The Forrest City times., 1911-02-17
MASS MEETING.
CITIZENS AND OWNERS or LANDS IN ST. FRAN. CIS BASIN MEET To DISCUSS PROPOSED
 RAISE IN RATE or TAXATION.

 ; of taxation for levee purposes.
 The meeting was organized by the election of NIT. ] D. Baugh as chair man and Mr Eugene Williams as sec retary The object of the meeting was stated, and an invitation extended to all interested who wished to do so to give their views on the question
 MT. W B Miller, President of the St. Francis Levee Board, being present was called for and addressed the meet ing. He discussed the proposed in crease of levee taxes in the atfirma- tive. and quoted from the report of Chief Engineer, and gave out the fig ures on what amount of money would be necessary to meet the actual fixed liabilities of the board, and also stated them. He said that the present rate of Il cents per acre would be sufficient to meet the expenses of the years 1912 l3-l4, but that II cents would be neces- sary for the year 1911. and it would re- quire F cents for the year 1915.
 He also stated that it was the sense of the Board that it had issued suffi- cient bonds, and that the Board was not asking to issue any more bonds, but he thought the assessment should be raised to maximum of 20 cents. and the Board given discretionary i power to fix the amount each year that should be levied, and all moneys collected over and above the fixed lia- bilities be used in building new work or finishing the levee. He mentioned in support of his position that several levee districts had conferred upon their board of directors this power. and that it had not been abused and that l he could see no reason why the St Francis Levee Board should not be trusted to do the same, and pledged his word that so long as he was presi- dent, unless some unforeseen cireum- stances arose, the Board would not levy more than r cents.
 MT. Miller was giyeu profound at tention, and his remarks were well re- eeived, interesting and instructive. He was piled with many questions. which he answered to the best of his ability
 At the close of President Miller s remarks, he stated that the Chief En- gineer NIT. E. G. Covington, was pres ent and he would like to hear from him
 MT. CoYington was called for. came forward, was introduced by Chairman Baugh, and made very interesting talk on the state Of the levee, work done and necessary to be done, and said that il was not complete and never would be that it would require g.. GOO. : 900 to complete it, and it was simply a question, after meeting the fixed lia- bilities of the Board of now much new work the people wanted to dc each year or ID other words, what amount they wish to spend each yea toward completing the lesee H. was also asked many questions. and much light Was thrown ou the subjects discussed OIL the severa questions raised
 Capt 5ames Fasse. spoke briefly. aHd asked vHf was tua5 the Board had sold iys b5nds seqera' wears agQ 8 par oEa little above and why tae lasH bonds had e. be sod as 2 dis count #ar commission paIa amount ing tu S5oo0 He opposed increasing the tax rate f8 21 cents per acre and giving tAe Board discretion to make il less stating that mark my word. if You give the Board power to few 70 cents. Il vii Dc levied and thought t entirely too much
 Hon r. " DeRositt made a short speech il which he declared his oppo. sition to the 2o cents tax. He stated that the Levee Board had no better friend than he and that he was wil- ling to increase the tax to l. cents. or even l5 cents. fl necessary. but he thought p cents toe much and more than was necessary to pay the obliga- ti0ns of the Board
 Mr " L. Williams then made one l of his happy speeches, which put every body h a good humor He said the l bond question was | thingof the past. Lets not talk about. bonds. Let's look ta the future Said he had a piece of dirt over IL the bottom that he was trying to seI He didn want te own any property over there if there was going 1o eternaHy be strife and blcl1erIngs about this levee tax. etc. whic- caused hard feelings be tween neighbors and strained the re- latioas between friends Said. if they 1 needed 2o cents. they ought to have it. and | they didn't need lt. they were i al honest mel anu he was wiling C trast them to Hat levy t. Asked what wa & pItifal 2a cents compared Hf 9 Ia#a Fs. g .-