The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-22

OttCF atfOU.
 Being oYerruled on his plea that circuit court had no Jurisdiction 1T the case, Attorney Black made hts third consecutive motion during ths hearing in which he moved dismissal of the charges on. the grounds that they were frivolous and set up nc facts iustifying impeachment. The biggest bombsheII in the
 motion of aTr. Black was his com
 tentlon that commissioners can
 not he impeached for offenses
 committed before he took oath
 of office. Assistant Solicitor
 John II. Mccoy and George IL. Carter prosecuting the cane were
 forced to ndmit this point which
 automatically struck from con sidcration charges of making
 pre-ciection promises. Neither
 Solicitor Joseph R. Tate or
 Horace c. Wilkinson were in the
 courtroom.
 Attorney Black then turned the guns of his attack on the courts In the impeachment proceedings which charged the commissioners with fall iure to discharge George Moore and Jim Hughes who. as municipal em- ployes were accused of accepting bribes in office
 He upset these counts by reading from the five commissioner act to show that the employment and dis charge of a municipal employe is in tho hands of the commission as a whole and that an individual com missioner could not be impeached for neglect o fduty in this connection. k. Lanchins into n verbal bnrrnge
 against the whole proceedings
 instituted against the commis-
 sfoncrs he declared that the
 charges were mo more than n
 mass of words. manifestfng n
 feeling of disappointment and
 revenge on the part of the grand
 jury by reason Of their failure to discover any evidence re- fIecting upon the defendants.v
 Constitutional grounds for i'm peachment as enumerated in the basic law, according to Attorney Black. are wilful neglect # duty, cor. ,ruption in office. intemperance in the use of intoxicating liquors or any offense while in office involving moral turpitude. The term while in office sounded the death kneil of the charges of election promises so far as impeachment pro lceedings are concerned.
 ..If every word in the charges
 were susfaincd.o said Mir. Black,
 ..the state could not even then sustain m impeachment against
 these commissioners. The whole 1 thing originated with disgrunt- | led officer seekers and fs n pros f s.- f-r ftf
 this county" Judge Heflin him 1 self stated that all the charges
 if proven were not sufficient for impeachment. ] Solicitor Mccoy In rebuttai admit l ted that the charges of making pre- election promises were without tn' lpale of consideration but declared that President McLendon had beer { guilty of neglect of duty in not call ling the commission together to con slider the charges against Moore ant 1 Hughes He thought that the cast ought to be tried before a jury to de ltermine the guilt or innocence of ths commissioners
 In reply Hugo Black stated tha l TO charges were contained in tn rroceedings that President McI,endsi 1, had failed in hls duty in calling ;h i commission together and that 5url an accusa tion could not, therefore. b considered. In fact. he declared. th commission had been called togethe to take up the charges against Moor and Hughes. and found them uns'ib stantiated.
 Judge Hefiin interposed that l he was satisfied that the evi-
 deace was not sufficient to war | t.x.lss stsa ysurt n 1 point as to whether the motion
 submitted Ky Hugo Black was in l the right form or whether the
 dismissai should not he made on
 tCoutinued on page twol