The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-22
Fly EMMETT o'NEAL Former Governor of Alabama constitutional convention to frame a new constitution.

new constitution.
 l Thoughtful students of our institutions
 have declared that one of the most pop
 ular but ill-founded American illusions
 is that their state governments have been
 successful Americans, they assert, are i inclined to believe that these govern
 ments have on the whole served them
 well, whereas in trutht tlrey have been ill.,
 served in their machinery of local ad-
 ministration and government.
 l The weakness and inefficiency of our
 state governments have been largely ob-
 scured by the vigor and energy of the
 central government, but this weakness,
 while partially concealed, has not been redeemed by the efficiency of the fed
 eral government. That the state gov- ernments have failed to exercise in an I efficient manner many of the primary
 functions of government cannot be de-
 nied, and while we may differ as to the causes that have produced this failure, we must all agree that this failure if , permitted to continue may compromise the success of the American democratic experiment. A recent writer declared that the cause and cure of this failure con- stituted one of the most fundamental of
 American political problems.
 The indictment against the state gov ernments charge in effect that in their financial and economic legislation, the states usually have shown incompetence and frequently dishonesty, that in the.r relations to corporations they have oc- cupied the position alternately of black mailers and creatures, that they have been as ready to confiscate private prop erty as they have been to confer on it ex xcessive privileges, that their education-
 al systems, while well intentioned, have
 neither been intelligent or adapted to the
 needs of an industrial and agricultural
 democracy that their taxing systems are
 chaotic based on the old property tax
 which, under modern conditions, is both unjust and unproductive, that While the federal government has done much, the states have done little to ameliorate the condition of the American people and that the lawessness and disorder which re- fleet on our civilization can be traced to our dilatory and antiquated judicial methods and the inefficiency of the state governments in the enforcement of the criminal laws
 That many of the charges contained in this indictment are well founded, all impartial students of our state govern ments must reluctantly admit. Our state governments should represent the pest contemporary ideals and methods, but in truth they too often reflect stand ard of popular behavior decidedly below the average
 We can only judge other states by our own and we know that in Alabama re- forms have been accomplished only after continued but painfully slow efforts,
 checkmated too often by selfish special interests-that there is a profound dis trust of our legislature a distrust justi- fled by the record they Eave made in recent years-that our taxing system is
 chaotic, both unjust and unproductive,
 frequently based on false and vicious prin- ciples, lacking both in equality and uni- formity, that notwithstanding the mar velous resources of the state and our increasing wealth, industrial and agricul- tural development, our state treasury constantly faces a deficit and that con- tributing more from the general treas ury for the support of our common and high schools than any state in the union we still rank near the bottom of the list
 in the scale of illiteracy.
 1 Although we have made commendable 1 progress, we are still hampered in the l enforcement of our criminal laws by an 1 antiquated and illogical judicial method 1 and mob violence and lawlessness fre- 1 quently bring reproach on our state 1 In the larger cities of the state we | have abandoned the old aldermanic sys- l tenn and substituted the commission form 1 of government, and yet there is dissat- l isfaction and general agreement that l radical changes are necessary before we can hope to secure an efficient and ! economical system of municipal govern | ment.
 l Our larger cities are burdened with l debt and their incomes are largely in
 sufficient to justify expenditures neces- l sary to their growth and progress. l In the administrative departments or | the state, county and municipal govern | ments, there is waste, lack of efficiency l and economy, due largely to our failure to adopt improved, modern and scientific | business methods and practices. The 1 state coutnies and municipalities col l feet and dsburse millions of dollars and l yet follow business methods and prac- ] tices which would speedily wreck any i private business oration-methods and practices condemned by the exper-
 fence and habits of the business world. 1 Yet similar conditions prevail, practically
 in every state in the union.
 1 To illustrate the truth of these asser- 1 tions, it may be well to recall one or two | fragrant instances of business ineffi- l ciency prominent in the states history l The United States government in it's | munificence granted to the state upon | it's admission to the union a princely 1 estate for our elementary schools, every 1 section of the public lands numbered 16 l in every township How did we manage this sacred trust or conserve the splen-
 did endowment of virgin lands, rich in