The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1902-10-29

Auo saiO JULIUS "OO1us CuoAoAoio' Co
invalid in the hands of the original
parties to whom they were issued.
Notwithstanding the failure to COM
ply with the conditions precedent re-
quired by the Act, bonds on behalf of
these several townships we're issued
in an amount varying from ten to
twenty thousand dollars to each town
ship. A company was organized for
the pretended purpose of construct
ing said road. This company pre-
tended to be grading the road, and
thereby secured from the county
commissioners the issue of the said
bonds. Shortly thereafter the COM
pany failed and left the grading in in
complete condition, and the people
have no prospects whatever of ever
getting the said road. An action was
brought in the State courts for the
purpose of testing the validity of
these bonds, and the State court de-
cided the Act unconstitutional and
the bonds invalid. (See FLOYD va
Perrin, 30S c., page II Thereafter
certain parties. who claimed to be
non residents and subsequent pur-
chasers for value and without notice.
(the bonds being invalid in the hands
of the original holders. for the rea-
sons above specifed) brought their
action in the United States court to
test the validity of the said bonds.
and the United States court refused
to follow the. decision of the State
court in Floyd vs. Perrin and decided
in favor of said bondholders. That
is to say, that the said bonds were
good in the hands of the non. resi-
dents who might have purchased the
same for value and without notice of
those facts above recited, and which
would go to impesch the VALIDITY of
the said bonds. (This too in face
of the fact that the records in the
Office of the county commissioners for
the various counties which records
are public records and notice to the
world, disclose all of the facts that
would go to impeach the validity of
the said bonds.) Since then the mat
ter has been in litigation, until finally
judgments have been obtained against
several of these townships upon cou-
pons representing part only of the
accrued interests, and mandates have
been issued by the United States
court authorizing q levy and collec-
tion of q tax to meet the judgments
already obtained, and suits are still
pending against come of the town
ships; and inasmuch as the first in
stslment of the principal of the
said bonds falls due this year other
cults will surely follow, since it ap-
pears that these bonds, or at least
large portion of them (the exact
amount We do not know), have found
their way into the hands of non resi-
dents who can sue in the United
States court and thus evade the de-
cisiors of the State court.
The debt against Dunklin and Oak
Lawn townships, in Greenville county,
alone amounts in principal and &C
crued interest to something like
thirty thousand dollars each. The
principal of bonds on behalf of
Cokesbury, Ninety-Six and Cooper
townships amount to $4s 800. The
other townships are similarly af-
fected. You can imagine what an
enormous tax will be required to pay
this debt, and the number of homes
that will have to be sold in order to
meet fhis unjust tax, if some means
of escape cannot be devised. It
hangs over the property Of the said
townships as black cloud, striking
terror to the hearts of our citizen
ship, shutting out all rays of hope
for the future. Unless relief is had
this debt will practically destroy the
value of our property, since no one
would care to purchase property, or