The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-09

SOns'' Sssn ot vast beneft to the peo- gie Of this stssss ate crsat,ne sSi sl1sr power of municipalities which had slrsaay s,y rses rseson. sa,lv should. was some what like i9ching inc stabie after the horse had Deen stolen However, ft became eyideht veIy early in the ssssion oe oeekinr khs .o place
 iirnitation. upon the power of municipai officers would command strong suppoIt in the convention. P%sonaiiy pensve that when an indivtdual or corpo sss,s there should be corresponding iimit nut upon the power to create debt- But the situation in Alabama was at tnat time peculiar in that every s,, toMn 2. ay an. cured indebtedness in excess of per cent of it's assessed valuation. Any move ment therefore which would oake awAy from such towns the power p 70 .,,se;Ss, + must be conceded that exigencies msy ssy, arise when sound business Judgment MI cali for the creation of deDt, ho mat'ss what may De the nnaMc S.s..s os n,essrvinr inc public health: suppressing epidemics; nT oyidinr the public with a wholesome water supply and the construction oi san ssrtins the very life of the community that it vvos not thought wise to. hamper the citise by placing limitation upon their power of ccntrastinS nrn,s so asot psrr arr ,hsss psrpossis ppscpoonis.d 1b Sy ths comt.ee on Taxation. which favored an additional debt limit of s per cent for these pur- poses. But 1t was fotr:d on investirati"n n
 that bond ssSS of Sf nans Dsf tosns Ssn in in ts State would not yield sumcient sum to
 build waterworks ,electric lights and sew CTS. -...hsa ac. canfahia to the Convention by dividing the towns of the State into two classes, tnose having iess than 5000 population into one class. and those having more n.o Anc other. The views or the ,es11w th sroaii towns and the views of the Ctes Comtes on Municipal Corporations were accspieo tss to apply to the larger ones. !t rs rema.ns
 yet serious Iuestt,nTtn tntn soction so M Will will have ,,nor inc towns in the State: the excep- tion from the operation of the ordinance | of debts already autfosdses by law e.d,a9e s1 pe
 , wi ps,sysSae w,, Ss as to sore see what will be the ulunfete resui. ul I this section. It was framd nIte. care s.. l fuIy considering it's possible enec. upon i every town in the State ana M cersa.m ua.n hv l ceptions were made, as will pc fSen py | reference to the section. so that IT. xSs l sible to prevent N. no town would sun9 l Ut is we'll known fact too app.aens, ns
 to admit of discussiSn sS, tf aSama as fn's mn, S nicipalities lies in the fact fuaa tney mss | nreyented hy constitutional ltmitations | from raising sufficient revenue to caIry I on the government as the peopiS oeman ss,,t | 1t should be carried on. and the {esus | Is a deficit; after these deficits nave ae. | cumulated for several years, the custom | Is tc convert them into bonds. HIS ave-
 nue of escape from large n2aung eeu, nn | the one hand and tax limit on the otner | hand, it looks like we are soon going 70 | view the spectacle of an irresistible forcc
 coming in contact with an immovapie | body.
 ,sWhen the act calling the Convention | was passed by the Legislature It con | tainea provision that tfe Limitations on l the ratA of taxation should remain un9is- Il turbed; the Democratic State Convention I In its platform pledged the same thing | to the people of the State. In view or these declarations 1t was not to pc eS, peoted that the new Constitution would municipalities. Exception. however, to this rule was made in the case of Hunts vile and Bessemer. ipon the appiication 1 of the local representatives, and m number of other cases permission was given the people of voting tax upon themselves. The Consultation thus recog- nized. possibly unintentionally. the fmpor- tant principle of local option m mat ters of taxation. It Is very unfortunate for the towns and cities of the State that the Convention founi itself hampered by pledges and platforms which prevented
 1t from passing general law autnorizns
 the municipalities by an equal and uni-
 form system of taxation to raise sum- Ecicnt funds to carry on the government.
 No city in the United States ever has or
 ever will exist upon the proseeas een. or tns
 mandate of the Constitutfon.
 V'It is absolutely impossible to pay in-
 terest on the bonded debt, maintain wa
 terworks. schools, sewers, police. hre and | |. let.a rtr afc m a
 While limitations are constantly being
 thrown around the municipal officers yer
 the demands of the people for more and
 better public services steadily contlnue.
 has been great improvement Tn farmlns.
 in mechanics, in the arts and sciences,
 that there has been no improvement in
 municipal government; Tor, indee1' at as
 ico rendered today by the municipalities
 to the people Is greater than It ever
 was before. Burdens formerly borne by the people are now shouldered by the l city. and improved mlnit ipal service has
 resulted in higher and better way Of living.
 When the Constitution of 1875 was framed there was not paid fire depart
 ment in. Alabama, and today this con- | stitutes one of the most expensive ften5 in the public service.
 "ln 1875 electric light was unknown and now every modern Alabama town is
 brilliantly illumina.ed with electricity,
 generally at cost equal to % per cent.
 of its revenues. In 1875 there was not a | paved street in any town or city In the
 State, and now the magnificent thorough
 fares in this beautiful city show what Is
 expected of the municipality in this line. | While it is true that thls work has been largely done by assessments against the abutting property, still there is always a heavy item of expense to the city in the way of engineering and legal ex- penses. cost of paving in front of public | buildings and street inte. sections, to say . nothing of the cost of street sweeping l and the expense of maintenance and re ! pairs.
 ; ''The school system of today is the de- velopment of the last stwenty-f.ve years
 and in some of the towns the cost Of the schools is almost as much as the entire | revenue derived from tax ltion. When tn, tax limit of 5Q cents was placed in thj l Constitution there was not a complete } system of sanitary sewers in the State
 and now all the leading towns have is
 sued bonds to build sewers, and the in ) terest on these obligations has become one of the most important charge: against the general revenues.
 Tn 1875 Huntsville was the only towr
 in the State that owned a system of wa.
 ter works. and now mains are laid in the l streets of nearly every town in the State
 for supplying the people with pure wa. ter, and protecting property against de- struction by fire.
 Nor is this all, this is the age of the l builder, and the builder has not beeg
 idle in Alabama. School houses, market bonds have been issued to pay for them and another annual drain is thus made | upon the meagrS revenues.
 | And notwithstanding all these facts,