The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-26

of sitting durinE the sessions of the House, was finally agreed to.
 There was no opposition to the re- consideration of the bill upon these terms, an dthe recommitment of the bill promptly followed the vote to re- consider. The Ways and Means Com mittee met at o'clock in the after noon, and did not conclude until early in the evening. The action of the com- mittee, 1t may be said, was in thor cugh harmony with the statements on the floor of the House. there being full opportunity for the presentation of amendments of which large number were adopted.
 Committee Cuts Down Salaries.
 One of the chief amendments adopt ed by the committee. meeting an ob- lection that was raised repeatedly on the floor of the House. is for the re- duction of salaries for the positions cre- Ated by the bill. The chairman of the Commission. who was to have received S3,600 under the bill, will get but $3,00O under the amendment. while the saLa- ries of the other two members Of the Commission were cut by the committee from s3,000 to $2,400. The Secretary of the Commission, who was to have received $1,s0o per annum, VIII get but 3i,500, If tho committee amend
 
 ments are adopted.
 Another strong series of amendments inserted by the committee, reduced the
 amount of the appropriation for varl- ous purposes. such as offce expenses;
 clerk hire, etc., while a limit Is placed
 mon the total amount that the Com-
 mission may cost at $25.000 per year.
 Objection was raised to a provision
 of the bill that provided that after an
 assessment was once fixed by the Com
 mission. it could not be reduced from
 that figure except by permission. It
 was urged such provision would iorce
 any person whose house may have been
 burned, or the value of whose property
 may have been seriously decreased
 from any other reason. to travel to
 Montgomery to appear before the Board and secure permission for a reduction of assessment A proviso was inserted
 that no assessment fixed by the Com
 mission should be reduced any succeed ing year, so long as the improvements on the property remained substantaily the same, except by permission.
 The provision that a 10 per cent pen alty should be exacted of any property owner who was beaten on appeal as to the proper valuation of his property was eliminated from the measure. A number of other amendments, of more or less importance, were adopted before the bill was completed. It was discussed very much in detail ny the members of the Committee. and by Judge Selheimer, as 1t was gone over section by section.
 Fight Expected On Floor. All the amendments proposed were not adopted. however, by any means, and there is some prospect the hght on some of them may be renewed today on the floor of the House, when the measure again comes up for hnai pas sage. One of these was motion, de- feated in committee, that provision should be stricken out requiring the consent of the Governor to the ap- nointment of County Tax Commission CTS by the State Tax Commission, ana giving the Governor authority to dis charge any such County Tax Commis- sioner without the approval or the State Commission.
 Durinr.the time the Tax Commission bill was under discussion in the Com mittee room, the House was engaged in the passage, generally under the unan- ious consent rule, of various measures of a general nature that were called up by the authors. There was bare quorum in the House during the after noon and it was not desired to take up the most important measures at a time when the Ways and Means Committee, | embracing many of the leading mem | bers of the House, was absent from the | hall. ,, The only generally important bill passed during the day, was the James l town Exposition bill, which went | through with a considerable margin of votes, after considerable oratory had been unloosed, varying in point of time | from the discovery of America to the | education of the rising generation, and with a broad variety of phases Of the ] topic discussed
 l Speaker Martin was indisposed du- ! ring the day. but remained in the hall
 until the conclusion of the morning | session, although MT. Steagall of Dale occupied the chair during a considera-
 ble portion of the morning session, as well as during the entire afternoon. Bills Set for Special Order. l Speaker Martin called the House to | order At 1O:10 o'clock, and presented l Rev. W. M. Cox, pastor of the Dexter 1 Avenue Methodist Church, who deliv-
 cred the invocation. Seventy-six mem, l bers responded to their names on roll call. As usual, the journal was ap-
 proved without reading, upon recom- l mendation. of the Committee on Re- l vision of the Journal. Leaves of absence were granted | Messrs. Norville of Mobile. Jenkins of l Baldwin, Fuller of Bibb, Brown of Cle- l burne. Pitts of Dallas ana afhiichaei | of Colbert.
 The privileges of the floor were l granted, on motion of MT. Arnold oi Calhoun, to Hon. Tipton Mullins, and
 on motion of MT. Crawford, to Hon: | William B. Bankhead; on motion or
 Mr Irrouhart of Jefferson to Hon. George P. Ward, Mayor of Birmins- | ham and Hon. John w. O'Neil of Blr- | mingham, a member of the Constitu. J tional Convention, and on motion or