The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-26
TERMS OF TAX OFFICERS
 EXTENDED BY THIS BILL

ed. The first bill related only to pres ent assessors and collectors. The sec ond bill provided that the terms of their successors should begin Sept. IS, instead of in November. The bill was passed.
 The bill of Mir. Foster of Tuscaloosa amending the Code in reference to the right of eminent domain was called up by Speaker Tunstall by unanimous con- sent. The bill was passed without oppo- sition.
 The bill to provide for an election to levy and collect a special tax for school purposes came up as the next special order. The bill was a Senate measure. having been passed by the upper body. It was explained to the House by MT.
 Foster of Pike. It was drawn, he said. in harmony with the provisions of the constitution on the same subject It pro- vided that an election for the special school tax could be ordered upon the pe-
 tition of POO voters of the county, the judge of probate passing upon the peti-
 ton. The special tax was limited to one mill, and it was provided that the
 total State and county tax in every county should not be more than SIPS on every $1O0 The bill was passed without discussion.
 Tax on Insurance Companies. The next special order was the con- sideration of House bill 1521. regulating
 the taxation of insurance companies. MT. Bankhead, the introducer and spon-
 sor for the bill said that an explana- ton of the provision of the measure. in view of the gross interpretations that
 had been made. was necessary. The bill, he declared, had been fought by a dili- gent and aggressive lobby. He knew, of his own knowledge. that insurance com panies had written their agents in Ala bama to use their influence and the in- fiuence of their friends to have the bill | defeated.
 The bill, he explained allowed the State to. charge 1h per cent where it was now | charging 1 per cent. The State was re- | ceiving from the per cent. charge about
 s7o.0O0. The addition to the revenues would | therefore be $S5,0O0. Every other Southern
 State. he said. except Georgia. levied a | higher privilege tax on insurance com panies than Alabama. Tennessee's tax.
 he said, was 2h per cent.
 | MT. Rich, of Mobile. earnestly opposed
 the measure. It would break up the fire | department of the city of Mobile, he said. Mobile now got $14,0O0 income from | the insurance companies. which was de- voted to the support of the fire depart | ment. Under the bill the amount would | be reduced to 5000 Mobile, Birmingham
 and Montgomtry were all in financial diff faculties, he said, and the bill would work
 a great hardship upon the towns. He de-
 precated this attempt to inject confusion into the municipal affairs of the State. Aside from the demerits of the bill. he
 said, that it would be clearly unconsti- | tutional to pass the measure. The con- | stitution provided, he said, that all reve- nue bills should come from the auditor
 and the Governor and this bill did not The constitution explicitly stated that nc
 revenue bill should be passed in the last l five days of a session of the Legisla' ture and no one would deny that the day
 was the fifty-sixth of the session. | MT. Werner of Tuscaloosa, arose tc
 speak against the bill. but the clocl l struck one before he was well into his l argument and the House recessed.