The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-09

other cities of the same csess HaoA sell whisky?
 MT. Ashcraft-we have carsfully guarded against any propositiop oe that kind in the article on local legie- lation by providing that nothing in.thio Constitution shah be 70 construed ae to prevent the Legislature from en- acting local laws regulating or pro. hibiting the sale of spirituous iioucrp.
 Mir. coleman-Would not the provi> sion be equal in power to any other provision In the Constitution if It is pue in there?
 Mir. Hood-If one city of . certain class does not care to own it's own wa ter works. do you think that all other cities of the same class should be pre- vented from owning their own wateg works?
 MT. Ashcraft-No such proposition is involved here. It is not proposed that the Legislature shall compel any city to own its own water works. It is not intended to throttle the voice of the people. If a majority of the cities of . class so desire they will be able to se- cure to their people the right to vote upon the question of whether they shall own their public franchises. and which of such franchises they will own. IT each city Is given that right under . classification who can object to the people having the right to be guided by the experience of a msjoritypf the cities and who then can say that some other course ought to be pursued. You nave here the product of the careful constd- eration of the Committee. Men sneer at the proposition and ask you to vote against 1t because you may limit she right to spit on the sidewalks. as8 you who is 1t that has lifted the city of Memphis from the quasrrffS in which 1t was, when the yellow fever infested 1t and destroyed It's citizenss into one or the most beautiful cities cfv the South? 1t was not the men who wanted to spit on the sidewalk, bue the progressive men who believed that the whole body had some rights and who understood these great questions of municipal government, and we want to make progress let us unite on this majority report and let the Legis- lature enact general laws that will De the product of the combined effort oS all the men skilled in municipal anasrs of this State.
 I now renew the motion to lay tho minority report and the amendment to it on the table.
 Mr. deGraffenreid--I demand . dt- vision of the question.
 lHS Hc QuSctlOtA ID cA& the amendment offered by the gentle man from Hale.
 Upon a vote being taken. the motion to table the amendment prevailed. The que:ticn then re urred on the motion to table the minority report.
 Upon vo:e be ng taken, the motion to table the minority report prevailed.
 Mir. Stanford (Pike)-I hope that the eloquent appeal of the gentleman from Lauderdale will net have the effect of sweeping the Convention or of its feet. I have never attempted to sweep this Convention off its feet by my elo- quence. If I ever have, have failed. and I trust h,s success will be the same as mine. This proposition. 1t oc- CUTS 10 me. with reference to this Sec tion. as proposed by the Committee, reminds me of q little anecdote with regard to a fellow who was contrary to the whole world. He d.dn't want anything that anybody else did; he didn't want anything in common with anybody. and he said that when he going to make application to get a little fire and brmstone and go off and start little purgatory of his own.
 The source nf all corporate power is from the Sta:e. It has been so recog- nized since this has been a Stsle, and 1t has always been the policy of this State to reserve to itself the right to revoke any charter it has gwen. It be- comes necessary sometimes to revoke charters of municipal corporations. It becomes necessary sometimes to revoke charters of other corporations, but the effort of this Committee Is to place in the organic law of the land such a provision as will take away from the State the right to revoke charters in municipal government. It Is an effort upon the part of this Committee to put Into the organic law the right of certain cites in this Stae, and more as the inhabitants grow. to organize themselves into a separate govern- ment, and without the power of the State Government. through it's Legis- osition Is wrong. The whole theory Is wrong, when 1. comes to placing 1t in the organic law of the land. do not deny the proposition that 1t is fine scheme. as suggested by the Chairman of the Committee. It possibly Is a good scheme, and possibly ought to be enacted into law by the General As- sembly, but this Convention ought not to put it beyond the power of the General Assembly. the legislative body of the State, to amend, revise. correct
 
 regard to its own crestures. I there- fore move to lay the Section on the table.
 Mr. Boone-I hope the gentleman win allow the Committee the opportunity of closing on this matter.
 Mir. Samfcrd (Pike)-The Committee declined to withdraw a few minutes ago when I wanted to discuss 1t, and I now decline to withdraw.
 MT. Boone-I say to the gentleman that the Committee as putting in an 
 The President-The motion of the gentleman from Pike Is that Section 10 be laid upon tho table.
 Upon vote being taken. a division was called for. and the motion to table Section 10 prevailed by a vote of 6S ayes and 24 noes.
 Mfr. Wilson (Clarke)-On yesterday the gentleman from Tuscaloosa gave notice that he would make a motion to reconsider the vote by which Section was adopted. He has been called away on account of illness. and I de- sire to make that motion now.
 MT. Weakley-I rise to a point of or. der. The motion to reconsider has not been made.
 The President-I will call the atten- ton of the gentleman from Lauder dale to Rule 27. The rule, as the Chair interprets 1t. means that when a mo- ton Is made to reconsider on the same day on which the Section is adopted, 1t shall be the special order. to be considered immediately after the ap- 70