The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-22
MANY. BILLS BEFORE II
Local Measures Have Better
 Chance Than Others.
House Will Take up School Redis- tricting Today and Senate Will Consider Encouragement of
 Judicial Circuits.

The Legislature of Alabama will meet to-day at noon with eight days remain ing for the transaction of the great mass of business before it. There are more bills to be passed, and the calendar is larger than it was when the Legislature reconvened after the summer recess. All the bills on the calendar will not be passed. The legislators generally rec osnize that fact. It would be an impos- sibilty to clear the House calendar of fifty-sfx pages within eight days. The Legislature will have to simply quit work when the clock strikes the hour of mid-. night on the final day.
 It will be nothing unusual for the Leg islature to adjourn without finishing the calendar. All Legislatures have gone away with some bilks on the calendar un- attended to- This Legislature will differ from the others in the larger number of bills left on the calendar and in the im- portance of the measures.
 325 Bills Remaining.
 The House calendar now has ffty-six pages on which are about 325 bills. A large portion of them are of a general nature. Many of these general bills will never come before the House for final passage. The law-makers will not have time to get to them.
 The local bills of importance will be
 
 in a local bill can secure it's passage with but little trouble. The night sessions of the House are given over entirely to the passage of local bills At each session from 20 to 30 local bills are passed. Any member can. with but little trouble secure the call of a fellow member and have his local bill passed.
 The general bills are what troubles the law-makers. The morning and afternoon rNF passage of general measures. The gen. eral bills demand more care in the full reading and the slow roll call. They are. moreover, likely to divide the House as to their expediency and wisdom and de- cision means discussion and-aoratory. 1t is the talking that takes up the scanty time of the House.
 Eight Special Orders.
 There are now eight special orders or the calendar. bills of general Importance and about which there is more or less division of sentiment The final consider ation of these special orders will occupy considerable time. There are many other general bills of equal importance.
 The Legislature has before 1t eight days filled to overfiowing with work.
 When the House reconvenes to-day 1t will take up for consideration as unfin- ished business, the redistricting of the schools districts or the State. The biu abolishes the arbitrary township lines as school districts, establishing in their stead school districts based on popula- tion and natural barriers. The bill places the local school officers of county in the hands of a county Board of Educa- tion which employs all the teachers in the county. .
 The Hall of Representatives and the Senate chamber were practically deserted yesterday. All the members who could do so went home to spend Sunday and Monday
 It was predicted yesterday that the Leg islature would adjourn Thursuay of next week. Others were of the opinion that two off days would be allowed next week and that the final adjournment would not take place until Saturday of next week. It is generally believed that the Legisla- ture will not run beyond the latter part of next week. No program for the final work and ad- journment has been agreed upon, but the House will probably settle the matter m a day or so.
 The Senate will this morning take up the bill rearranging the judicial circuits of the State, which has passed the House.