The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-11
putting check on local legislation.
 Mir. o'Neai-I call for q reading of the amendment.

SOmIultlee on Local AeSlSlatlOH Coh- sidered that section very carefully and rejected 1t for this reason. that we rec pgnized that it is different in different rounties. Sc me counties have no game, md some have a great deal of game, hnd that to secure a general law would De matter of great difficulty. we Thought it proper in counties where they desired to protect game to allow them to have local laws. There are pome communities In a county desiring game laws while probably the balance pf the county are indifferent on the subject, we thought it proper if there vas community that desired to pro tect the game to allow them to do 1t, other counties having no game would oppose any law of that sort.
 MT. Coleman-The remarks of the chairman of the committee are very pertinent. In many of the counties there are communities, certain locah- ties. where game abound, and 1t IS pre- served there. People who reside in the county or outside the county would de- stroy the game there If permitted to interfere. You cannot get general law that would protect beats and parts of beats and certain boundaries where the game is preserved, and l thipk 1t would be unwise to interfere. partlcu- larly where people have incurred great expense in securing and providing for the maintenance and protection Of game. I think the committee did wise ly in leaving it out, though I did not know that they had had 1t under con sideraticn.
 MT. Harrison-Does not the time for killing game vary in the different parts of the State?
 Mr. .Coleman-Of necessity. You would ke authorized to hunt certain game in certain days and months-duail at one time, wild turkey at another time, and deer at another time. and in different localities of the State they come earlier and later. It seems to me to be almost impossible to have gen. eral law which would apply 10 com munities If you have State law, you will have to go to the expense probably of having a game ordinance, We have not reached that stage yet. would be glad if the amendment were not adopted.
 MT Espy-To my mind. the amend ment is one of the best provisions con tained in this section of the Article. II Is not sought here to prevent leglsia- ton for the protection or for the eaten ing of game, that is not 1t at all. The proposition involved in the gentle mans amendment simply says that ls shall not be done by local law: II
  amendment it will put itself in a re- n1arkabie position. It has already gone on and said that they would not pass any local laws establishing school dis tricts in which children could go to school.
 MT. Coleman-Have you any game laws in your county and community!
 MT. Espy-No, sir.
 MT. Coleman-You know nothing about it. then.
 My Espy-I know something about game laws perhaps I know too much about 1t Is the reason I insist upon this amendment going in.
 Mr. O'Neal--We examined very care fully the provisions of every constr tuition in the United States on Una. subject and we dld not niiu that provision in single Constitu 'ioii because all the States recognized the fact that. that was a matter for spe- cial legislation. MT. Espy--I hope the gentleman dlo not go through books and hunt TOT what other States haveadene, ana iali- ing to find it there, not put 1t into this Constitution. We certainly ought |, have some originality ourselves anu we certainly ought to be able to mo something or know something excep' what you get by the example or otn-
  Convention has decided that no ais trict in which children go to schoo! shall be established by any special law They have. said that no special law shall be enacted prohibiting or per hitting stock to run at large. NOW then, if they vote down this resolution they will say that the birds and gama of this country are of more importance and entitled to more protection under Io1 nf dren and the stock. That is the in- evitable position to which these gentle men have been driven.
 Mr. Davis-I want to suggest that the title of one the acts of the last Leg islature was ito regulate the hunting of the opossum in Pickens County.
 Mir. Espy-Mr. President, if this Convention were to get the game tnal was passed by the last Legislature. think that that would in itself be a complete answer. 1 think that game law is known as the Wallace Law, from Madison. I dare say that that law it. self has cost the State of Alabama s20e or $500 that one law, and it has never been worth cents to anybody and Ii never will be- Now, If people want t, have game laws, provide by general laws by which the Commissioners Court or the Board of Revenue of the
 
 like stock laws, and establish school laws and things of that kind.
 MT. Barefeld-I would like to ask fl it is rot a fact that this thing of opossum hunting in the fall is not one of the greatest curses that the farmer has? That it results in burning up his fences, and everything else?
 Mir. Espy-No, that is taking toe narrow a view of the matter. I am sorry for a man whose soul gets sc small that he objects to a nigger catch ing an opossum on his plantation. That is entirely too narrow a view to take of the matter. That is all I desire to say. --.~
 MT. Cunningham-I am heartily in favor of th!s amendment, and in sup port of my position will give a little personal experience. When re turned home to my county in 1S97 among the many sins which l had to answer for was a game law for Jef- ferson County. I denied that ther4 was any such statute passed by the General Assembly. as 1 thought 1 was aware of all measures of that kind A gentleman said 1t was in the ats. I said it is some local law providing for the protection of game in some other county and that somebody had amended it in the House by adding Jefferson. He said no 1t was an orig inal bill introduced for Jefferson. Look was the case, that there was a bill