Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-10

Cs Our towns. and cities could be classified. general laws for their government en- acted and thus save much cost to the state, Undou btedly there will be found to be some subjects o1 local concern which cannot be regulated by general laws, and these must be provided for, but no one doubts that our present con- stitution, as it has been construed. can be vastly improved in this matter. Some of our. sister states have likewise felt the evil and have refnedied 1t.
 OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM.
 This is a subject which addresses itself more peculiarly to lawyers, yet it is not without interest to all. As an illustration Of the fact that our state has outgrown the constitution, reference may be made to the fact that al present judicial cir cult cannot contain less than three coun- ties. This did well enough a long time ago, but. now fin some of our more thick ly settled counties there is enough busi- ness to require the time of more than one circuit. judge. The result is that resort must be made to.special courts to supple ment the work of the chancellors and cir cult judges, thus imposing upon the larg- CT counties the burden of not only con- tributing their share to the expense of maintaing the general system of circuit courts, but also of maintaining these special courts out of the county treasury, manifesteinjustice to the larger coun- ties. Understand, make no attack upon these courts. They are now necessary, are presided over by. able and faithful men. whose services would no doubt be. required in any system of judicial admin istration that might be devised. Fur thermore, we maintain. the division be- tween courts of law and courts of equity, which has been abolished in most of the American states where codes of civil procedure have been adopted. which no longer continue the technical forms of action, but give relief in a simple man.. ner. as the right may appear, after the parties have made a plain statement of their respective contentious and have ad- duced their proofs. It is difficult for the lay. mind. to understand why a man should be repelled from the temple of Justice-simpfy because he has entered by the wrong door, or why one court should be bound. by its rules to give judgment for one of4 the parties, while another court, having different rules of procedure, may annul the judgment at the instance of the other party by enjoining its en- forcement. In this day of rapid move ment and of business enterprise we need system of courts and procedure where by, with an early opportunity for trial, and short intervals between contnu- ances, justice may be administered with out delay, which is often as injurious as. it's denial .In view of the experience of other states, o'which resort may be had no one doubts that our present system could be greatly improved. f,.@,
 7'it.i @ 2, TAXATION. lo.f5
 Reference has already been made in general terms. to the restrictions the con stitution contains upon the power of tax atioh By it's terms, all taxes must be assessed in proportion to value; for state, purposes the general assembly shall not levy any one year a greater rate of taxa ton than three-fourths of 1 per cent; no county shall levy larger rate than one half of 1 per centunhi with power, how ever, to levy special taxes for bridges and public buildings; and municipal corpora tiofis shall not. levy nor collect larger rate than ,one-half of 1 per cent. of the value of property as assessed for state taxation the preceding year. Mobile, be- ingin 1875 a city of, some prominence, Sc cured more liberal powers. No complaint has been heard as to the insuff1ciency of the general rate allowed to the state and county; but 1t has developed that our larger towns and cities cannot maintain themseives decently with the rate ai- lowed We all know that assessments for state. and county taxes are not made atsfuil figure and this low rate of valua- tiop must be followed by the municipali- ties. As result of insufficient revenues, money has been borrowed by the sale of bonds to make necessary improvements and to erect schools and city buildings.
  surance of ability-to pay interest can be given. Indeedt many of our towns and cities have found themselves unable to meet, their interest Even great Birming- ham found 1t necessary, last year, to send commission to interview its bondhold- CTS and to ask for an extension as to one half of it's accruing interest. In this way the public credit of our municipaii- ties has received a severe blow. which has likewise affected the credit of our people generally in the money markets. know this question of taxation is del icate one and opposition of some to an other constitution will be inspired by desire to retain the present low tax rate yet I believe every right-thinking person will be willing to pay his part of what may be necessary to maintain his city according to the position and sta tion which he wishes her to occupy, just as cheerfully as he makes his family ex- penses conform to his standing in so- ciety We have happy illustration of this in. this city, At the last session of the general assembly, an act was passed by which the county collector exacts,a a special tax from property owners of the city for the benefit of the public schools. do not say it is or is not constitutional. but many attorneys believe it Is Invalid and have so advised their clients, some of them being our largest corporations, and yet no one has contested the law.
  which do them credit as citizens and lovers of Birmingham. The constitu- ton also provides that 'no power to levy taxes shall be delegated to individuals or private corporations This was held in Schultz vs.- Eberly, S2 Ala, PAP, to deny to the legislature the power to vest in school districts the right of local taxation for school purposes. which would seem to be essential to the maintenance of thorough common school system.
 Several years ago the commercial club Of Birmingham sought to secure en- couragement to cotton manufacturing by advocating the law to exempt for period such capital as might be invested in 1t. It was argued thatsthis could not be con- stitutienaliy done, and while some thought otherwise the former view pre- vailed, and nothing along this line fouid be .acoomplisheds Other states ara on ferinE such Inducements, and if we can not compete with them i'm the effort to ad- vance cur material interest, such changes as are necessary should be made tb en- able us to do so s.-.---.--..... ..s.,
 sssSUFFRAGEaAND ELECTIONS Q
 This Is a question Bordering on politics, and am admonished by a rule adopted here today--that political discussions must not be indulged. In what layu shall not offend any partisan or m9fnber kl u&~<x~x