Newspaper Page Text
A weekly symposium of rep
resentative opinions upon in
teresting questions held within
the community of our readers.
These opinions are selected sole
ly upon the basis of their general
value or special interest, without
reference to teh editorial views
or policy of this newspaper.
. SUPREME IMPORT
1 R
2.. . . .
. Tax Equalization Bill Given First
. Place by Members of Spe
' . . .
¥ cial Commission.
it e — |
By J. W. LeCRAW, ‘
. Secretary Special Tax Commission.
" In answer to the question, “What
mi% the most important matter that
‘“should come before the Legislature
‘this summer, and why,” I will speak
R..( for myself, but as the representa
"”e of nine of Georgia's most promi
~ment citizens, who as members of the
Special Tax Commission for Georgla
v Bave made a most profound study of
;‘:fllr vexatious tax problem and have
geached the conclusion that a con
«gtitutional amendment should be
passed allowing classification of prop
erty for taxation,
Their report to the Legislature,
Which is now in the hands of the
Printers and will be out in a few
déays, urges this constitutional amend-
Jnent as the most important subject
‘which should receive the attention of
' the Legislature and the people. The
nine members of the Tax Commission
who have signed these recommanda-
Rions for a constitutional amendment
mre: Governor Hugh M. Dorsey, ex
officio chairman; Senators H. R. De-
Jarnette and R. A. Denny, Repre
sentatives 1. R. Akin and Zach Ar
_nold, Judge Enoch H. Callaway, Dr.
'J. H. T. McPherson, Dr. Edgar H.
“Johnson and Tax Commissioner H. J.
| Fullbright.
« It would be impossible to give the
aFeasons for this proposed amendment
=4n an article of this length, and I
'iwould respectfully urge that anyone
:”lufi'iriwnlly interested write or ecall
.&t the Tax Commissioner's office,
_room 133 State Capitol, and get a
I,,co&ny of the report and read it. Some
fifty-odd pages are devoted to giving
~leasons alone for recommending this
:rnpon(d amendment. Some of these
reasons, in mere outline, are as fol-
Jows: |
m‘l. The present system, with an ad
lorem tax on all property alike, is
me unjust to some classes of
4 ty. Statistics nre given to show
_that the complete income from some
2”@. of property, for instance, bank
posits, would be confiscated if the
UPresent tax rates were enforced on
. @ll classes.
- 2 The present system is Incapable
_®f enforcement, because intangible
property goes inte hiding rather than
Leubmit to the present unjust rates,
~and a public opinion has grown up
WALTER ANDREWS NAMES ‘
HIGHWAY LEGISLATION
- . s .
- And Discusses Proposed Consti
* tutional Amendment as Best
. Form Available.
. Sl
By STATE SENATOR WALTER P,
._#“t ANDREWS,
. T am firmly of the opinion that thel
“@test and overwhelming majority of
« our people earnestly Dbelieve lhul
* proper and adequate highway legisla
' tion is the paramount question to be
* eonsidered by the approaching session
Q our General Assembly.
At this time I am a member of the
Jegislative committee charged with
:.‘. duty of proposing legisiation to
_the next session of our Legislature,
and to that end T have prepared a
®ill which embodies my views, I am
, Mot offering this measure as a minor
fty report, but as an additional
‘thought upon the subject, for the con.
v ration of the representatives of
0 people, who certainly will be ex
ted to pass a highway Dbill this
, Summer. The other four members of
’:lu commission have prepared five
+ills, which constiute what they term
s their “program of legislation.” 1 do
5:.( agree with them in all particu-
Jars, although I recognize a great deal
eof merit in their program, and I per
' ally know that these gentlemen
pm. devoted a great deal of thought
and consideration to the matters
A eommitted to our charge. But I think
. that every person in or out of the
“General Assembly should be ready
and willing to contribute his thought
. and influence to this subject, and at
the same time yleld any personal
opinion that he may have as to meth.
' ¢ds of procedure in the formulation
~of legislation.
. Bpeaking personally, my conviction
.48 very strong that this legislation
Cwwsht to take the form of a clear
out .comprehensive constitutional
2 endment, creating a highway de
t rtment, and providing the means
or its operations. 1 do not think thni
* this department, which will spend In
. five years about $50,000,000, ought to
fib composed of only three men, of
whom two would be the controling
S Bajority, but that a member from
each congressional district, represent.
ing every section of the State, to be
mt:nd‘by the Gonmo'ri t:“w be
. more logical, an ex
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P Z T T A Z
What Is the Most Important Matter That Should
Come Before the Next Legislature?
SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT FIRST;
THEN MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP
SHOULD COME UP, SAYS MAYOR
By MAYOR JAS. L. KEY.
In my opinion, the first thing that
the incoming legislature should do
is to ratify the Federal Woman’'s Suf
frage Amendment,
Not only is a question involving the
Constitution of the TUnited States
necessarily a supreme one before any[
State body, but right action upon the
particular question here presented
would be of incalculable value to both
State and Nation.
Beyond the duty of dolng simple
justice to our women and bringing
lthelr splendid influence to bear upon
public affalrs, the State of Georgia
has here an opportunity to go down
in history as taking a glorious lead
in the nation, Ratification of that
amendment by a state which has not,
Iheretotore, given the vote to women,
would do much to remove the stigma
of being somewhat laggard in reform
which has attached to Georgia. Like
wise, its moral effect wbuld be a
death-blow to opposition. The State
‘of Georgla might almost be said to
be in a position to set American
womanhood free!
On other matter of equal impor
tance may or may not take the form
of some definite action by the in
coming legislature, but undoubtedly
it should, It is time for the State of
Georgila to bring about municipal
ownership of public u‘i‘lifiu
What the whole worM necds today
is increased production, lower costs,
and wealthier public treasuries built
up from other sources than the over
taxed pocket-books of the great mass
of the people..
In the northern part of this State
there are two million of undeveloped
horsepower. Thesp respurces are
likely to remain undeveloped so long
as private Q‘wner- are empowered to
keep them lmited for the sake of
being able to charge exhorbitant
prices for a distribution of the nat-
AA A A A A A AN AN AR
which condones the hiding of such
property and makes such practice al
most universal. Statistics are given
to show that intangible property was
bearing 14 per cent of the burden of
taxation in 1875, and the ratio has
been steadily decreasing until in
1918 it was bearing only 6 per cent,
of the burden, |
3. The “tax ferret” method, or
stronger administration, would not
wlvg this problem, because the ex
periénce of other States which have
tried such methods shows the utter
impossibility of foreing intangible
property on the tax books in this
way when the rates are unjust.
4. The results of classification In
the twenty-odd States that have
adopted it have been remarkably suc
cessful. These statistics area very in
teresting and throw great light on
the results which can be expected
when Georgia passes a similar con
stitutional amendment,
from the State at large, who should
be a civil engineer of at least five
years' practical experience, versed in
highway and bridge construction, who
would be the chairman of the board
and the executive head of the de
partment,
I furthermore believe that a bond
issue of $30,000,000, payable in twen
ty years, should be and ought to h‘
based upon special taxes upon mo
tor vehicles, This would involve rais.
ing the amount of taxation upon these
vehicles to what I would estimate to
be an average of about S2O each. Upon
this basis I have figured out an ap
proximation of income and expendi
ilun for each year during the period
|ot twenty years, from which I think
the conclusion can be absolutely re
lied upon that the $30,000,000 of bonds
would be retired, principal and inter
est, and a surplusage fund would be
created therefrom, during said period
of time, amounting to another $30,-
000,000 more. |
A Dbrief constiutional amendment,
which 1 have prepared along this line,
would furnish the quickest, surest and
most eMclent method of getting hard
surfaced highways built all over the
State of Georgila, giving all of the
counties of the State and all sections
of the State a perfectly fair and
equitable proportion in the division of
all road funds, State of Federal. No
delay would be occasioned by this
plan. The rights of every county
would be safeguarded in the constitu.
tion, and the whole matter would be
thus protected from amendment year
after year by the Legislature.
1 do think that it is fair and just
to provide th® State funds for the
building of State roads through these
taxes on motor vehicles, and I do not
belijeve the owners of mosor vehicles
will object to this method of raising
‘this money when they know that a
real, efficlent and constructive high
way department is spending it for the
purpose of giving every section In
Georgia first-class hard-surfaced
roads,
~ For instance, if a person wlt?“u
‘motor vehicle should make a :
out from Atlanta to Savannah with
the roads in their present condition
it would cost him two or three times
more to do so than a motor ucoun‘
for a whole year would be when com
n:a to the cost of such a trip with
, hard-surfaced roads all the way.
HEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN . A Newspaper for People Who Think — SUNDAY, JUNy, 15, 1919.
bural wealth that rightfully belongs to
the people at large.
Some men are born to financial
guccess., If the genius of these men
were forced to exert itself in origi
nally productive enterprises, instead
of manipulating to their own profit
public utilities, the income of which
‘should rightfully return to the peo
ple, the increase in much-needed pro
duction would be such as to make
it more than profit the State to de
velop natural resources which are to
day deliberately held below even the
present demand,
In the province of Ontario, Canada,
the State furnishes power at cost to
226 municipalities, who, in turn, fur
nish it at cost to their citizens. The
legislature could do nothing better
for the State of Georgla than to bring
about such a situation here,
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nard-iing G Slem oot e ints SR wabested onlefcs o Senates and Rpnrssgniivge, ||7N WB 1 e
» e i ate o eorgia than those of the ea it i
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Th had a b > - » :
fully ik naver had o better chance for constructive legielation than they will have this summeri and it's o good bet that Georpia will grate:
MOORE SAYS TAX REFORM
IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
\ By VIRLYN B. MOORE. 4
| Representative From Fulton.
In my opinion, the one all-impor
tant question which the Legislature
of 1919 will be called upon te con
sider is the question of taxation, If
laws can be enacted wherehy the
great wealth and resources of Geor
gia can be fairly, justly and equally
tn#d #0 that the revenue of the State
will*be sufficiently large to take care
of its financial needs, the Legisia
ture will have accomplished the great
est good possible,
- To my mind, the two questions
which are next important to the ques
tion of taxation and which are close
TWO IMPORTANT &CHOOL
BILLS TO BE TAKEN UP
By M. L. BRITTAIN. . T]
State Superintendent of Schools. |«
In reply to your question permit |’
me to gay that in my opinion the most
important matter before thegfext|!
Genera' Agssembly is leglllanori“pro- ‘
viding for the adequate training of|!
the future citizens of this common- !
wealth. 1
In former years th:s might, per-!!
haps, have been left to private or]!
individual choice. Today, however,|
cuch a position is not tenable and ijs |
maintained by a constantly diminish- |1
ing minority. From the standpoint of |}
insurance for public safety and wel- |
fare, alone, the statement that tle]s
citizens of Georgia must hav. proper |
training for their duties in life is self- |1
evident. We mus: get away from|"
the old-time idea in this State that|)
we can properly educate our children |]
with what the church people would|!
call “a silver offering.” We must fol-|]
jow the example of the most pre-||
OHI BUT WILL THEY?
by allled with it, are the qunuonl‘
;af providing methods of ralsing suf
ticlent funds for our educational in
}len-u and for the bullding of per-|
manent roads throughout the State.
It is admitted by all that at present
the income of the State is not suffi
clent to take care of these needs and
the Legislator who can devise a law
out of the many plans and systems
of taxation which are now being dis
cussed and suggested, that will take
care of the financial needs of the
State, will indeed have rendered a
great service and will have solved the
most important problem now con«
fronting our people. |
gressive educational sections of this
country and arrange the laws and fi
nances to this end, iy
Two measures have been vrepared
to do this and wiil Be presented 1o
the Legislature at i's approaching:
session. They are (1) the revised|
school code which straightens * out
the tangles in the school laws—so
far as the old Constitutional restric
tions of 1877 permit—and (2) the El
ders’ bill of last year, which will re~¢
quire every town and county in Geor
gia to levy at least some tax for the
iccal schools. In other words, for
each community to arrange to do
something itself to secure local inter
est and support and not depend bn
the State Treasury, alone “for what)
would confessedly be insufficient
maintenance. This is the sincere be
lief of one who belicves that the wel
fare of the schools is the leading pub-‘
lic question before the Ceorgia Leg
islature today.
HENDRIX IS STRONG FOR
GOOD ROAD LEGISLATION
By WALTER C. HENDRIX, -
Representative From Fulton.
No more important matter could
come before this sassion of the Gen
eral Assembly than that of the de
velopment of the highways of the
State. The chroniclers of the events
of the Civil Wae lald stress upon the
fact that the roads of the State of
Georgla were fairiy good in summer
and fall; well-nigh Impassable with
mud in the winter and spring. To
day, after more than one-half cen
tury since that conflict, with but few
(Xceptions, the same may be sald
of the roads of this State. |
- There is no sort of development of
NEW SENATOR CHOOSES ROAD :
LEGISLATION AS PARAMOUNT;
STATE THROWS MONEY AWAY
By STATE SENATOR-ELECT IVAN
E. ALLEN.
The next General Assembly will
have to wrestle with a number of
projects and problems. The domi
nant issue will be highway legisla
tion, a comprehensive State-wide sys
tem of highways; quick, red-tapeless
workable plans that will enable Geor
gia to begin using the $4,710,000 Fed
eral fund to Georgia’'s credit in Wash
ington. The 6 per cent interest on
this fund which Georgia is now losing
is mcre than $22,000 a month.
In July, 1920, there will bo placed
an additional credit to Georgia's roaa
fund of $2,692,000, and unless we have
a satisfactory highway commission
'the resources of the State that is not
cependent on the highways, and it
is cortain that much of our educa=
tional problem would be solved by
easy ingress to and egress irom the
fsolated sections. The development
of the highways is a matter for the
wntire State, Loca! areas should not
be left to work out their own par
ticular schemes, except such as af
fect oniy local interests.
For these reasons, I believe If the
next Le'hln!uro would take up the
matter of the highways and solve
this gredat problem for the benefit
of our State, then if it did nothing
else it would have accomplished a
work that it could feel proud of, |
functioning by then, to the $23,000
interest per month that we are losing,
there will be added $13,000 more.
Georgia must be gotten out of the
mud, roads built and, most important
of all, a positive plan for maintaining
them,
I say highway legl.slatlon is the
dominating issue of the next General
Assembly because good highways are
a straight road for better schools, bet
ter churches, better homes, better
farms and large food production with
more profit, justly earned by the
grower, and yet with lower cost tc
the consumer. -
Bad highways drive men and wom
en, and especially the children, from
the farms, into the city, thus reducing
the number of food producers and in
creasing the number of mouths to be
fed from the steadily diminishing food
supply. A decreasing food supply and
an increasing populatéon congestion
produces disecortent, poverty and ultl-i
mately that thing we‘*hear so much
about—Bolshevism, ‘
A number of years ago the Hoosier
Motor Club of Indianapolis, Ind., took;
up with me, then president of the
Convention Bureau, a movement for a
great highway through the South
similar to the Lincoln Highway. 1
became profoundly interested in this
great subject of good roads. After a
conference with the officials of the
Hoosier Club I told them :I thought
well of the idea of a great highway,
but I was afraid we could not gener
ate much enthusiasm in the South
for a highway by that name, and
laughingly remarked that if they
would let me name the highway the
name I ‘ould give it would help to
build it. They were not tied to that
name Hoosier, and asked me what
name I would give it, and I christened
it “The Dixie Highway.” They en
thusiastically accepted it, and in less
than 60 days a meeting of Governors
was held in Chattanooga, Tenn, and
every day since interest in good rondsi
has multiplied.
Farmers and automobiles are work-‘
ing hand in hand and I know of no
person or faction that can put forth;
an argument against good roads. |
I have seen the spirit born with the‘
Dixie Highway spread all over the
South. The next General Assembly, I
think, will cipitalize and harmonize
the hest thoughts and plans to date, ¢
SUFFRAGE BILLS FIRST,
WITH MRS. MACDOUGALD
Ratification of Federal Amend
} . . .
- ment or Primary Suffrage Bill
‘ Both Important.
By MRS. EMILY C. MACDOUGALD,
’Pn.idont‘ of Equal Suffrage Party of
Georgia.
- The most important question that
may come before the next session of
‘the Legislature is woman suffrage;
either the ratification of the Federal
suffroge amendment or the passage of
a primary suffrage bill, granting the
women the right to vote in Demo
cratic primaries. Either would be the
greatest history-making piece of leg
islation that could be enacted by this
body. ;
Ratification of the Federal amend
ment would complete, as far as Geor
gia is concerned, the enfranchisement
of half the peoplé of the nation of
voting age.
By enacting primary suffrage Geor
gla's Legislature would perform an
act of splendid loyalty to the women
of their own State, befitting this great
year of achievement—a year marked
by liberation from every kind of au
toeratic fule—a time when the minds
of all people have been lifted to a
higher plane of consciousness, and to
a desire to establish finer ideals of
justice in Government,
The men of Georgia can not resist
this strong tide which is sweeping
through their hearts. They realize’
that men and women together have
great services to render to the State.
This is the real privilege women have
been seeking and which they glori
ously proved during the world war,
when millions of them entered thol
service of their country ana were
found efficient and dependable in lines
of werk hitherto considered impossi.
ble to women,
The ballot is rather a means of de
fense against misrule than an instru
ment which shapes government,there
fore the great need of it for women
as a means of seif-protection; espe
pially when so many of them are
forced to live outside the safeguards
Today the views of:
IVAN E. ALLEN.
WALTER P. ANDREWS,
MRS, B. M, BOYKIN,
M. L. BRITTAIN.
W. C. HENDRIX.
JAMES L. KEY.
J. W, LECRAW.
MRS. EMILY CCMACDOUGALD.
VIRLYN B, MOORE.
~ FEEBLE-MINDED
; -
|
: A CRYING NEED
. . .
Measures in Their Behalf Will
Come Before Selons at the
Incoming Session.
| By MRS. B. M. BOYKIN. ]
~ The bill to be presented in June for
an appropriation for the care of the
\feeble-minded is to my mind most im=
‘portant.
~ Georgia is one of five States which
‘have not recognized the importance
of caring for its feeble-minded. There
are now in Georgia ten thousand men,
women and children who need spe
cial care; both of body and soul and
mind.
~ The smaller cnildrens should be
properly examined physically, treat
ed, fed and sent to school; the boys
and girls who have passed the age
of learning in the public schools,
should be taught a vocation; the
adults should .be given the proper
equipment to carry on whatever, trade
they have learned, or if they havhs
only been a charge on the community
in which they lived, they should, even
at this time, be taught a special
trade,
Now, if Georgia should pass this
bill, what would it not mean to the
community in which these innocents
reside? In a financial way, it will
mean thousands of dollars saved the
State for the reason that something
like two-thirds of the men and wom
en on the chaingang and in jail be=
long to this class, In the reforma
tory, the majority of the children are
feeble-minded; but give them proper
environment, education and vocation
and conditions generally will be vast=
ly improved. 1
The State will be able to keep ti:
male and female separated and
that way lessen the birthrate. To
those who have studied the life of the
it‘eeble-mlnded it is known that they
‘have more children than people of in=
‘tellig(-nce and also that they suffer
greatly from venereal diseases for the
reason that they do not know how to
protect themselves or to be treated
when they discover that they are af
flicted with these diseases.
The Federation of Women’s Clubs
of Georgia have been working for the
past year to give information to
every one in Georgia that she might
use her information in helping to put
through this bill, which will be pre
sented in the June Legislature, by a
commission appointed by Governor
Dorsey.
It is absolutely necessary for the
men, women and children of Georgia
that legislation in favor of human
welfare must take precedent over ail
State issues, andq the care of the fee
ble-minded is the most important
question now up before the reople
for disposition,
O —————————————————————
of family. The vote of women—c
needed to redress the economic bale'
ance of government because laws g;
sect the cost of living. Women T
the censumers, in the sense that they
buy 80 per cent of all goods on fl?l
consumption, yet they have BODne
withcut representation, while the proe
ducer is the voter. We believe the
taxpaying woman has as much right
to say what taxes shall be levied on
her property as the tuxp‘yln( man
has, f
The example of the States wh!‘fi‘
have adopted equal suffrage prov‘l
that the woman's vote concentrates
itself upon the protection of the home,
of women and children, and upon the
advancement of personal and m:hli.‘
morality, No dreadful consequeno‘-
as foretold by the antis have supere
vened. Human life and human relge
tionships flow on in much the u&
channels, * 8
After suffrage for the women of
Georgia has been finally attained, afle
Vocates and opponents alike will rg=
Joice that a great wrong has been
righted, and that the long and SomMew
times bitter struggle, waged over half
a century, has ended in victory,
The Next Question:
What Do You Think of
the Proposal of the
Chamber of Commerce
Committee on Public
Recreation for a More
Open Sunday for At-.
lanta?
Both sides of the
question will be well
supperted in letters
from a number of At
lanta’s most prominent
men and women,