The age-herald., 1901-07-22
CONVENTION
 NOW HAS WORK
 WELL IN HAND Only One Committee Has So Far Failed to Make
 a Report FIVE ARTICLES ADOPTED Aside from the Suffrage Article the Matter of Local School Taxation Is Probably the Most Im-
 portant Question.
FIVE ARTICLES ADOPTED
BY FRANK HARVEY MILLER.

BY FRANK HARVEY MILLER.
 Montgomery, July H-0SpeciaD--Th close of the fifueth day of the Constitu- tional Convention finds the work of con- stitution making we'll in hand. The com mittee on private corporations Is the only one which has not yet reported and five articles have been read the third time, adopted and sent to the committee on harmony. These are tn preamble and declaration of rights the articles on ex- ecutive, banks and banking local legisla- tion and state and county boundaries. Besides these the article on taxation has been adopted, all except those sec- tions which limit the taxing powers of cities and counties, and more than half of the article on legislative department, which is now under consideration, has been adopted. This article will probably be adopted by Tuesday.
 The articles remaining to be considered are those on judiciary, impeachments, suffrage and elections, representations, exemptions. militia education, municipal corporations, private corporations and amending the constitution and miscella- neOuS provisions.
 There is no change in the article on ex- emptions and little change in the article on militia. There are six separate re- ports to the article on judiciary, and the article on suffrage and elections will, of course. consume more time than any other, the reform of the suffrage being the main object for which the conven- tion was called. Debate will be more ex- tensive on this article than any of the others, a resolution extending the time of debate for each member having recent ly been adopted. Since the democratic caucus dcided not to take this matter up it will mean that all the hot air speeches which might have been expended in the caucus will have to be delivered in the convention With the work on hand 1t seems that it will take at least another month to get through with 1t.
 County School Taxation.
 Aside from the suffrage article the mat ter of local school taxation Is probably the most important and far-reaching question before the convention. Many or finances have been introduced on this subject, but having been boiled down in the committee room, the result Is three plans before the convention. One Is the Browne plan reported by the committee on taxation. This takes the county as a unit and provides that counties, by three-fifths vote of the qualified electors, may levy such a special tax each year for county schools as will not make the combined State and county taxation ex-
 oh, of ivy Mr. Browne has already succeeded in having the State tax limit in the constitution re- duced from 75 cents to 65 cents. and is firm believer in lower State taxation In his county school tax plan he provides that counties may levy the difference be- tween the State and county general tax rate and a maximum of S.75. Thus the lower the State tax the greater the amount of the special school tax. It is kind of sliding scale.
 This tax, when levied, is to be appor- tioned equitably among the races by the county school authorities.
 The committee on taxation, in it's ma jority report, has practically adopted the Browne plan, the only difference being that instead of a sliding tax scale which may vary from year to year they recom- mend a fixed tax rate of one-tenth of one per centum.
 There was a minority report of this committee which recommended the Ash craft plan. This has some novel features and is modelled somewhat on the Ohio plan of school districts. Instead of talk ing the county as a base of taxation, it provides for the organization of school districts, each of which may, if they see fit, levy a special school tax of one-tenth of per cent by a three-fifths vote of the qualified electors. It provides that the county school authorities shall divide the counties into white and colored school districts. The white people in a white district may levy tax on their property for schools and the colored people in colored district may do the same A great many of the white people in the State object to taxing themselves to edu- cate a iion-taxpaying race, and while this plan would not affect the distribution of the general state school fund. it would as to the special district school tax, give to the white people for their schools tthe taxes paid by them, and similarly with the colored people. In any case this tax would be matter of local option. The minority report of the committee on edu- cation demonstrates that this plan is per- fectly constitutional and they claim it would really benefit the negro by giving him an incentive to do something for himself As it is the negro is mendi- cant, and as he pays practically nothing \ TOT schools takes less interest in them AtHan he should. In the same way 1t