The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-22

with the misgovernment which would follow, and the race conflicts which it wodld create, constantly threatened the state and checked its progress. White
 supremacy was maintained by methods which could only find their justifica- 1 ton in the imperious necessity of self defense and self-protection. Negro rule meant that the white man must sur lrender his home and lands or remain under conditions which were intoler- fable The white race had settled Ala
 bama and owned it's lands and hence il | was determined not to surrender to ian alien and inferior race, which had
 been brought to Alabama as slaves land which had acquired the right of suffrage only by grant from the vic 1 torious north, and as one of the re-
 suits of the war.
 Towards the close of the last cen tury. as the sectional passions engen-
 dered by the civil war had abated and ;the danger of federal interference had passed, the people of Alabama deter
 mined to reform the suffrage and make i secure by the fundamental law white
 supremacy and remove forever the dark menace of negro rule. The re-
 form of the suffrage and the elimina
 tion of the ignorant, purchasable and l unfit negro vote was the paramount Iinsue in the campaign for the calling iof q constitutional convention in 1900, land hence when the constitutional con- ventfon of 1901 assembled, the suffrage question overshadowed all other issues. This was conclusively shown by the ! fact that the constitution of 1875, which had been framed primarily to prevent the recurrence of conditions created by reconstruction, was practi- cally readopted.
 Restrictions imposed on legislative ac- ton by the constitution of 1875 were fur ther increased. The distrust of the leg lislature so clearly manifested by the framers of the constitution of 1875, in- stead of abating, seems to have grown in strength and found it's chief expression in the substitution of the quadrennial for the biennial session, and in further linn itations of legislative power and con- potency.
 The constitutional convention 1901 ad- dressed itself with vigor and intelligence to the solution of the suffrage question and the article on the suffrage secured
 a permanent reform, which withstood all attacks in the courts and which stands as a monument to the ability and states manship of it's members. Aside from the reform of the suffrage and the correction of the evils of local legislation and the power of the governor to amend bills. therefore few if any provisions of the ul loVi NhiSii Sii bS ieeoe e'i uSN as an improvement on the former state constitution The readoption practically oi the constitution of 1875 was a fundamental mistake and the numerous restrictions and limitations imposed on the powers of
 the government, were both unwise ane unnecessary and tended to hamper wig orous and efficient administration.
 The principal weakness of the present
 constitution is it's failure to concentrate responsibility and authority It mar-.- fested a profound distrust both of the executive and the legislature and as the result of this distrust weakened the pow CTS and efficiency of both the most i'm. portant departments of the state govern ment.
 The author of 'The Promise of Ameri- can Life summed up the whole argument in these terse sentences, There can be
 no efficiency without responsibility There