The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-07
HOUSE BROWNS ON SUCCESSION
 OF SMALL SUM FOR CAPITOL


 he favored the machinery for the oistri- button of the appropriation as outlined Tn the original bih but that he was opposed tos the large appropriation that the bill carried. He therefore offered an, amend mept making the appropriation $2So0o.
 He addressed the House at length upon his amendment. He read the acts of the Legislature of 1884 and 1885 to. show that the Legislature had appropriated only $z0.- 900 for the building of the Supreme Court Annex which he declared improved the Capitol 50 per cent. He said that second appropriation of s25.0oO would improve the Capitol 331-3 per cent. The whole Capi- tol building, he declared, could be re- placed for $100.000. He declared that the proposed appropriation was excessive and he said that he would not be Q party to such an extravagant demand upon the re- sources of the people of the State in their present condition.
 .sThe circumstances with which we are surrounded" said MT. Lusk, are dis tressin. The people are poor and unable to meet any more demands from taxa tion." ., .-
 He said that he represhented poor section of the State and he read extracts from the Auditors report to show that the tax gatherers had not succeeded in locating but a small portion of the hoard ed money of the State. Part of his fig ures from the Auditors report related to Montgomery County. from which he drew the conclusion that there was much money in the banks of this city which was paying no taxes In emphasizing the laxity of the Tax Assessors in Alabama, he said that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad had its property in this State assessed at $1S.O0o mile while in Tennes- see the assessment was sometimes as high as $37.0o0 a mile.
 He criticised the paragraph in the bill which provides for the purchase of the property adjacent to the Capitol grounds. He declared that 1t was bad business pol icy and had served notice on the owners that they could sell at almost any price.
 Goodwyn's Telling Argument.
 MT. Goodwn delivered a telling and forceful speech in favor of the bill. At the outset he said the bill had been gone over very carefully by the committee which included some of the leading law yers of the Legislature. and they had been satisfied that 1t was not in conflict with the Constitution in any particular
 ''The bill is not only not in conflict with the Constitution" said Mir. Goodwin. "but liIToWS every bdltBudTu tho treasury of the people. It provides that the improvements are not to be made except by action of the Building Commis- sion and even then the Governor may not draw the warrant unless he sees fit to do so. He said that 1t would be em- harrassing for any member of the Legis- 1ature to face his constituents with the knowledge that he had gone on record as voting for the paltry sum of $26,0OO to renovate the old building. He declared that he would join hands with the mem- bers from Marshall or with any other man in removing the treasury from all fear of deficit. He said that the alarm of Mir. Lusk in apprehending a raise in the rate of taxation was unnecessary, as the gentieman knew that tie constitu- tional Convention had definitely settled that question for a generation at least when 1t placed the rate at 65
 States Capitol Economy.
 Mir. Goodwin then briefly reviewed the history of the capitol building, the first capitol built in Montgomery he said was donated by the people of the city and 1t was built upon the ground given by a leading citizen of Montgomery. The building was destroyed by fire In 1S4s and the Legislature had appropriated s60.0oo for its reconstruction. Some i'm provements and an. addition was put in later Mir. Goodwin said, but he declared that the State had only expended ss5 900 on its capitol in flfty-two years.
 Representing the people of Montgomery County and conjointly with the other members of the people of Alabama MT Goodwin said that he believed that 1t was the full blown duty of the Leglsla- ture to vote an adequate appropriation fOr tha nf inc cardtoI IJa said that If the objections of Messrs Lusk and Strother were sustained that in few years it would not be a question of an addition to the capitol but a ques- ton of rebuilding and the appropriation asked for might be a million dollars or more. He said that the members had only to look out the windows of the Hall of Representatives to find an argument for the bill. The view from the window was not vista of beauty. It revealed he said shanties and back yards. one of rhe most offensive parts of the residence section of the city. The panic cry made by the opponents of the bill he said was not borne out by the condition of the treasury which he said had more money in 1t than in many years. It could not be disputed he said that taxable property in Alabama increased each year and the revenues of the State showed an equal increase and he concluded with the decla- ration that the Legislature Could we'll af- ford to make t.ie appropria ton asked for in the bill
 Callahan Says Views are Extreme.
 Mir. Callahan of Morgan spoke briefly on the bill. He said that the two phases of the question which were before the Legislature represented two extreme views. He thought that the appropria- tion asked for in the Dill was too large and the small sum proposed by the amendment he said was out of the ques- tion. Between the two he said there was a happy medium which would be sup ported by himself and other members of the House. He moved to table the aendment of MT. Lusk. The vote on the motion to tsble was as follows: Ayes-Mr. Speaker Almon, Arnold, Ar rington. Bankhead, Barnes. Benners, Blackburn, Brown of St. Clair, Byrne, Callahan. Cunningham. Davis. Deloney. DuBose. Edwards. Espy, Fletcher. Foster of Pike Foster of Tuscaloosa, Frazier, | GlSver Goldsmith. Goodwin Gray, Haley Hall Handley Hoffman. Johnson of Rus sell Joiner. Lanier Lee, Leigh, London | Lyman. Lyons. Maner. Minge, Parker Peters. Pilley Poole. Posey. Powell Preston. Pugh. Reynolds. Rich, Fucker Rushton. Schuessler. Scale, Searcy Shafer. Siglin. Simpson. Starr, windall | Thomas. Thompson, Werner. waddel l Walden. Walker Warren, wiggins
 Wilkinson Williams of Calhoun and Wood Total. 69.
 Nays-Ballard. Bogart. Brown of Gle burne. Crum. Curry. Elliott. Fulton Hammer. Hickman. James. Johnson of Coosa. Johnson of Perry, Kelly, Killen