Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1909-02-11

measures of statewide importance
 We're defeated in the house this morn
 ing, but not until after a vigorous de
 fense of each. One was the measure
 by Mir. Cartwright, of Stone county
 providing for the general distribution ot the common school tax levied unon
 railroads; the other was a bill by MT. Hurst, of Washington, providing for the right of cities and incorporatcd town to use within their respcctiye corporate limits four-tifthS of the road tax levied i'll the city. the remaining one-fourth to be expended ill the same township as that In which the town or city is located
 Both the bill and thc resolution had been previously discussed, the bill coming over from yesterday as unfln- lshed business
 MT. Hurst spoke in defense of the bill and urged that the original intent ol the present law was to effect just what he intended to have his bill se- cure, but that owing to a laxness of the provisions of the law the county judges could, and, ill many instances. he declared, did defeat the purpose of tle law by expending funds raised in one township in some other township and generally transferring road tax funds where they pleased.
 While they thus defeat the real intent ci the law he said they do not commit a technical violation, and hence are secure. This bill, if en- acted, will eliminate such a condition as will make it possible for q county judge to expend road tax funds any where except where they rightfully belong"
 MT. Glover feared that the bill would tend to discourage and retard road building in the country and that the towns would correspondingly sui fer. He led the opposition to the '-ASN''o'>t Sht oDJCNlIcllS lO IIlc bIll being based chiefly on the contentious that the city should aid the country in building roads leading into it.
 MT. Cartwright's resolution was fought on the ground that 1t was tax ing one section of the country for the support of another and that it would be as logical to tax the wholesale houses and factories of a district for some other district as to tax the rail road property in one district for the benefit of the residents of another locality.
 The author of the resolution met these objections by urging that the railroads should be taxed as common property of the state, and declared that the spirit of equal rights to all and special privileges to none" de- the passage of the resolution. Mir. Oiiphant, of Fulton, created con- siderable amusement by the highly descriptive adjectives he applied to a railroad which penetrated his coun- ty, declaring that the road ran Standardization across the county but that nobody secured any benefit from it's taxation except those inn along it's right of way He said that this is unfair and that all of <1, ,,bo monly taxed.
 The discussion brought out the fact that in some localities there is oppo- sition to anything but general school tax, and MT. Thompson, of In- dependence, intimated that he prefer red a five-mill general tax with no spe cial taxation. Others pointed out that the measure will not accomplish the end desired, and, as MT. Little put it, they believed the resolution load ed" and that 1t would merely result in decreasing everywhere throughout the state the amount of revenue avail able for school purposes, each district relying on the fact that it was going to be largely benefited from the new plan, when, in fact, somebody would have to suffer if others were bene- fited.
 On final vote the resolution lost but the vote was much closer than would have evidently been the case had the measure been pressed to a