The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1904-02-26
SLOT MACHINES,
Except Thoae Where There is Ut
Element Of Chance,
ARE DEAD IN SOUTH CAROLINA,
The Franchise TAX Bill Pasaed
Several Other Bills Receive
Their Third 4Reading in
the Senat

the Senate.
AT the morning session Of the SEM
ate Wednesday two bills of much m.
porsance were disposed Of. The slbt
machine bill provides with certain
amendments that no machines shall
oe either operated or kept on any onb's
premises. The exemptions made afre
as TO machines In which the coin 8pmt'l
IN, gets certain and uniform reCurn
and In which there is no element lof
chance. The other bill is that to tax
the franchises of corporations, that is.
on O basis of the amount of business
done. Both Of these bills were SENT
to the house.
AS said, the slot machine bilrywtas
amended so as to exempt weighisag,
measuring, musical and vending MIA
chimes and all machines which give FOR
the coin certain fair and unifolm
return and to which there Is no ehe.
ment Of chance. Thus it is seen that
slot gas and electric meters. telephone
booths, shoe lace, chewing gum MA
chimes, weighing machines and thbse
of like kind will not be shut o{lt.
The exemptions were made through
amendments by Senators Hydrick and
Sheppard. The bill also provides that
none Of the machines not exempted
shall be kept on enyone's premises.
There was very lengthy debate lon
the bill, some senators wishing to
exempt the slot machines Indicated,
others wishing to kill the use of fall
and others taking the position THAT
the bill was striking against the rights
of the individual. The matter of
Chief Boyle's raiding the machineslin
Charleston was closely linked with the
debate
The immigration bill with its
amendments was received by the SEN
ate, which concurred in the amehd-
mentS.
The tax commission house bill to
require corporations to pay annual
license fees and to report their sta
f-tistics to the secretary of state came in
for discussion, Senator Raysor wisl Gng
the reports to be made to the comp
troller general His amendment WAS
adopted.
Senator Peurifoy opposed the me
half mill tax on the property values of
corporations as he was convinced that
1t would keep out Of the State foreign
corporations and force some domestic
ones to suspend business.
Senator Walker made an expected
move when he proposed to kill the bill.
He did not think that the State should
enforce double taxation and that was
what the bill amounted to. John
Smith, the merchant, cannot be taxed
but If his firm is the John Smith com
pany he is subject to taxation unless
protected by limited liability" which
Senator Walker thought was really
meant by the constitutional convention
as help to corporate interests. He
could understand the taxation of the
intangible property Of the express,
telegraph and telephone companies,
but the railroads own tangible proper
ty which could be taxed.
Senator G.. w. Ragstlale said heidi
not think this was the right way to
raise money and that he agreed with
Senator Walker. He did not think it
would be just to exempt merchantile.
institutions. 1t is not right to make
one pay tax which his competitor
does not and thus it is not right to ex-
empt any. If money had not been ex-
pended SO eXtravagantly in the past 10
years there would be no need for the
bill.
Senator Hood thought there were
some corporations which enjoyed such
privileges that they should be taxed.
Others, however, enjoyed no more
privileges than individuals and they
should be exempted. He wanted to
strike out the section providing that
all State corporations other than those
Of quasi public nature be charged the
one-half mill tax.
Senator Raysor spoke against any
distinction Of this kind. He thought
any corporation of any kind should be
willing to pay the fee for the privilege
Of being incorporated.
Senator Mcleod announced that he
was personally Interested in mercan-
tile concerns and that he thought it
perfectly fair for them to be required
to pay this fee. They are not now re.
Quired under the present laws to bear
their proper share Of taxation.
AS member Of the committee
which framed the bill, Senator Mower
explained it purposes clearly and in
telligently. He said that it was
merely tax on the franchise Of the
corporations. The line was drawn
between quasi public corporations and
others. The committee had made the
most equitable disposition that it
could; nothing was taxed in the bill
which is untaxed under the laws of
the State for the reason tnat this one
half mill tax Is placed on the right of
the corporations to do business and
the only tax now existing is proper
ty tax such as on Pullman COM
panles, etc.
Senator Walkers motion to kill the
bill was rejected. Senator Hoods mo-
tion to strike out section four OF the
act did not meet with favor. He then
moved to reduce the tax on certain
companies, but this was also killed.
Another amendment tabled was that
or Senator j. w. Ragsdale to include
in the bill only corporations enjoying
condemnation and universal domain.
Senator Hood sent In an amendment
to hang up the application OF the bill
until Jan. l., 1905. The bill was then
read third time and sent to the
house.
At the night session several changes
were made ia the supply bill as fol-
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