The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-11

Barbour county was long held up by the press as spectacular, being one of the lowest self assessed taxpayers there was in the state and every man In the state, no matter who he is, knows that as a just tax proposition, equal to all self-assessmen under a county assessor, is the worst, and ab- soltely impracticable.
 If MT. Longs bill prevails and we go back to the old method, then it does not require wisdom to prognos- tioate that the schools, old soldiers. roads every state elemosynary lnsti- tuition, every benevolent association, everything that requires state money. will be hurt and badly hurt.
 "The claim Is made that the taxes are used for extra, unnecessary ahd high paid officials and extravaganes in many directions. Can't MT. Long with MT. Farmer and MT. Mulkey and others of that ilk, all of you good men, and like you, get together and make a bill killing and preventing such as that, all such as that? Take the sharp knife fthe law and clip off every excrescence, every vampire, everything that the slate can do with out in the way of expenses. but do not make taxes the voluntary assess ment. This wuuld take the state back beyond the administration of 1907, take it back beyond the educa- tional renaissance. take 1t bck beyond every state aid, everything which has gone so far toward building up the state, and>~they have been many, and l will call your attention that Cover nor O'Neal in his campaign charged directly the onus of this bill and re- ilpf nd Jar mi if in h11t rather extended it; that Governor Henderson made a campaign directly charging the hardships of this bill, and yet saw that the institutions of the state would be greatly injured if it was tinkered win. l understand that there are some prospective candidates for governor now who are declaim- ing against the state equalization law, and yet it is easy to prophecy they will not dare put it in if elected, be- cause if they do. they have struck at everything which goes to make the state progressive and great
 Lesislature's Act
 q Will remind you that it was the legislature, to protect the citizen, who stated that the assessment should only be GO per cent of the value, and there has never been any other attempt The legislature also said that the taxpayer should not be disturbed every year by the equaliza- tion board, but every equalization should be mdde to stand two years. This in protection of the citizen. or course, the makers of this law did not foresee a future such as we had last year, when values were so much higher than they were the year fol- 1hV Inc &i.. |. sidering the great difference that it would have been well, if the gover- nor could under the law have done so, have ordered revision this year, be- cause clearly there is q great differ- ence between the values of property this year and last year, but both of these laws the legislature made and Tor the protection of the people.
 'I will remind you and all the ad- vocates of the Long law that every appropria tion is made by the legisla- ture; every new office is created by the legislature every expense is under the survey of the legislature; that it is the sworn duty of the legislature to go into all this and cut out all ex- crescences. In other words. cut as much as possible. and I will be very glad to agree with you in this to the finish, but in the proposed strike of the legislature, akin only to that proposed by the railroad labor union which asserts that trains shall not run until they get their price, this proposition is most dangerous, gen. tlemen, and 1 urge you and all of you to desist. You justly make laws against some of the radical practices Of labor unions particularly those when they assert the right to estop all progress if their demand is not granted. and yet spectacularly you are proposing to put the legislature or Alabamalin the same position. This IS most inconsistent, andfI think a most dangerous precedent.
 If the offices in Alabama need tanning out. if any employe hasn't q job, Is not pulling against the col lar 1T any expense of any kind can be avoided. this to the highest degree Is within your function.
 "B. B.. CONFER