The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-08

present S0lcltOr, the statements induc
 here to the contrary notwithstanding.
 am in favor of the people electing ev-
 cry officer in this State to rule them
 from Governor to Constable. want no
 man nominated to office in this State,
 and I have introduced resolution to
 that effect. We have seen things hap
 Ten until we thought that we were in
 the hands of g Platt CT a Quay. l am
 in favor of electing solicitors by the
 county and let the people say who they
 shall be. In the last election. it was said our solicitor Was elected by pri-
 mary. He was not elected by primary.
 There were two honorable men con-
 tending for the office. They agreed to
 submit it to a vote of the people and
 whoever got the ma jority came to the Legislature and was elected, which was
 done. Both were honorable men, both
 would make good solicitors, and there
 can be no reflection upon the present solicitor. I have lived ill Dallas all
 my life. ever sixty years. l have known hundreds of murders in that county and not q single white man has ever
 been hung in the county, and only two that 1 know of have been sent to the
 penitentiary, and the Governor turned
 them both out, and just as soon as
 one was turned loose. he might as well
 have turned loose wild beast. he had
 killed two men and soon after he killed another man. The other one is loose now and we don't know when he will turn up and kill somebody else. A gen
 tieman who was solicitor on one occa- sion told the jury turn this man
 loose. you might just as we'll turn a
 man loose in this State to shoot down any man he pleaseS as to have the Governor turn him out of the peniten- tiary, who was not hung" The present
 solicitor has discharged his duty as
 well as any solicitor, he cannot make
 jury indict man, he can call the
 witnesses and submit the testimony te the grand jury, but he has to leave the grand jury room and let them vote
 on it. A few weeks ago. man waited on me about the franchise. what they
 wanted and what they did not want. I called attention to the fact that
 short time ago across the river. three | negroes were killed I had asked. do you know who killed them? No. l never | will know. The very man who killed them would be on the grand or petit | jury. How could a solicitor convict them under that condition of things? | If he does his duty, that is all he can do. I have letter from our solicitor who says: 'I have considered the mat | ters of selecting solicitors and have
 fixed opinion upon the subject. Ev- | cry official in the State including Rail- road Commissioners, should. :n my judgment, be elected by the people
 whom they serve." I endorse every | word of that. He says further: "Es- pecially if the new Constitution re- stricting the suffrage is ratified. if the
 voters and particularly the voters here after cannot elect the solicitors they are not fit to be trusted with the elec- | tion of any otf1ce.'' That Is what | say, if we cannot cleo. the solicitors. | to attend to our affairs in our counties. | then we are rot fit to elect anybody. I yield the balance of my time to MT Carmichael of Colbert.
 The President-There remains five
 minutes of the gentleman's <me.
 MT Carmichale-Have l not time Of
 my own?
 The President-The gentleman has not been recognized except to discuss | the question in the time of the gentle
 man from Dallas.
 Mr Hefin (Cnambers)-I move that | the time of the gentleman be extended so as to give him ten minutes.
 The additional time was accorded. MT. Carmichael (Colbert)-Mr. Presi- | dent and gentlemen of the Convention | I have been, but am not now, circuit | solicitor. l have never been defeated in my aspirations for that office. nor
 am a candidate for that place. and l
 think I can speak with some degree or | fnfofmati ton and with perfect mpaF-
 tiality on that subject.
 | I submit to this Convention that
 there ought not to be any change in l the old Constitution unless there be | an imperious necessity for it. l fear, | MT. President, that some gentlemen | have a greater desire to write their
 names in the Constitution, just to see | how they will look, rather than to con- slider the public good. Now, MT. Presl- | dent. has there been or is there a de- | mand for change along this line! 50 | far as I am informed. there IS not.
 These gentlemen who lived In the days
 when we had county solicitors hold up
 their hands and warn us against this
 plan. There is no complaint of the so- l licitors who hold office at this time.
 and, want to say. MT. President, that | so far as I am informed on this sub | feet the solicitors of Alabama have not | been the subject of criticism for lack
 of discharge of duty. There has been | no canvass among the people along this | line Who demands 1t that this office | of circuit solicitor be abolished? Where
 did it originate? When the people have
 not demanded it, Mir President. but
 going back to what I said before. un-
 less there Is a pressing necessity for
 it. then we ought to let well enough
 alone. I oppose the institution of
 county solicitor I oppose the election
 of solicitor by the people. Why do | I say that it is wrong to abol- | ish the circuit solicitor and es-
 tablsh county solicitors? For
 we ought to retn the system which
 we now have. How many counties are
 there in the State? There are sixty
 six. What would be the expense now
 of paying these county solicitors Do
 you expect to get a man of ability to
 prosecute for LOGO a year? Then that
 would be $66, GOO. l lay down the prop
 ostion MT. President, that it would not 1 cost the State of Alabama less than
 s75 GOO to get anything like the service
 we have now from the circuit solicitors.
 It only costs now, according to the
 st atement of the gentleman, 9,O00; | that is the amount that these circuit
 solicitors are paid. Then you propose
 to appoint or elect county solicitors for
 sixty-siX counties in the State. Sup
 pose you do not pay them a salary, but l pay them fees Now there, Mir Presi- l dent. I sumbit to this Convention, is
 the test of this system. Now, the gen
 tleman from Talladega proposes in or ! der to save the State of Alabama SIP, GOO
 year to appoint and employ sixty
 six detectives in Alabama and set them ! fIA, 1A s.f