Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-08-13
BOND AMENDMENT IMPORTANT ISSUE Executive Committee Issue Strong Appeal in Behalf of
 the New Act. MUST USE CREDITS Does Not Mean Bankruptcy For Cities
 and Towns gin of
 Movement.
(By CLIO HARPER)

SASS'AOAA' their debut into the field of direct leg islation in Arkansas, many consider none of them more important than Amendment Mo- 15, the municipal bond amendment. A vigorous campaign is being conducted under the direction of an Executive Committee consisting of Mayors Charles F. Taylor. of Lit tie Rock; A. c. Jordan, of Pine Bluff; J. P. Faucett, of Argenta; Pagan Bour- land, of Fort Smith; w w. Waters, of Hot Springs, and Thomas Burress, of Joneshoro.
 It is believed there has been rad ical change in public opinion since the defeat of a similar Amendment four years ago, at which time astute lawyers discovered a lurking Joker" in it, which has been eliminated. The only legal cloud that now appears on the horizon of it's expected success is the opinion Of the Attorney Gener- al that only three proposed amend
 
 ton, whether originating in the Leg islature or with the people. Those who are working for the Amendment do not consider this objection a seri- ous handicap, and are confident that the people will adopt the;amendment and thereby give themselves a credit l e q in hn
 Would Not Mean Bankruptcy. Do not listen to the croakers who say that if this amendment is passed our cities and towns will be bank ] rupted,' says the Executive Commit tee in a strong appeal that will be published in the course of the next row only an amount equal to one- i tenth of their assessed value Did yCu ever hear of man being bank rupt who owed only one-tenth as much as his property was worth? And as our assessments are on basis of fifty per cent Or less, the amount a
 
 ly only about five per cent of it's prop erty value.
 We need to use our credit in order to educate and train the rising gen. eraton, and it is very just that part of this cost shall be paid by those who are now receiving the benefits. l mood i1c fN our credit to build public improve ments for our cities and to insure l public health and safety and it is just as equitable that this expense should be met by those who will enjoy these improved conditions and at a time when these better conditions have aid- ed in building up, enlarging and en- rlchlng the city so that even a great CT amount of taxes will be smaller pro 1ata eXpense'
 Origin of the Movement.
 The present movement originated in the progressive mind of Charles F. Taylor, mayor of Little Rock, who was confronted with the problem of mecung the requirements of grow Ing city for advanced utilities and improvements, without available funds and with an antiquat0d and in adequate system of improvement dis trlcts %:kansas is the only s:a:e in the Union that positively prohio olts cities and towns from borrowing mo- ney for public improvements of general character.
 So last February Mayor Taylor is sued call for a conference of Ark ansas Mayors and City Attorneys and other officials. The conference was held and several prominent lawyers participated. A two days conference resulted in the drafting of the amend ment now proposed Immediate steps were taken to initiate the measure under the I. X R. amendment. Mayor Taylor himself advanced the greater part of the fund necessary to meet the 1 expense of initiation The petitions were circulated in nearly every city and town in the state. and more than 1 the necessary 12,S00 names were se- cured for it's submission, in fact there were 15,500 signatures filed with the secretary of state.
 Many more names could have been secured. The measure mst with very general approval wherever presented, and not more than one in hundred refused to sign it. i4 sy 1 < All PrAsisions Complied With. All provisions of the law have been compiled with and the proposed amendment have been compiled with. ] It was published in every county m