The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-04

| politicians in. competition with private l parties Now if in other places you find 1t win pay better for the city 10 own the lighting plant, let them nave it, but all of that is mater that ought to be paid out of the seven per cent limitation, or whatever iiHlitaeioh this body fixes as the limitation TOT the ordinary indebtedness of citles.
 Now, to speak particularly to the | matter of street improvement ponus. there shall be limitation put mug this Constitution upon the powel VI cities to incur debts or nVe. seven VI three per cent, the cities or Aiaoanle which have already incurred niole than that amount of bonded indepteu- ness can never incur a debt to the ex-
 tent of one penny. That IS piaih' Therefore, every one of those clies will be unable to incur one dlHe l worth of debt for street improvement or pavement, or for water works' or any other thing, and particularly TOT street Improvements. which wniie ap- parently an indebtedness or the ci.y' and temporarily an indebtedness ol lhe city. will be. in part at least, paid py the abutting property owners anu am sure 1t will not be the poilcy oI this Convention to cut oH rom the | progressive cities of Alabama' idrse and small, the right and power uo uo what other cities in every poltioii o' the United States do, and that IS mn prove their streets and pave tne'r streets as Montgomery has done, bv assessinp mart of the cost of the pave | ment against the abutting property owner.
 MT. Harrison-Do you know or any city in the United States that naa n larger indebtedness than that pro- posed?
 Mir. Pillans-I can name the city or Mobile. It has a twenty per cent. in- debtedness right there, ana We are asking this Convention to enable us l to pave our streets. The pavement we | used to have, shells and cobble-stones, has been taken out, as 1t has become useless and We have got to repave. anc | we are now abov. to do IL, anu speak from the standpoint or a prop erty owner who will have to pay heav- fly and severely for this improvement.
 MT. Harrison--You have right to double taxation now, ar additional Gpe- half.
 MT. Pillans-Oh, we pay three-quar- ters of one per cent to our old credit ors and we have three-quarters or one per cent for the maintenance Of the city, and the threee- quarters Of one per l cent for the maintenance or the c!ty will allow us to do no paving.
 MT. O'Neal Uauderdale)-What was | your purpose in striking out (D) "debts
 created for the preservation Of the public health?" 1 want to make this suggestion. Suppose an epidemic should occur in some city or town in the state, and It should be necessary to go De- yond the seven per cent, don't you think the city ought to have that pow CT, if necessary, to preserve the health or life of the people? Ought their hands to be tied in the event of great emer- gency of that kind, so they cannot create a debt which might be necessary to save the lives of it's people?
 | Mir Pi1lanS--I will answer the gen. tleman by saying that l perhaps oc- cupy a unique position, not believing in | a quarantine system that Is the cd:Se of this Southern land, and has done no good, but has nearly bankrupted some of the towns, l do not believe Tn time of panic. when reason is de-
 throned and every charletan controls the people, and when shot gun quaTan-
 tines are in effect. that 1t is wise to leave your municipalities with an un- |
 creating indebtedness at such time as that. That is the time of all times,
 when they need the restraining inf1u- ence of this Constitution in the matter
 of their power to create debts. That was
 the reason I introduced that, though
 will say 1 am perfectly indinerent
 personally as to that part or my
 amendment. The chief reason for of-
 fering the amendment was to make
 sure that we woule not in this Con stitution establish the principle that
 thtre could be no local assessments Tor
 lcca improvements hereafter in the
 State of Alabama. in cities % wnicn
 these improvements are aosoluteiJ es-
 sential to the progress, the healtn ana
 the well being not only Of every clty'
 but every large town in the State.
 The President-The Chair will state
 that the gentleman from Jefferson has the floor and yielded to the gentleman
 from Mobile, the Chair understood tenn rorarily.
 MT, Pillans-I thank the gentleman.
 MT. Ferguson--Mr. President and gen. , tlemen of the Convention, l resarc Il . as a most unfortunate day for the State of Alabama and any mun'ciral' ity within 1t, when any bonded in- , debtedness. was incurred by the State , or any part of the people Of the Statf | of Alabama. This, however, NIT. Presi- | dent, Is q condition that has beer ] forced upon us. It came upon us 1T
 the reconstruction days. It is a con | dition and we must confront It. we have met it by provision in the Con- stitution that we are about to adopt
 limiting the power of the State to con
 tract debts by the issuance of bonds to the extent of nine millions Of del lars. I desire to say. gentlemen of th' Convention that I am in favor Of tho , lowest possible limitation on State county and munclpal u1ehte'Het g consistent with the honor of the State of the counties. and of the municinali ties of the State.
 There Is a vital principle, however involved in the question that IS now be
 fore us, and outlined that by the ques . tion that put to the gentleman r. n
 Dale. That question is this: in the cit! of Birmingham, and have no doubt II the city of Montg )mery. and ii other large cities of the State, thi abutting property tax that the Suprem : Court has declared constitutional, ha ' been fixed upon majority of the prop ertv owners and the property of thos cities There is a standing decision O the courts that I think the Convention should stand by. I rise. Mr. President to speak to the exception. In tn amendment introduced by the gentle man from Lauderdale, that this charac ter of indebtedness that has dread ] accrued within certain cities of thi