The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-05
TURN OVER COUNTS
 SURPLUS IN FEES ID
 ROADS AND SCHOOLS
Bowie Explains General Pro- visions Of Proposed Bill Of
 Chamber of Commerce
POPULATION USED IN
 FIXING THE SALARIES
Motion, Smyer and Others Have Drawn Anti-Eee Bills and They Are Now Being Whipped Into Shape

| If the anti-free system, in course of
 preparation at the present time by a
 committee of the Chamber of Commerce
 headed by Sidney J.. Bowie, are adopted,
 county officials elected in 1915 will not
 draw the princely salaries received to-
 day by many of the present county of ficials in Alabama
 At the same time the bills will provide for each county official remuneration
 which the framers of the bills consider
 not only adequate, but handsome as we'll
 The bills will provide for the payment
 of county officials salaries in proportion to the census reports of the respective l counties, and the proportion is made so
 large that out of the salaries of officials officeholders will be able to remunerate
 their assistants and discharge the op-
 erating expenses of offices
 The fee system. by the adoption of the
 several bills, will not be, abolished, and
 no fee charged today will be decreased But in case of surplus developing in
 a county, after the salaries are paid all officials, that surplus will be expended
 in the betterment of public schools and
 in keeping county roads in a perpetual
 state of repair.
 Strenuous Opposition Not Expected
 The bills, of course. will not effect the
 salary of any official of any county at
 the present time. The bills, if adopted
 will be effective in 1915
 l This fact will result in no strenuous
 opposition, it is believed, on the part
 of an alleged "officeholders' l" ring. be-
 cause their antagonism to a fair distri-
 button of the funds of the several coun-
 ties will possibly effect their chances of
 nomination or renomination in 1915. | There is no intention on the part of l the committee stated MT. Bowie yes- l terday, to strike a blow at any man or | any officeholder in Alabama. It is our | purpose, on the contrary, to lessen the
 oppression of the weak and bring about such changes which will result in the l people of a county receiving some of the | benefits of the moneys which they are now paying into the pockets of a few individuals. Thus the provision that sur | plus moneys must go to schools and I good roads.
 It is generally recognized that the
 drawing of salaries by officeholders of this county equal to the salaries of cabi-
 net officers, justices of the supreme court | of the United States, the President of
 the United States and kings of the small
 CT principalities of Europe and other
 countries is a serious drawback to the
 further growth and development of this
 county. The fee system, as 1t is oper- | ated today, Is a method of expressing
 the weak that is permitted by law The fee system as it operates today, is an l incentive to a kind of crime, for the | making of unnecessary arrests is crimi- nal. If the bills to be presented to the l legislature are adopted, there will be no | more wholesale arrests in all parts of the county of negroes engaged in the comparatively innocent amusement of shooting craps And when these un-
 disappear 75 per cent of the labor trou-
 bles to which this county at the present | time is heir.
 'The trouble in framing an anti-fee bill is due to the fact that the counties of the state differ to such great extent | in the matter of population. But we be-
 lieve that the system, of remunerating
 officials on a scale based on the popula- ton of the several counties will obviate many of the difficulties heretofore en-
 countered. It is the intention of the bills to pay officeholders well, but not excessively"
 Probate Judges Salary | MT. Bowie stated that the committee
 is not yet ready to publish the scale of
 remunerating officeholders. but did dis play that of the probate judges. By the scale the probate judge of Jefferson county in 1915 will receive $17,S00, out of which. he will pay his assistants and operating expenses.
 MT. Bowie stated that as the sheriff expends more money for assistants than any other official, his remuneration will probate judge.
 Tn 1815,' continued Mir. Bowie, the probate judge will not receive the regal salary which he receives today, but there are many excellent men in this county, believe, who will not only offer for that fat $17.sOo job, but who will dis charge its duties as acceptably as they are discharged today"
 In all six or eight bills will be intro duced by Representative Motion on be- half of the committee, and the commit tee will be on hand to aid in the passage of all of them. The Chamber of Com merce will take an active hand, too, in the fight and the prediction of the com mittee is that 1t will encounter success The bills have been drawn by Mr.
 Bowie, F. J. Smyer, T. H. Motion and others. Final preparation for submis- sion to the legislature is all that remains to be done.
 Marriage Licenses Issuetl a. Marriage licenses have been issued as