The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1909-01-29
A FEW FACTS
AND FIGURES
As to Why We Should Bond the
{ County to Build Good Roads.
THE ROADS SUGGESTED
Estimated that Seventy Miles Can be Hard
Surfaced with the Amount Proposed,
and Every Section will be Benefited

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reasons why the election for bonding
the county for SI5J, 90 should carry by
good majority:
st. LUCE county needs good roads
more than it needs anything Csc
If $3.50. 900 in bonds are ISL ued, fully
one-half will have to be paid by the
railroad and telegraph companies, big
land companies and non-residents - less
than half the amount falling on our own
citizens, who reap the benefits.
The bonds can be floated and every
requirement of principal and interest
met with a mill tax one mill less
than we have paid for special road
tax for many years.
Six mills will not only be sufficient,
but on our present tax valuation it will
provide 81, 900 a year more than is nee
essary for sinking fund and interest, and
as tax valuations increase the milage
will be decreased
Surveyor Fries estimate for hard
surfacing the roads of the county pro-
vide for seventy miles of road at cost
of $4,000. This estimate proposed a
hard-surface road from the north end
of the county at ROseland to the south
end at Waveland; road from Jensen
to Rio; another from White City juno
ton to White City bridge; from Fort
Pierce to Ten-Mile creek; from Quay to
Klondyke; from Quay, Wabasso, VerO
and Roseland depots to river.
Can these seventy miles of road he
hard surfaced for $40, 900? Not by our
present method of road building. But
it can be done by the method guaran-
teed in the bonding law-by contract.
Hamilton county, the past month has
let contract to Georgia firm of road
builders for 10 miles of rock road for
S45, 600. How much worse are cOndi-
tions in road building in st. Lucie coun-
ty than in Hamilton county? Five times
as difficult? Even at that we can get
seventy miles of road for $40, 600.
The bonding law provides that none
of the bond money can be used for any
other purpose than that of hard-surfac-
ing the roads of the county, and the
cost of administration, and the trustees
are to be under bond in good surety
company to faithfully carry out che law.
We will either get the hard-surfaced
roads or we will have the money in the
bank.
The first bonds to he sold will be the
lO-year bonds $22, 500 They will be
bought up principally by our home peO-
ple No other bonds will be sold until
contracts have been let for hard surfac-
ing roads.
Road makers who have spent years
in that business are already enquiring
about the bond issue, to ascertain if
there is prospect for them to bid on
the work.
Banks and financial institutions are al
ready enquiring about the bond issue,
as they desire to bid for them. There
will be scramble for the bonds, and it
is safe to predict that they will bring
considerable more than 100 cents on
the dollar realizing fund sufficient
to pay all expenses of administration
and leaving all the $3.50, 900 to be used
for hard surfacing.
Not cent of the bond issue can be
in opering up new roads. or
whiting the money away in various
schemes and road changes. The law
reads that it must be spent in hard-sur-
facing the roads in st. Lucie county.
The issue OF bonds will not prevent
you from selling your property nor
will it make cloud in your title - as
one man has suggested to The TR!-
BUNE. On the other hand = the build
ing of hard surfaced roads will induce
people to come into St.
Lucie county, and will provide an OPP
for present owners of prop
erty to dispose of part of their hold
ngs at prices far in excess of what can
be realized now.
Property thus sold will be improved
and will go on the tax books at an in
creased figure, thereby giving us more
money for every county purpose, or re-
lucing our taxes as the valuations in
crease.
These are few of the many reasons
Why the election should carry for bonds
and there has not been single valid
reason given against the issue.