The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-23


 Section 50 was read as follows:
 Sec. 50. The legislature shall not tax the property, real or personal, of the State, counties or other municipal cor- porations, or cemeteries; nor lots in incorporated cities or towns. or within one mile of any city or town, to the
 extent of one acre, nor lots one mile or more distant from such cities or towns to the extent of five acres, with the buildings thereon, when theo same are used exclusively for religious worship, for public schools or for purposes pure ly charitable. | MT. Watts-I offer an amendment to
 Section 50: Strike out all after 'cem- eteries' in the second line"
 The President-The question is upon
 the amendment offered by the gentle man from Montgomery to Section 50. Mir Watts-The object of the amend
 ment is because in the taxation re- port, there is a provision the same as | contained in the old Constitution: | Provided this section shall not apply | to institutions or enterprises devoted exclusively to religious, educational or | charitable purposes, and the provision I propose to strike out seems to be irl- consistent with our former action, and therefore I move to strike the words out of this section. It seems to be in- l Mr. Oates-This section is reported by your Committee just as it exists in the present Constitution with one excep- Ition. The exemptions from taxation are | of certain institutions, fair grounds,
 fair associations and property used for | private schools, striken out of this
 section and otherwise reported as it
 stands in the present Constitution. | They are stricken out so that the leg islature may deal with them and sub-
 ject them to taxation as it sees proper. think. sir, this section as reported. Is right and the amendment offered by my l colleague, to strike all of the latter | part, because he thinks that 1t has been provided for in some other sec tion. I do not think is necessary. If | there should be conflict between l them, that Is reconcilable hereafter, we have a Committee to pass on such matters and I hope. therefore, that tho amendment will be voted down. move | the previous question on the section | and the amendment.
 The main question was ordered and upon vote being taken. the amend ment offered by the gentleman from l Montgomery was lost, and the section | as reported by the Committee was adopted.
 l The Secretary read Section 51 as fol- lows:
 | Sec. 51. The legislature shall, by law, | prescribe such rules and regulations as
 may be necessary to ascertain the value | of personal and real property, exempt 1 ed from sale under legal Krocess by
 this Constitution. and to secure the
 same to the claimant thereof as select | ed.
 l MT. Oates-That is the same as in
 the present Constitution. and I move
 its adoption.
 Upon a vote being taken. the section
 was adopted.
 l The Secretary read Section 52 as fol- | lows:
 Sec. 52. The State may construct and | own works of internal improvement,
 having for their object the conveyance | or transportation of passengers and | freight, but shall not sell or mortgage such improvement nor lend it's money or credit in aid of such; nor shall the l State be interested in any private or | corporate enterprise, or lend money or
 its credit to any individual. association
 or corporation.
 Mr. Handley (Randolph)-I have a substitute for this Section 52: ''The State of Alabama shall not engage in l internal improvements nor be inter- | ested in any private or corporate en- l IeTpTlSe, ilS iuOlICy VI ClCoit
 to any individual, association or cor
 poration.
 l The President-The question Is upon the adoption of the substitute offered
 by the gentleman from Randolph.
 Mir. Handley-Mr. President and gen.,
 tlemen of the Convention. l regard this
 section the most dangerous section that
 have met during this Convention.
 What do we propose to do in this sec
 tion? We propose to go into internal | improvements. and that means. sir. to
 build street railways. to construct mar
 rowgauge railways, to construct. erect
 and build standard gauge railways, steamboats, clean out rivers, navigate
 rivers, build canals. and whole lot
 of internal improvements that I think | are unWise. have been thinking over | the matter, and I do not see how this
 Constitution can afford to spend the
 peoples money by going into internal
 improvements-a subject that has been
 laid upon the table for fifty years. Now, MT. President, We have grand State, and to have section in this new Constitution to build public works, and
 to go into internal improvements, will | be a great mistake, in my opinion. We
 do not need-the State of Alabama does
 not need, to go into any business. We | have been in business a few times,
 during her existence, and we always | lost money. Now, Mir. President, sup
 pose that We go into this business and | spend the taxes collected from the l people, to build these various enter l prises in Alabama. and to have 1t in | their Constitution that will perhaps stand for twenty-five or fifty years, or
 perhaps a hundred years. Why. sir, | it would be a very dangerous enter prise for the State of Alabama to go into. 1 trust this Convention will not
 undertake this job. It is the most ob- | jectionable section that l have met dur is to collect enough money from the people to defray the expenses of this government, and 1 want to do that, and if necessary ave hundred thou | sand dollars in the treasury in case of emergency, but to collect any more money from the people of Alabama is unnecessary and undemocratic. I trust | this Convention will consider this mat 1 ter. Now. sir. we have a grand State that Is divided into three subdivisions, you might say-the lumber region, the agricultural region and the mineral re- zion. But few years ago lumber was down to five or six dollars a thou sand; today 1t is worth from nine to twelve dollars a thousand. The State is prosperous. the agricultural region is prosperous, and the mineral region is prosperous, but at no time is it necessary for this Constitution to have a section in if for the State of Alaba-