The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-10
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Tickle" Legislation

To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 Years ago Ben H. Hill. Georgia's l statesman. told me that state legislation was mainly enacted by trading-you tickle me and I'll tickle you. Eminent ly was this true of our last Iegisla- ture. The first tickle was the increase of salary Of members of the board of revenue from $20o to $500 a month, clearly against the constitution; but what's the constitution among friends? as Tim Sullivan used to say, when there's an increaye of salary. This isn't a constitutional office. but does any enc believe that the section of the constitution prohibiting increase or de- crease <ir salary would not have been invoked if the salary had been de- creased? Nobody. This tickle was promptly returned. Another tickle was the Jefferson county act under general law creat- ing the office of coroner with ssooo salary, plenty of assistants and eligible only to physicians. The office has no
 more relation to doctors office than to carpenter shop. It is strictly judi cial This office should be abolished and the circuit court clerk made ex- officio coroner. at no expense to the county The clerk coroner could con-
 duct n legal inquest and the proceed ings would be a court record, imniedi- ately available to grand jury and so- licitor In the budget of the city and county of Denver the coroners salary is put at $75 month for 1918.
 Another tickle: Into the last section abolishing county treasurers. was slipped an exemption of counties of 50,- 00c inhabitants (which being interpret ed. meant Jefferson county, Montgom- cry and Mobile. the three counties that i had no more need of county treasurer than Ford for six wheels). Dallas | county (Selma) has not had a county
 treasurer for 40 years: a bank performs
 the duties at profit to the county. 1 But here is a tickle that would have
 made a Paul Hayne schoolboy roar. The audiors office was abolished and an act passed recreating the office and putting the appointment in the hands of
 the county treasurer. Two offices dia- 1 metrically opposed to each other under 1 the same person. The schoolboy above mentioned would know that the auditor /, is the check on the treasurer.
 | Another tickle was the use of the tax
 payers money to pay the fine and for l
 The county has absolutely no more in- terest in that fund than in paying Jef-
 ferson County basfK depositors.
 The big tickle was the special Jeff ferson county act passed as general
 flaw under the 200, 900 inhabitants cam ouflage giving Besseiner courthouse, 1 jail and duplicate of every county of ! flee, special emphasis being given in
 one section that all expenses incurred should be paid from the county general fund am familiar with every branch
 courthouse in Alabama and every act
 concerning them required the town to
 build the courthouse and jail to get the
 brancl, court Some of our best lawyers
 have told me that Bcssemer was not
 even entitled to a branch of the circuit
 court Owing to all of this legislation the county borrow ed $S00.000 last Feb l ruary at per cent.
 | By all means let us have Jefferson delegation that will repeal every act of the last one and save the taxpay- CTS of Birmingham sl000.00o q ycar
 GEORGE H. ROGERS Birmingham. August g. 1918.