The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-07

fifty dollars. and in some counties they would run considerably over two thou- sand dollars. and hardly see how 1t would be managed.
 Mir. Macdonald-Mr. President Mir. Ashcraft-I will ask the gentle man to yield a moment.
 MT. Macdonald-Very well.
 Mir, .Ashcraft-I desire to ask unan- imous consent to strike out the words elected by the qualified voters there in," and insert selected as may be pro- vided by law"
 The Presidens+;rhe gentleman asks unanimous consent.
 Mir. Watts-I object.
 The President-There is objection. MT Ashcraft-Win the gentleman from Montgomery yield for a moment? Mir. Macdonald-The gentleman can make his motion after I get through I won't take much time. Now, Mir. President I will address myself briefly. to what might possibly be called a question of privilege. have heard great deal of talk about the lobby of the Convention and the results of the | lobby made upon members of the Con- vention on various matters that came before it. I nave been grossly neglect ed in that particular. The lobby, who- | ever they are. have not been about me. l ed in that kind of way. and I wish to | serve notice on the lobby that if l am treated in this way any more. am go- l ing to get as mad as the gentleman l from Talladega.
 l Mir. Browne-Which one?
 Mir. Macdonald-I allude, of course, to Mir. Graham. as have not seen you | display any wrath lately. Like the gentleman from Talladega. we get mad | Ht,t -Inn we stay mad all the time. We are Scutchmen. Now. my mind has been very much confused in the course of | the various arguments before the Con- | vention by the assertions in reference to what the people of Alabama want. Every man seems to think that he | knows what the people of Alabama want; that he is the sole custodian ot the interests of the people of Alabama, and the only man who knows their de- | sires. I can only speak for myseif ana | partially for the county I represent, and I have heard no bowling demand | from anybody in my county or any | hody from any other county TOT change in the existing law in refer erte to the appointment of solicitors. Brt we are told that the people want :i. One man says all the people want it. and all the people expect 1t ana l IL, the people expect it and demand 1t, ana another man says all the people do rot want 1t. and all of them deny that they will have 1t. Along with the question of what the Legislature is, the charac- T ter, quality and conduct of the Legls- lature, those a.c two mysteries to my mind which ] think will never he solved. One man speaks about the Legislature as il 1. were gang or Ii A Wknp- . n speaks as If they had all the wisdom of the Roman Senators in the palmy days of the republic, a kind of Jeckyll and Hyde business. Sometimes they are infamous and sometimes they are re- spectable, according to the man who speaks ol therl. Now in regard to the people of Alabama, to return to that atstrusr question again, technically. suppose we are the people, and incl d-nta!ly in the words of Job, Wisdom will die with us," but actually as said by my distinguished friend from Ma Coli the other day There are others" as a matter of fact, no matter what
 nay be the law. Now what is here suggested by the gentleman from Lau- GcrdaleY He says the county solicitors shall be elected by the people, and
 therefore he says we are bound 10 hay :. purity In the source of their election.
 fstll, l dIn HOl SOlHS lO leil any ldleS out of school, gentlemen of the Con
 sention, but I know something about county politics, and I know something about the swaps and exchanges in
 County Convention and in county pri-
 maries. I defy the record even of the } Legislature. treating the Legislature as some gentlemen treat it. as the acme of all infamy, defy even the Legisla- ture to show a grosser instance of lA..o~ I thermore the buying of votes than you can find in the primaries. and some times in the Conventions.
 MT. Graham (Talladega)-I will ask if } UT experience in politics is not limited to Montgomery County and that is what you have in mind now?
 MT. Macdonald-I am afraid no. have no reason to suppose that this condition is limited to Montgomery County and my information is direct to the contrary. We have them as understand in the other counties, and you have them in Talladega. The his tory of the primaries in Talladega ycu know more about than do, but it does seem to me, Mir. President, and gentle men of the Convention that we might rely, at least to some extent, upon the wisdom of the framers of the Consti- tuition of 1875. They had an object les ! SOn DClOie tHSHl dl lIdL tune. 1ney provided that the solicitors should be elected by the Legislature and there is nothing in the history of this State that shows any wisdom in departing from the ways suggested by that Conven- tion. Now what has been said here [? That the people of the county are bet ter qualified to judge of the capacity and tEe integrity of the county solicitor than the Legislature is. That the body of any particular county, in other words, must of necessity have more wisdom in reference to the character of a lawyer. ability of a lawyer and in tesrity of a man than the Legislature has. We'll, 1 do not think that can be true. Certainly the people of the State of Alabama are presumed to select able men for the Legislature who are sent here to do that duty not for one par tlcular section, but for the entire State and whose action in reference TO the selection of solicitors. must be for the benefit of the entire State. It is well | known and cannot be denied that a large number of people occasionally and frequently enough to change the result of an election in the rank and 'le Of voters, will endeavor to secure the election in the Coun-v of the man who will best suhserVe their interests and for that reason the Convention of 1875 adopted this clause, and there has been no change in the civilization of this country, which would justify de p1rture from it.