The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-24
STATE PORT AID
 MOVEMENT IS ID
 START NEXT WEEK
Mass Meeting In Mobile for Purpose of Developing Campaign to Finance
 Water Projects

At mass meeting to be held in Mobile Tuesday evening next, incident to a session of the state harbor board, the cam paign for the state port aid amendment to be voted on in November will be started.
 Formal launching of the state aid campaign will be made later on at a meeting to be called by the governor and to be held, in all probability, in the state capital.
 At the latter meeting the Alabama Waterways Association will be organ zed. This body will precipitate itself into the drive to put over the amend ment
 The waterways association is to be state wide in character. It is expected to elicit the interests of the Tennessee valley, through which the Tennessee river flows; the residents along the rombigpee, the Coosa and the Alabama rivers as well as that territory traversed by the Warrior
 This association is not only expected 10 aid In carrying the port aid amend ment. but in presenting the claims of all Alabama streams from time to time to the authorities at Washington. It is intended to be permanent organization on the watch tower of the interests of all of Alabama's waterways.
 speaking of the coming meeting at Mobile, Murray Brown, chairman of the state harbor board said:
 The board meeting scheduled for tuesday is simply for matters of rou- tine, but we expect the mass meeting following it to be the marker of the state aid campaign.
 So far, we have heard of no oppo- 'iton to the adoption of the amend nent, but we intend to conduct vigor- ous campaign just the same. The be- yinnings of that campaign will be laid at the Mobile meeting. but formal launching will not take place until the governor calls a meeting of all the states waterway interests and the state waterways association is placed on it's feet"
 THE AMENDMENT
 The constitutional amendment on which the people are to vote in Novem- Der. was enacted by the last legislature snd reads:
 Section L That Section ss of the con stitution of the state of Alabama. as amended in 1908, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read:
 Section 8. The state shall not en- gage in works of internal improvement nor lend money or it's credit in aid of such, nor shall the state be interested in any private or corporate enterprises or lend money or it's credit to any indi- vidual, association or corporation: pro af ho c. fa priate laws. cause the net proceeds from the convict fund to be applied to the construction and maintenance of public roads in the state. and the legislature nay also make additional appropriations for that purpose:
 And provided further that the fore going prohibition shall not extend to the promotion, development or operation of harbors or seaports within the state or it's Jurisdiction; provided, further, that any such work or improvement shall always be and remain under %the man agement of the state through it's state harbor commission or other governing agency.
 And provided further that the adop- ton of this amendment shall not affect any other amendment to the constitu- tion, which may be adopted pursuant to any resolution of this session of the leg islature.''
 This amendment does not appropriate any money for any port project. nor does it allow state aid to any project Money that may be appropriated and projects that may be proposed must have approval of the legislature.
 The amendment simply opens the way for successive legislatures to authorize such expenditures and plans as they may approve. after they are fully pre- sented.
 The state of Louisiana has extended over s21, OO0 of aid to the port of New Orleans, but this aid has not cost the citizens of that commonwealth a penny the earnings of the port having been more than sufficient to care for princi- pal and interest. What Louisiana has done, it is held, Alabama can do as well.
 It is probable that the amendment campaign will not be on in full force before September. but that, when it does begin, it will be enthusiastically conducted from the day of launching to the day when the votes are cast
 The state harbor board and the visi- tors attending the Mobile mass meeting will remain over for the public hearing before the district engineer to be held the next day On that occasion all river interests are invited to present data that will be compiled and forward ed to the war department at Washing ton for reference from time to time as A Alabamas waterway interests come up for government consideration.