The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-07-26
"A AWORDTOLAWlNAkERS h eaH of 7uskegee Institute An,assing Lands for v; Speculation Neither Endangering the Reuenue
 x: of the County.
 The Danger Of Legislative Courtesy.

price of these lots is fixed So that the profit enables the school to build streets, sidewalks. etc. Now, this is the only semblance of speculating in lands that the school is guilty of, and now this tract of land is being as regating of the negro families is the best for the school and best for the white community of Tuskegee.
 No Recent Purchases.
 Practically all of the land purchases spoken of were made some four or five years ago, and the school will buy no more land unless it be occasionally some small lot mixed in among the farms.
 County Revenue Not Endangered.
 The showing already made as to the lands. their previous character of use and service has already convinced the thinking man that the cry that the holdings of the school off the tax list endangers the revenues of the County is without foundation in fact. But to give you a few figures, l crave your patience.
 Previous Tax Valuation.
 The assessed valuation of all the lands owned by the school the year prior to this purchase by the school was 14,057.50. (The assessed value at the time the school was founded was much less.)
 As individuals, persons connected di- recAy and indirectly with the school now own about 30 pieces of land. the previous tax valuation of which was s4,32O. The same property Is now as- sessed at s26.7s7.
 There are 3s lots and plats of land adjoining the school lands owned by individuals not connected with the school. When the school was estab- lished. those pieces were assessed for s1,050; their present assessment is $16.- 244.
 Again. these parties connected with the school all pay taxes on personal property. In one case George W. Carnes pays on $2.000 worth of paint ings. mostly his own work. The size of the school. 1,500 pupils and some 200 instructors, superintendents, etc. calls for the purchase and improvement of much private property, all of which in- creases the tax income for the town, County and State.
 In addition to the increased tax in- come by rise of property values, the school by spending in Macon County upwards of s200.000 year enables hundreds of white and black farmers to further improve their farms and homes, and thus swell the revenue of the County.
 Unwtse and unjust.
 Would be the steps were the Legis- lature of the great State of Alabama to adopt such a bill. You have given lavishly to the universities, colleges, high schools and common schools for the whites of Alabama, and you have not done too much. You have provided increased appropriations and added to the number of branch agricultural schools for whites, and you have pro- (, l,;t children of every County in the State, and I praise you for your far-seeing statesmanship.
 Here is the Tuskegee Institute found- ed by the white Democrats of Alabama, encouraged, directed and helped by our own people, and because of this very support benevolent souls from other sections have been liberal in helping it in it's plan to be a great experimental school of the world for negroes. And from a close personal investigation of it and it's work for twelve years, and by the verdict of the best educational workers of the world. I say it stands as one of the most successfully and safely managed institutions of the kind in the word, And after twen- ty-five years of struggling, 1t is just now reached the point where it can begin in the most practical way to work out the plans of it's trustees and friends. and to be of untold value to Alabama, and to the world.
 Not a Local Question.
 appreciate the feeling among mem bers on the matter of Legislative Cour- tesy, but after having watched legis- lation for twenty years, I shudder to think of the acts of injustice which have been permitted to be perpetrated under the cloak of Legislative Cour- tesy,"
 Should a member of the House or Senate from Tuscaloosa, Lee or Shelby seek to introduce a bill affecting the University of Alabama. the Polytechnic Institute at Auburn. or the Girls In dustrial School at Montevallo. would his fellow members permit him to ride through under the plea that it is a local measure?" The question carries its own answer. Nor should the mem ber from Macon be permitted to cripple that which is to the negroes of the whole State of Alabama. just what Tuscaloosa Auburn and Montevallo are to the whites. simply because the school is located in his county.
 Because of the long history of kind ness shown them by the white people of Alabama. the negroes of this State are among the most contented and law abiding of the whole country. They are absolutely at the mercy of our race in every department of life, and while their progress along many lines may not have been what we think it should have been. let us remember the depths from whence they came and continue to exercise that spirit towards a weak. ignorant and dependent race, which has always characterized the South, and which constitutes the brightest star in her crown of glory.
 c. w. Hare. In Behalf of Board of Trustees.