The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-05
ARGUMENT AGAINST CEREAL BEVERAGE SOUGHT BY K|LBY
Views of pr. Crumpton and Others Were Gathered. No Blue Laws Wanted.
 Oppose Sunday Movies

cial.) Following is the text of Gov ernor Kilby's message to the spe- cial session of the legislature today, together with texts of letters which passed between the executive and other parties prior to tine call for the extraordinary session:
 Governor. Message.
 To the Legislature of Alabama.
 Gentlemen: It was only after the most careful consideration, with due regard to public opinion Rs l inter. pret 1t, that l reached the conclu- sion that the best welfare of our stato demanded that you be called together In extraordinary session. The importance of the principal mat ters designated in the proclamation calling the session will be recog- nized as full Justification for tho expense incurred by the state and the sacrifices and inconvenience to which you are subjected.
 FIRsT-ROAD IMPROVEMENT
 The immediate occasion for the session, and the first subject em- braced in the call, is the emergency created by the decision of the su- preme court of the state holding that the election on the question of the
 
 constitution. held on February 16. 1920. was not provided for in the manner prescribed by. the constitu- tion and was, therefore. void and of no effect. The result of that de- cision was to leave the state with out means for raising sufficient money with which to match funds appropriated by the United States government for the building and maintenance of highways in the state of Alabama.
 Argument addressed to you on the subject of better highways would be superfluous, and hence l recommend without further comment that you again submit to the qualified elec- tors of the state an amendment to the constitution providing for the issuance of bonds not to exceed the sum of s25,000,000 bearing interest at the rate of not exceeding per oentum per annum and providing fur ther that it shall be the duty of the legislature to levy and collect license tax on all automobiles, trucks and other motor driven ve- hicles sufficient in amount for the payment of said bonds. principal and interest, and providing further that adequate provision be made for the proper maintenance of all roads. highways and bridges constructed " in part from the proceeds of said bonds.
 Appended hereto for your informa- ton is a report of the state high way engineer. showing the operations of the highway department and the present status of the work, finished. under construction and projected. l earnestly urge that special attention be given to the matter of providing for the repair and maintenance of reads after they are built. That is the weak spot in all systems of road building which have been tried here tofore in Alabama. Money expended for the building of roads is wasted unless adequate provision is made for their upkeep.
 sECOND-POLL TAX AMENDMENT.
 On practically the same grounds as in the case of the bond amend nient election the supreme court held the election on the eS-service mems poll tax amendment to be invalid, with the result that all soldiers, sail DTS and marines embraced in the pro- posed poll tax exemption amendment are disqualified as voters or office holders unless all of their poll taxes have been paid. To make effective your expressed wish in the matter l. will be necessary for you to sub init another amendment to q vote of the qualified electors of the state.
 THIRD-PORT AMENDMENT
 At your 1919 session an amend- ment to the state constitution was proposed as follows:
 Section 93. That Section 93 of the constitution of, the state of Alabama as amended in 1908 be and the same Is hereby amended so as to read as follows. namely: Section 9S. The state shall not engage in works of inter- 0al improvement nor lend money or ftu credit to aid of such. nor shall the state be interested in any private or corporate enterprises or lend money or It's credit to any individual, as- sociation, for corporation provided that the state may under appropriate laws cause the net proceeds from the convict fund to be applied to the con- struction, repair and maintenance of public roads in the state, and the legislature may also make additional appropriations for that purpose; and provided further, that the foregoing prohibitions shall not apply to the promotion, development or opera ton of harbors or seaports within the state or it's Jurisdiction provided further, that any such work or im- provement shall always be and re- main under the management and con. trol of the state through it's state harbor commission or other govern ing agency and, provided further, that the adoption of this amendment shall not affect any other amendment to the constitution which may be adopted pursuant to any resolution ot this session of the legislature"
 Purpose Misunderstood
 The people refused to ratify the proposed amendment for the reason, fin my judgment. that it's real purpose was not understood and the benefits to accrue from it were not fully real ized by them.
 There seems to have been an in- pression abroad that the port amend ment was a measure designed for the particular and sole benefit of the city of Mobile. That such view is entire Iy erroneous is clearly shown in the following article prepared by pr. Erwin Craighead at my request:
 Alabama would be an interior state but for the fact that when its boundary was defined, the state was allowed tongue of land reaching down to the sea. In this same way Mississippi touches upon the gulf, and Pennsylvania. Indiana, and H. linois obtain outlet upon the Great .Akes. Where states could not be Drgught into direct connection with the ocean, care was taken to border them upon the great rivers so that communication might be had with the sea. Manifestly the makers ot our. union had a very decided pur- pose to portion out equally all the facilities of the waterways; and ! equally clear is it that they were fully alive to the importance of the waterways and the harbors in the promotion of the growth and pros-