The Henry County weekly. (McDonough, GA.) 18??-1934, April 09, 1909, Image 9
REVISION OF JAX LAWS Urged By Comptroller General Wright in His Annual Report FAVORS INHERITANCE TAX Future Appropriations Must Be Held ' Down Until Revenue is Increased From Other Than Present Sources. Atlanta, G-a. Comptroller General William A. Wright’s annual report to the legislature, transmitted through Governor Smith, contains some in teresting statemens with reference to financial and other affairs of the state. That the appropriations of the state should be held down in future until the revenue of the state is increased from other than present sources; that the laws governing the conduct of insurance companies should be more stringent and that the laws govern ing the taxation of insurance compa nies in general should be slightly modified so as to encourage their op eration in this state, are among the principal recommendations made by Comptroller General Wright. Using the same figures embodies by State Treasurer Park in his recent report, the comptroller general shows that the finances of the state are in practically the same condition they were in this time last year, notwith standing the loss of $240,000 In reve nue from the whisky tax. He shows that the state has been able to meet all appropriations up to date, which was made possibly only by the abnormal increase in the taxable values of the state in 1907 and 1908, as well as an increase uf revenue from special or occupation taxes _and from the collection of $69,- 000 through a suit brought by the comptroller general’s department against the Georgia Railroad for back taxes on 15,000 shares of Western Railway of Alabama stock. The comptroller general shows that the unparalleled increase in the val ue of the taxable property of the state can not be reasonably expected to continue and for that reason he urges that appropriations in future be held down until other sources of reve nue are found. As a means for increasing the rev enue he suggests extending the laws taxing occupations and the .taxation of inheritance, as is done in many states. The comptroller general recom mends a thorough revision of the rev enue system and declares that the de fective and disjointed machinery for assessing property for taxation not only encourages but permits much taxable property of the state escap ing taxation. He says that some method should be adopted whereby the return of invisible personal prop erty such as notes, mortgages, stocks, bonds, etc., should be enforced. The insurance Jaws should also he revised ,says General Wright, and that the jurisdiction of the comptrol ler general as insurance commission er should be extended to all classes of insurance companies for the pro tection of the policyholders. The comptroller general shows that in 1908 the total business written by all companies in this state amount ed to $676,452,981.24 and the premiums collected amounted to $14,409,578.16. In view of the enormous amount of business done by them, he suggests that they should be encouraged to op erate in this state and that just and equitable taxation laws should be en acted for the reason that in the end the burden of taxation is borne by the policyholder. An interesting feature of the comp troller's report is a tabulated state ment showing the increase of proper ty owned by negroes in this state from 1880 to the present year. In 1880 the total amount of property re turned by negroes for taxation amounted to $5,764,293. In 1908 it amounted to $27,042,672. SULLY’S PLAN IMPKAtTiCABLE. Member Cotton Exchange Sees Noth ing in It. Savannah, Ga—Statements of local •cotton factors and from reports re ceived fi-om other cities in Georgia, indicate that the plan of Daniel J. Sully, to throw a chain of cotton warehouses across the south capable of holding one-third of a year’s cot ton crop, will be strongly opposed if it ever threatens to become a fact, and that it will have very slight if any support at all in this section. A member of the Savannah cotton -exchange states that the plan, in the first place, is impracticable; that had the south wanted it, the plan of the Farmers’ Union would long ago have secured support, instead of Mr. Sul ly’s plan, and that cotton factors see in it nothing to commend itself to them or to the planters. He indicated that no improvement upon the present conditions can be expected fro mthis new course, and that locally efforts along that line would meet with probably more than passive ressitance. SERUM FOR DIPHTHERIA. Board of Health Ready to Furnish Antitoxin. Atlanta, Ga.—A sufficient amount of anti-toxin for diphtheria to supply the w-ants of the entire state, is now on hand in the laboratories of the state board of health. The antitoxin has been made in the laboratories of the board, and has been carefully and ac curately prepared in every way. Phy sicians may secure any amount, free of cost, by writing or telegraphing to the secretary of the board, in care of the laboratories in the state cap itol. STATE GLEANINGS. The prison commission has Issued an order prohibiting the use in fu ture of chains or shackles of any Kind upon female convicts, either in tne state penitentiary or on county chaingangs. The order grew out of a case in Clarke county in which shack les were placed upon a white woman, recently convicted of a misdemeanor, ihe commission’s attention was at tracted to the matter through the newspaper reports. The commission’s order on the subject follows: “It Is ordered by the prison commission that the following rule be, and the fame is hereafter adopted, subject to ’he approval of the governor: No. 14. No chains or shackles shall be placed upon any female in the peni tentiary or chaingang. A sufficient guard and other necessary means must be provided to prevent escape.” Governor Smith promptly signified his approval of the order. Under the new law the prison commission has jurisdiction over county chain gangs, and the new rule will be en forced both as to these and the state penitentiary. It has been decided to make a per manent annual event of the great Southern Musical Festival that is to open in Atlanta next May the 4th, sih and 6th. The interest which the festival has already aroused through out the state proves that the people of Georgia and the south are eager to support such an undertaking, and that the opportunity is ripe to make this section one of the big musical centers of the United States. Here after it will not be necessary to go to New York to hear famous singers and performers. In fact, many of them, Caru-so being included, will be heard at the festival next May. Complete rural delivery service has been ordered established in Mur ray county, Georgia, effective May 1, 1909. The number of rural routes in the county is ten, seven of which are new and originate from offices within the county, as follows: Carters, one; Chatsworth, one; Cisco, one; Cran dall, one; Eton, one; Fairy one; Ram hurst, one; Spring Place, three. A monument to the Georgia sol diers who participated in the seige of Vicksburg is being looked forward to by the Vicksburg Park commission, which is said to be actively interest ed in furthering the project for the monument. The monument is in con templation now. The raising of funds will soon be undertaken, and it is possible that the state of Georgia may be asked to share in the expense. The park is a national military res ervation and is rapidly filling up with monuments to the memory of the brave men who fought over its terri tory. The Georgia branch of the Ananias club is being rapidly promoted by Governor Hoke Smith, who replies fo Commissioner Wiley Williams on that state farm proposition and says, among other things, that “the state ment that the commission was ready to report to me *wo weeks before March 11 can not be true.’’ The (governor ioesn’t mince words in re plying to Mr. Williams’ published statement. He says the selection of the old Milledgeville farm was one blunder and he wishes to save the state from another. He says the prison commission had plenty of time to select a farm and there has been “no excuse for delay.” He says the Wimberly farm, the choice of the commission, is partly swamp land, unhealthy and subject to overflow, and he doesn’t understand how the commissioners ever picked it out, nor why they can not choose from a list of better tracts. In conclusion, he takes up the expressed intention of the commissioners to work tne white convicts on the public roads, and intimates strongly that such a plan is calculated to render the abo lition of the lease system unpopular. “Surely this can not be the desire of the commission?” he concludes. “It certainly is not my desire.” An advance of 10 per cent of the 1909 school fund will be distributed among the teachers of the state im mediately, notwithstanding the heavy drains made upon the treasury by the prepayment of pensions and other matters since the first of the year. Governor Smith authorized State School Commissioner Pound to pre pare for the distribution of $225,000. This advance on the school fund will relieve conditions that have lately been growing somewhat strained. Pay is unexpectedly coming to teachers who had begun to reconcile them selves to doing without till the end of the year. Theoretically the school fund is not available for distribution till the general taxes are in along to ward the last of each year. Assistant State Commissioner of Agriculture R. F. Wright is in Haber sham county on a tour of inspection of the dread “cattle tick.” Mr. Wright will visit a number of counties, where the cattle disease has appeared. Now that it has been determined that the white convicts of the state must go temporarily on the public roads, becausee of the failure of agreement between Smith and the prison commission relative to the purchase of a farm, the ques tion is being asked, why should they not slay there and save the state the expense of purchasing a righ-priced farm? This view of the matter was in considerable favor in the discus sion at the capitol following the gov ernor’s action in disapproving the commission’s recommendation. “The good people of Georgia are tired of this maudlin sentimentality which is trying to force the view' that the white convicts are too good to wora on the public roads,” said a promi nent south Georgian, and a former judge of the superior court, while on a visit to the capitol. LARGEST AND MOST COMPLETE BUILDING PLANT IN MIDDLE GEORGIA. 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