The Forrest City times., 1910-08-19
The Difference.

EDITOR TINES:
 Forrest City has public debt ot s43, GOO bearing interest at 6 per cent. the interest amounting to s2.5S0 per annum.
 The income of Forrest City taxa tion at present is $l, ,5o0 annually, and more than half of this is required to pay interest on her debt. Payments on the principal Of this debt have stopped.
 St. Francis county has public debt of s32 ,000 and this debt as well as the debt of Forrest must be paid by taxa tion.
 Licensing the sale of liquor in said town and county would be of great as sistance in paying off the debt.
 If no liquor license is granted the burden of taxation will be oppressive, and privilege taxes will be placed on restaurants. boarding houses, and multitude of other occupations.
 This is what the prohibitionlsts want, but do hot.
 J k. BEAsLEY
 r. S.-I am informed by Mr Eugene Williams, that the S43, ,0o0 before men, tioned includes the Water Works debt and the Electric Light Works debt, both of which bear interest. l am al- so told by another weIl-informed gen tleman that Forrest City has a non- interest bearing debt of about Sl0,000 outstanding in city warrants. ], k. E.
 A communication from Judge ! R. Beazley appears in this issue in which he says argueing for licensed saloons that the revenue from saloon license would greatly assist in reducing tht city debt of 943, 900, etc. The Judge: premises are based upon statement which is entirely at variance witt the facts Forrest City, as a corpo ration, does not owe S43, ,000 Thi S4300 of which he speaks, is tn bonded indebtedness of Forrest Git Improvement Districts Nos. and we presume, and provision is made b, the ordinance creating these district and this debt, for a special tax ant sinking fund, with which, and witl which only, the interest on the ful amount is paid annually, and, we be lieve, for the retirement of one of th' bonds each year, though we have no had an opportunity to refresh ou memory on the latter point, ant 1t may be that the provision is fo the retirement of one sor more bonds according to the surplus after the in terest is paid.
 At any rate, this is not material t, the point we are trying to make, whicl is, that no matter what may be the con dition of the city treasury, and nt matter how much revenue be collect ed by the city of Forrest City iron saloon license, or from any othe source, not one single cent of sucl revenue could be used in the paymen of either interest or principal of Uni si3 900 bonded debt of these im :, nrovement districts. In so far a this debt is concerned these district are enthely seperate and distinc from the city oI Forrest City, The actual indebtedness of the cit, of Foffett City at present represented by it's outstanding warrants. is les: than Sl0, ,00o, as shown by the las published statement of the city rec order and no other indebtedness exist Of which We are aware to theIdischarg of which the saloon revenue could b, applied.
 If "For Litense' should receive majority at the election on Septem Der l2, and if license should be grant ed, and open saloons be resumed il Forrest City, then the revenue iron this source could be applied to this in debtness, represented by outstanding warrants, but 10 no other, and cer tainly not to the bonded debt of In proyement Districts Nos l and ?.
 Don't Worry.