The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-25
South AIabamian GibeS
 Reasons FOY Velp County

there were no places that desired to form new counties, because the people of North Marengo county, South Hale and South west Perry counties have been most anx- ious for years to form themselves into a separate county; the towns in which these sections of said counties are close together and connected by railroad; the people come in almost daily contact with each other, and their interests are prac- ucally identical, and nature evidently in- tended that they should be united in one subdivision of the government; yet, un- der the provisions of the present Con- stitution they have been unable to form their new county. The people of Besse- mer and surrounding country have been anxious to form new county but they too have been unable to do so. Why this inability to form new counties by sec tions that have all the necessary qualif- cations and whose people desire to form them? Simply because the provisions of the Constitution of Alabama as 1t exists today are so stringent as to practically preclude the possibility of forming new counties, yet the makers of that Consti- tuition, by any provision at all for the forming of new counties. recognized the
 desirabilty of new counties; then why
 not amend the Constitution so as to pro- vide for the establishment of what those framers by their efforts deemed neces- sary. If a man owns factory and finds that by adding a new piece of machinery
 that will facilitate his business and i'm prove his product, does he hesitate to do
 so? Then why, if we have defects in our organic law, should they not be improved by the addition of provisions? Some of the opponents of the proposed amendment say that our present Constitution was adopted in 1901, and that it is too soon to propose amendments to it. We have new codes adopted by the legislature
 carefully prepared by the best jurists that the state possessed. every ten years; yet there have been numberless amend. ments to each code. and l vouchsafe the prophecy that if the legislature of Ala bama were to convene in regular session tomorrow, that there would be at least fifty amendments proposed to the code of Alabama that was adopted by the legis- lature of 1907, and went into effect on the 1st day of May, 1908.
 County sites, court houses and courts are established for the convenience of the people, and they should be easily access- ble to all the inhabitants, so as to enable them to attend to their business at the county site with as little trouble and de- lay as possible. The hardship does not fall on the lawyer, because that is his business; but it falls on the business man,
 the farmer. merchant and banker, who has to leave his place of business at the time he is most needed probably and at tend court at distance of twenty miles
 or more, during which time his business or crops suffer, for no matter how capa- ble help man may have, his business is best conducted when he is there to look after it himself
 As the population of the state increases. more counties become an absolute neces- sity. and 1t is to be regretted that even with the proposed amendment adopted that only three or four new counties can be formed. Area is not the only pre- requisite to the formation of new coun- ties; there is the population requirement.
 and that increases as the population Of the state increases, and the preceding federal census always governs under the proposed amendment? As an example take Covington county, which has a very large area. As stated above, it requires approximately 1s,000 people to establish a new county. Covington county, accord ing to the federal census of 1900 has only 15,346 inhabitants; there could not poss- bly, under the provisions of the proposed amendment. be one person taken from Covington county for the purpose of forming a new county now. Suppose that Covington should by the census of 1910. have increased 50 per cent in popu- lation, which would make 1t have 23.019, enough population to spare under existing ratio: but say the state of Alabama has increased to a population of 2.500,000, the lowest estimate. believe. placed on same, then the ratio would have increased