC as it is for some Rar-cff eletced Governor.
 ATr. Oates-Why do you not frame he Amendment so as to say if the sal nry is increased the increase shall also be given to the Governor first elected after the ratification of this Constitu- zion?
 Mir. Fitts--I will accept that.
 Mr. Browne here took the chair.
 The section as offered by the delegate From Tuscaloosa was altered so as to read And shall apply to the first Gov ernor elected after the ratification of this Constitution"
 MT. Jenkins-Is there anything in the Constitution that gives the Governor salary?
 MT. Fftts-There is not, but he gets a salary of .000 a year from the State.
 Afr. Jenkins-Is there anything in the Constitution that gives him the raise in salary?
 MT. Fitts-No, sir; but there is some- thing in there that prevents his salary being increased or diminished during fhe term for which he was elected.
 Mir. Jenkins-If there is nothing in the Constitution permitting or provid- fng for his salary or the increase of 1t, why should anything go in here as to any legislative enactment concerning it?
 Mir. Fitts-Because you have passed a resolution recommending the General Assembly to increase his salary, end you know, and every other delegate knows. that the beginning of the term of the Governor and the beginning Of the session of the General Assembly fall so close that even if that Legisla- ture increases the salary. without this saving clause, it cannot be applicable to the Governor in whose term 1t Is passed. and say it will be gross in- Justice not to apply it to him but to some man elected in the future. It Is as just to give it to the man in whose term it happened, happening as 1t must an the very beginning of his term and
 
 somebody else.
 Mfr. Jones GMontgomery)-The reason some of the members of the committee favored that was this: They believed that the gentlemen who voted for the resolution did not intend to say that the Governor might get the increase. but that it shouldn't apply for four years from the time the next Governor went into office The amendment as amended was read as follows:
 Amend the report of the Committee pn Executive Department by adding to Article a Section to read as follows:
 'Tf the session of the General AS- Bembly next after the ratification Of this Constitution slSall enact law increasing the salary of the Governor, such increase shall become effective and apply to the first Governor elected after the ratification of this Constitu- tion.'
 Mir. Malone-I would like to ask if that resolution would not make 1t to the advantage of the Governor elected at that time to have that law passed increasing his salary? Would not that be the effect of it?
 The President pro tem.-Wil the gentleman from Tuscaloosa answer the question?
 MT. Knox-The object of the amend ment is simply
 MT. Malone-I have the floor.
 The President pro tem.-The gentle man from Henry has the floor, okt the gentleman from Calhoun, rises, l understand, to answer the question.
 MT. Knox-It occurred to some of those who favored the increase of the Governors salary that the provision which has been adopted by this con \ vention on that subject, which pIohib- its the increasing or diminishing nf the salary of the Governor during his term of office, would prevent any "ellef to the Executive officer even though the next Legislature which is elected after the adoption of this Consultation should determine upon making an increase. and as it is probable, that the term Inf the Governors office will be made and as it is probable that the term of the Governors office will be made Tour years, this would postpone for some fhine like six years the effectiveness of that provision. The provision in creasing the Governors salary would not go into effect for certainly some thing like that time Hence It was thought proper, if the Legislature ap- uroyes of the suggestion made by the Convention, that the Governors salary shall be increased, that a proviso should be embodied in this article which would enable the next Governor elected to enjoy the benefit of the in- crease provided the Legislature decides 4o make the increase and not postpone its consideration for the full term of four years.
 MT. Duke-Would that apply to the second Governor elected under this Constitution? To make my meaning clear, suppose the first Governor elect ed under the Constitution does net have his salary increased, suppose the Leg 1slature fails to raise his salary, and then another Governor is electtl and the Legislature increases the salary to S5. .000. what effect would that have On the second Governor elected under the Constitution?
 MT. Knox-This resolution would not have any effect. It is limited in Us term to the next Governor.
 MT. Duke-Would 1t not be better to let it apply to the Governor then in office?
 MT. Knox-It might be. I have no objection to that.
 MT. Solhe-The provision of the sec tion is contingent and conditioned up- on the fact that the next Legislature after the adoption of this Constitution acts in this regard. Then the rcoviSo would be effective, but if a subsequent Legislature takes 1t up and acts. then the proViso would not cover that en- actment. The amendment was again read.