The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-23
HOUSE WRANGLES ON PEGRAM BILL Would Relieve the Back Tax
 Commissioners PERCY AN ADVOCATE Further Consideration Postponed Until Tomorrow at Noon When
 It Comes up as Unfin-
 ished Business
PERCY AN ADVOCATE
By BERRYMAN c. BETTY

Il Montgomery March 22-(Special-After spending the entire afternoon in the dis cussion of the Pegram bill to provide uni- formity in the assessment of property Ill 1 the various counties .of the state, the house postponed the further consideration of the measure until Friday at noon, when the bill will come up as unfinished l business.
 The Pegram bill was called up a few minutes before the house recessed at l o'clock, but the measure was not con- sidered until the afternoon session. At this time the bill was thoroughly dis cussed in all of it's phases, Walker Percy of Jefferson county making a strong speech in favor of the bill
 Much of the debate occurred on sub sttute to an amendment offered by Mr. Pegram. The amendment provided that | appropriation to the state tax commission should be reduced from $50,OOO to s4o,ooo and that the assistants of the tax con- mission should spend five days in the various counties of the state each year for the purpose of assessing property in stead of ten. The other amendments were of a minor nature.
 The substitute offered by Mir. Arnold provided that the county tax commission CT might collect fees from raises as well as from delinquent license and escaped taxes. In the Pegram bill the back tax commissioner is allowed compensation only on escapes and delinquents. The question was debated all the after noon and resulted in the tabling of the Arnold substitute by q vote of 40 to 37. When the substitute was tabled an effort was made to have the vote taken on the bill but motion was made to indefinite " postpone the question, thus prolonging | the debate. The measure was still be- ing debated at the time the house ad journed at 5:30.
 The champion of the Pegram bill this afternoon was Walker Percy of Jeffer- son county The Jefferson representa- tive spoke for more than one hour on the question and made a strong plea | for the abolition of the present system which obtains in his county. He declared that the system as it at present ob- tains, is unfair and unjust, that it lacks in uniformity and that it is against the best interest of the state. Others who advocated the bill were Almon and Bush of Mobile. Representatives Arnold, Mar tin of Jackson and Huddleston spoke against the measure.
 Representative Martin of Jackson county early in the session introduced a resolution authorizing the holding of night sessions of the house from to 10 o'clock. The resolution was referred to the committee on rules.
 Almost immediately after this the rules committee introduced a resolu- ton authorizing a session of the house tonight. Judge Almon, speaker of the house, explained that the resolution was for the consideration of local H. quor bills at tonght's session of the body. The report was adopted unani- mously.
 Pegram Tax Bill
 The first bill taken up at the afternoon session was the Pegram bill to secure uniformity and equality in the assess l nlents of property in the various coun- ties of the state of Alabama, and to that end to increase the powers and duties
 
 lieve the county tax commissioners of all powers and duties in connection with the assessment or back assessment Of property in this state and to increase the appropriation for the support and main tenance of the state tax commission. 1 An amendment was offered to section ? of the bill by MT. Pegram This sec tion relates to the duties of the state | tax commissioner authorizing the state n rGDrPSp0taflVe | to each county of the state at least five days in each year for the purpose of in- vestigating the assessments therein. This section provides that the compensation of the assistants of the tax commission shall not be more than S2000 per an- mum.
 The amendment also narrowed down the compensation of the county tax com missioner to the fees received from es- capes.
 Arnold Substitute Representative Arnold of Calhoun of- fered substitute to the Pegram amend ment, the purpose of which was to in- crease the authority of the county tax commissioner The substitute by MT. Arnold differed only from the Pegram amendment in that the substitute pro- vidcd that the county tax commissioner might collect fees from raises as well as from delinquent licenses and escapes. The Pegram bill provides that the coun- | ty tax commissioner may collect fees only from escapes and deinquents.
 Percy Makes Speech
 MT. Percy of Jefferson followed Mir. Ar mold stating that he considered the Pe- gram bill one of the most important mea sures that had come before the house during the present session.
 Mir. Percy spoke of the appropriations the legislature had been making, stating that it was necessary for the state to procure money with which to meet these appropriations.
 Speaking of taxes MT. Percy said: l "The ordinary taxpayer does not com plain of the amount of taxes he has to pay if his taxes are on par with what his neighbor has to pay"
 He declared that the assessments in the various counties varied in proportion to the needs of the individual counties. Each county has it's own basis of taxation said MT. Percy.
 Mir Percy said that in 1910 there were 1e counties in the state in which there were no county tax commissioners. In