The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-12

while there was no general law anu ycb the courts may hold that 1t knows. and would have decided this way or that way if he had applied. to it: the court may even say that the learned advisor applied to was mistaken. Then all the citizen has is sacrificed, the Legislature has acted and 1t is com- posed of honest men and acting upon their own opinion they passed the law in good faith, local leRislation has been had. andth only resort Is a litigation over the right and destruction of prop erty interests of the citizens. Gentle men of the Convention. it seems to me that they have gone too far. 1t seems to me that you are putting too much confidence in the judgment and pro- phetic power of the Chairman of the committee. It seems to me that it Is time for him to pause and think and become more conservative and restore to the Legislature some of the func- tions that this committee has under. taken to rob it Of.
 MT. deGraffenreid-This discussion has been broader than l think the cir cumstances justify. I rise for the pur- pose of supporting the motion to re- consider, not as the friend of a dis pensary because know nothing abont dlspensaries, not as a friend of the liquor men because l know nothing about them, and not even as a friend of the school system of Mobile. I de- sire to say. however. that I have al. ways believed that. so far as the llauop traffic Is concerned. the only way that it can be successfully handled in Ala bama is by letting each community by local laws. declare how it shall be han- dled. and that so far as the school sys- tenn of Mobide is concerned 1t was es- tablished by the people of Ala ma be- fore I was born and that 1t has done much good in this State. Whether that school system was rightfully or wrong- fully established, it now exists, and rude will be the hand that will under. take 70 strike 1t down. If the oues. tion Is ever raised before this Conven- ton. l shall be found with those who shall undertake to prevent any person placing an impeachment in the path of any educational institution alreadv es- 'ablished in this State. As has been said by the gentleman from Dallas in discussing the proposition before us. It Is very grave question as to wheth- CT this Convention has not gone too Tar. We have provided 37 or 3S arti- cles. l don't remember the number. upon which there has been placed an absolute prohibition on the Legislature and as to which there cannot be passed any local law. In addition to that in my tudgment-the greatest safe- guard on this subject that has been placed in the Constitution we have provided that no local law shall he passed. unless there has been given
 before its passage thirty days notice nt the substance of the proposed law,
 by advertisement in a newspaper. and ha fan aLnI
 upon the Journal before It shall he
 given validity by the courts. When
 We did that. gentlemen. we went far enough. Agovernment dependent upon
 the Legislative Department is the freest government in the world. When
 you trammel the Legislature you touch
 the liberties of the people. I am re- minded that across the waters there fx-
 ists government. the oldest in the
 world. the freest save our own. and its
 parliament Is untrammeled by any
 written constitution. If ia law un-
 to itself. Its Parliaments have rot
 only seen fit at times to take unto it.
 self the power to change the success
 sion of the Kings. but 1t has even sat
 in judgment upn the monarch even to
 the taking of his life. That Sovarn-
 ment today is the arbiter of the pance
 of the world. and its power and it's dig nifty are due to the power and the dig nifty of its Parliament. It has been said, gentlemen, that this committee has examined every Constitution n the United States. and from them has gleaned the various subjects prohibited to local legislation, and has placed
 them in the report now being ;onsid-
 cred. I shall ask the chairman
 if there was found in any
 Constitution in the United States. or in any Constitution of an intelligent
 State, the provision that the courts
 end not the Legislature, shall deter mine whether or not a general law
 exists or the courts can furnish remedy where a remedy Is sought or a right esta ablished by a local law? l say that there is no such provision in any Constitution of any State of the Union or of any intelligent State any
 where. My objection to this Section
 as passed on yesterday is not because
 it touches the liquor traffic in any way, not because it touches any school system anywhere, but that it provides
 the most fruitful source of litigation
 that can possibly be provided by the
 Constitution of a State. The Supreme Court of Alabama decided wisely when
 it declared that under the Constitution of 1875 It. was for the Legislature and not for the courts to determine. when
 a local bill was before 1t. whether d remedy had been provided by gen.
 eral law or could be obtained through
 the court. That in my judgment was one of the wisest decisions that was | ever handed down by the Supreme | Court of Alabama. It shut a broad door to litigation. and when we leave here, MT President, we want to leave | with Constitution about which there
 shall be as little doubt as possible. so | that the courts will not be called upon for fifteen or twenty years to tell the | citizens of Alabama what their rights | are under that Constitution. I have | consistently, whenever I had any
 doubt upon any subject, voted against
 any change, and frequently, although
 the change offered might be good where I saw intelligent men in this
 Convention differing upon the subject T have acted upon the proposition | that wherever there is a doubt 1t is best | to take the safe course and voted
 against It. We are establishing fun
 damental law that can not be changed
 like a legislative enactment and we
 should never lose sight of that fact. | Mir. O'Neal-I rise to a question of
 marks I expressly disclaimed any pur-
 pose to impugn the motives of any | delegate in this Convention. ex- | pressly and emphatically stated that I did not doubt that every member of
 this body was actuated by the highest.
 most patriotic and most conscientious