The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-19

cali 1t . suegestion but e1yo fl16 G|1x< ernor, in connection with 0k1ef officers. the authority to drAft yexo1yt bills for the purpose of runninG M4 government during hfs Admtnistrnt1qH and you place in his hands . poWc< that is dangerous In the extromes eN4 I submit to this Convention that th9y are drifting away from the land-n1r1Eo of our forefathers. The people VIII come together in their General Aeee4a. bly, once in four years. and be met with a budget prepared by the 00x- ernor of the State, which budget VIII be submitted to the General AsnemD5Xs and the General Assembly will be re- quired and urged, and. forced aimoe4 to submit to the revenue Dill n pre- pared by the Governor. as to what te estimated as necessary for its needH and say to the Convention that it N a proposition--think of t az you pleaee that you can never defend before tho people of the State of Alabama. Tne members in the Lower House of the General Assembly are supposed to pe the representatives directly from the people. It Is the House, in govern ments like ours, which should govern the expenditures, because they are the representatives of the people.
 MT. Robinson--Would not the 0ov~ ernor that frames the revenue bills be out of office when the Legislature b
 Mir Sanford (PikejLI don'e know whether he will or nUf. under fhe con- stitution we are framing. for God knows where we are going to, or where we are to quit at the rate we hsve been going for the past two days. .
 Mir. O'Neal--fn this section, when the Governor and Auditor submit their revenue bill, Is not the Legislature bound either to pass 1t, or to reject ttf Is there any authority for the LesisIa- ture to amend it7 They are bound to take action and don't that mean that they must adopt or reject it, and that they have not the power of amend ment?
 MT. Sanford (Pike)-Under the pFus visions of this section. 1t does occur t0 me that the revenue bill will absolute- Ky be prepared by this committee ap~ pointed by this Constitutional Conven- ton for submission to the General As- sembly. They may propove amend. ments. but the right of amendment is left to . limited extent---s
 Mir. Chapman--fs there anything here in this section to prevent the Legisia- ture from absolutely rejecting the sug- gestion made by the Governor, and are
 
 framing . revenue bill than the Gov ernor, Auditor and Attorney Generalf
 Mr. Sanford (Pikc)--I will answer the gentleman: The people of this gov- ernment from the time of the foundn-. ton of this nation up to the prescn9 time, have always considered that the Lower House Of Representatives was the only place for the origination of [ revenue bill. They do not elect the Governor for that purpose; they do not elect the Auditor for that purpose. but for other duties of State. and they have always maintained that the right
 levy taxes upon the people should main in their Representatives In the House. which Is supposed to De the closest to the people. will not draw inyiduous comparisons between the high officers of the State and the mem- bers of the General Assembly. that have been selected by the people. It is not necessary to do so. and In an- swer to your other question, 1t seems from this section that they must either receive it as whole or reject 1t as q whole, and that Is the only option left to them. I respectfully submit to this Convention that we ought not to go m this direction. We ought not to adopt the section reported by the committees but we should adopt the substitute as proposed by the gentleman from DaI- las.
 MT. Macdonald--when the Commit tee on Legislation adopted this section, they did not anticipate any such bitter opposition as has been developed on the floor of this Convention. They had not the slightest idea they would be met by the tornado from Walker. the earth quake from Montgomery and the cys clone from Pike.
 It seems to me if you carefully con- sider this section. it is entirely free from the objections that have been urged to 1t here. We have been told with great force and fury that 1t was an infringement upon the rights of the people and a departure from the the- ories of our fathers. What do we ma in Section ii of Article V of the sec- ton? The Governor shall from time to time give the General Assembly infor- nation on the state of government and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem expedient at the commencement of each session of the Legislature, etc. Is that any tyranny?
 MT. Sanford CPike)--I will ask the gentleman from Montgomery if he finds anything in the section which he has just read which permits the Cover nor or any other State officer, outside of the General Assembly. to prepare genrai revenue bill for the levying of taxes upon the people?
 Mir Macdonald-Of course do not and what Is the purpose of the ques- tion? What is the significance of it7 If he recommend a measure in the Gen eral Assembly, and 1t Is. made his duty to recommend the measure. how much better it would be to put 1t in correct and proper form for passage? Gentle men, is 1t any tyranny; when the ob- ligation of this duty Is put upon the Governor in the Constitution as it now stands ,and by the section suggested by the committee, 1t Is put upon the Governor, Auditor and Attorney Gen. eraI, and to do what. Mir. President, to present a measure to the Legislature which they must take as 1t Is offered Not by any means. 1t requires the widest exercise of imagination, and not reason. to say that because the Gov ernor, Auditor and Attorney General shall present to the Legislature in the shape of a bill, knowledge, experiences and wisdom Nthey have as to these particular questions. No men are better able to form a conclusion than they are, because it is made their duty to prepare such a measure and to pre- sent 1t to the General Assembly, sub hitting 1t to them as any other bill is submitted. They say that the Leg islature Is bound hand and foot and cannot amend 1t. Where does. the gentleman get that idea that 1t cannot be amended by the General Assembly~ ha to