The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-02

 BILL PASSES Measure Under Fire Most of Day. CARRIED BY SIX MAJORITY Senators Own Stock in Fertilizer
 Plants. Senate Seemed Surprised to Learn that Sc Many of Its Members Were
 Actual Stock
 holders.
CARRIED BY SIX MAJORITY

1"e Aeltn rertlIlzer Bill was passed last night by the Senate at 10 o'clock, put 1t had been under fire the greater part of the day. Incident to it's pass age. there was an appeal from the de- cision of the chair. but the ruling of President Pro Fem Thomas was sus- tained.
 Senator Leith wanted the bill sent over to the House without engross- ment. but Senator Jones objected Sem ator Leith moved that the bill be sent over by vote of the Senate. but Pres ident Thomas held that the motion was out of order. On this the unsuccess- full appeal was taken.
 The bill was pushed through after a bold light The fight was made single-handed by Senator Leith. and several times it appeared as if the bill was in jeopardy. But the final vote
 The bill held the center of the stage throughout the morning session. No other bill was even considered. The Senate finished It's mornings work with tho bill in an incompfeted state. It filled the larger part of the night session as well.
 q The bill was the fruit of the Ferti- lizer Committees delibera tions during the recess. As originally drawn. the bill forbids the sale of filters. but this feature was eliminated while the bill was passing. Tn its stead, there was placed provision fixing the grade and standard of the amount of plant food required in guano sold in Alabama. Under the bill 1t Is required that IA per cent of the fertilizer should be pure plant food.
 The two provisions which called for most discussion and objection, however. were first the. registration clause and the notification clause. The bill orig inally provided that the manufacturer was compelled to register each brand he made with the Commissioner of Az riculture and pay $10 fee for each brand. The opponents of the bill claimed that this would be hardship on the manufacturers, for no less than 2,600 brands of fertilizer were regis tered. when no registration fee was charged. The registration fee was finally cut down to $5 for each brand.
 The bill was objected to as a hard ship on the manufacturer who would have to notify the Department of Ag- riculture every time he made a ship ment of fertilizer.
 Senator Leith in time met and com batted the several attacks made on the bill. The attacks came in various forms but the bill got through re- markedly we'll.
 The Senate, during the discussion. was surprised to learn how many Sem ators were stockholders or interested in fertilizer factories. No less than half a dozen of the Senators arose and explained their connection with ferti- lizer factories. The last to arise was Senator Gardner who explained that while he himself owned no stock. ms mother-i in law owned stock in a mill.
 This phase of the case was discussed almost as much as the original Dill. The constitutional provision in refer ence to Senators voting on questions in which they might have personal or private interest. The discussion cul- minated in the introduction and pas sage of a resolution which authorized the Senators in question to vote, If their interests were not personal or private and that each Senator should himself decide his proper course.
 While the bill was under discussion Senator Jones of Wilcox took occasion to level another epigrammatic criticism of the course of the majority In the Legislature. :.
 'aThis Is a regulating Legislature. declared Senator Jones. We have set out to regulate everything. We have regulated the railroads according 10 our way of thinking. We have regu- lated the way that hotels should be run. even to how spittoons should be cleaned Now we propose to regulate the fertilizer business. Senators, we arc going too far in this regulating business. We will have to come back to the idea of liberty from which we have drifted so far. We must return to that idaa of liberty which has pre- vailed since the Magma Charta was wersted from King John.