The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-07-12
SOME WEEKEND GOSSIP
 FROM THE STATE CAPITAL
By HERvEY w. LAIRD.

cratic party, but a more extensive sup port than he had at either of the other elections at which he was a leader.
 Railroad Commission.
 The fight for railroad commissioner, brought on by the death of John G. Har- ris, promises to be quite interesting be- fore the appointment is made by the gov ernor So far as Montgomery and this part of the state is concerned the idea seems to be that s. P. Kennedy, the sec retary of the commission, stands the best show of landing the plum. McEldery of Talladega, who has been mentioned d possible aspirant for the place, has in- dorsed MT. Kennedy, and the same thing is so of a number of other men in various parts of the state.
 MT. Skeggs of Decatur will naturally be able to control a large influence. fn his race for the position he visited every county in the state, and he is also a strong candidate because of the fact that he is in line with the policies of tho administration.
 MT. Kennedy is not only an old rail- road man, but for a good many years was In thorough touch with all the in- tricacies of tariff-makng and admins tration, but he has been a shipper as well. Since he came to the commission as secretary, with the present administra- ton, he has had a part in all the activ- ities of the organization growing out of the effort to enforce the new laws and bring about the observance of all the re- cent regulations.
 W. c. Fitts of Mobile and c. L. Fly bart of Monroe arc also prominent ean- didates.
 State Laws Upheld.
 The state seems to have won the first fall in the fight that is to be made to discredt the new tax laws which are only now being enforced. number of railway systems, foreign corporations which have absorbed domestic corpora tions, have endeavored to prove that the act which levies upon them an annual tax on their franchise holdings is uncon- stitutional, but the lower court has de- cided that such is not the case, and the law Is held as a result to be valid and the tax levy collectable. This means a very large slice of revenue to the state in case the supreme court decides in line with the lower court It is also expected that the holding in this instance will have the effect possibly of discouraging any attempt to discredit the intangible franchise tax act However, those cor porations which have intmated intention to contest the last statute have not shown any disposition to take back water at this time
 The fact that the new tax laws are just now becoming operative explains why the opposition Is at present so active. Though the laws were passed some time ago because of the tax rules they are just now being put into force. The in- tangible act Is the one that is making the most trouble, and if it is finally de- cided to oppose It, the fight along that line will probably be one of the most spectacular the state has ever had. These are among the provisions that Governor Conner has relied upon to provide for a great amount of the appropriations that were made for schools and other pur- poses during the last session. If they should fail, it will naturally be a very unpleasant thing for the head of the ad- mnistration.