The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-05
THE PASSING TxiRoNc
Let Nspotis11nl 1l- Co.

Texas legislators are given to over- doing things at times" said a visitor agree with their stringest law on nepotism. If there Is any argument Tor nepotisn' in the operation of our State or -Natiohal Governments--or mhSniGipsi hsva apsar afairs for that pa.ser
 have statute which goes to the very bottom of the evil. It prohibits the employment by a county or State of- the compensation is paid out Of salary from the State or fees from the people. think 1t extends to the second de- gree of consanguinity.
 The law has done a great deal of good. Of course, there have been violations of the spirit of the law. but as rule the people of Texas are very vigilsnt. on this subject. | know of an an instance of one man who was vas q nephew who wanted to work in Austin. He could not work in the office of his uncle. that much was cer- tain. because it was distinctly pro. was to apply to. the recently elected State Treasurer for a job and he got It. The State Treasurer, in turn, swapped of a job-seeking nephew to the other State official and all was
 But such instances of evasions are rare. Since the State has made 1t a misdemeanor to hire members of the disapproval is taken to be so emphatic that not even the spirit Is violated.
 Knotty Question of Bets.
 Speaking of betting" said an expert event the other day. Two men, A and B. We will call them. made 8 wager on the existence of a certain verse of poetry in Goldsnith's The. Travel. B because lie had. lost s5 in the trans action. He then turns round and tells A that if he wanted to he could sue him and recover the $5. A replies that he could do no such thing. That riled under the Alabama Code sue and get back his first stake. A planked down his S5 and went to fine lawyer who said yes to the question if man could recover money lost in wager.
 Tho answer to the abstract question did net suffice for A. He went further into the law and found out what is the definition of wagss: The as. sane lawyer la ySr subject and all the law encyclopedias handy. To the utter chagrin of A the lawyer said that in order for bet to be a bet t must hang upon tho That on which a. bet is placed must be the happening or non-happening or a future event As whatever Gold smith might have written in The Traveller was written and the author was dead before A and were born. 1t could not have been a contingency Therefore. As bet with B4ln the first instance. was no wager 'f3I ,ln., .nn. and all that B get was little legal learning and sting.
 Insurapce Taxes.
 with the coming of prohibition, ipc VNA NeEter6AX. fear that the efforts of the Alabama Insurance Department to get licensts reduced in several municipalities of the state will count n Tor papgnt; ne gnrsiud,ced in the matttr. but others besides insur- ance agents and insurance company presidents, have thought that the gen eral run of agents licenses in Ala- no question in my mind that in some towns and cities the licenses. charged are exhorbttant. and would, II suoInlt- ted to the courts, be declared pro- hibitIve.
 '.The reason that have given up hopes for lower insurance licenses IS that State prohibition is bound to cause readjustment of the reXenoe venue was sold prior to January l. In this shakeup some licenses are bound to be raised, and certainly none have been reduced or are likely to be re-
 with reference to~fire companies the high licenses are likely to prove a boomerang on the people of the muni- cipalities concerned, for either they will be deprived of insurance or they will have to pay for higher rates on account of heavier expense loading. It certainly does seem to me that lh- stead of charging a pTohibitive license certain town authorities would do bet ter and make more profit for their town If they would tax the premium income bv a reasonable amount. This would guarantee increased business and better protection for the property
 "As for life companies it is a cinch that if the average of company and agent licenses charged by towns in Alabama was maintained througnouI the United States the people would be paving higher premiums for The pro- lection of their lives.
 Gov. B. B. Conner returned to the