The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-08-30

becomesa reality some day. They did
 not want to give "aid and comfort
 to suffragists, as they expressed it at
 the time. Efforts to make the bills
 special orders during the closing days
 of the session failed and the bills died
 on the calendar of the house, where
 they were placed soon after they were
 offered.
 Several other states enacted enabling legislation in advance and thus relieved themselves of the necessity for another session. This was true of Mississippi
 whose legislature saw that the rati- fication of the amendment was inevi-
 table.
 Estimates are that a ten-day session
 of the Alabama legislature will cost not less than $25 000 If the lawmakers should come to Montgomery and remain
 the thirty days mentioned in the con
 stitution, the cost would be above
 $100,0 900. The expenses of session
 of the legislature become proportion ately greater as the days go by. Bills
 may be carried through the first pro
 cesses at little expenses, but when they
 reach the final stages and are ready
 to be enacted into laws the cost or
 watching them, seeing that each step
 is taken at the proper time and finally
 of doing the manual labor necessary in
 preparing them for the permanent ar
 chives of the state is great.
 Governor Kilby is hopeful that the
 legislature will remain in Montgomery
 only a few days. He believes it should
 complete it's work in five or six legis-
 lative days and that no measures
 should be considered which are not ab-
 solutely necessary for the welfare of
 the state at this time.
 Alabama can ill afford to have of s1 Q with the attendant expense of s100,000 and the uncertainty in business which all ways comes with the legislature" said Governor Kilby Saturday Since announced that an extra session could not be avoided I have received state ments from a large number of citi- zens assuring me of their support or my appeal for a short session. All citi- zens seem to realize this. Is no time to spend money unnecessarily or to con tinue for long anything which Is dis turbing element in business" Governor Kilby has made it clear that his prime motive for calling the legislature into session was not the
 mere conferring of the franchise on
 women. He has been in favor of wom- an suffrage, but he did not believe and i does not now believe the women of this state would insist upon the exercise of this new privilege at thlS tme at an expense of $25,0O0 or more when vote In a general election in Alabama | means nothing more than the approval l of something already done by the dem 1 ocratic primary months before. Some persons do not understand ] what effect the failure of this state to act might have on the result of the na- i tional election" said Governor Kilby. Tt must be remembered that the elec- | tions for President and members of Con- gress are subject to federal laws and 1 the regulations in all states must be uniform. Woman suffrage Is now a part of the federal constitutions; in l other words. a federal law. Suppose Alabama should fail to grant them this privilege.
 Each house of Congress is the sole l judge of the qualifications of it's mem 1 bers. It wolud be within the power of republican House or Senate to hold that Alabama's election Is Illegal and that this state would be depi ived of it's representation in Congress. It would also be possible to hold that 1 Alabama had forfeited it's right to participate in the electoral college It is recalled that California's vote elected Woodrow Wilson four years ago. The loss of Alabama's vote might defeat James M. Cox this year. This is the main reason for calling a special ses- sion al this time.