The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-20
HOUSE MORNING SESSION.
Took Up the General Revenue
 Bill.


 The House began its morning session with prayer by Dr. A. P. Montague, President of Howard College. East Lake. Eighty-five members answered to theil names at roll call. MT. Simpson, of Lauderdale. offered a resolution dispensing with the call of the counties and committees and making the revenue bill the paramount special or der for both the morning and the after noon sessions. MT. Starr, of Dallas subpitted that 1 the special order for the House was the consideration of the elective Railroad Commission.
 MT. Benners, of Jefferson, friend of the elective Railroad Commission bill, announced that an agreement had been reached between the friends and oppon- | ents of the elective bill that the revenue bill should be taken up and considered | by the committee of the whole until 11:SO | o'clock when the committee should rise | and report progress. The House should | then, under the agreement, take up the | elective Railroad Commission bill. A motion to that effect was adopted. Revenue Bill Considered. The House then went into the commit | tee of the whole for the consideration of the revenue bill. MT. Lyons, of Mobile, | assumed the chair. Mr. London, of Jefferson, was recog- nized to resume his argument on his amendment to strike out the clause exempting pig iron and agricultural prod ucts from taxation. He was speaking against this amendment when the House adjourned Wednesday. The clause in question, exempted pig iron and agricultural products purchased for prompt shiDment
 To support his contention that the ex- emption was unjust, Mir. London read an opinion by Chief Justice R. c. Brickell as to its irregularity
 This paragraph" said Mr. London,
 ''so far as the farmer is concerned is a gold brick handed him by the iron makers"
 London Says Principle is Wrong.
 The principle of the paragraph, MT. London declared, was wrong.
 How can you hope for increased reve- nues when your bill on it's second page provides a method for lodging taxes Where the farmer has saved pennies the | Iron maker has saved dollars Mir. Benners, of Jefferson, fought the proposition of his colleague to strike out | the exemption clause. This exemption clause, he said, had been adopted when | iron was $6 ton and millions of dollars
 worth of iron were piled up in the war rant yards. He said that now there was | no iron to be taxed as it is sold as fast as it is made. . If the farmer" said MT. Benners
 wishes to pay taxes on his agricultural
 products the pig iron makers are ready | to join him and pay taxes on their iron" t" Unfair Declares Callahan.
 Mir. Callahan, of Morgan, declared that ha TXyaG oPai | iron and cotton were to be exempt from taxation why should the owners of lum- Der and coal have to pay taxes on their | holdings There was no reason or jus tice in the exemption Mir. Callahan de- clared
 Mir. Simpson, of Lauderdale, spoke in favor of exempting the products of the | farm.
 The products of the farm, he said,
 were not hoarded or kept as property.
 They were merely supplies for making | next years crop. He compared the farm | CTS products as the daily running bank account of an individual which was not taxed The London amendment to strike out the exemption was voted down, ayes 27, nays 46.
 To Strike Out Typewriters.
 MT. London, in the consideration of the next section, moved to exempt typewriters from the list of taxable property.
 Many poor girls, ne said, owned noth- | ing but a typewriter. The amendment was voted down, ayes 22. nays Sl.
 Mr. Lusk of Marshall proposed to ex- empt $500 worth of property in lieu of all other exemptions. The amendment was | lost.
 Mir Maner of Montgomery endeavored
 to get an amendment relating to hoarded money, but the point of order was made | that the amendment was not germane to the bill under consideration as no para graph In the bill related to hoarded | money.
 The point of order was ruled to be well made.
 A provision in the bill allowing corpo- rations to deduct from the value of their stock for taxation all Alabama and United States bonds was the subject of some dis cussion.
 It was contended by opponents of the amendment that banks or other corpora tions might avoid all taxation under the provisions of the amendment by investing in n0n-taxable bonds.
 Mir London moved to strike out the provision.
 Mir Benners offered an amendment linn iting the proviso to insurance companies,
 At that point the hour of 1l:30 o'clock struck and the committee rose and report ed progress.
 Elective Railroad Commission The House immediately on converting | took up the elective Railroad Commission | bill.
 1 The question recurred to the Bankhead l amendment to make the Commission con- l sist of five members, three to be elected
 and two to be appointed by the Governor Mir Bankhead said he had but little to
 add to his remarks of Wednesday. His amendment, he said, was d compromise between the two extreme views of the | House.
 The House tabled the amendment Mir Glover of Greene offered an amend
 ment providing that no two of the Com
 missioners should come from the same 1 Congressional district. By some oversight, i he said, the provision had been left out
 of the bill.
 MT. Benners of Jefferson moved to table inc amendment but the House refused to do it.
 The point was made at this juncture
 that the substitute for the original bill
 had never been adopted. MT. Benners then moved that the sub stitute, that is the compromise between
 the Starr and the Waddell bills be adopt
 ed
 The motion prevailed. ayes l1, nays s.
 Minge Wants Time Extended.
 Mir. Minge of Marengo presented a res