The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-07

q
 is wonderful how men who are friends
 to agricultural schools are here calling for the previous question no doubt be- cause they are permanently estab- lished by the Constitution in their own town. This Is a proposition gentle men of the Convention that has been here before. and 1t is a proposition that was voted down by this Convention, and 1t is a proposition that should be voted down again. Why rather than have 10 cents a ton you had better have | nothing, and rather than to perma- nently pay for agricultural schools, out of the general funds of the State, if that is the proposition, We had better abolish them. Now there could be no good, reason why we should be called upon to reduce the tax 40 cents, from 50 cents a ton down to 10 cents a ton. MT. Rogers-will the gentleman per- l init a question? thought the next thing was the substitute offered by the gentleman from Marion.
 Mir. Long CWalker)-That has besn | voted down and is on the table. Now
 :hen, what would be the effect. Why the distinguished Committee on Tax l ation reduced taxes here to 65 cents on the $100, three mills of that Is asked for by the Committee for educational purposes. One mill goes to the Confed- crate soldiers of the State. That leaves only two and a half mills, and yet we are required to reduce this tax to 10 cents by that resolution, and to sup- port these schools out If the general | funds of the State. The State Of Ala bama Is not ready for that. We will not be able to do it, for one voted to reduce taxation. but tie Ininu:e you pass that, I am one who Is ready 70 vote to put lit back to 75 cents on the $100 Now this is a legislative matter pure and simple. It has no place in our Constitution. The Legislature can reduce taxes on guano or 1t can raise 1t. It can place 1t to dollar ton, | to 25 cents a ton, to ten cents ton,
 or 1t can take 1t all off. That being true why then are we asked to pass this amendment. Ii Is a compromise
 pure and simple and a compromise that I see. Friends here of the agricultural schools are advocating 1t, because these schools are permanently placed in the Constitution. They are not permanent
 now. The Legislature can abolish ev-
 cry one of them. The Legislature can
 take them away, and can take away
 every cent of the guano tax. Why.
 MT. President, there can be no req
 son why other counties should not some
 day be allowed to have agricultural
 schools in their borders. or at least
 have a chance to have 1t, but when
 you establish agricultural schools in
 the Constitution, l plead to the dele-
 gates upon this floor not to load this
 Constitution down with such legislative
 enactments. Remember what you are
 doing, and remember that if once it is
 placed in there you cannot get it out.
 l am glad to see delegates around me
 that voted for the amendment to take
 the tax off, every bit of it; they will
 not vote for a miserable substitute and
 compromise like this. What is i;,
 10 cents a ton? Why not take 1t off
 entirely and establish agricultural
 schools in the Constitution? Mir. Pres
 ident, you may put on a tax of 10 cents
 a ton and tell you it will not amount
 to enough to support the agricultural
 schools in this State. It will take
 away from Auburn it's just deserts. It
 will take away from the other agricul- tural schools their just deserts and the
 State of Alabama under a 65 cent tax
 rate Is not able to sustain them and
 give them the encouragement they should have.
 Now the 50 cents a ton tax OH guano as has been stated here and 1 state 1t,
 and defy successful contradiction, as the man who has been in the guano
 business for twenty years, is paid by
 the manufacturer. ond you will find every manufacturer In favor of taking it off, andif they did not have 1t to pay
 they would want 1t off. You can take
 1t off and there Is no farmer in Ala
 bama next year who could buy guano one penny cheaper, and you simply take
 that much and put 1t in the pocket of the manufacturer. l admit if you had tax of five or ten dollars, 1t would raise the price of guano, but 50 cents
 is too insignificant a sum compared with the benefit to the farmer He buys second hand through the mer- chant. If the manufacturer takes it off the merchant would not do it. In South Carolina they have cent tax on 1t, and Is guano selling cheaper there? Not a penny. Does 1t sell any cheaper in Georgia than Alabama? Not one penny. I have seen Georgia manufacturers turn down goods, the same standard and class of goods, at the price furnished by fertilizer com panieS elsewhere. In the State of Ala bama, that would not reduce the cost one penny, and yet we are called on to place 1t permanently in the Consti- tuition at 10 cents a ton. 1 would thousand times rather wipe it out en- tlrely. It is a much more honorable proposition. There Is no good reason to be given for 1t and hope this Con vention will think well what you are doing.
 You have no right, and We did not come here to legislate upon guano; we did not come here to place it at 10 cents a ton. That Is a legislative act. and what you leave out of this Consti- tuition you leave with the people of Alabama. What you put in 1t is but shackle upon the liberties of the peo- pie of Alabama. And you leave it out of there and you make the Constitution stronger in every county. What right has Limestone County with an agri- cultural school permanently fixed in the Constitution, above any other coun- ty in the State? What superior right have these other counties in this State, nine in number? It has been claimed upon this floor that agricultural schools are farce. l am not here to defend them but 1 was written the other day from one of them in the county of Marion, in the Sixth Agricultural Dis trict, that l have the honor to repre- sent as one of the delegates on this floor, that out of 225 people enrolled, every one, with the exception of four were sons of farmers actually engaged as farmers in this State. Do you wish to put them at the mercy of a State that you compromise by reducing tax ation? Alabama has as much to care for as she can care for under a 65 cent tax rate. Put 1t in there and you will see that one or two things will happen. Xour aprir1ltural u,III h,,