The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-20

| ton to be laid upon the desk of every member of the House of Representa- tives early in the session makes him better prepared to vote upon a revenue bill when 1t is presented. Now. some gentlemen objected because they said 1t would put the Executive too nearly | In touch with the House of Represen- | tatives. If this Constitution be adopt | ed. that will not be the fact, because the outgoing Governor, who has held his office for four years, the outgoing Attorney General and outgoing Au- ditor must present this bill-this in- formation. The Legislature who fol- | low after him is accompanied by a new Governor. The old Governor makes the report and gives the information. The new Governor has nothing to do with that bill, except he may recom- | mend in his message. and to veto or approve it. So you see the alarm of the gentlemen on the other side is un- l founded. The Governor who makes this report to the Legislature has no | more to do with the House of Repre- | sentatives, his term Is at an end, and | they are left alone with a new Gov ernor. Now, the amendment or the gentleman from Mobile is wise and conservative. He strikes out of the original section the word action" and 1 instead thereof puts the word "infor- | nation so the bill would read. pre- pare a general revenue bill to be sub- | mitted to the Legislature for its in- l formation,' instead of for its action" Therefore, the Governor. as gentlemen | have said, does not introduce bill | into the Legislature. The further amendment by the distinguished gen. tleman from Mobile is this. which the ] Governor shall transmit to the House of Representatives as soon as organ | ized." Here is the amendment. to be | used or dealt with as the House may elect So you see it is only at most
 recommendation; it is only at most 1 information transmitted from a source | about which there can be no doubt. Now, it seems to me, gentlemen of the Convention, that there can be no ob-
 jection to this. It seems to me that 1t | would aid the House of Representa- l tives wonderfully to have this informa-
 tion spread upon their desks early in | the session.
 l The President-The time of the gen.
 tleman has expired.
 MT. Sanford CMontgomery)-I hope, Mir. President, that this 29th section will not pass. It is a departure from | the customs of Alabama; it Is an inno-
 vation upon its time-honored policies, l and it is more-it is retrogression; N
 it going back to the very principles from which our forefathers revolted
 more than one hundred years ago. They were greatly disturbed by the infiu-
 ence which the executive officers had over the Legislature, especially in the
 matter of taxes. Now, the question of
 taxation has been the cause of more revolutions than any one single cause
 in the history of the world, not only in 1 England, but in Europe, and not only | In EYrrn nl la hIif n
 own country. Your great Revolution
 of 1775 was fought on the question of | taxation. I said, MT. Chairman, that | this is a matter of retrogression-it Is
 precisely the policy of monarchy; 1t
 is precisely-the policy of Great Britain
 as it exists today. At the commence | ment of every Parliament the Chan
 cellor of the Exchequer. under the in- | fluence of the administration, prepares
 what is called his budget. His budget
 consists of two distinct departments. | One is the statement of the financial | condition of Great Britain, and the | other is what he calls his scheme or | method to meet that condition, and the scheme consists of repeating sub- jects of taxation, or of adding new | items, or of suggesting alone. NOW,
 what is this but precisely the English budget, the monarchical plan of rais-
 
 | by this section. Monarchies have one
 system of policy; Republics another and this system is mingling, IS mixture. of monarchical government and republican government. and, like all unnatural mixtures, a government tai hybred will be produced that will have the evils of both and the virtues
 of neither. I can see no reason why
 we should adopt the English system in l Alabama-one being the system of
 monarchy and the other that of great republic. What would our friend Sow ell, my friend the Auditor, think if he
 was to play the part of Chancellor or the Exchequer under the direction of the administration-fort that is precise ly the position that he would hold. The Chancellor of the Exchequer or
 England is the Auditor. He states the financial condition, and then he pro-
 poses certain subjects of taxation and recommends them to the House of
 Parliament, where the bill originates, and to the House of Lords. Now, this | is precisely the same thing, and l don't
 think that our people would like the monarchical policy of being taxed ap- piled to them. For these reasons, ana
 the incongruity and inconsistency De-
 tween the policies of republic and
 monarchy, limited or otherWise-ln
 republic the voice of the people should
 he heard My friends forget that this
 whole idea of originating revenue bills,
 with the Commons, is really nothing
 more than a development Originally
 as you know, in England, there was no
 such thing as a Parliament being elect
 ed for the purpose of making laws. The
 people were instructed to send up Bur
 gesses and Knights from counties and boroughs for the purpose Of doing
 what? Simply to report how much their communities could contribute 10 the Government under which they lived. Sometimes their aversion to go- ing to Parliament was so great that they were fined. I remember one in stance of a Burgess being fined a yoke
 of oxen because he declined to go to Parliament after he lad been desig-
 mated for that purpose. l mention that
 simply to show that the origin of this
 whole idea of taxation originating In the House of Representatives in every State in this Union, in Congress 1tself, and in England. really comes from the exactions of the King to bring these men up to report what they could con tribute. That Is the origin of the whole system. This English system, as
 say, has existed for hundreds of years and is called the budget. For instance, Robert Feels budget, when he intro duced an income tax Tn lS42, and on repeating the Corn Laws in 1S46. or in | reducing the wine duties in 1860, all