The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-22

Now let us see, Mfr. President. if t Is possible to misunderstand this. ,Aftsii saying that the returns shall be sealed up and transmitted. and 70 on, it says: the joint convention shall supervise and control the Speaker in the dischsrge of those duties--that Is whatever he has to do. And it has the power. first. to determine whether the returns are in legal form. made by the proper officers. ana truly give the result as ascertained and declared by. the Board of Super visors in the several Counties. What objection can there be to that:
 Mir. Jenkins-To what does the word truly" there, refer?
 MT. Jones fMontgomeryl-It Is in- tended to cut out forgeries--as to whether the returns show truly" what was declared in the several counties.
 Mr. Jeuiins-Does 1t refer 10 the re- turns7 Dces 1t mean whether the re- turns give truly the result or does 1t refer to the declaration of the Board of Supervisors?
 Mr. Joneswwhether they truly give the results as ascertalned by the Board of Supervisors.
 Mir. Jenkins-poes that refer to the returns or to the Convention?
 Mir. Jcnes (Montgomery)--It refers to U uG IttuEHe cGhb 0R hCt&t WhNSANt thSJ give the facts as declared by the sev- eral Boards of Supervisors. There Is no possible ground for doubling to whas they refer. '
 Mr. Jenkins-It does not refer to the Convention, then?
 Mr. Jones CMontgomery)-N sir. and 1t cannot have that meaning. The context and grammar absolutely forbid 1t. The Joint Convention has power, first to determine whether the returns are in legal form. made by the proper ofIicers." The Convention Is bound to pass on these things. and those things are matters which. the Supreme Court says, involve discretion and are judi eiai in their nature. If you put the gentlemen of the Joint Convention in straight jackets by using the word ministerial" pieces of paper would make your Governor; the Convention and the Speaker would both be dum- mics, and could not exercise their minds or Judgment in any respect, or correct any error, or do anything else except automatically add up the re- turns sent up here to them.
 Suppose the Capitol were 10 burn down after the August election. in the month of September or October. and the Joint Convention had only the few
  Convention to go ahead and count in whoever has the majority on the face of the returns from the few counties they have, when. as matter of fact, those people have received only . small minority of all the votes? Ought not the Joint Convention to have the power te say. we have no returns from such and such . county We will get the result as declared in the missing coun- ties, and give declaration in favor of the men who have received the ma tority of all the voters of the State?'
 If there Is. which We deny. any fea- ture of a returning board. we have carefully cut off power to defeat the will of the people. It is expressly de- elared that the Jcint Convention should not have the power to interfere with the returns in any other way. or as to any other matter, than those spe- eisicely named. If we must trust eomeb6dy what is the harm of trust ing the 133 men of the two houses {? They are the same men who determine the contest. At some stage or other of every function of government. eome- body must be trusted in the first in- stance. do not believe the time will ever come in the history of Alabama when l33 men, to whom are given the power to say whether the returns are genuine or whether they truly declare the result as declared in the several counties, and where there are errors tn them, to correct them, will usurp the function of a contest board and prac- tically decide 6 contest then and there. If they win do that under guise of correcting error, they will do 1t no mat ter what language you use. If they wish to do 1t they could arbitrarily tns ~sNk NA kv.mA It was not in legal form, or properly signed, or on any other pretext. If they do. where Is your remedy? Who ever they declare elected can take his seat, and if they do that they can again cheat the will of the people on . formal contest.
 The Committee has considered this matter very maturely and earnestly, i with an anxious desire to put such pro- visions in the Constitution as will save trouble in the future. and at the same time guard against Returning Board, which would have power to contest the election as to its fairness. or for any. thing antecedent to the result as de. clared, and still leave the Board power to deal with fraudulent changes in the returns.
 Mir. Oates-I would like to ask the delegate from Montgomery c question. This proposition is not broad enough, as I understand from your statement, for the Convention to investigate any thing except that pertaining to the re- turns; in other words, that nothing outside, in the election itself. could be investigated by the Joint Convention under this Section?
 MT. Jones (Montgomery)-Cert For example if the returns from Mont Romery County showed that WilIia m C. Oates had received 5000 votes. and some member got up and said That Is a mistake, the returns as declared by the Board Of Supervisors showed that he had 7,500 Votes," under the Sec tion the Joint Convention could ascer- tain what was declared by the Board of Supervisors of Montgomery County. By that they would be bound. But they would not be bound, as the gen. tleman from Sumter desires, to count the figures sent up, if they contra dicted the figures below.
 Mir. Burns-Will the distinguished gentleman allow me to worry him with a question?
 Mr. Jones-I will in a minute, just as soon as I iinish answering the iil- quiry just propounded by the gentleman YHom Montgomery.
 Here Is the language to which wish to call attention: The Joint ConVen- tion shall have no power 10 question the returns as to any other matters or in any other respect" The article clearly defines what they are to do. Is there an error in the figures? If 1t is claimed there is, the Convention hay right to inauire into that, and sec if the figures returned to them are or are not differ nnf from fhose announced in the county