The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-23
WANT TAX
 ON SCHOOL. Hearing on Tuskegee
 Normal. STATEMENTS TO COMMITTEE No Action Taken on Thompson Bill to Place It on Rolls. Many Citizens of Tusl<egee Appear for or Against Washingtou's Famous Negro Institution, and Warm
 Debate Ensues.

-SNShNUt "oo uCiu JcStcTudy by the Committee on Local Legisla- | ton of the House on the Thompson l bill for the placing of a portion of the | property of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, of which Booker | T. Washington is the head, upon the assessment rolls of Macon county. It is to be doubted if another com mittee meeting of the present session | of the Legislature has attracted as | much attention or held as lively an interest as the meeting of yesterday | afternoon. The hearings of the local | option bill before the temperance committees attracted, perhaps, a more | general interest inasmuch as there were many women present to lend in- huence to the prohibition movement, | but the crowd assembled to hear the testimonies and the arguments sub mitted to the committee on Local Leg islation, displayed an interest that was tense.
 The examination and the cross ex- animation of witnesses, the debates of the counsel on each side. were fol- lowed like the scenes of a play From Tuskegee had come Mayor O, $: Lewis. Pesident W. W. Campbell Of the Macon County Bank; President J. H. Drakeford of the Bank of Tus- kegee; c. w. Hare an attorney; Sher- in w. W. Huddelston: J. NJ Roberts, a farmer: and Tax Assessor W. M Herndon. Captain Frank White. of Birmingham. and MT. Hare. of Tus- kegee, opposed the bill, and Mayor Lewis and Hon. Jesse Stallings of Birmingham advocated it's adoption. MT. Haley, chairman of the commit tee, presided at the meeting.
 Mayor Lewis said that Tuskegee did not protest against the Tuskegee Nor nal School being beneficiary of the State. but he did not think that nearly million dollars worth of property should be exempted from taxation. The values of property in Macon county had not grown in proportion to the amount of taxes lost by the exemp- tion.
 Tax Assessor Herndon said that values of properties in the county had Increased fifty per cent. in five years but that the increase in the beats near the school had not been disproportion- ately large, practically the same acreage prices prevailing all over the county! Questioned by MT. Hare, MT. Herndon said that the price of lands near the school was now proba- ply $25 an acre. Booker T. Wash ington's residence and the property ad- Jacent were worth about $1s,00O.
 Judge Abercrombie, when asked what he thought all the property of the school was worth, placed the en- tire valuation at about s750.O00. He said the total valuations of the county were about $3 500. .000. The school had not paid taxes on It's property and had given 1t In for assessment only for the last two years. The whites. pay twenty times as great an amount of taxes as the negroes, though they outnumber the negroes only four to one. He said he had no idea how much the school spends annually.
 Pays Taxes on One Tract.
 MT. Campbell praised the school. It's officers and it's pupils were well be- haved, he said. The pupils number about 1.500, they spend a great deal of money in Tuskegee and Macon county. Speaking of lands purchased by the school, MT Campbell said the school mad purchased what is known as the Greenwood Tract of 135 acres for community or town site, that homes there and thus segregate them selves from Tuskegee.
 The Tuskegee Normal School, con- tinued MT. Campbell, had paid taxes on one tract of land not contaiguous to the school. He mad heard but one man in Tuskegee say that he wished the school would be remved. He said he did not konw that the officers of the school were trying to buy up all the
 
 fin detail of the number and values of the buildings of the school. about which he confessed he had not exact information, attempted to answer only in reply to MT. Lewis. then question ing him, MT Campbell said that the school was continually building, and that the bulk of the materials of all kinds, including provisions. used by the Institution. were bought in the State.
 Doesn't the school buy at whole sale?" quirred Mir. Lewis, with the evil dent intent of minimizing the worth of the schools trade. Don't the travelling salesmen drum it as they do the stores in Tuskegee?'
 Yes. it buys at wholesale and most of the drummers are from Mont gomery," said MT. Campbell, at which there was merry laughter. In an swer to the question if the schools trade with the merchants of Tuskegee was as much as five per cent of their total trade, MT. Campbell stated that the school bought from him more than five percent of the trade of Tus- kegee. rather personal discussion of MT. Campbells interest in the Tus- kegee railroad followed very direct questioning by. MT. Lewis. In conclu- sion Mir. Campbell said that he had never known the Normal to purchase lands as investments
 MT. Drakeford, another banker, was the next to appear before the commit tee to testify. He spoke at length of the value of the trade of the school to Tuskegee and to Macon county and was apparently thoroughly in favor of the permanency of the schol He said he had heard no one advocate the schools removal from it's present site. Without the school. he stated, the lands contiguous or in the vicinity would not be worth much. The lands of the surrounding country had be- come worth 50 to 300 per cent more since the location of the school.
 owns Two ThOusad Acres.
 MT Hare addressed to the committee q report of various statistics in re- gard to the assessment of the proper ties of the Tuskegee Normal and h. dustrial Institute. The Institute own ed about 200 acres, he said, as a site for the buildings and the campus. and outside the college grounds proper had about 2.O0O acres fin pasturage and similar fields The later tract was outside the corporate limits of Tus- kegee, while the greater portion of the college site was within the corpor- ate limits He then gave statistics in regard to the approximate increase or values in the county.
 Doesn't most of the money of the school consist of Eifts?' asked MT. Ha- ley.
 Yes. and from people outside the