The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-30
MUST GIVE EQUAL
 RIGHT OF APPEAL Supreme Court Renders ImpOr-
 tant Decision IA BIG COTTON DEAL Eight Hundred Bales Are Sold, lnvoIv- ing About $40, o,ooo-Boston Li-
 brary Man Makes Tour
 of Alabama.
COTTON DEAL

Montgomery, April 29.-(special.) )-"Tn pursuance of the principle that the sov ereign can do no wrong, applicable to republican forms of government, 1t has always been held,' says MT. Justice Sayre of the supreme court, that the state may deny it's remedies to slothful per sons having grievances, and so secure repose of society, by the enactment of statutes of limitations by which it is not itself bound unless by it's own express consent"
 With this explanation he this morning reversed and remanded the case of the "state of Alabama vs. Isadore Bley," an appeal from Marengo circuit court, which lower judicial body had dismissed an ap- peal of the tax commissioner of that coun- ty requesting that the Marengo county commissioners reverse their decision in a case which he had instituted against Isi- dore Bley, defendant.
 In 1906, according to the records, the tax commissioner of Marengo county commenced proceedings before the court of county commissioners against MT. Bley to require him to assess for taxation cer- tain shares of the capital stock of the First National bank of Demopolis. At the hearing the proceeding was dismissed on the ground that the stock had already been assessed.
 After five days, but within ten days of the judgment the state sued out an ap- peal to the circuit court, On a motion in the circuit court the appeal was dis missed This is the decision that is re- versed.
 It develops from the records that sec ton 3979 of the code of 1896 provided that from the judgment of the court of coun- ty commissioners either party had a right of appeal within five days. Section l of an act approved September 90, 1903, how eyer, provided that the tax commissioners might appeal to the circuit court within 10 days.
 "The circuit court in dismissing the appeal' Justice Sayre says, went upon the theory that the provisions of the last mentioned act were unconstitutional for the reason that they did not afford an equal opportunity for appeal to the de- fendant, and hence that section 3979 re- mained unimpaired in it's entirety. The argument is that the state may not dis | criminate between partes."
 | The justice comedies that the full force of the argument is applicable to all causes between citizens, but states the tax com missioner was proceeding an officer | of the state, and in the interest of the l state in the exercise of the highest at tribute of sovereignty the imposition oi | taxes
 l He adds that the "state may have omit | ted the limitations against itself entirely
 Big Cotton Deal. 1 One of the largest cotton transactions | when Marks & Gayle, cotton merchants ! purchased from the Roman Cotton com i pany 800 bales of the staple owned by l R. Meadows of Lowndesboro. The trans | action resulted in the exchange of about l $40000, a neat sum for cotton at this | time of the year.
 | The cotton market in and around Mont | gomery has been quite brisk during the past few weeks, and good prices have | been obtained at all of the sales Pur- chasing has been quite lively while the size of the sales have been proportiouate | to the one of today.
 Throughout the state there has been 2 | cotton rejuvenation during the past month
 with the result that better times for the | 1eecy article are sighted by conosseurs 1 Planting of the crop has been rather | heavy in Central Alabama during April report being that over one-half of the regular cotton acreage has already beer | planted. In other sections of the state | the planting has been more or less light | according to the climatic conditions