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OP-ED ARTICLES
The following Op-ed articles were provided by Professor Harvey Jackson and former Governor Albert Brewer and sent to rural weekly newspapers. They are reprinted here for Web viewers to read.
Why A New State Constitution
By Former Governor Albert Brewer
| The state shall not engage in works of internal improvements . . . |
|
Article IV, Sec. 93
|
Did you know that the Constitutional of Alabama prohibits the state from building roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, docks, parks or other public facilities? All of these are "public improvements" and are expressly prohibited by Section 93 of the 1901 Constitution. Why was this section included in our constitution? Section 93 was brought forward from the 1875 Constitution which was adopted to "redeem" the state from reconstruction and to address the desperate economic conditions that existed then. Also, remember that in 1901 there were no automobiles, roads were unpaved, transportation was either by train or horse and buggy and there was little interest in public improvements.
The restrictions of these provisions led to a host of constitutional amendments to allow the state to build roads, and bridges; to authorize the state docks at Mobile; to build hospitals and treatment centers; to construct buildings at colleges, universities and public schools; to develop inland docks; to construct a system of state parks; to support public libraries and to provide economic development incentives. Over the years, literally hundreds of amendments have been adopted so as to allow the state to engage in these important public improvement projects.
Simply stated, the 1901 Constitution was inadequate to deal with the realities of the 20th century not to mention our world of 2008. Its prohibitions were so narrow and restrictive that state and local governments could not meet the needs of the state. Of the over 800 amendments, almost half were adopted to relieve the restrictions of Section 93.
The effect of the restrictions of the 1901 Constitution were dramatically illustrated when Mercedes Benz made its decision to locate a manufacturing facility in Tuscaloosa County. An important factor in its decision were commitments to incentives made by state leaders. Imagine their chagrin when they discovered that constitutional issues about the validity of the commitments existed because of the restrictions of Section 93. Fortunately these concerns were satisfactorily resolved, but the situation points up the lurking pitfalls in this obsolete document.
Advocates of constitutional reform usually make their case with references to the desirability of "home rule", the disgusting racist language of the 1901 Constitution, its inordinate length, or its archaic language and provisions. In a very real way the provisions restricting the ability of state government to address problems and take advantage of opportunities may be the most compelling reason for a new constitution for Alabama.
The greatest Alabamians of them all
By Professor Harvey H. Jackson, Jacksonville State University
In
a state where press and pundits take delight in pointing out the shortcomings
of our leaders, it is good to recall politicians who not only lived
up to the expectations of those who elected them but who fashioned for
our state a system of government that did just what they wanted it to
do - and continues to do so even today.
I am writing
about the men (and they were all men) who in 1901 wrote for us a constitution
and stole an election to make it the law of the land. Give credit where
credit is due. They made us what we are today.
The men
who sat down to draw up a constitution back in 1901 had some very specific
goals in mind.
These spokesmen
for property and privilege - plantation and industrial interests mostly
-- wanted to take the vote away from the less-affluent. This they did
with residency requirements, property qualifications, literacy tests,
poll taxes and such.
Then, to
further solidify their hold on the state, they wrote the document so
that everything of any consequence - especially taxes - would have to
go through the legislature, which those writing the document (and their
descendents) would control.
And why
all this anti-democratic centralization?
To keep
power in the hands of the propertied classes.
And why
did the propertied classes want power?
So they
could keep taxes low (especially on property) and keep anyone from challenging
them - especially the less affluent.
So the constitution
financially starved the institutions that might have helped the poor
get ahead - education, health care, and such. The authors knew that
if the poor got these things then they might become the middle class
and the middle class might decide to throw the elites out of office
and rewrite the constitution.
And guess
what?
It worked.
Today our
schools and social services are under funded (though propertied descendents
of those who wrote the constitution will say they are not).
Today much
of the progress we have made has been accomplished with federal dollars
(which propertied descendents of those who wrote the constitution will
say is the way it should be. This keeps them from paying their fair
share of the costs of running a state that is run to their advantage.)
Today the
tax burden falls on the poor and middle class (which propertied descendents
of those who wrote the constitution say is where it should fall because
there are more of them.)
In short,
Alabama today is what the folks who wrote the constitution wanted it
to be. Unless the well-to-do are incompetent, stupid, or horribly unlucky
they will remain well-to-do and will pay only a small portion of their
constitutionally protected wealth to improve the lot of the less affluent.
Meanwhile the less affluent, unless they are extremely competent, very
bright, or really lucky, will stay at the bottom of the economic pyramid
as will their children after them.
For this
we can thank the authors of the Constitution of 1901. This is what they
wanted and they got it!
Harvey H. Jackson
Jacksonville State University