The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-05
Civic and Business Organi- cations Alleged IncOisis-
 tencies in Schedule
NO CRITICISM OF
 CITY COMMISSION
Committee Appointed to Work Out Equitable Plan of License Taxa ton and Compile Brief of
 Excessive Tax Cases

More than 150 of the leading business men of Birmingham met at the Chamber of Commerce auditorium yesterday aft movement by which it was hoped to work out a more equitable plan of licensed taxation. The universal opinion voiced at the meeting was that the city com mission was facing a serious problem in the matter of securing revenue, and while the men attending the meeting did not question the commissioners motives nor make any criticisms of their actions in raising the licenses for 1916, a num- Der of alleged inconsistencies were pointed out and the hope was expressed that these could be satisfactorily adjusted.
 The meeting was arranged by the Board of Trade, the Business Mems league the Chamber of Commerce. the retail drug gists, the retail grocers and butchers, the wholesale grocers and produce deal CTS the Furniture Dealers association, the Rotary club and other business and civic organizations. The consensus of opinion of the various speakers was that while the city commissioners had been forced to secure additional revenue for
 
 cases were excessive and in some prac- tically prohibitive and that with thu proper spirit of cooperation and under standing the matters could be so ad- justed as to correct the alleged dis criniinations.
 At the conclusion of the addresses, the chairman of the meeting, pr. J. H. Finder, was authorized to name a com bipl1 x1-lc tn ff11I it1tn question, study the new license schedule as compared with the old one, compile a brief of the cases wherein the alleged excessive licenses were assessed and con fer with the city commission in an effort to reach satisfactory adjustment. While it was stated that it was neces- sary to complete this work at the earliest possible moment. sufficient time is to be taken to thoroughly investigate the situa ton before urging the commission to take any final action.
 The meeting was presided over by Dr. J. H. Finder vice president of the Boas0 of Trade in the absence of President Rosenberger. who was out of the city. w. c. Radcliffe. secretary of the Cham Der of Commerce, was named as secre- tary. The speakers represented prac- tically every phase of the business life in Birmingham, including the leading men of the city. With one accord they voiced the opinion that the increases were excessive, and in some cases al- most prohibitive, but all appreciated the position of the city commissioners at this time. Several instances were cited show ing that licenses, and taxes for all pur- poses amounted now to about per cent of the total capitalization of the bus)- Less. Among the speakers who addressed the meeting were: J. F. Rushton. J. E. Shropshire, Jacob Burger, M. V. Joseph, c. w. Green. Marcus Wiel. M Hirsch. F. A. Ribble, Eugene Jacobs, +. F. Nor gan, Murray Brown, George McCleery, R. A. Porter, H. NJ Beck. Colman Blach, H. J. Porter and J. D. Collins.
 At the conclusion of the meeting Chair man Finder appointed the following com mittee NJ. V. Joseph. chairman; H. J. Porter, Robert McLester, c. w. Green and Murray Brown. The first confer ence with the city commission will be> held this morning at 9:30 o'clock.