The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-18
CARDFROM MIR. BROWNE
REPLIES TO EDITORIAL IN BrR-
 MINGHAM AGE-HERALD.
Says the Paper Has Persistently Clamored for Higher Rate of Taxation-The Trades Coun-
 cil's Proposition.

Editor The Advertiser:
 In The Birmingham Age Herald of today, appears an editorial under the heading, "Anti-School Proposition" ev- idently conceived in personal Interest. written in ignorance and sustained by false logic.
 The Age-Herald has persistently clamored for a high rate of taxation Cpon property, as illustrated in it's ad- vocacy of the Birmingham amendment, the sole beneficiaries of which were the holders of city bonds which had passed, by option or otherwise. out of the hands of those who paid full value into the hands of manipulators. who alone reaped the benefit of the increased taxation.
 The Trades Council of Birmingham had prepared and presented to the Con- vention for adoption into the new Con- stitution. a provision that no privilege or license tax should be levied upon a business when the property used in that business was taxed. The Age Herald is not known to the writer to have sounded single note of warning against that iniquitous scheme which would have resulted in depriving the public funds of all license or privilege tax upon those occupations which have heretofore borne their portion of taxa tion. This measure was recommended ed by some who openly advocated allow ing the city of Birmingham to levy a l-2 per cent tax upon visible proper ty. It is a we'll known fact that a large part of the real estate Cf Bir- mingham is owned by outside Tarttes. A fine scheme to place the whole bur cen of taxation upon this visible Irop- erty and exempt citizens of Hlrming- ham from all privilege or license tax, then repeal the back tax commission law, as advocated by The Age-Herald, so that corporations could assess their properties at less than their bonded in debtedness. as has been the practice in many instances. With this accom- plished, allow a special fchool tax and the result would be that the i-y would derive it's school fund solely from such special tax, while it would have a greater fund to appropriate 1of gen. eral purposes. The falsity of The Age Herald's argument consists in it's in- consistency. First, 1t .ays that the special school tax provided for in the report of the Committee. will not be applied in single County or a single town in the State;" then later on 1t proceeds to advocate and defend op- tional taxation for schools 2s a means of promoting public education. IF the proposed special optional tax will not be applied in a single instance" 1t is difficult to conceive how an optional special tax. only differing from the one proposed in that 1t is less limited, would ever be applied" But we are informed by The Age Herald tlat the provision of the Louisiana Constit1tlon Is what the people want, and the landowners are trying to push through provision that will dwarf the State" etc; we are further told that the laws of the States could be ransacked in vain for pro- vision that matches this" referring to a special school tax to be voted by majority in numbers. and in value of taxable property voting at an election therefor. Now, MT. Editor. if the opinion of the writer of that editorial Ia of any value as to what the people want" then they want the special school tax recommended by the '@om- mittee for 1t is exactly similar In mode of enforcement to the provision of the Louisiana ConstitItion, which reads thus: Provided. that for giving addt- tional support for public schools. any rarish, municipal corporation may levy a special tax in ex- cess of such limitation, whenever the vote of such increase and the number of years it Is to be levied and the pur- poses for which the tax Is intended, shall have been submitted to a vote or the property ldA payers uL pdi tsh municipalities entitled to | vote and a majority of the same in numbers. and in value voting | at such election shall have voted there for"
 The Age Herald charges that in the | provision for special school taxation nropcsed by the Committee on Taxa ton can be seen the selfish hand of the landowner and the cunning hand of the politician" It is highly prob able MT. Editor, that, while these land holders do not send large Hobbies to legislative bodies to further their in- terests. the ratification or rejection of the new Constitution will more largely depend upon them than upon the bond holders whose interests The Age Herald championed in the tax raise matter and the corporations whose property it undertook to shield against just taxa tion by it's advocacy of the repeal of the Back Tax Commission law
 The writer of the editorial says: "The The writer of the editorial says: "The man who says optional authority in the people Is an increase of taxation simply distorts the truth to serve his own purposes" Presumably he does not refer to authority to enter the state of matrimony or to run a news paper. but to optional authority to levy taxes.
 It is the province of Constitutions to limi. taxation. not to levy 1t. To in crease the limit within which it may be levis1 by tho option of the people directly expressed through the Legis- lature or subordinate agencies, is to