The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-11


 Resolved further. That the clerks oe the Committees on Rules and of the order, Harmony and Consistency oe the Whole Constitution shall serye the chairman of the other committees when their services are required.
 Referred to the Committee on Rules.
 Mr. Samford-I move . suspension of the rules for the purpose of putting ttat resolution on its\ passage,
 The President-The resolution has al- ready been referred.
 The Clerk then read Subdivision 2a. as follows.
 Amending. conf, ming or extending the charter of any corporation or .s. hitting the forfeiture thereof"
 The Clerk then read Subdivision 2l, as follows:
 Creating. extending or impairing any lien
 MT. sprayins--I move to amend Sub division 20 by inserting the word ''pri- vate' after the word any"
 MT. deGrafrenreid here took the chair.
 MT. O'Neal-We accept that.
 The President pro tem.-The ques. ton is upon the adoption of the amend ment which has been accepted by the committee. The Clerk will read the
 
 Mir. O'Neal--On behalf of the com. mittee l accepted that. but on refiec- tion I find that we cannot do so, for the reason that 1t proposes to amend the amendment extending the char ter of any corpora uon." That Is what we want to prevent the Legislature from passing all these private char. ters of cities and towns: and if we add this word private" the evils of creat- ing local charters would still exist. ! say on reelection the committee cans not consent to the amendment. This section prohibits the Legislature from passing local laws amending. con.1vm- ing or extending the charter of any corporation" And one of the largest evils of local legislation consists In doing that thing If we ccnfine 1t to private corporations. they could coGtin- ue to amend the charters of municipal corporations end fill up more space in the acts of the Legislature than any thing else. That all can be accom- plished by general Jaw: and trcre- fore we cannot consent to it.
 Mir. Dental move to lay the amend ment on the table.
 The President pro tem.-Thsre is no amendment before the Convention. The gentleman is reducing his amenl- ment to writing. As soon as he doas the Chair will recognize the ssntlc- man from Barbour (Mr. Den-). for the purpose of making that motion.
 MT. Dent--I don't think we ought to wait upon the gentleman to put his amendment in writing. I move tke adoption of the subdivision as it stands.
 MT. Heflin (Randolph)-I move that the gentleman be allowed time in which to write his amendment befGrA 1t is voted down.
 The Clerk then read the amendment offered by MT. Spragins. as follows:
 ITO amend Subdivision 20 by yiserr- ing the word private" before the word corporation in the first line"
 MT. Spragins-My idea was that the committee intended that that sub division referred to private cor porations and had by negligence left out the word private" The first part of the subdivision seems to refer to any corporation, either private or public; and the sec- ond part of the sub division seems to refer only to private corporations with reference to the forfeiture of charter, My idea in asking that the wcrd "pri- vate" be inserted before the word corporation" was. in the event that some municipal corporation might de- sire to change the corporate limits ot the city by extending them. And 1t Is the purpose of my amendment to fix it so that the Legislature coIld authorize this to be done.
 MT, Dent-It seems to me that the object sought to be secured by tEe gentleman who offered the amendment (Mr. Spragins) can be se- cured under general law. That Is one of the very things that we want to stop the Legislature from acting upon :; and if you give them the power to act, why they could just change the whole th.ng. Besides, the provision prevents the Legislature from remitting the for feiture of any charter. I think 1t is a motion to table the amendment.
 Mir. O'Neal-Will the gentleman per- init a suggestion?
 MT. Dent-Certain.y.
 Mir. O'Neal-My attention has been called to the fact that the Supreme Court has decided that the word 'cor- poration" does not mean municipal. It means to implyNprivate corporations. The intention was to read private cor porations.
 Mir. Fletcher-The Committee on banklnS nave IldQe lepOtI anu lHlo report has not been adopted. Under the old Constitution, there is an old clause which says that all bank char ters shall expire after a limitation Of twenty years, unless extended by the Legislature. How does this affect that?
 MT. O'Neal-I think after the eXpira- ton of a charter of any bank, the Leg islature would have to pass general law providing for the extension of the charters of institutions of that char acter. There is a general law on that subject which provides for the exten- sion of banks at the expiration Of their charters.
 The President pro tem.-The question is upon the adoption of Subdivision 20, as amended; and the clerk will read the subdivision, as amended.
 MT. O'Neal-We ask unanimous con- sent to add the words private or mu- nicipar' corporations. The consent was granted.
 The President pro tem.-The question is upon the amendment of MT. Sprsglns'
 MT. Sanders-The question Is upon the substitute as offered by the gen. tleman from Lauderdale (Mr ONeaD:
 MT. O'Neal-What Is his amendment
 The President pro tem,-My recollec- tion is that it was not to extend to any private corporations. You want 10 amend by adding the word 'munlcl- pal" Do you ask unanimous consent that that should be done? MF. ONeal-I move to lay tne amendment of the gentleman--
 (Cries of no! noo.