The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-18


 eral in the state that it is necessary that they should be properly regulated, l licensed and controlled They go upon our nigh ways, supplied with enormous power and capable of going at great | speed On account of their great weight | and speed-being practically road To- eomotives-they impose a new and se- I were burden on our public roads, sub jecting them to greater wear than any 1 other vehicle. 1 believe that sun | stantial license tax shonld be imposed for the privilege ol operating motor vehicles within the state, the proceeds l to be devoted to the maintenance or a state highway commission and the | repair and improvement of our public roads. There can be no valid objections to the payment by the owners of motor vehicles of a proper sum to the state | for the improvement and repair ot | the roads they do so much to destroy i This lcense tax should be graded prop | erly In the state of New Jersey thus 1 tax, which was not onerous, brought TO that commonwealth revenue for hlgh- way improvement during the past year of over s240.000.
 In Massachusetts fees are as follows: For every motor bicycle, $2
 For every commercial motor vehicle used solely as such, regardless of horse power S5.
 For every automobile of less than 20-horsepow CT, s5
 For every automobile of 20-horse- power and less than 3O-h orepoWer' slo'
 For every automobile of Sp-horse- power and less than 40-horaepoWer, sl9- For every automobile of 40-horse- power and less than 50-horsepower, sZo'
 For every automobile of 5O-horse7 power and above, s25
 |. The highway commission or that state determines 8 the power of the ma chine.
 In Vermont the fee charged is $1 horsepower for a new machine, and Tor machine which has been licensed Tor year "a cents, and for an old machine 90 cents horsepower These fees are in lieu of all other taxes.
 But the matter of first importance for your consideration is the provision of adequate safeguards to protect the lives of our citizens. The operation or motor vehicles should be prohibited save by those who. upon proper exam l.ination and after suitable tests, for which a fee is charged, are found to be duly qualified and are licensed ac- cordingly. These licenses should be sub ject to suspension or revocation, anu for repeated infractions of the law not only should the license be revoked but the offending party debarred from receiving another license in the future kSpeed regulations in the open country should be more liberal than our present laws allow. Willful injury to persons or property by the driver of car, or such injury by an intoxicated driver. should be 8 misdemeanor and punished accordingly without the loss of right by the injured party to maintain a civ1i suit. All vehicles upon public highway should be required to carry lights. It should also be made a crime within It. self, with severe penalties, for any one to seek to escape after an accident to which he has contributed. reasonable license tax on motor vehicles would be more than sufficient to support high way commission.
 Inheritance Tax
 I recommend the passage of law placing tax upon inheritance so far ss is permissible by the provisions or sec tion 2l9 of the constitution.
 The right to re ,eive an inheritance | is a privilege conferred upon an indi- vidual by the state, and it is but fair l and just that the individual receiving l the inheritance should contribute | something for the support of the gov ernment winch grants him the privilege. |
 I regret that our organoc law so limits our powers as to prevent the en- | actment of a general, inheritance tax law but so far as we have power un- der the constitution such tax should be imposed.
 Thirty-six states of the Union have imposed an inheritance tax, and 1t IS an important source of revenue in most of the civilized nations of the world.
 Education
 The most important step in the educa- tional progress of Alabama, in my judg ment. is a constitutional amendment per- hitting an adequate local district tax for public schools.
 At present practically the whole fund for the maintenance of elementary | schools, high schools. normal schools and tie higher State institutions is from the state treasury Counties are permitted to levy a 1 mill county tax, but no district | local tax is authorized. The necessary re- suit is that the elementary schools are burden upon the treasury of the state. l This tends to prevent local effort and to lesson or destroy local interest in the schools. For the elementary and high schools to be vital as educational agen- oies they ought to be supported in the main by county and local taxes. Further more the necessity of maintaining our elementary and high schools altogether from state funds makes such drain upon our treasury that we are unable to pro vide sufficient funds for the proper sup port of our normal schools and higher ln- stitutions of learning.
 There should be, in my judgment, maximum limitation upon the amount or local district tax. County Supervision
 We need more effective system of county administration and supervision or schools. The creation of county board of education was a step in the rignt direction. | recommend, however, mat | such boards be clothed with larger ad- minstrative powers. It ought to have full power in the location of schools, without being required to place school within two and one-haf miles of every child of school age; it ought to have au- thority to appoint teachers without de- pending upon the nomination of teachers py local trustees it ought to have power to appoint it's own executive agent-that |es county superintendent; it should have bower to gc outside of the county, or if necessary |, go outside of the state to | find the right man for this position; it | should determine his salary and keep him | at his post as long as he effective. So | long as county superintendents are elect | ed by the people we cannot hope to have l the most effective county supervision.
 The present system makes the office polit- l ical confines the selection to the limits 1 df the county, makes tenure of office un-
 certain, and effective service almost inn | possible Supervision of our city schools khas been made effective by clothing our city boards of education with the powers (which I have recommended for the coun- | ty boards. -A
 In Louisiana the parish school board
 selects the parish superintendent. and 1 these boards do not hesitate to bring men in from other states. Some of these su-
 perintendents are receiving as much as