The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-04

any e!,y 1T your county vh'sa hss s
 IF. soliis--we have not. We hays | peu to be . rural people in cur conn<ys f The President -The tina Of the - | tieman has expired. | Mir. RogeU (Sumter)-I yieia
 time to the gentleman from DAses .1 : l The PrssIdent-The gentleman oQ seem to have any time to yield. 0ens | tlemen are at liberty to yield or ncs I to interrupt. but the Chair cannot toke the interruptions out of their efs< | MT. Sollie--I shail take iesson uy "
 Xr. cnapman (sumter1-If hear4 correctly the clause now under coneso
 eration, the Chairman of the comm | tee on Municipal Corporations seye that his propoaed amendment Q e1 | exact copy of Section 2 of his rsporG Am I correct In thatT
 l Mir. weakley-Yes.
 l MT. Chapman-Then If that be tho | case, MT. Chairman. see absoIutelx | no limit to the power of corporsnons
 to tax the people. There is aosoluse0 none if I correctly read this Section. | It says that mo city, town or vtlia9e shall hereafter becowe indebted for any purpose or in any manner. to sn amount which including existing in- debtedness, shall exceAd per cent q the assessed valuation of the real end personal property within sucn city. town or village subject to taxaeion =
 shown by the last assessment tor sssts ltdent. that sounds very well that far 1t sounds very much like there is some limitation on the part of taxation and of creating indebtedness. But wne1 we read further and include the pros yiso which says: Provided, however Ithat In determinins the limitation ok the State. city. town or viliage so m- | cludcd the following class of indebteA- mess, to wit: Now. none of the cla.see Enumerated here below are included n that per cent, and the towns city or village may 10 on and create tnoebts edness into the millions of dollars and yet not be preciuded or prohibited by the drst part of that clause.
 RsQuest was made that the spea'xsr
 Mr. Chapman--The nrst Section h not
 to De Included in that per cent. limit
 l"No certificate of indebtedness or rev.
 enue bonds Issued in anticipation c<
 the collection of taxes unless tho eame
 be not paid within two years From
 the date of such issue. and an suce
 notes. certificates of indeetedness ano
 revenue bonds shall be provided tor land be made payable from the taxee
 levied for the year in which they afe ] issued, and shall not exceed the amount of such taxes" Now tt den't mako any difference how far you @ in u,Als- ing that exception. You may hAve = million dollars of notes out and v don't limit the issue of notes and ponds to any past time. but at the same tiu1e , you are ievying tax of ! per cent. , you may be issuing notes and certin- oates of indebtedness under Cfaas A. Now, here is Class B:
 (bl Bonds issued for the purposa q purchasing or otherwise providing Tor , d supply of water Or for the construc- ton or installation of sanitary sewerss , or for the extension of either or the
 same.
 NOW, until . proper construction of l the language used. 1t appears to me
 that while that per cent Is levied for , some other purpose, the town might
 go on and issue bonds to an indefinfte amount. and this Class c obligation , bonds issued to procure means to pay . for streets or sidewalk improvements
 or storm water sewers, the cost of , which is to be assessed against the , property abutting or drained by such sewers. As the gentleman from Mont- gomery, MT. Macdonald. properly says, 1t would be an absolute tax imposed : upon the abutting owners of property and that would not be covered In the
 per cent 1t Is true, but you are tax . an abutting piece of property for sew '. CT or sidewalks, and that is nos limited z by the per cent. because the town ! | may place side walks and sewers along the whole street and yet not pay one dime of 1t under this clause. under the 2 tax levied under that per cent limit. So with debts created for the preser- | ~N ha a,xh1ia health That fD exempt. The town may deem 1t prop er to create a debt of $5o.0o0. during
 the same time it Is levying the tax of } per cent, and yet it is not limited or l covered by the per cent. Debts ex- | isting on the 6th day of December, 3 1875. That is an indefinite quantity.
 | it may be great or may be small, they 3 may have been renewed up to the pres- 7 ent time with accruing interest, SO ie a seems to me that tnis clause as ie | stands now is absolute death to pee- l ple or corporation, and they may be e absolutely ruined if 1t Is adopted into c this Constitution.
 Nr. Eyster-I move the previous
 MI Coleman (Greene)-I wish you e would withdraw that motion for . 6 moment.
 Q The motion for the previous question l. was withdrawn.
 !, Mir. Coleman lGreene)-Mr. President n and delegates of the Convention # . seems to me that there has not been t yaore dangerous proposition submitted . to the delegates of this Convention e than that submitted by the amendment - of the gentleman from Lauderdale. The '. Section as proposed by the Communities \ on Taxation makes ample provision, es
 conceive. for all existing indebted. l. ness. and simply provides limitation a as to future indebtedness. A good deal s has been said in regard to rural towns. l. I wish to state to this Convention . 1, fact which I did not intend to mention, 7 as I live in a rural town, and which S came very near being ruined by exist ing laws. We have Q population ok ' | about 800 only, and assessGple prop 5 erty ct S200. 0.e00, and we are today ia- boring under a debt of $l,s00 per year for thirty years. amounting to $0A.oOo. With what to pay for 1t? An assess -- ment upon $200.000. Some gentleman l has asked: Have you sidewausF I 2 say ws. have net. we have not the ' means of raising the money for side Y walks. 1t all goes for the purpose oI y water works and electric lights. and e as long as the system prevails that . e deIeRate from county can come up e to this legislature without limitauon l. on him and get a bill through attect- s inx his county without respect or re. Sryfe eka flf