The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-09-22

tsntion. These are the name Of J. r.
Murree, formerly President Of the
Marion Military Institute, and the
name Of DR.. william s. wyman.--lap-
professor at. or President OF the UNI
versity of Alabama. The purity, tenn
perance and usefulness Of these men
rebukes any aspersions that may be
tentions Of this conference.
II was notified last night that I
might to called on to I'LL this i'm
portant position, and made a
few notes to which may refer dur
ing the progress OF my remarks.
Gentlemen, this Is an unusual as
sembly for another reason. We are
not here for the purpose of pecuniary
profit; we are not here to nominate
candidates for off1ce; and, I may add,
gentlemen Of the Convention. we are
not here to oppose candidates for
Office. but as I understand the call.
this meeting has only one purpose, and
for that purpose the Tuscaloosa dele
cation was selected. We are here to
consider the adoption OF an amendment
Alabama.
Shades of AL Relief.
I'm this assembly. suppose there are
men who represent all shades OF politi-
cal belief. There are men here. who
right to be here. There may be dis
pensary men here, and men who are
not In favor of the dispensary, and both
sides have Q right to be here. There
are prohibition men here. and nom
prohibition, men and the prohibition men
and the non-prohibition men each have
a right to be here. (Applause) This
Is simply a. to whether We will put a
Constitution of the State Of Alabama.
All else is not pertinent to the ques-
ton at issue. and wish to say gentle
men. that this is crucial point in the
history of the State of Alabama. Much
argument advanced as we'll as the dis
tinction and the moderation of this>as-
sembly.
are divided. Some are on one side and
some on the other. and there Is a num-
Der perhaps that have not made up their
minds on which side they will fall. To
this last class we ought to especially
/ want to say to you friends I'm all can
dor after having stadied tnis subject
for twenty-five years. We will not win
over a portion of the voters OF this
go against us, by any evil denuncia-
ton.
There may be. and perhaps are some
fanatics on the other side, but 1 want
to say to you, in all candor, that there
are some pure. good. strong. earnest
men,-good Confederate soldiers. and
good wise men on the other side. though
l think they are wrong on this subject
at this time.
His Personal View.
Now gentlemen, the prime object OF
this convention Is, as I stated, whether
we shall change our constitution.
wish to say 3ust few words, for In my
opinion 1t Is not the province or the
like this to take up too much time
in discussion. That should be left to
other men,-but. l want to state In
brief a few reasons why. In my opinion
This is an amendment. not to the
statutes of our state but to the Con-
stitution OF Alabama.
Now. the people of this country
Of this State and OF al the United
their constitutions, and this Is a great
thing in the land of patriotism, self
culture and self government for the
people to respect and love. and almost
revere, their constitution.
Constitutions. as you know, are in
tended to embrace only few points;
stating the lines upon which your
government is to be conducted. The
statement of few general PROPOSE
tions, that are approved by practically
all of the people of the state over which
the constitution is to reign.
Now then. when the constitution Is
wisely framed, 1t does not often need
amendment. / think that we have a
good constitution and that 1t ought not
to be changed without some serious
cause. (Applause.)
Now, II we change the constitution
every two or three years, men will
cease to respect 1t any more than fhey
respect statute, and 1t will be fbout
like the constitution of the Central
American States, or the South American
states, where 1t was said, a few years
ago, that the constitutions were part
of the current literature of the Central
American republics II we begin
amending the Constitution of our State
without some cause, we will cease TO
have any more respect for 1t than the
people of Nicaragua have for their con-
stitution.
Analyses Amendment.
Now gentlemen, as / said. we have
met to consider the matter of inject
ing an amendment into the Constitution
of Alabama.
can Important amendment. gentle
men--an amendment upon which q
large number of our people are not
agreed-an amendment which Is pos
sibly proposed by a large portion. and
verv large portion of the people of the
State.
believe. by some men. In their
speeches. on the other side. that all