The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-10-13
SEVEN STATE AMENDMENTS.


At the coming elections, the people of
Alabama will be asked to grant approval
to seven amendments to the state con-
stitution. All but one of these contem-
plate extending authority to various
counties and municipalities to tax them
selves for special undertakings. The ex-
ception is Amendment No. 1, which pro-
vides that poll taxes shall be RENTED for
the future to all men who were in the
military or naval service of the United
States during the late war. This is an
amendment which the people will readily
approve, for there is no doubt that these
men have won the rights of franchise
and citizenship for all time to come, and
have liquidated all past and future obi
cations qualifying them for the vote.
| Amendment No. authorizes the mu-
inequalities of Thorsby, Piedmont, Green
vile, Roanoke, Greensboro, Calera, Flo
rala, Opp, Evergreen, Fayette, Clayton
and Clio to collect tax of one-half of
one per cent. in any one year for any
special or general purpose, the object, Of
course, being to permit these localities
to provide for themselves such public
benefits as do not now come within the
limits of their regular revenues. As
suredly the people of this state would
have no sound reason for denying this
authorization. Amendment No. is
asked by Walker county in order that
the people of that political unit, if they
later so vote, may tax themselves an ad-
ditional fifty cents on each one hundred
dollars worth of taxable property for the
purpose of building and maintaining roads
and bridges. This is an ambition the
people of this state will encourage. I'm
der Amendment No. Z, three school dis
tricts of Lawrence county would be en-
powered to tax themselves five mills for
school purposes, likewise a worthy pur-
pose. f.sk 4
Mobile county holds the record for
the number of Amendments in which
the people of that county are interested.
Number would empower communities
in Mobile and Baldwin counties to estab
Iish drainage districts and to assess the
cost against benefitting acreages, pro-
portionately to the size and benefit of
said acreages. This amendment but vail /
dates law already passed by the legisla-
ture and under which several communi-
ties had already begun such districts I'M
til halted by the adverse opinion of the
supreme court:
Mobile county, for several years, has
BEEN collecting school tax under a
state law which is believed to be techni-
cally invalid. Correction of the defects
by means of Amendment No. 8 should be
accepted as a matter of course by the
people of Alabama. The Louisville
Nashville Railroad, although having re-
liable assurance that it is not legally
bound to pay this tax because of the de-
fects of the law under which the tax is
collected, has, nevertheless been paying
the tax every year pending the time OF
it's constitutional valuation by the peo-
pie. President Mapother publicly stated
that his road would never block any pro-
gram of public school betterment.
Mobile county is also intimately con-
cerned in the success of Amendment No.
Is. in accordance with which the people
of that countySare authorized to bound
themselves, not, to exceed six and half
per cent. on the assessed valuations, for
the purpose of building concrete or bet
ter than concrete" roads and bridges and
for constructing bridges and roadway
across the Mobile delta to connect the
highlands of Mobile and Baldwin coun-
ties. The bridge will be operated by the
county as a toll bridge until such time
as the county may be reimbursed and the
bridge taken over by the state or federal
government 1t is calculated that such
structure would pay for itself and re-
tire all bonds and indebtedness in about
fifteen years. With improved highways
along and leading to the coast, it is pre-
dicted by many that the time of repay
ment of cost would be much reduced
from fifteen years. For the people of
Alabama to reject this amendment would
be for them to block progress in the south
part of the state, and the people of Ala
bama do not block progress.