The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-03

xh1s provides for too many prosecuting
 qss tr sna VII, os sa5s pSrs money no 9S, eS ualeries. than will be replaced as the re. 4uIt of thetr prosecutions. A good pro- xl1ten in this department Is an author court In discretion when the same ceases to be of utility. but the Conven- ton refused to adopt an amendment re Hevln8 the State from further payment o{ the salary of a judge when his court n abolished. He would, therefore, unless q mere statutory judge draw his salary though his court had been abolished abolish court until the expiration of the term of the judge thereof.
 Upon the whole. after a careful exam. nation of the provisions of the Judicial Department of the new Constitution, dc not think it. much. Improvement and doubt whether 1t be an improvement It all on the present Constitution. In point vides a much more expensive system. It will become such at an early date.
 ATTACHMENTS.
 This Article has not been much chang ed. but the changes made Tn 1t make 1t more definite in its provisions, and is thereby an improvement over the similar oases of impeachments before the Senate t very properly requires the Chief Jus tice of the Supreme Court to preside.
 REPRESENTATION This is unchanged from the old. in the new Constitution. except an increase of two Senator's and five Representatives .sn rss ssye sssg and flying to some of the delegates, and hence without additional reason, so far rsd ssi ccuid cu ah see, it was adopted as rs. sdd4ionL expense to the administration of the state Government which might have been ay1iasd; %SSir,on
 A good many changes have been made fn this Article from the similar Article of she present. Constitution. I doubt very much the wisdom of all of them. Some ing the rate of taxation from 7s cents to 6 centa on each slco of taxable property people always hail with delight any measure which seems to Tighten their burdens of taxation. If 1t produces O. the State, 1t will be well. presented and urged the adoption of 6 well constructed ordinance looking to the refunding of eur bonded debt. whicl will mature i've years hence. in long time bonds at t-z per cent interest, but II was tabled A similsr ordinance was fully prepared provision for selling fifty terest to raise sss.o0i with Which to buy the Capitol. Building Ia situated and to enlarge and repair the building which would make 1t commodiouJ Capitol for it down. upon the plea that the State would have surplus of revenue and would appropriate the money for the tor the public schools Is three of the six and a half mills, together with the in terest on the Sixteenth Section trust plus revenue funds which Altogether will agrgegate u .leOeoo. and then the inter est on the bonded debt, near $bDO0es rent expenses of the State Govsrnmsnt are met there win not be any surplus revenus left ana the old historic Cap manent repair the south end of the square will not be bought. and in less than five years there win be aGitated the M.sso.eso. ~ w p'' '"' 'e
 Introduced an ordinance to increase hated and remitted to the Legislature which will not be likely to do 1t.
 The Article on Taxation contains an novelty in this State, but i think it a good one.
 SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS.
 My position on this subject was sub stantially defined in a letter published in I he Age-Heraid before I was nominated hs a delegate to this Convention. In that letter l said:
 T am in favor of honest elections, which are tlle basis of our Suvs,. nmen $ State and Federal-whlch cannot be uni formly had in Alabama except by d re- vision and publication of .he elective franchise, by eXtirpating therefrom dense ignorance and corruption. This is n del ieate and difficult question to deal with 2. uccesssulIy, and nothing short If inc aggregate wisdom of Convection of our Jast and ablest men can ac: 'nzp:.sn it m just and g. .isfactory ma.:he-
 .'rhe suffrage clause in q State Con stitution should not, in terms, exclude anyC@ from the elective franchise on ac. NcoUn. of race nor require an educational CT troperty qualification: but intelligence snd good character should be made the test. No felon, no man of notoriously his poll tax, 10 nan wh' h Ls ever sold his own or fought t'. SOtr of RnHihei nor anyone who cannot real intelhgently, Section of the Constitutiois. should he f1iI ai. lowed to register as votec. And in trder that nn injustice be done ly reg appeal should he gi;:en from such de cisfon, to the courts. Those who arc dis franchised for crime committed should if at ali. only by the Vote of two thirds; Of the members h the GeHeral Assem-
 DISFRANCHISEMENT
 '@rhc disfranchisement of the whole ne- gro race would be anwise and unjust. They constitute large miEortty of our State population--over S00,0o0. Among them are. many honest, industrious and good citizens. capable of fairly under standing the lssaes of d campaign and for what they would be called oOn to ,ote Such men are patriotic. When rciunteers are wanted to fight our bat ties they furnish their quota. Some have but the great mass of them are property lessl and utterly ignorant of the funda- mental principles of government, aid the ballot Is a weapon which they know not how to use for their own good or the good of anyone else. The ballot is an injury to such men But If you make Intelligence and good character the test of the right to vote, you present an in centive to every man, without regard to color, who .aspireS to full-fledged citi- zenship to acquire intelligence whether he has any book learning or not, ana u establish a good character among his neighbors; and no man possessed of these should be denied the right to vote In all elections.
 Such qualifications as I have briefly stated above are practicable and would elevate and tend to purify the suffrage by eliminating the corrupt, the densely Ignorant and purchaseable who, under the present Constitution, have the right to vote. Who will say that Book er Washington, Councill, Grant Calhoun and hundreds of other citizens of Ala bama shall not vote If they choose? No one can deny their intelligence and Qual- iflcation. Shall they be excluded merely because they belong to the coiored race say no. It would be both unwlse and suffrage as I have indicated and there will be no reduction of Alabama's rep resentation in Congress because there will be no legal reason for 1t. With such a provision enforced there never would be any sort of Justification for ballot