The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-08


 | State prior to the war, and have cir-
 cult solicitors. Why was 1t? Just as l it exists today. you will find, MT. Presi- dent. that in a majority of the counties of this State, in the first place, you will be unable to secure proper man | to represent the State of Alabama in | important cases. for what fees they will make in a single county. The aver age county will not afford enough in- come for a lawyer to- lay aside his l business and undertake the prosecution of criminals. If he does, he will abandon his practice. and we will have a very obnoxious system of prosecuting every sort of case. I remember well | in my own county that the County court under this system was one of al- most perpetual motion. every character of case being presented and the sitting almost very day. We best judge others by ourselves. Let a man lay aside his practice and undertake to prose-
 cute criminals. and making livelihood by 1t, he will yield to the solicitation of
 every darkey to prosecute these trivial offenses, profane language, vulgar lan- guage in the presence of women, as-
 sault and battery among negroes, and every county in the State is run to an
 expense that is outrageous. That was the practice among county solicitors before. and I say 1t will be under the proposed system.
 Mir. Boone-Were they not under the fee system then, and now they are un- der the salary system. Would man
 under salary try to put all this work on himself when it isn't necessary? Mir, Harrison-I do got know what the effect will be. I understand by your system you do not propose to pay olor hut IIeRtS- lature.
 Mir. Ashcraft-Put them on salary. Mir, Harrison-Well if that is the sys- tenn, you cannot get competent men to prosecute for the State in these cases under a salary. The Legislature will never fix it on earth in the average county. so that you can get proper man to represent the State. In case Of murder. arson and these cases, we need the best talent in the State to prose cute these cases. I heard a brother
 lawyer say to me on the street tnat IL would help the profession, because the other fellow will employ some fellow to assist him. That may be. but have we come to the pass that men have got to be employed to prosecute for the State in cases of murder and arson where the dignity of the State Is involved. l say take the average county. and the average deputy solicitor, now, and in reply to my friend from Talladego, so far as doing away with these county deputy solicitors. I am in favor or It now. It Is the only objection l see III the plan, that when we changed rom county solicitors we did not put Tn proyision that they should not have any deputies. do not refer to the cities and towns. The mere fact they have a little deputy if you go into these counties where they have them. you will find many of these mol prossed cases that were referred to by the deie- gate from Talladega, grow out or the fact that these deputies are hunting up little cases. which are bound over to the Grand Jury and bills are ootalneo on frivilous cases that the clrcult so- licitor does not think the interest or
 the State demands should De prose-
 believe if we had solicitors snoueh in the circuit they would
 dssY .e,s4S sua lusseIde1 HIlsdoIo
 nroner and competent men. It is to the best interest of the State. l am onnosed to the election of those officers. | do not believe it Is demanded py the neople. do not believe that the good | of the State demands that they should be elected. The principal duties re- ouired of him in many cases if he does | his duty it will make men mad. lie ought to make them mad. It IS ms duty to prosecute and he should not be amenable especially there at home.
 Ii would be much better to elect by the Legislature. In many instances,
 if he does his duty properly. he will de- | fend a criminal and defend great
 many people and of all the officers that
 are elected or appointed, I think the
 solicitor one is that should be elected
 by a different body than the county or | district. That he should be elected
 by the Legislature or some other tr1bu- 1 nal. and not on account of his popu- | larity. for if he does his duty, he will
 not be very popular after the hfst ex- | perience In the next place, submit | this would not secure proper men. In | the first place, lawyers such as we should have to represent the state or Alabama would not be secured for the salary that this system would secure | to them. l am speaking 1bout the average county. Some of the counties would. Therefore 1 insist on the idea | that we want as prosecuting officers, | the best talent in the State. AS has been said by the delegate from Walker, | We want men who have made criminal prosecution a speciality. who are willing | to devote their life to it.
 MT, Pitts (Dallas)-I had the honor | to represent the Fourth Judicial Cir cult of this State from 1880 to 1882 as | solicitor. I was not a candidate for | that office, so have no interest in the matter, except to the good of my coun- | try. The gentleman who has just | taken his seat has insisted that prior | to 1874, the office of county solicitor
 was very obnoxious. Why was 1t then? Because prior to 1874. who were | the judges in this State? Prior to | 1874. when Houston was elected. Who | was elected? Who composed the | iuries? Republicans mostly. The county solicitor then and now, cannot issue a process without the consent
 of the judge Now, in those times, judge and solicitor combined together as it were, that whenever he made application for a warrant to be issued, the judge at once issued it. Now. there is a great deal of difference be- tween then and now, and an entirely different system prevails. We have,
 as it were, Democratic probate judges | in nearly all of the counties of the State, and We have Democratic circuit judges, but that is immaterial Let us get down to the principle of the matter. Now il is said and it is 50 reported by the committee that they propose to elect the solicitors, circuit solicitors, by the people. Well now.
 why if that Is right, why not elect county solicitors by the people? The majority of the committee reported