Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-16
HOUSE SPLIT On
TAX REF ORM
MEASURE
Fight Over Board of EquaIizers
Bill Increases Danger of
Special Session.

The possibility of an extraordinary
session of the Legislature, outlined in
The Georgian Tuesday, is emphasized
in the disagreement Of the House
Committee on Ways and Means as to
the creation of a State Board of Tax
Equalizers.
The committee has determined TO
report the Lipscomb bill to the House
with the recommendation that it pass
by substitute, which substitute pro-
poses the elimination of a State Board
of Equalizers in favor of 14S county
boards.
This the original Lipscomb bill did
not contemplate at all and the recon-
mendation of the substitute puts Mr.
Lipscomb in the attitude of having 10
fight on the floor of the House a com
mittee substitute measure bearing his
name
The Ways and Means Committee
divided on the matter Of State equali-
zers by a vote of 10 to 9.
A minority report will be filed
however, favoring the original Lips
comb bill, and this will precipitate on
the floor as pretty a fight as the most
exacting could ask.
WrangIe Near-Time Flies.
In the meantime, with less than
four weeks of life ahead. the Legisla-
ture finds itself on the verge of a bit
ter wrangle over the matter of tax
reform, the one insistent demand the
Governor is making upon it.
The House must fight the battle &c
a finish, and then it all must be done
over again in the Senate.
There is no doubt that the contest
there for and against State equalizers
will be as bitter and as fierce as in the
House
In addition to this, the Governor
has asked that bills of this character
be placed in his hands we'll in advance
of adjournment-ten days in advance,
If possible.
In order for the Governor to have
these bills placed in his hands at the
time desired, they must be put through
the Legislature inside of the next
three weeks.
Speed Prime Requisite.
II they are thus put through. they
must be pushed along at an unprece
denied speed.
If they drag and pass at the last
minute in shape Objectionable to the
Governor his only immediate remedy
will be an extra session
He might veto the bills and let the
matter of tax reform go over until the
next session, but those close to'him
say he will seriously object to that,
If the Legislature forces the Gov
ernor to call it in extra session to eX-
ecute a reform which the Governor
considers a plain and unmistakable
mandate of the people, he will feel
that the responsibility is the Legisla-
lures and not the Governors.
1t will cost $4,000 per day to hold an
extra session, and that fact will keep
the Legislature explaining back
home" for a long time, but the total
cost of such a session, If 1t should
effect tax reform, would be small
compared with the revenue reform
tax legislation would raise between
the present session and one a year
hence.
May Be Campaign Issue.
II the present Legislature proves
stubborn to the point of declining to
enact the reform measures the Gov
ernor demands, notwithstanding his
best efforts to show the Legislature
its duty as he sees 1t. then the whole
matter of tax reform may be referred
to the people of Georgia, and made an
issue in every legislative campaign
for the House and General Assembly
of 1876.
There is no doubt in anybody's mind
to-day that the situation in the Cen
eral Assembly is becoming most acute
and strained
Tax reform is the big problem be-
fore the present Legislature, and,
while much talk so far has been in
dulged in, nothing has been done.
And right on the threshold of action
comes a big split in the Ways and
Means Committee. which unmistak-
ably forecasts a bitter wrangle on the
floor, with the fate of tax reform
trembling in the balance at every turn.
Senate Doing Little.
The Senate is clearing its decks for
the House revenue bills, when they
arrive. None of them being yet in
sight, however the Senate is rocking
along, doing little of anything. So far
it has passed only one bill Of general
Importance.
Unless the House gets right down to
hard and speedy work an extra ses-
sion of the Legislature can hardly be
avoided.
At least that is what those who are
best informed are saying to-day, and
the surface indications all seem to
vindicate those suggestions and pre-
dictions.
SEA RESORT HOTEL BURNS.