The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-10

...e fnfraction of such lava.
 me President--lne question is on the &menoment offered by the gentleman rom Madison 10 strike out .ne woros
 or mfsaemeanofs" Ut tne end Of lne line. Upon . vote being takel the -.l.svndnlent was aaopteo.
 Mr. Carmcnaei tCeibert)--I now move to strike out suDdivision 10.
 upon . vote Delns taken the motion was lost.
 MT. o'Neai--I move the adoption of the slpdivision as amended.
 And the same was adopted.
 ne cieFk taen reao suodIviston 10 as ioiivws.
 ''ls. Providing for or regulating either ta.e asssssrnenL os s1..S~..1.. .- axes"
 Mir. Smith--f 6exire to nffer an amendment to subdivision 16
 ILe S,S.A .e.. -.---.--.-.~... to suD- division 10 as Iollows.
 Amend supdlvision i6 of section of the report of the Committee on Local Legislation.
 flrst. by substituting . comma at the end of the subdivision for the semi- colon now there.
 Second by adding at the end of the subdivision the following. viz.: Except in connection with the req alus.mS.st, renewal or extention Of existing fEuni- rcipai indebtedness created prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1875.
 Mr. ONeal--I desire on behalf of the Committee to accept the amendment of- fered by the gentleman from Aooiie (Mr. Smith).
 MT. Smith (lfobile>--I desire 10 state the purpose of the amendment. Prior te the Constitution of 1875 the city of Mobile was indebted in . very large sum of money. ana for the purpose of compromising that indebtedness with her creditors, there vas an adJustEnei,s act passed by which it was prov ded il at three quarters of one ger cent special tax should be allowed to that city, and itswas stipulated in that ret clement and adjustment that three- quarters of one per cent should te Ge- voted exclusively to the payment of that indebtedness. The comprom!se was made upon that basis and there has been a special system for the tol- lection of that particular tax since thu time, and 1t goes into the hands of the trustee for the benefit of tho creditors of the oity of Mobile. That inde ,ted- ness will mature in 1906. I believe. wien 1t will have to bo readjusted, and il may be. and probably will be. that 1T order to do this upon anything like ar advantageous basis, it will be neces' sary to continue that special system that the city is now under. For tha reasen dc not desire that that section should affect tha. particular indebted ness. or that particular system tor thu collection of this tax. As 1t reads | says providing for or regulating eithe the assessment or collection Of taxes In the rsaa1ustment of that indso:ed ness 1t weuia be necessary for the pcv act to provide. as the old act. and si the contract with the creditors pro vides. for . machinery whereby tfer' may be a special system for the coileo tior of the tax different from any oth CT in the State of Alabama. do no know whether there were any other in debtednesses ct that time applicable t other municipal corporations or not But think there ought to be an ex ception made to the city of Mobile. Mir. Kirk-What Is the scope and pur pose of this subdivision? Mr. O'Nsal-The purpose has beer stated clearly by MT. Smith. If th' gentleman had listened he would hav' known. It Is to prevent interfering with debts which existed at the tlfn' of the ratification of the Constitution uf 1875.
 MT. Kirk--what is the purpose of tn, subdivision as reported by your Com mittee7
 MT. ONeal-It is to prevent passing [ law for one particular section dffer ent from that of another. ln othe words, you cannot pass a law for Flor ence different from any other town city. It prohibits the legislature iron passing a law, special or private. whicl will apply to one particular lccaltt. different from other localities in refer ence to the collection and assessnaen of taxes.
 MT. Ashcraft-Are there any specia laws now relating to the assessmen and collection of taxes. MT. O'Neal-I don't know of an! special laws now; but we want to pre- vent them in future. If there are an! special laws they ere not affected U! this provision.
 are some special laws and they ough to be repealed.
 MT. ONeal-The idea Is this: Whei a man wants to ascertain in regard t' the assessment and collection Of th' taxes. the same law prevails through out the State. We don't want to hav' a mass of confusing laws in every 10 cality. one different from the other. MT. Foster--Does this affect the reg ulation of the assessment or collection of any special tax authorized ty tn legislature? say does 1t pre- | vent the legislature from au l thorizinR the levy of an. special tax? For instance: Yourrtowi is authorized to levy three-auarters O per cent, instead of one-hals Of | per cent.
 MT. O'Neal-It don't apply to case | of that kind. It provides for the as sessment and collection of taxes. other words, 1t must be uniform throughout the State.
 The Chair here informed the gentle man that his time had expired. Mir. Parker (Cullrnan)--l move tn previous question on the subdivision and the amendment.
 MT. Foster-I hope the gentleman will withdraw that until l can one a short amendment
 MT. Cunningham m-While the gentle man Is preparing his anne endment, de sire to ask the Chairman of the Com mittee question.
 Mir. ONeal--Certainly. Mir. Cunningham--I simply ask tn | question for information. l understan' the time for assessing taxes for Jener
 son County shall be the same as 10
 winston County? ' | MT. O'Neal--It is now. Mir. Cunningham-And limit 1t as |
 when 1t shall be completed?
 Mir. O'Neal-No. the General Assem-
 blv can pass a law allowing tim
 in which they can be assessed Tn ai
 the towns and cities in tho state an