The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-03-01


be hereafter given to the treasurer or tn;
no appointment be made without his 81
prevail, and then for no shorter peru
than one year, subject TO removal for II
competency or inefflciency.
Treasurer Park says that Georgia
the only state in the union, so far as
can learn, which does not pay the PHI
miums upon the bonds required of 4
bonded officers. The officials of the trea:
ury department have to pay the premium
on their bonds from their small salaries
and that cuts a big hole in them. IL
thinks the legislature should make pr
vision for payment of these premiums OIL
bonds required from the officials from tn
treasury of the state.
In closing, the treasurer pays tribute q
Capt. Charles T. Furlow, formerly Ger
of the treasury department, now retire
as the result of i'll health. Captain Fur
low had been In the states service =
years at the time of his retirement, L
years in the comptroller generals ofce
and II In the treasury Department. lie
was succeeded by Ben F. Perry of Canton
as elefk in the treasury department
Railroad Commission.
The railroad commission of Georgla
will urge In its 1909 report to the leg
islature, it is understood. the enact,
ment of law permitting railroads ana
other corporations to put CERTAIN
amount of water into their stocks.
This will be in application of slg
gestion made in the commissions aS9
annual report in which it said:
I'VE would suggest that the legisa
ture define the basis of capitalizaloi
of corporations in which the conniS-
sion is called upon to approve the issue
of stocks and bonds
A member of the commission uuoteu
the foregoing para graph In support y
his statement that the body had az
ready recommended legislation permit
ting corporations to water their Stocks
I'VE did not think 1t necessary to go
more fully Into the matter at mat
time" he said, but I, personally ana
other members of the commission spoke
to a number of the members Of the
Legislature on this line, and urged them
that inasmuoh as we were required TO
approve bond and stock issues OF those
corporations under our jurisdiction we
be given a statutory basis upon which
to act.
ut is alright to put certain amount
of water into a corporations stock so
long as the public knows 1t is there,
Just how much there is of 1t and that
there cannot be any more.
Promoters of great enterprises are
entitled to their compensation and this
is, generally, the only way they have
of getting 1t. In promoting a new en-
terprise 1t Is also necessary at times
to give a stock bonus to the purchasers
of bonds-stock which has no value at
the time of issue but acquires 1t with
the development of the competitions
property.
ITS the water the public doesn't
know about or is not officially apprized
of that does the damage. Ii it were
fixed by law that there could be 20 or
30 per cent of water in corporation
stock, and no more, and penalties We're
fixed for violating the law then the
public would know just what 1t had
to deal with
ut would give the commission an abb
solute basis upon which to act in cases
of application for approval OF bond and
stock issues, as we'll as in the making
of rates"
The commissioner intimated that the
board would renew this suggestion to
the legislature this year, probably in
more amplified form. Under the pres
ent law the only basis which the COM
mission has is one OF requirement of
actual investment of every dollar rep
resented by the securities Issued. Some
times stocks are sold below par, and
1t is not possible In such cases to COM
ply with the requirement..
The subject Is at least, an interesting
one, and while there are plenty of wa
tered stocks in public service corpor-
atoms, there are few If any precedents
of Legislative, recognition and justifi-
cation for their existence.
School Statistics,
Out of a total school population of
795,471 children of school age in Geor-
gia, as shown by the school census for
1908, figures for which have just been
compiled by State School Commissioner
crates, or Ills per cent Of the total
number of children between the ages
of and Is years.
The foregoing includes not only the
children who can neither read nor write
but those who can read and cannot
write. This is the practice in the COM
putation for the United States census
and was followed by Georgia for the
first time last year.
The total number of children found
last year, white and colored, who could
neither read nor write was ADOPT, OF
81 per cent as against 51S01 in 1908, OIL
7.3 per cent. According to these fig
ures, considering only the totally illit-
crate, there has been Considerable de-
crease in the last five-year period
Including both classes of illiterates
the report for 1908 shows 23 children
out of every 200 who can neither read
nor write. or who can read but not
write. Estimating the latter class fol
1903 which was not included in the re-
70 cd IA ~
there has been a decrease in the en-.
sire illiteracy among children of the
state of school age, upon the present
basis of about IL per cent in five
years.
Here are some of the figures from
the 1908 report;
Children who can read but not write
white, 1886; colored, s3s 1858; total, AZ,
853.
Children who can neither read MOI
write-White, 9343; 5Eolored 32,6S4
total, 42,027.
The percentage of iliteracy among
negro chiAlren of school age is nearl,
three and a half times that among thu
whites. Liberty county, with 80 pc
cent of illiteracy, SHOWS the greatest
and Epson, with sevenltenths of / pc
cent, the smallest percentage of illit
eracy.
The percentage of 5literacy shown
in other counties is Butke, 81 per cent
Houston, 81; Macon, PSI; Mcintosh
800; Miller. rs. and }f smaller per
centages, Telfair, 2.3i Catoosa, 2.9
Richmond, 4 Rockdala 4, and Whit
field, "a.
Fulton county, with an increase o
692 children since 1903, shows a de
crease of SIS per cent in illiteracy
This does not include Atlanta.
Chatham county, including Savannah
shows an increase of 1920 in schoo
population and an incfease in Hitter
acy of 1893, or 1876 per cent.
Muscogee, exclusive of Columbus