The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-26
SENATOR MILLER
 OUTLINES ACTS OF
 THE LEGISLATURE Explains How Railroads Can . Have New Rates Suspended IfThey Are Unreasonable TWO SUBJECTS IN CALL
 FAILED OF ENACTMENT I Compulsory Education and Excess Bag uaqe Rates Turned Down-De-
 mand for Preventing Sale
 of spirituous Liquors.

excellent resume of the work of the tes-
 isature in extraordinary session. lie
 reviewed the recent session, treated in
 detail the principal problems solved, ana
 explained them fully. His remarks con
 corning the new bills regulating the ral-
 roads of the state, and the bill fixing pen
 alties for violation of those regulations are of special interest. He explained fully
 and clearly how the railroads, in case the
 new rates are Judged particularly harsh,
 can have them suspended pending the determination of their reasonabieness. As
 there has been much confusion Tn this
 connection, the remarks of Senator Miller
 will appeal with redoubled force.
 Two Measures Failed.
 Senator Miller points out why two mat
 ters mentioned in the governors cal
 scored a failure. These were the plliS
 for compulsory education and the excess
 baggage bill. The first, he stated, falien in massage because the majority believed that an educated negro was worse citl- zen than san uneducated one. Senator Miller differed from the majority in this
 matter The excess baggage bill failed, according to Senator Miller, because the majority judged it unfair to compel the
 railroads to carry on thelr passenger trans excess DdRRdSe dL Nllcnpci A"eN than the same amount of freight Tor the
 same distance is carried on the freight trains. Senator Miller states that Gov ernor Conner has said that he would not again turn down the bill removing taxa
 ton from companies lending forel.
 money Senator Miller declared that the state at large demanded the repeal of
 this tax.
 Concerning the bill preventing the sale
 of small arms, and the act to prohibit
 the manufacture and sale of sprituous
 liquors, Senator Miller spoke fully and
 clearly. He also discussed the act re- storing to the counties the hiring of their convicts.
 The following is the interview author-
 ized by Senator Mier
 Senator Miller's Statement.
 "The extraordinary session of the leg
 islature which has just adjourned has enacted a great deal of far-reaching leg
 islation. It was called especially to deal with the railroad situation and in addi- ton to numerous bills which formed one comprehensive plan or scheme Of legls- | laton regarding railroad rates and the enforcement of such rates, bills were l passed concerning the sale Of pistols. l spurious liquors and the preservation of 1 our forests; also repeal of the tax on 1 foreign loan companies, which were gem eraly demanded throughout the state. Among the bills which failed in passage and which were embraced in the gov ernors call were the bill for compulsory education and the excess baggage bill. '1ne bill for compulsory education failed because of the general belief that a school book education does not improve the negro, but, on the contrary, makes | him less useful citizen and more dan gerous element in the community.
 "I believe that the good which would
 .fA..z CD
 upon the white people of our state would result in sufficient good to more than overcome the harm which would be done by sending the negro to school. l, there fore at the regular session and again at this session voted for the compulsory education bill.
 Excess Baggage Bill. "The bill which Attempted to regulate the charges by the railroad company for excess baggage; that Is to say, the 1 charges for hauling all ba ggage over 150 pounds for each adult passenger, failed
 because the rate fixed by the bill as ap- l piled to the average trip made by the l commercial traveller with his samples l would have required the railroad to haul 1 baggage on it's passenger trains for l less rate per 100 pounds than the legal l rate for hauling freight on it's freight i trains per 100 pounds for the same dis
 
 i that would be an unjust discrimination l in favor of the traveller with excess bag l gage, and unfair return to the rail- ] road company for the service rendered. i For these reasons motion to indefinitely l postpone the excess baggage bill carried. While Governor Conner was not in : favor of the bill to repeal the tax on i foreign loan companies, still after it's ! passage he told me he would not for the second time turn it down, but would de i fer that much to the opinion of the mem- 1 bers of the legislature and sign this 1 bill
 Pistol Toting Bill. | The bill to prevent the sale of small
 arms is in sense a protest against the
 cheapness in which human life is held in l this state. It makes it an offense to sell small arms, including pistols with bar 1 rels less than two feet long. It also 1 makes it an offense for one to have in his i possession, except upon his own prem
 ises, any small arms, including the above
 described pistols. This law makes no
 distinction between concealed and uncon- i cealed small arms. It is true that the l legislature cannot control interstate sales, | and some people will continue to buy | from dealers without the state, but it will | greatly limit the number of sales and | make it much easier to convict for the unlawful carrying, as 1t is frequently question of fact under the old law as to
 whether or not the pistol, knife or sling l shot is being carried concealed or uncon- | cealed.
 l Boon for Brewers.
 "The act to prohibit the manufacture | and sale of spurious liquors passed by the
 necessary two-thirds of each house, that | subject not having been embraced in the | governors call. This act makes it unlaw- | full to manufacture sell or give away li- quors within this state and goes into er- | feet generally on the 1st day of January, I 1909, and in counties which have held elec- I tions under the local option law and other I counties in which the sale was prohibited 1 by special laws, 1t goes into effect the 1st l of January, 1908. The local option law | does not prohibit the manufacture of | liquors and the effect of the local option l law and the general prohibition law con- | strued together would have been to put | the manufacturers in Jefferson county | and other local option counties out of | business upon five weeks notice. I re- 1 quested the temperance committee of the | senate to amend the bill so as to give the | manufacturers in the loca, option coun- 1 ties until the 1st of July, 1908, to get out l of the manufacturing business. These l manufacturers will. however, be pro- | hibted from selling within this state | after the 1st of January. 1908, but can dis | pose of their product without the state up | to the 1st of July, 1908.
 | There was a bill passed authorizing | prosecutions to be begun by affidavit for