The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-26
F|REMEN ARE NOT
EXEMPT FROM TAX
Cannot Vote Unless They Have
Paid Polls
CARRIER GIVES OPINION
Ruling viii Affect About Thousand
Votes and Affects Departments
Provided for Under
Local Acts.

Montgomery, November 25.-(Special)-
In an opinion handed down today At
torney General CARRIER holds that exemp-
lions of tiremen and others from the pay
ment of poll taxes under local acts adopt
ed prior to the PRONUNCIATION of the new
constitution in 1901 are void, his position
!, being that to make provision covering
this subject so broad would be to seri-
ously cripple the suffrage plan of the con.
stitution, of which the poll tax part is a
feature Mr.. CARRIER also adheres to the
belief that exemptions under local acts
ante-dating the organic law are void gen.
Grail speaking. Such could not have been
the intention of the trainers of the new
constitution, he thinks.
1t Is estimated that the ruling will cut
out about 1000 men in the state who have
not paid poll taxes, relying upon the To-
cal acts to protect them. Fire companies
in many places are in this lot, and Their
members will have to lose their votes il
they have not paid the polls. Among the
towns affected are Union Springs, Selma
Birmingham, Opelika, Talladega, Gads-
den, Huntsville, Greenville. Oxford, Annis-
ton, Jacksonville, Broken Arrow and De-
mopolis. These are known to be In the
class at interest and a further nvestiga-
ton into the laws may show others,
The opion, given to Gov. B. B. Conner,
on request Is as follows:
ION the oath inst, you referred to me
communication addressed to you by
Ernest Lamar ct al. of Selma, under
dale of November ~, in when the ques-
ton is raised of the right of members of
certain local fire companies at Selma to
vote in TIE coming election, they not
having paid their poll tax in reliance upon
an exemption of such members from the
payment of such tax contained in the local
legislative acts passed before 1901, incor-
porating the companies.
Under section ITS of the constitution of
1901 no person can vote at any election
by the people unless he has paid all poll
taxes due from him for the year 1901
and for each subsequent year
Section 1874 of the constitution provides
that the poll tax mentioned In this article
shall be $3.50 upon each male inhabitant OF
the state over the age of Fl years. and
under the age of As years, who would now
be exempt by law 1t is contended that
the members of the fire companies to
which I have referred are exempt from
the payment of the poll tax required by
virtue OF the clause, who would not now
be exempt by law contained in section
1874 I have considered the question very
carefully and have reached the conclu-
sion that 1t was the intention of the con-
stitution only to exempt those persons
from the payment of poll tax who were
exempt in 1901 under general laws OF
the state; and that the exemption can
not be extended to those persons who may
have been exempted from the payment of
poll tax under local laws in force in 1901.
My attention has been called to many
local acts. adopted by the legislature
prior to 1901, in which an exemption from
the payment of poll tax is contained in
favor of firemen and others: but. In my
opinion, the poll tax exemption features
in all these acts are void
Under the constitution of 1875, the poll
tax was applied to the support of the
public schools in the counties in which
It was levied and collected and the
right to vote was in no way dependent
upon the payment OF the tax. The pri-
mary purpose of the constitutional con-
vention of 1901 was to provide a uniform
suffrage plan. and the payment of poll
tax was a part of this system which Is
worked out In the constitution. II the ex-
are effective the pao nf the constitution
would be seriously impaired. In short,
1t could not have been the intention Of
the trainers of the constitution to ex-
empt from the payment of tax persons
whose right OF exemption was founded on
local statutes therefore enacted"