The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-07
'SOLONS EXPECTED ID FULFILL MANY GOLDEN PROMISES People Looking to Legisla- tors to Make Good Planks
 in Platform
INFRINGEMENT BY
 WAY OF LAW REFORM
Certain Henderson Will Recommend Some of the Courts Be Abolished. Believed Useless State Offices
 Will Be Done Away With
By l.. S. BETTY

Fly IL. 5. BETTY
 Montgomery, June 6.-(Special.) )-Much has been said and written about re- trenchment during the past six months. Practically eevry candidate for state and county office made it the principal plank in his platform. Charles Henderson, gov ernor-elect, and Capt Reuben r. Kolb | shouted 1t from every stump in Alabama Candidates for the legislature sounded the | same battle cry.
 So persistent has been the clamor for retrenchment and economy that the peo- l pie are now expecting it. and they are looking to the next legislature to fulfill the many golden promises that have been made. To them retrenchment and econ omy are synonymous in meaning, and they care not how either or both be se- cured. They have been promised an econ- omical and efficient business administra- ton, and they are looking first to the legislature to provide the means and next to the officeholders to follow the rule laid down.
 Retrenchment in the states admlnistra- ton can reach its fullest significance in only one way and that is by abolition, the curtailment of expenditures. the lop-1 ping off of salaries. the doing away with useless offices.
 And only the legislature can do this.
 No matter what promises Mir. Hender- son has made on the subject of retrench- ment and economy, his hands Will be tied unless he receives the aid of the leg islature He cannot abolish single state office, he cannot reduce any salaries. Without the aid of the legislature he can hardly hope to bring about any better conditions than those which now obtain Under the present system he could no more relieve the state of debt than ne could perform sngle-handed the duties of all the officials at the capitol.
 Retrenchment by Way of Law Reform
 It is certain that Mir. Henderson, In ms recommendations to the legislature. will aslx that some of the courts be abolished. This will be the first scheme of retrench- ment.
 During the past eight years the ju7 dietary of the state has increased in cost something like $1Oo,00o annually. The cir cult courts have nearly doubled in num- Der, law and equity cSurts have been created, and city courts have increased almost without number. Practically every county has a court.
 Prominent lawyers who have interested themselves in judicial reform maintain that the state should do away with at least one-thrd of its courts They de-
 .1.,~ 1.. 6ictr fod in such a manner as to equallze the duties of the various judges and solicitors and further to provide mans task for the judicial officers. In this way, 1t is pointed out. there would not be the need for so many circuit judges and solicitors nor the need for the law and equity or the city courts.
 For it is we'll known that the work Of the circuit courts has been considerably frightened by the creation of the inferior courts. One solicitor in the state is said to draw $2400 per year as salary for the performance of 12 days work, the result of the creation of number or other courts In his district
 Coming down to concrete facts, it is be- lieved that s5O,OO0 annually could be saved the state by the abolition of some of the trial courts, and there is no doubt but that MT. eHnderson will ask for reform along that line. He will also ask that the legislature take steps to provide other reform in the judiciary system.
 Abolition of State Offices Another method of securing retrench- ment will be by the abolition of useless state offices. There are several depart ments at the capitol that have been of small value to the state, and by the aboli- ton of these offices, or by co-ordinating them with other departments the state could easily save thousands of dollars annually It has been suggested that the immigration department and the bureau of cotton statistics be placed under the supervision of the commissioner of agri- culture and that other offices at the cap- ftol he co-ordinated with other large de- partments
 There is hardly any ground for believ- ing that the legislation will interfere with either the game and fish department or with the prison inspection department. The first is not only self sustaining, but gives the state a fair yearly income, and the second Is needed from a humani- tarian standpoint. Neither will the legis- lature abolish the banking department, though an effort may be made to co-ordi- nate it with the auditors office How ever. it is pretty safe to assume that the banking department will be left intact. Hard Task Before Legislature
 
 But while 1t is easy to write about re- trenchment and talk economy in the states administration, 1t will be difficult to carry out such promises. As soon as the legislature takes up the question of abolishinE some of the courts of the state there will go up a howl of protest that will be heard from one end of Alabama to the other. The judges will be most vociferous in protesting against the gross injustice, and it is probable that they will have a lobby at the capitol that will be as earnest in it's efforts to defeat such leg islation as any which has gathered outside the legislative halls in many years. It Is equally certain that there will be protest over the abolishment of any of the state departments. for they offer lucrative jobs and the duties are light. Yet the legislature will be expected to provide the means of economy. will be expected to inaueurate reforms by which a system of retrenchment may be ses cured, and it is safe to say that if the next administration does not enjoy more economical and prosperous regime than the present the fault will lie at the door of the legislature.