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
" P T
' Tax Equalization Bill Given First
i! Place by Members of Spe
" ’ S &
cial Commission.
L
- By J. W. LeCRAW,
Secretary Special Tax Commission.
In answer to the question, “What
"“®% the most important matter that
sshould come before the Legislature
*this summer, and why,” I will speak
not for myself, but as the representa
:\tho of nine of Georgia's most proml
“mnent citizens, who as members of the
~ Bpecial Tax Commission for Georgia
have made a most profound study of
«» Our vexatious tax problem and hnve;
~ Yeached the conclusion that a econ
‘- stitutional amendment should be
« Ppassed allowing classification of prop
erty for taxation,
Their report to the = Legislature,
~ Which is now iln the hands of the
. printers and will be out in a few
« @ays, urges this constitutional amend
“ment 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
tions 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
- pold, 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
reasons for this proposed amendment
. dn an article of this length, and I
would respectfully urge that anyone
sufficiently interested write or ecall
at the Tax Commissioner's office,
. room 133 State Capitol, and get a
copy of the report and read it. Some
fifty-odd pages are devoted to giving
{ seasons alone for recommending this
proposcd amendment. Some of these
' yeasons, in mere outline, are as fol
. Jows:
| 1. The present system, with an ad
. Walorem tax on all property alike, is
.mly unjust to some clnsmz of
: grnpeny. Statistics are given to ghow
, that the complete income from some
e‘:‘n of property, for instance, hank
- sits, would be confiscated if the
' Jpresent tax rates were enforced on
&ll classes, .
. 2. The present system is incapables
"of enforcement, because intangible
. property goes into hiding rather than
' submit to the present unjust rates,
- and a public opinion has grown up
WALTER ANDREWS NAMES I
HIGHWAY LEGISLATION
. T
“And Discusses Proposed Consti
.
tutional Amendment as Best
Form Available.
By STATE SENATOR WALTER P,
. ANDREWS, 1
+ T am firmly of the opinion that the
great and overwhelming majority of
Qn' people earnestly Dbelieve thnll
_proper and adequate highway xemu-I
tion is the paramount question to be
~eonsidered by the approaching session
©of our General Assembly, |
At this time I am a member of the
“legislative committee charged with
the duty of proposing legislation to
the next session of our Legislature,
@nd to that end I have prepared a
" ®ill which embodies my views, J am
.ot offering this measure as a minor
fty repori, but as an additional
thought upon the lubltxt. for the con.
xullon of the reprisentatives of
; people, who certainly will be ex
pected to pass a highway bRI this
summer. The other four members of
ffi. commission have prepared five
: is, which constiute what they term
their “program of legislation” 1 do
bfi:mwo with them in all particu
' although I recognize a great deal
-©f merit in their program, and | per
~sonally know that these gentlemen
. have devoted a great deal of thought
" and consideration to the matters
3 itted to our charge. But I think
: t every person In or out of the
neral Assembly should be ready
. willing to contribute his thought
~and influence to this subject, and at
same time yleld any per-:ul‘
A that he may have as to meth.
: of rru-duro in the formuluuun‘
p m&tm
&@mm personally, my convlcunnl
88 very stroni that this legislation
- to take the form of a clear
comprehensive constitutional
““ ment, creating a highway de.
ment, and providing the means
. its operations. 1 do not think that
. department, which will gpend in
‘five years about $50,000,000, ought to
composed of only three men, of
two would be the controling
5 , but thn“: l‘lmvmlm- from
n congressional district, represent.
1 every section of the State, to be
‘ o mua-u. Raa e
maore an ex
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What Is the Most Important Matter That Should
Come Betore the Next Legislatute?
SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT FIRST;
‘THEN MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP
SHOULD COME UP, SAYS MAYOR
By MAYOR JAS. L. KEY. A
In my opinion, the first thing that
the incoming legislature should do
is to ratify the Federal Woman's Suf
frage Amendment,
Not only (s a question involving the
Constitution of the United 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 doing simple
justice to our women and bringing
(their splendid influence to bear upon
public affairs, 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,
heretofore, 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 would be a
death-blow to opposition, The State
of Georgia might almost be sald 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
‘lt should. It is time for the State of
Georgla to bring about municipal
ownership of public utilities.
What the whole world needs 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 resources are
likely to remain undeveloped so long
as private owners are empoweyed to
keep them Jimited for the sake of
being able to charge exhorbitant
prices for a distribution of the nar-
AA A AAA AP INNPNNNOS
which condones the hiding of such
property and makes such practice al
maost 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. i
3. The “tax ferret” method, or
stronger administration, would not
solve this problem, because the ex
perience of other States which have
tried sueh methods shows the utter
Ampossibility of forcing 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 are very in
teresting and throw great light on
the results which can be expected
when Georgla passes a similar con
stitutional amendment,
from the State at large, who should
be a clvil 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,
1 furthermore believe that a bond
issue of $30,000,000, payable in twen
ty years, should be and ought to e
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 té
be an average of about S2O each. Upon
this basis 1 have figured out an ap
proximation of income and expendi-
Ituro for each year during the period
lO‘ 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 theretrom, during said period
inf time, amounting to another $30,~
000,000 more. I
A brief constiutional! amendment,
which I have pmepared along this line,
would furnish the quickest, surest and.
most efMicient method of getting hard.
surfaced highways built all over the
State of Georgia, 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 émm amendment year
after yoar by the Legislature.
I 4o think that it is falr and just
to provide the State funds for the
bullding of State roads through these
taxes on motor vehicles, and I do not
believe the owners of motor vehicles
will object to this method of ulmz‘
this money when they know that %
real, efMiclent and constructive high
way department is spending it for the
purpose of giving every section In
Georgia first-class hard-surfaced
roads. |
For instance, it a person with a
motor vehicle should make a mg
out from Atlanta to Savannah wit
the roads in their present condition
it would cost him two or three times
more to do so than a motor license
for a whole year would be when com.
pared to the cost of such a trip with
fine, hard-surfaced roads all the way.
HEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN —— A Newspaper for People Who Think — SUNDAY, JUNy, 15, 1919.
ral wealth that rightfully belongs to
the people at large.
Some men are born to filnancial
guccess, If the genius of these men
were forced to exert itself in origi-
Inally productive enterprises, instead
of manipulating to their own profit
publiec utilities, the income of which
}nhould rightfully return to the peo
‘ple, the increase in much-needed pro
duction would be such as to mal'
it more than profit the State to de
velop natural resources which are to
day deliberately held below even the
present demand, v
In the province of Ontarfo, 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 betterl
for the State of Georgia than to bring
about such a situation here,
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Many a word said in jest—is a jest and nothing more. If you've an idea that the cartoonist is doing anything but joking, then ask any
hard-working Georgia solon what he thinks of the sugested opulence of Senators and Representatives,
As a matter of fact, few more sterling services are rendered the State of Georgia than those of the carnest lawyers, business men and
farmers who, for a pitiful remuneration, spend the hot months of summer away from their personal affairs, fighting tooth and nail against the
red tape and tomfoolery which have so often clogged the wheels of action in Georgia's Legislature.
They never had a better chance for constructive legislation than they will have this summer; and it's a good bbt that Georgia will grate«
fully remember the next Legislature, oven if a few barbecues will have to go into the discard for the sake of accomplishment.
MOORE SAYS TAX REFORM
IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
By VIRLYN B. MOORE. .
Representative From Fulton.
In my opinion, the one all-impor
tant question which the Legislature
of 1819 will be called upon to cons
sider s the question of taxation, If
laws can be enacted whereby the
great wealth and resources of Geor
gla can be fairly, justly and equally
taxed so that the revenuo of the State
will be sufficlently large to take care
of its financial needs, the Legisla
ture will have accomplished the great
est good possible,
I To my mind, the two questions
which are next important to the ques
tion of taxation and which are close
TWO IMPORTANT oCHOOL
BILLS TO BE TAKEN UP
By M. L. BRITTAIN. A
State guporinhndont of Schools.
~ In reply to your question permit
me to say that in my opinion the most
important matter before theffext
Genera' Assembly is leglslatlori‘pro-I
viding for the adequate training of
the future citizens of this common-‘
wealth,
In former years this might, per
haps, have, been left to private or
individuval choice. Today, however,
ruch a position is not tenable and is
maintained by a constantly diminish
ing mirority. From the stardpoint of
insurance for public safety and wel
fare, alone, the statement that tle
citizens of CGeorgia must hav. proper
training for their duties in life is self
evident, We must get away from
the old-time idem in this State that
we can properly educate our children
with what the church people would
call “a silver offering.” We must fol
iow the example of the most pre-
OH! BUT WILL THEY?
le allied with t, are the questions
lnr providing methods of ralsing suf
ficient funds for our educational in-
II""“ and for the building of per
| manent roads throughout the smto.l
{lt is admitted by all that at prmntl
| the income of the State {= not suffi
clent to take care of these needs and
the Legisiator 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
tronting our peoble. .
Tgresslve educational sections of this
country and arrange the laws and fi
nances to this end,
Two measures have been vrepared
to do this and will be presented to
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 te arrange 10 do
something itself to secure local inter
est and support and not depend on
the. State Treasury alone for what
would confessedly be insufficient
maintenance. This is the sincere be
lief of one who believes that the wel
fare of the schools is the leading pub
lic question before the Ceorgia Leg
islature today.
HENDRIX ISSTRONG 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 ol’ the highways of the
State. The chroniclets of the events
of the Civil Wag lald stress upon the
fact that the roads of the State of
Georgla were fairly 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
exceptiond, the same may bs sald
of the roads of this State. I
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 be placed
an additional credit to Georgia's roaa
fund of $2,692,000, and unless we have
a salisfactory highway commission
bthe resources of the State that is not
'Cependent on the highways, and it
l4s cortain that much of our educa
tional problein would be solved by
easy Ingress to and egress irom the
isoluted sections, The developmentl
of the highways is a 4 matter for the
cntire State. Loca! areas should not
be left to work out their own par-I
ticular schemes, except such as af
fect oniy loeal Mterests.
For these reasons, 1 believe if the
next Legislature would take up the
matter of the highways and solve
this great problem for the benefit
of our State, then if it did nothing
else |t V(Yxld have accomplished a
work that it could feel proudot.‘
rfuncuonlng by then, to the $23,000
interest per month that we are !oslng,l
there will be added $13,000 more. I
| Georgia must be gotten out of the
mud, roads built and, most important
of all, a positive plan for maintaining
them,
1 say highway legislation is the
‘dominating issue of the nekt General
Assembly because good highways are
’ a straight road for better schools, bet
ter chllrches, better homes, better
Ifarms and large food production withl
more profit, justly earned by the‘
grower, and yet with lower cost th
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 population congestion
produces discortent, poverty and ulti
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 would 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 roads
has multiplied. 3
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
Soutih. The next General Assembly, I
think, will capitalize and harmonize
the best thoughts and plans to date.
SUFFRAGE BILLS FIRST,
WITH MRS. MACDOUGAL
Ratification of Federal Amend
ment or Primary Suffrage Bill
Both Important.
By MRS. EMILY C. MACDOUGALD,
President 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 entranchlnemen!;
of half the people 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 thelr own State, befitting this great
Iyur of achievement-—a year marked
by libération from every kind of au
tocratie rule—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 the
gervice 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 self-protection; espe
plally when so many of them are
forced to live outside the safeguards
Today the views of: 3
IVAN E. ALLEN,
WALTER P. ANDREWS.
MRS. B. M, BOYKIN,
M. L. BRITTAIN.
W. C. HENDRIX.
JAMES L. KEY.
J. W, LECRAW.
MRS. EMILY C.MACDOUGALD.
VIRLYN B,MMOORE.
I FEEBLE-MINDED
e wc 'l
Measures in Their Behalf Will
Come Before Solons at the
- 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 echildren should be
properly examined physically, treat
ed, fed and sent to school; the boys
and girls who have passed the aga
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 hava
only been a charge on the commun‘w
in which they lived, they should, even
at this time, be taught a special
trade,
Now, if Geergia 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.
" The State will be able to keep the
;mulc and female separated and in
that way lessen the birthrate. To
those who have studied the life of the
teeble-minded it is known that they
‘have more children than people of in<
telligence 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 afe
flicted with these diseases.
The Federation of Women's Clubs
of Georgia have been working for the
past year to give information loy
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 Legislatyre, by a
commission appointed by Goverror
Dorsey.
It is absolutely necessary for the
men, women and children of Georgia
that legislation in favor of human
welfare must take precedent over all
State issues, and the care of the fee
ble-minded is the most important
question now up before the people
for disposition. 4
of family. The .vote of women ig
needed to redress the economic bal
ance of government because laws af
fect the cost of living. Women are
the ccnsumers, in the sense that they
buy 80 per cent of all goods on final
consumption, yet they have gonme
withcut representation, while the pro
ducer is the voter, We believe t
taxpaying woman has as much rlzz:
to say what taxes shall be levied on
her property as the taxpaying m
has, ’
The example of the States whieh
have adopted equal suffrage prom':l
that the woman’'s vote concentmfil
itself upon the protection of the home,
of women and children, and upon tha
advancement of personal and publie
morality, No dreadful con-equen“‘
as foretold by the antis have supers
vened. Human life and human rela=
tionships flow on in much the same
channels, :
After suffrage for the women of
Georgla has been finally attained, afle ~
vocates and opponents alike will re<
Joice that a great wrong has been
righted, and that the long and some«
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 bhe well
supported in letters
from a number of At
lanta’s most prominent
men and women,