The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-04
TAX ON FRANCHISES
DECLARED FOR BY THE HOUSE ON
A VOTE OF 134 To II.
GOES AT ONCE TO THE SENATE
BELIEVED THAT FAVORABLE AC-
TION AWAITS IT THERE.

Made the Point, which Was sus-
tanned by the Speaker, Whose RuI-
ing, However, Was Voted Down by
the House-BilI Passed Identical
With That Adopted by House Last
Year and Defeated I'm senate.
Atlanta, Dec. 3.-The House passed
the Gambler franchise tax bill to-day
by the unusually large vote of 1874 to
II, and upon its passage. 1t was Or
dered Immediately transmitted to the
Senate. where the general belief is ex-
pressed that favorable action also
awaits 1t.
The whole effort to defeat the meas
ure was concentrated in a point of or
der, on which it was hoped to rule the
Gambler substitute out. and the entire
morning session was spent debating
this point. Speaker Morris sustained
the point, which was made by Mr.
Cam of Chatham. and the House
overruled the Speaker for the first
time this session by a vote of Jog to
as.
That vote was test. and the USE
lessness of further debate on the meas
ure was at once apparent. 1t was well
known that many members who voted
to sustain the Speaker would vote for
the bill on its passage. and the result
showed that at least twenty-four of
them did so vote when the bill came
up.
The consequence was that when the
bill was taken up at the beginning of
the afternoon session, there was no de-
bate, and the previous question was
called as soon as it had been read.
The Substitute Won.
The first vote was on the adoption of
the substitute for the original bill.
The substitute is Mr.. Gamblers bill,
which is identical with the old Howard
franchise tax bill passed by the last
House, but killed in the Senate. The
original bill was by Mr.. Reid of Camp
bell, providing for an amendment to
Section 767 of the Code, refining fran
chises as taxable property.
The substitute was adopted by a vote
of 124 to "a The report of the COM
mittee as amended was then adopted
by viva voce vote, and the bill on its
final passage was put through by 1874
to II.
1t is understood there had been some
discussion of the matter among those
opposed to the bill the night before,
and that the point of order was q re-
suit of this. Mr. Cam made the point
that the substitute was out of order,
because 1t proposed an entirely differ
ent law from the original bill Mr..
Reid's bill. the original, simply pro-
posed to amend Section 767 of the Code
so as to define franchises as taxable
property, just like any other taxable
property. The substitute proposed to
create a machinery by which a fran
chise tax shall be collected, and had
no reference whatever to amending the
section of the Code as proposed in the
original bill
After a full discussion, Speaker Nor
ris ruled the substitute out of order,
basing his decision on House rule No
80, which says: "A substitute is simply
an amendment; 1t is I'm effect a mo-
ton to strike out all after the enact
ing clause of a bill. or the word RE
solved in resolution, and insert that
offered as a substitute"
Speaker Was Not Upheld.
The Speaker held that the substi-
tute offered would not fit the caption
of the original bill, which proposed
to amend a section of the Code, and
was therefore out of order. The OPP
ponents of this view held that the
House was the judge of its own par
liamentary procedure; that both meas
ures proposed a tax on franchises
and therefore that the substitute was
germaine to the original.
Mr. Gambler entered the appeal from
the chairs decision, which was follow
ed by a long debate and the reversal
Of the speaker by LOG to As. Then fol-
lowed the passage of the bill at the
afternoon session as stated.
To-day's debate and the resultant ac-
ton OF the House constitute perhaps
the most interesting and most import
ant work of this session. Before the
debate began, Mr.. Fielder tried to get
up his bill to put the convicts on the
roads, but Ii was ruled out on the
ground that it had been displaced.
When Mr.. Cam made his point of
order arguments on both sides quickly
followed. Mr.. Slaton of Fulton pre-
sented most strongly the side OF those
opposed to the Gambler substitute He
made the additional point that the
Gambler Dill was a measure to -aise
revenue; that revenue measures can
originate only in the House, and there
fore that IL could not be offered in the
Senate as a substitute for the Reid bill
He declared he was in favor of fran
chise tax, but said legislation to this
end would be endangered by the pas
sage Of a measure illegally. Mr.. Cam
u.
Mr.. Reid Of Campbell and Speaker
Morris all took the floor to support
these views. all OF them being favorn-
BILE to the Reid bill, but opposed to the
substitute.
Chatham's Representatives Opposed.
Judge Akin of Barlow made PERTAINS
the strongest speech on the other side,
holding that the substitute was ger
maine, because II sought to do the
same thing as the original bill, namely,
to tax franchises. He said the people
of Georgia demanded the passage OF
this bill, and II would continue to be
an issue in Georgia until 1t became a
law. He declared that IL passed, no
court would ever go behind the
House record. The action of the House
then followed, after further debate az
stated.
Messrs. Cam, Stovail and Harden OF
Chatham voted against the measure
throughout. though they favor the
Reid bill.
The Gambler bill. as passed, defines
special franchises" 50 a. 20 include
every possible form Of grant Of emil
nent domain 70 individuals or corpora
lions. II provides that sworn returns
Of the value Of these franchises, and
describing them, shall be made 70 the
controller general, and that state, ooun- /
~ and municipal taxes shall BE- paid /
on them the same % en- an other forms
~ property. Where there Il a dispute
between the owners 81 franchises and
ana controller general the matter shall