The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-08

| Convention to observe the danger of | the proposed power to municipalities. l | cited to them (and there are gentlemen familiar with the facts of the case cit l ed to them) the hardships to whlcn l citizens of various towns had been sub | jected by reason of the exercise or the power vested. or supposed to De vest | ed, in municipalities to assess against l abutting property owners either the whole or a part of the cost of such Inn | provements. l was met at that time, mainly from the great city of Birming- l ham, with the remarkable statement that the citizens of that great town, | unlike those who reside in any other portion of the State of Alabama or in | the world for that matter. clanlored at | the doors of the City Council or Board | of Aldermen of the city of Birmingham | for permission to be taxed. It was said they desired to pay the cost. and the | whole cost, of sewers and the pavement of their streets and sidewalks. I said | then, and I say now, that Birmingham
 was a paradox, but my views, and | dare say the views of the representa-
 tives of Jefferson, have changed some | what on that subject as to the actual
 state of facts that exist in Birming- ham. There has been presented to this | Convention, since the time when the | Committee on Taxation made its re- port two long petitions signed by the citizens of Birmingham and the own | CTS of large amount Of realty there, | one petition stating that the signers | owned a million and a half dollars of
 real estate, protesting against the | granting of any such unlimited power. | There was another petition signed by
 certain men protesting against the un- z ( s@,. tv,nv aA faf
 debt by municipalities. and it Is sin
 gular thing. MT. President and gentle
 men of this Convention. that one of the
 main cases in the Supreme Court re- | ports of this State wherein the validity | of such assessments was brought in | question, came from the city of Bir- | mingham. I allude to the case of Klein
 against the city of Birmingham. Now
 the question, though outside of all
 those matters is the justice and equity | of the matter. l can state to this | Convention without fear Of successful
 contradiction, that under the rule now | obtaining in the city of Montgomery,
 where one-half of the costs of paving | the streets in some instances. and
 where the entire amount of laying the
 sidewalks. is charged against the abut-
 ting property owner. that it has result l ed in ruin to many citizens: that men | have been deprived of their homes and | if they have not been deprived of their l homes. they have had them saddled l with debts they can never meet, and all
 for what purpose? So that other peo-
 pie in the city of Montgomery or in
 other municipalities similarly situated 1 in this State might have good streets | to walk on. and the municipal officers
 might be able to brag to succeeding
 generations of what they had done.
 I stated that absolutely the only just
 basis for any such taxation as this.
 and I will challenge any honest man
 from an honest mind to deny it. is that
 the assessment agains the a5utting
 property owner should be limited to the | actual benefits his property derives | from such assessment. and that all | above that was conf1scation of the | property of a private individual for
 the benefit of the public without any | just compensation to him whatever I l said that that was the rule approved
 of in the text books and that was the
 rule approved of by the Supreme Court | of Alabama in the case I just alluded
 to of Klein against the city of Bir-
 mingham. because the decision in that
 case upheld the validity of assessments
 which were questioned there on the
 
 of Birmingham provided that such as
 easements should be based upon bene- | fits to the property owners.
 MT. Boone-What did the court say | in the case from Montgomery of Bird
 song against the City Council?
 MT. Macdonald-They said exactly
 the same thing. I happened to
 be of counsel in that case.
 and know what they said They said
 that the charter of Montgomery. in
 that it pre6icated such assessments
 upon the benefit to property owners
 was not susceptible to the attack I
 made upon it. and they based their
 whole decision upon the use of the
 word "benefited" in that section of the
 charter to which they referred. and | an inspection of the case will show I
 am entirely correct.
 MT. Graham (Montgomery)-I under
 stood the gentleman to say few mo-
 ments ago that people had been ruined. | Mir. Macdonald-Yes. sir.
 | Mir. Graham-Name a solitary one
 whose property has heen conf1scated. Mir. Macdonald-I will give the gen
 tleman the information privately. but
 before this Convention I decline to | expose the poverty and ruin of any man.
 Now I say that is the rule established
 by the Supreme Court of the United l States. That is the rule laid down in
 Dillon on corporations. and that is the only rule that addresses itself to the sense of justice of any man. Because | people want fine streets, 'tasselated pavements." as my colleague from Montgomery, Mir. Sanford said be- | cause they want sidewalks that suit the eye of the aesthetic why should a cit
 izen be compelled to contribute more
 than his share of the public burden? l Where is the difference? When you | say to a man that you have got to pay something more than you receive ben l eft for; that l am going to take out of your pocket money for which you have | received no consideration whatever. what is The difference between that and absolute robbery under the forms of law?
 Now. what do I ask in the amend ment I suggest? Do l ask anything more than common justice? 1 had | hoped that this amendment would have been received by those who are on the other side of the question, and was | led by certain remarks made to sup | pose it would be received but it seems | it is going to be resisted now, and | appeal 10 every man in this COnven- 1 tion to stand by me in a matter, the | absolute justice of which, in my Opin-
 ion. as an abstract matter. will not be | denied upon the floor of the Conven- tion Sophistry may intervene, elo- quence may set Its charms upon the | Convention, but let every man consider I,s,