The Harrison times., 1911-07-01
LITTLE ROCK LETTER.
LITTLE Rock, Iunc .


disappeared from Little Rock, the
acts will have been enrolled and
signed and the journals completed,
Then will begin the assaults upon
the validity of any acts wi ich the
people, individually or collectively,
may decide that they diSl1e.
The expected attack up n the cclc-
brated Turner Jacobson revenue bill,
which was passed without the
emergency clause, has already been
started, Representative Baker Of
independence county, who opposed
the bill, has started the circulation
of petion for its submission to the
people, and it will not require much
effort to get enough signatures to
submit the act, as less than seven
thousand would be needed. A dozen
petitions started in as many counties
would roll up that many names in a
te ~ days The act would then be
submitted at the next general election
at a very considerable cost to the
people who are protesting against
what they fear willprove an increase
in taxation. The Tax Commission
has announced that the ensuing
assessment and tax collection will
be under the terms of the old rather
than the new law, to avoid the con-
fusion that would inevitably follow
an attempt to put the new law into
effect at this time. But this does
not appear to pacify the opponents
of the bill. All sorts of flaws, incon-
sistences, and jokers are being dis
covered in it by its critics, and the
indications are that it will have a
hard passage to the harbor Of pop
ular acceptance.
ALSO THE ENABLING ACT.
The enabling act passed by the
extra session, bv which it was pro-
posed to vitalize the Initiative and
Referendum amendments adopted by
the people in 1910 is also coming in
for its prospective share of attention
The attack upon it is likely to origi-
nate at Fulton, iii Hampstead
county. The wet" advocates of
that town, about 60 per cent of the
population, it is claimed, have initi-
ated a proposition for the licensing
of saloons in the town OF Fulton,
The petition was sent to the Cover
nor and the Secretary of State, but
they did nothing withit. The Fulton
town council and mayor thereupon
called an election on Sept. 2Sth, on
which date the question of saloons
or no saloons will be decided. This
is where the enabling act steps in
with the following provision;
"Provided, this act shall not apply
to the provisions of the local option
liquor laws, providing methods of
determining whether the sale OF in
toxicating liquors shall be prohibit
cd in any county, city, town or
township"
No exemption Of this kind is made
in Amendment No 10 which the act
seeks to carry into effect. "The
Legislature cannot change the con-
stitution, said former Senator I. {.
lobe ofHope, counsel for the "wets'
"and that amendment is part of the
constitution as truly as any other
section. 1t makes no exemptions
whatever, and that provision will
not stand the scrutiny Of the Supreme
Court ten minutes We are going
to hold the election, and 90 per cent
of the people will vote for saloons.
Then if necessary we will carry it to
the Supreme Court and knock out
that shrewd bit Of political engineer
ing in the enabling act"
EcoNoMIzING EVEN MORE.
Economy appears to be the watch
| WOtu OF All DIdUCOCS VI TIC SldtS
government except the Legislative.
Gov. Donaghey vetoed total OF
$575, 900 in the aspiration bills, and
there has been much complaint in
many quarters. To all critics he
replied, Owe did not have the money
and had to save somewhere" Then
the State Board of Charitable In
stitutions, managing the Insane
ASYLUM, Deaf Mute Institute, School
for Blind and Confederate Home,
decided that, although their funds
had already been heavily cut, they
could save another 100000 by
close economy, and therefore pre-
vent the institutions from running
into debt. This is in the face of dec
larations made on the floor that
some of the institutions would al
most be forced to close because of
the veto.
Gov. Donaghey has also received
assurances that the agricultural