The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-15

Increase steadily and with elasticity, tv meet the growing conulIions or eacn tacceeoing generaron. ao tar from the ioea being well taken that It is hide- bound and non-elastic and does not
 pve in it's acton, it Is the very thing that meets the needs of the situation, because or the fact that there has al- ready grown up an unwritten prece-
 lent that the legislature is gong 10 lpproprlate and lne public drafts fo- revenue are fixed upon the theory that the legislature is going to appropriate pne-haif of the income of the State to the schools. This just fixes the three mils permanently and forever so that progress can be made, so thai school houses can be built, teachers employed and new fields opened up. ana progress made, with a certainty pf the foothold upon which we stand. lt is not radical It is not different, it is not any harder upon the income of the State than what has been done for the past ten years. It is simple, steady, c,fNain, and fixes a constitutional stanaard o1 what the public schools are to get out of the total income of t.e State, leaving room for the growth O. the public schools, the certainty of their progress as the State progresses, and relieving the public school system Of the necessity ot coming before each legislature as they successfully convene and asking for a distribution of the income of the State at their hands, which is troublesome ta-the legisla- ture, embarrassing to the best inter- est of education and is a hindrance to true progress along that line. Now the question occurs, and is suggested 10 me by this note. handed me by some lelegate. as to whether or not if this Is done, the thirty-five cents that re- mains. or the three mills and one-half that remain. will afford sufficient in- come for the State. and for taking care of the bonded indebtedness Of the State.
 By an ordinance already passed here by constitutional enactment, already made. the present bonded indebtedness of the State. or the $S,000,000 of it, which natures in 1906. is to be refund- ed. and it will become a fifty-year ob- ligation. There is every prospect that 1t will be refunded at 1-2 or at most 4. per cent interest reducing the tixed charges of the State in that particu- lar to a considerable extent. There IS no reason to expect that the assessed value of property will decrease put there is every reason to believe and expect that it will increase. There is no reason to expect that the fixed in come, of the State from licenses and other sources, which aggregate con- siderable amount, will decrease. but we have every reason to believe and ex- meet that it will increase. Further more as an answer to the whole prop osition there is no reason to expect that there will be any backward step taken in this State in regard to the public schools. This Convention was
 I-ft a n that there would not be. The history of the mast ten years shows that there will not be. and the certain expectation of the future points to the fact that, even if you do not fix this rate in'the Constitution, after a sharp contro- yersy. it may be. but nevertheless, certainly there will be a distribution substantially along this line. at the hands of the legislature. If that IS the case. if that is what the policy or this State is. if that is what IS 10 De expected in the future. then what IS fhe objection to writing this distribu- tion down in the Constitution, allow ing the State to adjust its charges to 8 1-2 miles and allowing the puohc school system to adjust it's growth ana nroeress to three mills? It settles the whole question. It removes the whole ouestion from disturbing politics. It fixes the income of the public schools. Its part of what Is wrung from the people and every man that pays ms taxes from this time on VIII know what he is paying 1t for. that ne IS having three mills of it for the pubic ssnoois and three and one-half mills for the other expenses of the govern ment. He will have a more Watcntul and more discriminative understand ine. of the government of his State ana it will accomplish in more satlstac- tory way what is the fixed policy or
 MT, Sanford (Pike)-I have an amendment.
 .The Secretary read the amendment as follows: Amendment to the amend ment by MT. Sanford: Amend by 'ad- ding at the end of the section the tol- lowing. and all revenue arising rom fhe sale of fertilizer tag tax in excess of the cost of analysis, shall be made into part of the public school fund.
 MT. Graham Cralladega)-l ask the gentleman to withdraw that in order that we may discuss the main question. The gentleman from Randolph desires to discuss it on the basis of the report.
 The President pro tem-The Chair will state that while the question is on the amendment to the amendment, the Chair is not restricting the delegate.
 MT. Handley-I see from what has been said by some of the distinguished speakers that preceded me, that there seems to be some apprehension in the minds of many of the delegates as to whether the State, at the reduced rate of taxation of 1-2 mills, can meet the obligations of the State, including the school tax. Now, l want to state, sir, that I was on the Committee of Taxa ton, and I went to the Treasurer and to the Auditors office. 1 got the Audi | tors report and then we summoned one of the best financial men connected with that office and brought him before the committee and took his evidence, | and he stated that we could, with pro- | pPiety, reduce the taxes from 12 mills to 1-2 mills. That is not all I found | that the increased valuation of prop | erty in the State of Alabama for taxa ton for the last five or six years has greatly increased, and the amount in | 1900 amounted to two hundred and six | ty-six millions of dollars. Our distin- | guished chairman of the Taxation Com | mittee applied to all the Judges of | Probate in Alabama to know what the | increase would be for 1901, and they | reported from twelve millions to fifteen | millions of dollars of increase for 1901. | That is not all. A gradual increase | will come from year to year, and by | the time we commence collecting the | tax of 1-2 mills, we will collect more | money at that rate than we collected | last year at ' 1-2 mills. Why? Be- | pacsa5