The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-08-12


 was selling too high and the next day l it was too low. That same man, MT
 Adams said, now has paper in the l bank 30 days overdue and he has since l said he would have to get more money 1 for his coal or the sheriff would get him.
 MT Adams said nobody in the Bir- 1 mingham district is making $1 or $1.50 ! ton profit on coal, and he challenged l Governor Kilby and other advocates of
 the tonnage to prove that anybody is
 making dollar a ton profit | The statements made before the com mittee today, he said, are taken from the books of the operators, are correct l and will be sworn to if requested. Mir. Adams said what was wanted { was facts and the operators wanted { the committee to have the facts. Ray Rushton, an attNrney of Mont gomery discussed the income and ex- cess profits sections of the revenue bill. He prefaced his remarks with the statement that he believed the finan- cial condition of Alabama should be just as good as that of the federal gov ernment and that it was an outrage that state warrants should be cashed the day they are issued. He said Ala hama is the most economically admin istered state in the union.
 He believed one of the greatest draw backs to the state is that it is not able to take care of it's obligations. People of the state want the state. county and cities put where they can t8lSe care of their obligations and are willing to
 pay the taxes accomplish that He said the legislature would be derelict in it's duty if it did not pass a revenue bill
 He said there had been much criti- cism of the new sources of revenue, and they should be stricken out, but some thing else should be substituted for them.
 Referring to the GO per cent valuation statute, MT. Rushton said he predicted when it was passed that it would bank rupt the state.
 Of the budget committees report esti- mating only s400,000 from the income and excess profits tax, he said it was worth less. He cited statements made by ln- ternal Revenue Collector John D. Me Neel before the House ways and means and appropriations committee in which he said the federal income tax collected from corporations in 1919 amounted to about s19000,000
 He read from the excess profits section of the revenue bill the following;
 "The excess profits credit above re- ferred to shall consist of a specified eX- emption of s3000, plus an amount equal to 8 per centum of the invested capital for the taxable year. and in the case of individual citizens, reasonable allow ance to the tax payer for services rem dered by him, if any, to such business, or invested capital
 ESTIMATE IMPOSSIBLE
 It would be impossible to estimate how much would be realized from this tax. he said and the wording of the clause made it difficult of interpretation. He insisted that the old way of raising taxes in Alabama-ad valorum-was the best way.
 The clause exempting incomes from property on which ad valorum tax at value fixed by law would not really ex- empt anybody, because no property Ill the state is taxed at it's actual value
 Ha decried any departure from the ad valorun tax system, declaring it was unnecessary to go into new flelds or taxation, and that the raising or more revenues than are necessary TOT the opp eration and maintenance of the state gov | ernment and institutions would invite eN- | travagance.
 | Alabama made no appropriation for the | council of defense and no part or the states debt is due to the war. | He said the constitution limited the tax 1 rate but placed no limitation on valua- | tions. Property in Alabama IS not pay ' ing the taxes it should pay.
 It would be a simple patter to pay 1 the state out of debt in two years, he | said. if the legislature would pass blii automatically increasing the values or property, and the increased revenues
 would take care of the schools ana all
 other state institutions. 1 Senator Ellis of Dallas interrupted to 1 say that a large number of tax payers ! in Dallas had told him they were not
 paying enough taxes on their property
 and if values were i1creased there wouid be no injustice in it.
 1 MT Rushton continuing said, only i've states had levied an income tax, ana III none of these is there an excess profits
 tax. He declared the bill would be an innovation in Alabama and the end of
 it would not be heard in 100 years
 MEANS TAX ON INDUSTRY ! Tn concluding, MT. Rushton said the lowing of an income tax would, Tn
 fact. be the levying of tax on III 1 dustry: that the tax books would pc open: that a business mans books
 would be open to his competitors, anu 1 his creditors, if not satisfied with IS
 report might throw him into bank He compared the income and excess profits tax to the protective tartff, 1 which, he said, built up powertul I trusts and made it necessary for Cen gress to pass the Sherman antitrust act to curb them, and that when the l state levies an income and profits tax | if would lead to the enactment or 1 laws to enforce them. thus adding still more burdens for the people to bear. l The ad valorem tax, he said, bad | been approved by the people of All ! bama ever since it was state. and
 he added that if it was the purpose to reach the corporations. that could
 be done by increasing the franchise titax. upon which the constitution , places no limit.
 AMENDMENTS ADOPTED l On motion of Senator Mcdowell, an amendment was adopted excepting 1 banks and banking institutions from isthe payment of the annual franchise l tax of 60 cents on each thousand dol | lars of paid-up capital.
 l Section 16 was amended on motion ! of Senator Acker to include banks among the corporations that may pay l the tax on shares for the shareholders and thereby avoiding the necessity of 1 filing the list Of shareholders. l Farm loan corporations or organza- ! tions are exempted from the payment of the franchise tax on loans made in 1 the state on motion of Senator Mc- Dowell
 | On motion of Senator Acker, Sec 1 tion 2. Subdivision A, was amended to exempt all property. real and personal, used exclusively for religious worship I for schools or for purposes purely charitable This removes all restric- 1 tions as to the value or extent ot property used by such institutions. An amendment by Senator Acker ex- lllllIlllIl!IlullIllllIIlIllIlIIlIlIIlllulIuTTI1