The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-06

Gonferred upon them or not. and there s tot& E 1o not think that the amend menk of the gentleman from Montgom- oky ought to be adopted
 Now, I do not propose, and do no' khow that I am prepared at this time, k6 70 Into an elaborate discussion of what is meant by civil and political rfkhts. 1 have not the authorities be- tore me. but I am very sure that neither the word civil rights, or polit.- cal rights have any reference to the privilege of suffrage. Consequently, the adoption of this amendment would V not have any effect upon the suffrage i, article.
 Mr. Hood-I would like to ask the delegate from Montgomery if political rights would include the right to hold office?
 MT. Lomax-No. sir: not If the suf- frage article requires a person to be legal voter. 1t would not.
 Mr Hood-If it does not include any political rights, or the right to hold offlce. what does 1t mean?
 Mir. Lomax-I just stated that l am not in a position at this time to go into definition of what political rights mean, but they do not mean or include the right to hold office, or the privi- lege of suffrage. if right to hold of- { flee is dependent upon the persons be- ing a legal voter within the State.
 Mir. Burns-Win the gentleman allow q question?
 MT. Lomax-I will. with pleasure. if I can answer it.
 Mir. Burns-Suppose a foreigner comes over here. and belongs to the Mafia or some such crowd. and comes to one of our cities. New Or leans we will say. and remain in statu quo until they perhaps elect Aldermen. or at the election of a Mayor. or some other officer in this State, and he should not become naturalized until he saw that he could get the position. You understand. suppose that was q ,act: that the time he saw he was go- ng to get a position. then he became citizen of the United States. hut at he same time he might stay here and selong to the Mafia in New Orleans. sr somewhere else. and still be a sub ject of a foreign country. Now, do you suppose that he shall stand upon the same footing and have the same political rights as any other citizen of the United States?
 Mr. Lomax-We propose to give him exactly the rights he has had for twen- ty-five years in Alabama and no more.
 MT. Burns-Tben we will endorse that amendment
 Mir. Coleman (Greene)-Delegates of the Convention. 1t sems to me this Sec tim of the Declaration of Rights is out of place in the Constitution of the State of Alabama. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Conetitution of the United States protects all citizens in their privileges and immunities equally, and if these words have no meaning at all. the words ''privileges and immu- uities" cover everything proposed to be covered or protected or made by the argument of the delegate from Montgomery. the Chairman of the com- mfttee. Now, when a question comes up that admits of so much debate. as to which there is such a contrariety of opinion has arisen upon the subject of this question. it seems to me that the Convention ought not to adopt 1t. In view of the fact that all citizens of the United States have equal rights. privi- Ieges and immunities in Alabama. as much as according to his own argu- ment the words have no force. move to lay the section on the table.
 Mir. Lomax-And on that l demand the ayes and noes
 The President-The pending question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Montgomery.
 MT. Coleman (Greene)-I move to lay that on the table. because if my mo- ton prevails it reaches the purpose in- tended by the gentleman from Mont gomery. and move to lay the whole section on the tahle
 The Presidential is moved that Sec tion 2. with the pending amendment. be laid upon the tshle.
 MT. Lomax-I ask for the ayes and noes on that proposition. It is the same provision as in the Constitution of seventy-five. and in two-thirde of Union.
 The<call for the ayes and noes was not sustained.
 MT. Oates-I am heartily in favor of the amendment for the reason. in ad- dition to the reasons already given. that this is exceptional in the Consti- tuition of Alabama. Scarcely any Con- stitution of any State in the Union has such a provision. New York, which has 8 much greater number of for eiRners in 1t than any other one. or two. or three States, has no such pro vision in it's Constitution. This seems to have been adopted and incorporated into the Constitution made by the Convention in 1875. without ever hav- ing been fully considered. Another thing, at that time one reason for it. was that in their provisions in re- gard to the suffrage, those who had legally declared their intention to be- come citizens were allowed to vote and hence 1t was in harmony with that provision.
 Now, sir. as We are making q Consti- tuition, not for today, nor for tomorrow, but one perhaps for forty or fifty years. we cannot tell just exactly what will occur Why. sir in the service that I rendered upon Committee of In- veStigation in the Congress of the United States in regard to the "suf- rage mills" you might call them. es- tablished in New York and Boston. for the purpose of manufacturing citizens out of foreigners who had just arrived, we looked very closely into a business. which was most extensive. Evasious of the laws of the United States, pro- cesses by which, in twenty four hours after one arrival, if he had the money to pay for it, he would become a full fiedged citizen and have his papers duly stamped. Those people up there in those cities have had a great deal of trouble with the foreign element. We do not reject them. We welcome them to our shores. We want them to come and live among us. But we have law of the United States, very liberal in its terms, to allow them. when they ar rive, to make their declaration of in- tention to become citizens of the United States and within a reasonable time.