The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-02

aIeaoy donc is clear and advise that a niIl be passed relieving them out of the State Treasury for this work. The amount to which each Assessor Is enti- tied can be easily ascertained from the, Auditors books.
 You will be called upon to pass A bill to prevent confusion in certain County omces growing out of the dates of cleo ton fixed In the Constitution and the date at which the officer now begins his term. under the statutes. The offices re- ferred to are those of Assessor Collector and County Superintendent. The terms of these officers should begin about Sep tember 1 and under the new Constitution they could not be elected until November. The necessity for a change in order to avoid the confusion growing out of the change of date for State elections is urgent. Schools otherwise cannot be properly handed and the assessment and collection of taxes would be made prac- tically impossible at least one year in four.
 Concerning Lynchings.
 There has only been one murder com mitted in this State in the past wear at the ha hds of a mob. This is the States best record in many years. The victim was taken by violence after a brave sher- ih had been shot down. The murderers
 
 State have been law-abiding for the most part and at times patient and iong-suf- fer!ng. Our Northern end Eastern crit ics of this particular phase of crime, have been forced to observe conditions nearer home. We have reason to believe that after a while the more thoughtful of them finding their own and their neigh bors' homes invaded, will see that this section has borne a burden the full meas rI rf vxy6t tot, hAx hoI MAI hAn to appreciate. We may anticipate a day when lynching will be considered by even the Northern men as no longer Southern diversion. Whatever may be the fashion in other parts of this country. in this State we desire to be law-abiding and in order that there may be less excuse for violence. the Governor should be given the power to order a special term of court to try fragrant offender. He has no authority to order a special term. The Supernumerary Judge can only hold a regular term of court. The laws de- lay is responsible for much lack of rev. erence for its processes. speedy trial below and a speedy hearing by the high- CT bench would do much to destroy a taste for lynching in Alabama. The duty is upon you to make provisions for trials free from unnecessary delays.
 Writes on Peonage.
 In at least one locality in Alabama sev- eral farmers have been working men and women under guard without legal author ity to do so. One or more of these off, lenders have been sinners for a dozen years They have acted without the shadow of a right and have been plain violators of the State laws. The offense has been notorious in the community and these criminals should have. long since, been inmates of the penitentiary. That good people surrounding them allowed persistence in this evil doing has focused on the whole State the attention Of male volent critics. These several farmer contractors had helpers in complaisant Justices and Constables. The latter were more guilty than the principals. They basely betrayed a solemn trust. In Geor- gia several like persons were found guilty and sentenced without creating furor, but our few and shining rascals have caught the public eye.
 We have somehow secured the attention of the world and columns of abuse from people no better than our own have filled the public prints. By some means other matters of grave import were for gotten, and Alabama's sins. with their center in a single county, have held the almost undivided attention of the whole country. The secrets of the grand jury were, on the morrow, occupying large space under brilliant headlines in the Eastern newspapers. and the gaping null titudes read everywhere on the sensation al bulletin boards of slavery in Alabama A malignant press sent its agents to en- large upon our sins. They printed the transformation broadcast. enlarged upon the facts they did get and contributed to the general misconception of the whole story in the public mind. l am afraid there has been absorbed the impression OtafA fa good people. And yet we know that no respectable citizen has any sympathy with these criminals. and that citizens without a great deal of responsibility are as outraged as their moral natures will allow
 Each of you gentlemen must be de- lighted to know that several. at least, of the eighteen sinners indicted by the United States grand jury will suffer some sort of a penalty for their grave crimes. though you doubtless would have pre- ferred that it had been done in your own courts and with less furious acclaim.
 As to State Courts.
 This leads me to say that If our State laws do not properly provide for the pun ishment of any possible crime, it Is your duty to supply the omission and, If you should find that our courts have been inefficient hasten to inquire into the
 
 desire, as it must be the desire of every patriotic son of the State, to meet here and within our own borders every pos sible demand of the strong or the feeble. the rich or the poor. for justice and that without procrastination or delay.
 The humble are the most sorely in need of the help which the law and the courts should be strong enough to furnish and am unwilling to believe that in any local- ity the patriotic and brave are so weak as to suffer the cruel and cowardly, for any period, to interfere with the life, lib- erty or pursuit of happiness. of Its humb- lest and poorest and it's most defenseless nhabitant.
 Your own courts should be sufficient for the punishment of all offenses within their jurisdiction, and our people. Ala bamians. should in every precinct, be brave enough, and true enough to rise in their strength, and declare with irre- pressible force that the laws should be omnipotent. and they shall be supreme.
 Justices of the Peace.
 Wherever. on a plain showing, I find a Notary Public or ex-Officio Justice of the Peace plainly violating the law or transcending his authority under 1t, will promptly remove him. l have no power to remove justices other than these You may determine in your wis., dom to abridge the powers granted to the inferior courts, or, when the Consti- tuition allows 1t. substitute other ofhcers on salaries for the fee-paid one, the fee system being the mother oi many or our most serious evils.
 Tn conclusion. allow me to hope that vour stay will not be unpleasant. while SirnoSas to think won will not be too busy