The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-19

declares he iz so inflSehtiaI msnber that he is equal to fifty members in the House and sixteen in the Senate. n | the eye Of the Constitution, he out weighs half of the legislators, in all | legislation. Then, MT. President, where
 is there anything startling or strange
 in this proposition?
 | The next question Is. can 1t serve any
 useful purpose? Every one acquainted
 with legislation, especially in latter days, knows in the hurry which seems
 to be a necessity when so much 1egis- lation is before the houses. that there
 are innumerable slips in bills. Some l times the author says what he does not mean; sometimes he overlooks come good provision in other laws. which he does not wish to destroy, but in fact he repealed: sometimes accident ally he runs counter to some provision in the Constitution of the State. It is highly proper in thes ceases that the Executive should have an opportunity | to get these matters corrected, without putting the General Assembly in the attitude of passing the bill as 1t is, or | letting 1t die. I will not enlarge any further on these considerations. except | by illustrating some cases in my own experience, which I believe Is the ex- perience of every one who deals with l legislation. Here is bill which was vetoed: "To amend the charter of Fit. Payne, in DeKalb County" Why? Be-
 cause, inadvertently. the draftsman
 had said that a citizen in DeKa1b County should live in his ward twelve
 months, to qualify him as a voter.
 when the Constitution limited it to three months. The Governor.
 very reluctantly. was compelled to send the bill back Would it have been any invasion of the province of the General Assembly of any reflection upon its in- dependence, if he had said: Gentle men, strike out that section, make the bill conform to the Constitution, and send 1t back to me and will approve 1t. He could not say that and the Leg islature could not do that The result
 was that the universal desire of the people of that town to change thei5 city government was for the time te ing defeated, really by a slip of the author of the bill. who had overlooked a provision in the Constitution.
 Now here Is another case. MT. Presi- dent: It is a bill '"To incorporate Lineville College. in Clay County. Ala bama." The citizens there were s-x- ious to have a good college. The bill provided that the school fund and poll tax in the district should go to the children who attended it, and a wise bill was framed to that end. In the hurry of legislation, the draftsman put one little provision in it which poison ed 1t in the mind of the Governor. and that vas in effect that the Board of Trustees of this public school. sup ported largely by public money, should control 1t independent of the super. vision of the State Superintendent. and might put an incidental fee there of three dollars. In the opinion of the Governor. these two provisions vitiatde the bill. and he sent it back. If the General Assembly could have amended 1t by striking that one section out, they would have had that college one year earlier. As it was. it was too late to pass a new bill. and the members of the General Assembly were compelled to let the bill die, because they could not amend 1t, and could not pass 1t over the veto.
 Another case, Mfr President. Tn the hurry of expressing bills--in an enact- ing clause. the words General Assen- ply of Alabama" were left out and the bill read, "Be 1t enacted" without say ing by whom. That was fatal to 1t. The Governor was compelled to veto it. The bill related to hiring out of con-
 victs. There was not member of either house who would not have been glad of the opportunity, if he could have done it, to amend the bill, by putting in the words General Assem- bly of Alabama" and sending it back for the Governors approval. There is no danger. MT. President that the Ex- ecutive will veto bills for the fun of 1t. or to display arbitrary power. The truth is, where we scrutinize legislA- tion, we have too few vteoes, rather than too many vetoes. The power and dignity of the Legislature is not touched, by the provisions suggested. ~E.- ArsA Al back with a suggestion, and says to them: Gentlemen, either pass it over my veto, or amend it and put 1t in shape, and we will try and enact 1t in- to law. don't wish to disappoint your urposes."
 MT. Harrison (Lee)-May ask the gentleman a question?
 MT. Iones-Certainly.
 MT. Harrison-Wouldn't the very Act to which you refer have been accom- plished by a recall of the bill from the Governor; wouldn't it have been just as well to have the House creating the bill. recall 1t?
 MT. Jones-Unquestion 1t might; but there are times, and have known them to happen, when the Governor would send to some member of the House and ask him to recall a bill, and he would say: "'No, it is not a mat ter of my special concern. have some friends who voted for 1t. don't want to antagoniZe them and we will let 1t alone, and you can tussle with it." But suppose that plan is feasible, Nr. Pres ident, where is the harm of allowing this man, who is elected by . million and three-Quarters of people, and who is as much a representative of the peo- pie as any man on the floor of either House. to say, publicly, what he often does privately, Gentlemen, I have a difference with you. submit 1t to you; don't wish to put you in the at- titude either of passing the bill as 1t Is, or of letting it die. I propose an amendment, by which we can agree, which is practicable. It Is a plain. good old-fashioned, neighborly way of doing things. These were the reasons why we thought it would be wise plan in practice to incorporate in the Constitution. Individually and as the organ of this committee. I am very averse to doing anything which looks like cutting off debate, and won't do it. In order, however, that this mat ter may be put in shape before the House. shall move the previous ques- tion on the resolution to recommit; and then. if that is voted down, the house can take up these amendments, and we can put the section in shape. If the house does not agree with the commit tee and makes any change in the amendments, which cannot properly be