The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1901-07-25
CONSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTION.
Doings Of and Sayings in and About the
Great Virginia Body.

to the ownership OF property
Mr.. Pedigo, Republican, made vigor-
ous protest against the disiranchlsemeht
of the negro, denying that the voters OF
that race are menace To white supr'h-
acy.
There is likelihood that the conyen-
ton will complete its work III time '"r
the new Constitution To he submitted To
the people for ratification at the Novem-
berelectiOn.
II il understood that Senator Daniel
bos nretty we'll agreed to eliminate from
his nlan the character section. lie nd
mits that this il n qualification which
might be- two hard to define.
The Committee on Public Institutions
adopted a resolution iayOring an appro-
nriation. not exceeding half million dol
lars for increasing the cell room OF the
pcnitentiary. Ii is proposed To bond the
revenues of the prison To cover the cost
of making these improvements
Delegate Brooke, chairman OF the com,
mittee on government of cities and
towns. presented an elaborate plan Tor
dividing the cities of the state into four
classes and defining the powers and du-
ties of Councils and Mayors lncorpo-
rated places of 5000 population or less
are to be called towns
The judiciary committee agreed that
the tenure of Supreme Court judges shall
be- | , and not 20 years, az recommended
/. IA n
which Judge OF that court may hold OF
flee was fixed as 20 years. The commit
tee practically agreed to report IN favor
of abolishng the present County Court
system.
The grandfather's clause commends IT
self only on account Of the fact that It
does not rive local boards any arbitrary
powers of interpreting tits meaning
Senator Daniel expresses the opinion that
the grandfathers exemption is Constltu-
tional aud would nOdoubt pass the Fed
eral Supreme Court. He, however, does
not seem inclined 10 give it his support.
The committee on expenses agreed on
their report ON the legislative department.
This recommends radical cuts IN the eX-
penses of the clerical force of the legisla-
ture. Ii is understood that the clerks OF
the Senate and the House, who in one
case now receive II 400 year and in
the other 81 500 will be ordered per
diem during the session of the General
Assembly. Other clerical expenses OF the
legislative department will be greatly re-
duced. il the committees report il
adopted.
The report of Hon. X. T.. Withers, chair
mano the Committee on Expenses, forms
the most sensational feature so far OF the
convention. Mr.. Withers' report. be
sides cutting down the salary of the GOV
ernor. recommends abOlshing several OF
fees. 1t. too. touches upon the question
of the executive contingent fund. Ii rec
| ommends this be cut from SlO,OOO TO
| s. 600. Under the law the Governor II
permitted to expend his contingent fund
as he deems proper.
| The report recommends reducing the
| Governors salary from -, 600 to $4,000,
/ to take effect January !. lW6.
| The committee recommend the aboh
| ton of the Office Of second auditor. and
| sugpets that an additional clerk IN the
| first auditors office shall perform thedn-
| ties now imposed upon that officer.
| Ii il also recommended that the Office
| of railroad commissioner be abolished
| because. SAYS the committee I'VE be-
ieve the law creating it is so defective a.
to render it practically useless to thepeo-
ple of the State" The report also rec
ommends that the offices OF public printer
and register OF the Land Office he abol-
ished. and the consolidation OF the latter
with those of the Secretary OF the Com
mOnwealth.
The committee also recommend that
every executive officer OF the Common
wealth he paid a fixed salary; also that
| every executive officer, except the super
indendent of the penitentiary, be elected
by the people for term OF four years.
Delegate J. b. r. Thornton, of Manas-
sas. who has been taking an active in
terest in the bublic schools OF Virginia,
serving as superintendent. az did his
father. Mai William Willis Thornton, be-
fore him. states that one cannot tell with
exactness how much the public school
fund will be benefited should the plan Ofthe
| committee on franchise to impose poll
tax of 81 as a prerequisite to voting be
adopted, all this money to go to the sup
| mort of the schools. Roughly speaking,
said Mr.. Thornton. "there are 3S4,OOO
voters in Virginia. and about that number
| of polls is returned annually to the state
officials; but it is not generally known
| that the school fund does not suffer on
account of the delinquents, who number
about 134 900 annually There Is what
is known as a literary fund, recruited
from fines. and tax OF 10 cents on per
| sonal property and realty Then we are
annually appropriating something like
5000, 600. which began Tor the purpose
of refunding school money that had been
improperly disbursed, although the de
felt .has long been made good. There
are still other scources of school funds,
especially in the counties, so that much
depends regarding the disposition OF the
PROPOSED new poll tax upon the supple
mental legislation in future years after
the Constitution shall be in force"
MEASURES INTRODUCED.
Mr. Blair Rep.) presented a resolution
providing for the exemption OF eX-COn-
iederates from the payment OF taxes on
property not exceeding 81 900, to apply
only to those permanently disabled.
Delegate Richmond presented a resolu
ton requiring all males 6 years OF age
or over up to 60 years to work three to
five days on the public roads and autho
rizing boards of supervisors to levy a
tax OF II cents on the 800 for road pur
poses.
Mr.. Chapman Providing that, instead
of the election of commissioners OF the
revenue by the people, these officers b'
chosen by the General Assembly. 1t is
claimed that being elected by popular
vote the commissioners are not disposed
\ to assess property at its full value fol
r fear of offending voters.
Mr.. Hubbard presented n resolution di
recting the committee on franchise to en-
! quire az to the expediency of permitting
"a 4 I,,. he ff ON