Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-12-02

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| creased l am satisfied many could be
reduced without injury to the public until
| returning prosperity will enable us to
| be liberal as well as just.
| CONTEST LAW.
| I respectfully recommend that you pro-
| ceed to enact a contest law, under which
| fair decision can be had to the title
to the various state offices, with the least
possible delay and expense. 1t is OF the
| greatest Importance that no cloud should
rest upon the title of the men called T
| fill the highest executive offices in II :
| state; men chosen to these offices can T. .
| be greatly embarrassed in the dschai =
| of their duties when any consider 8 &
| number of our people honestly be- = e
them to be beneficiaries of any fra or
unfair conduct. The single aim of Ia
| law should be the ascertainmentkc = the
| honest choice of the voters with ~. re-
gard to technical defect or Irregularities
Such statute am sure can now be en-
| acted free from any influence that would
excite partisan feeling.
| ELECTION LAW.
The honest purpose of every election is
| to ascertain the will of the majority as
| to who shall fill the Offices l am pur-
| suaded that our present law multiplies
| the difficulty of many voters in register
| ing their will without any sufficient COM
pensatlon.
l suggest that the registration law be
entirely repealed, except in cities of more
| than 5000 inhabitants and in precincts
where the residence of the voter is more
or less transitory. In the country pre-
cincts the great body of the voters are
| well known to the inspectors and the dan
| ger of illegal voting is so small that 1t
| does not justify the time lost or expense
| of registration.
| The secrecy of the ballot should be pre-
served and more rigid laws enacted to
| prevent corporations or others employing
| large numbers of men from coercing the
will of their employees No greater dan
ger can threaten free government than
the corruption or coercion of voters by
those who hold temporary authority over
| them, and no laws can be too rigid in In
| flictlng just punishment upon those who
would take advantage of their author
| ity to prevent an honest expression of
| the will of the voter
The inspectors of election should rep
resent the contending parties and no
technical defect should prevent effect be-
ing given to the will of the voter. In
case of defective or insufficient returns,
the county returning boards should have
authority and be required to call before
them the precinct officers of election and
require them to so amend or correct the
returns as to make them speak the truth
and enable them to be counted.
PRIMARY ELECTIONS.
I recommend also that you enact laws
under which the various political organi-
cations in the state may hold primary
elections and secure fair nominations.
Possession of the party machinery by
| one faction too often foreordains the, re-
| suit. The only real opportunity that
| members of a political party have to
express their choice in selecting officials
is in these primaries, and the passage
of a just and fair law enabling all the
candidates to take part In choosing man.
agers for these primaries and preventing
any faction from controlling them will
do much to prevent unfair dealing ana
to secure nominations that will express
the wishes and choice of a majority of the
voters of the party. 1t is not expected
that any such law should be compulsory
until it's aid is invoked, but the enact
ment of one entirely just and fair, de-
| signed solely to secure honest results
would put those declining to avail them
| selves Of it's benefits so clearly in the
wrong that their power to defeat the will
| of the majority would be greatly curtail-
| ed.
TAXATION.
| The object of all revenue laws should
| be to take the least possible amount of
money from the people to maintain a just
| and economical government, and that
| this burden should fall Justly and fairly
| upon every citizen. That this result Is
not now obtained so far as impartial tax
| alton is concerned Is well known. 1t
| seems to be the rule that the more prop
erty man owns the more he multiplies
| devices to escape his just share of the
public burden, and in too many instances
| the assessors diminish their vigilance in
| proportion as the volume of property Of
| the tax payer increases. Our tax re-
| turns for the year 1890 showed a total
| assessed value of the real and personal
| property in the state at about $3.50, 900, 900,
| whilst the federal census for the same
| year showed total of about 1923, 600, 900.
| The same glaring differences are shown
| in the reports of the commercial agencies;
| corporations copartnerships and indi-
| viduals whose assets are rated in these
| agencies in a most gratifying way find
| them collapsing In the presence of the
| assessor. The unfairness of this state Of
| affairs is that the man of moderate
means whose property is visible and
usually consists of a house and lot or a
| small farm, can not escape and bears
| an unfair proportion of the public bur-
| den.
| If all our people were compelled to
| make fair returns of their property the
| tax rate could be largely diminished and
the amount paid by each would be small
We can scarcely hope that this will be
! done voluntarily, and must therefore de-
| wise such means as we can to secure the
best results. The great difficulty in our
way is the assessor
1 recommend that larger power be CIV
| en- to the Governor to suspend assessors
| who fail or neglect to perform their duty
and 1 suggest that specific causes for
| suspension be set out in the act, and
| chief amongst them.
l. The failure Of the assessor to list all
| the real estate in the county.
| 2. Listing occupied real estate to un-
| known owners.
| g. Failing to list solvent credits secured
+, by recorded liens.
a. Receiving assessments without put
| ting the tax payer under oath.
| 5. Receiving assessments from agents
| when the principal resides in the state
8. Sub-diyiding occupied tracts into
small parcels in the assessment. to in
crease fees.
| Many counties are divided by lines thai
| do not follow the division by sections or
! townships or even natural lines. These
| should be corrected, for 1t results In the
| escape of much land from taxation. Com
| missioners' courts should be required to
keep accurate township plats of their
counties on file.
concur in the recommendations of the
auditor that the act establishing county
boards of equalization be repealed,
and also in his recommendation
that the act Of February 1S.