Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1955-03-30
Williamson Reports
Assembly Activities
BY Sen. Arthur w. Williamson

This weeks Session Of the Leg
islature got started Monday
night as did last weeks Session,
der television through Chan
mel 4, WUNC-TV, except that
this week it was done in the
Senate. The program carried the
Monday night and Tuesday Ses-
slons, and suppose many of you
saw it. WUNC-TV, operating
over Channel 4, is the Educa-
ton Television Program which
has recently been inaugurated
with stations in Raleigh, Chapel
Hill and Greensboro. At present,
Okder normal conditions, the
program can be depended upon
for a distance of 100 miles or
more, and it is hoped that before
long it can blanket the State.
Senator Rose of Wayne County
sent forward a bill on Monday
night which would levy a privi-
lege tax on newspapers, radio
and television stations, amount
ing to 80 of their revenues from
advertising. These taxes would
b4in addition to the corporation
taxes now being paid by these
firms. There has been some spe-
culation as 10 what had prompt
ed introduction Of the bill. Some
have said IL was intended at a
slap at the News and Observer,
others have said IL was directed
at the newspaper industry, gen.
orally, in retaliation to their al
most unanimous support of the
proposed tobacco excise tax. I
would suppose that the intent Is
another attempt to find some ad-
ditiOnal revenue, to help offset
some other tax proposal. The
bill would raise an estimated one
and a quarter million dollars a
year, but I would not recon-
mend that this money be spent
yet, il will be resisted veery
stringly and the bill is not like
ly to pass.
A special Senate Committee,
Oich was appointed early in
this Session, has come out with
Il recommendation that Reds
tricting of the States Senatorial
Districts not be attempted at this
Session. They recommend that a
Commission be appointed TO
make a study, during the next
two years, of the whole problem
of Representation in the Gener-
al Assembly. think is is just as
we'll that this recommendation
.1as made, because in my opin-
i-h, proposal, TO redistrict the
Senate at this Session would
have been defeated by a very
large majority. | say this in
spite of the fact that an amend
ment TO the State Constitution,
limiting any County to more
than one Senator was defeated
In the last November general
election. Some of the larger CO.
untics attempted 10 show that
o2 defeat of this amendment
was a mandate to the General
Assembly to go ahead and redis-
triCt. This Committee has re-
commended that the whole"
problem of representation be
studied. AS you know, the Unit
ed States Congress and practi-I
cally all State Legislatures are
made up of two branches; one
branch representing on the bas-
is of population and the other
AanCh representing on the basis
on area. For instance, in the Ma
tional Congress, the Senate rep
rcScntS an area, and each STATED
has two Senators, regardless of
size or population, and the House
represents the population. New
York state furnishes So repre-
sentatives and North Carolina
furnishes. Some way or an
other, when our State Constitu-
ton was adopted, the large CEN
t0s of population were favored
in both branches of our Legisla-
ture. The Senate was designed to
represent the population, and at
present some counties have one
Senator each while in some Sec
tons a Senator is shared by 4