The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-08
HOUSTON IS NEW COUNTY House Bill Passed by the
 Senate.
 DAY OF WORDY WARFARE Senator Screws Made Great Speech EulOgizing Semrnes General Appropriations Bill Passed as Was Nesmith Poll Tax Meas
 ure-Colloquy Over Refer
 ence of .osteopathy Bill.
DAY OF WORDY WARFARE

The House measure creating a new 1 County to be known as Houston county | was passed by the Senate yesterday | The Senate ir lged itself to the hliiiss ' l in one of its Ie ate privileges-that oI | talking. 1t was s -dy of words ana Woroy | conflict, decidedly entertaining al tinres' lri | but on the whole not very profltable The | on the whole not very profitable The l Senate engine had been running quietly and orderly for several days ana tne Senators probably thought the lnduisence of a little by-play and pyrotechnlcs would be permissible. Early in the morning the engine blew out US SOIL plug and things went merriiy untl the l end of the session.
 Something, however, was done. There were moments when the Senate did not quite resemble section of pandemonium, 1 lucid intervals when there was sufnclent recovery of dignity for the transaction of business. and as a result one measure of importance and two others not so lm- portant were disposed of. The general appropriation bill, with one amendment killed and another adopted, was passed, together with the House bill creating new County to be called Houston, and Senator NeSmith's bill regulating the collection of poll taxes.
 Screws Eulogized Semmes. Another feature of the session, apart rom the riotous order of things that gen erally prevailed, and deserving of special mention, was the speech of Senator Screws of Montgomery on the amend- ment to change the name of the pro- posed now County from Houston to Semmes. This was masterpiece of elo- Quence, and the Senator was warmly con graduated by all who heard him. It Is seldom that such flow of beautiful and appropriate language is heard in legis- | lstive assemblies or elsewhere. His ora tion paid generous tribute to Houston but pictured Semmes. the naval hero, in gorgeous colors, colors that would adorn | the classics.
 The session was opened with prayer by | Rev. W. M. Crawford. pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Twenty mine Senators answered to roll call.
 Senators Harrison of Lee, and Bullock l of Franklin, who are i'll, were granted | leaves of absence. as was also Senator | Stone of Cherokee.
 Three new corporation bills were intro | duced by Senator Hall of Baldwin. These authorize meetings of stockholders and | boards of directors of corporations to be held outside the State authorize corpo- rations to do business within and outside | the State, and establish a tax upon cor porate proceedings.
 Some New Bills. Other bills introduced were: One by | Senator Thomas of Barbour, to regulate | the practice of pharmacy in the State; one | by Senator Morrow of Jefferson, to au- | | ficers to deposit public funds in approved | banks and with trust companies, and one by Senator Hall to prevent frauds upon travellers and upon railroad com 1 panies and other transportation lines.
 The standing committees reported fa- vorably eleven bills, which were sent to | the calendar.
 The special order for the morning was House bill 237. the general appropriation hill. A rather protracted discussion en- sued with reference to the section of the bill relating to the salaries of the solic- itors of the several judicial circuits of the State. The bill stipulates that the | salary of the solicitors shall be g.. 400 per annum. together with a per centage of fees not to exceed $500. The Constitution provides that the solicitors shall be paid a stated salary, and in accordance with this, Senator Dunn of Clarke submitted an amendment cutting out the clause re- ferring to the payment of fees.
 Fees of Solicitors.
 Senator Powell of Butler objected to the amendment, holding that the fee clause should be retained as a means of secur- ing a better discharge of duty on the part of the solicitors.
 Senator Dunn thought the author of the amendment was not welded to it. He took the position that solicitors should not be paid commissions on their success in the work of convicting criminals
 Senator Spragins, of Madison, had sim liar views. The fee system, he said would give the solicitors a moneyed In. terest in the conviction of prisoners, and as such held 1t was objectionable.
 Senator Bostick of Jackson declared that 1t was the intent of the Constitution in stipulating that fixed salaries be paid to do away with the very thing under discussion, the giving to solicitors mon ey interest in the conviction of criminals
 Senator Lancaster of Elmore favored the amendment. He said if the salaries of the solicitors was not sufficient with out the fees these salaries should be in. creased. instead of retaining the fees as an incentive to activity on the part oi the solicitors. The amendment was adopted.
 | Trouble About Reference.
 Two House bills were then introduced one of which brought trouble. Number S4 was referred to the Committee or Finance and Taxation. The reference o1 House bill r. the osteopathy bill, to the Committee on Public Health, brought 8 protest. Senator Hogue of Perry, ex- pressed the hope that the measure would committee. and Senator Hall moved that it be referred to the Committee on Re l vision of Laws.
 An interesting and at times disorderly colloquy ensued, with Senators Hogue
 Hall, Rodgers, Goldsby, Spragins anC | Powell as the central figures.
 Senator Hall stated the reason for his l request, that since the bill had been l passed upon by d law committee Tn the House 1t would be the proper course to refer 1t to such committee in the Sen ate.
 Senator Hogue did not expressly charge any committee with being prejudiced against the osteopathy bill, but felt that there was danger.
 Other Senators indulged in pretty free speech, and the debate was nearing somt sort of climax when Senator Johnston of Tuscaloosa, humorously moved that the bill be referred to the Committee oi Constitution and Constitutional Amend ment which brought forth a laugh. La ter Senator Johnston, this time in earn est, moved that the bill be referred tc this Committee and it was so referred
 Lieutenant Governor Explains.
 In the course of the dispute there was some allusion to unfair disposition oi bills by the chairman. and at its close Lieutenant Governor Cunningham arose to question of personal privilege, say ing:
 The chair knows the opinion of nc member of the Senate on this bill anC expects to refer bills to Committees hay ing Jurisdiction thereon. The Senate however. can reverse the rulings of th' chair. The presiding officer had no voice In the adoption of the Senate rules, ant if the Senate has tied his hands the Sen ate is alone to blame"
 Senator ACree of Dale, then asked tha House bill 260, providing for the creation
 of new County out of Geneva, Dale an'
 Henry counties be brought us as specla favor. In characteristic speech he dis cuSsed the merits of the measure ant asked the support of the Senate in tn