The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1912-02-17
WHY BORROW MONEY

THE gentlemen who are advocating the
legislative statute authorizing the
County Commissioners to borrow money,
have not leg to stand on. The COM
parison of the county's situation to that
of a private business concern is not, in
the least, a reasonable comprehension
plainly unreasonable to require argu-
ment; in fact so unreasonable and I'M
justifiab,e that we recall the remark of
a former Judge of this Circuit Court
wherein he said law should be passed
making it a criminal offense for County
Commissioners to borrow money on the
county's credit.
This question would, indeed, not be
raised at this time except for the fact
that the last board of County Commits
sioners brought down on themselves an
injunction which has caused them much
embarrassment; but for which they are
wholly to blame. Here is the story.
When they met last June to fix the tax
rate and levy for the present fiscal year,
the first thing they did was to fix the tax
rate at s105 without any reference to
the levy. They then set to work to make
the levy conform to the tax rate, in
stead of making the tax rate whatever
the levy actually demanded. For in
stance they levied $4,000 for outstand-
ing notes in bank. Now. they did not
have to GUESS at how much those notes
amounted to; they did not have to
roughly estimate" the amount. THEY
KNEW TO A PENNY JUST HOW MUCH
THEY OWED THE BANKS AT EXACT
LY THAT TIME. The Treasurers office
Gays they owed $4,000 We will, for the
purpose of this argument, accept that
statement They owed the banks $4,000
and they levied $4,000 to meet it. That
is, they levied just about half enough to
meet a definite fixed charge against
them. And SO it went down the line, un
til we found they had on the first few
items of the levy, levied $4,000 less than
they had actually spent for the same
items the previous year They pursued
the same policy with the school fund.
They simply $50 the School Board says)
deliberately and arbitrarily cut off sew
eral thousands OF dollars from fund
which they knew would have to be forth
coming. What We're they doing? Play
ing politics, that is what they were do
ing. 1t was an election year, when new
equity were W De CuOStH, anu
the Commissioners tor those who coach
ed them Thought they were playing a
clever trick to fix low tax rate, A
TAX RATE BELOW THEIR ACTUAL
LIABILITIES, expecting, of course, to
get out of the difficulty by simply bor
rowing money to tide them over into the
next year, etc, etc.-tne same old game
in the same old way. When we saw how
these Commissioners had deliberately
made a false levy TO fool the people, we
determined then and there to invoke the
power of the Court TO enjoin them
against borrowing further. Our injunc
ton would not have embarrassed them
in the least if they had have made a fair
and honest levy and tax rate according
with the same. They have nobody to
blame but themselves, for the whole af-
fair. We trust one great good will come
out of 1t all, viz: the fixing hereafter of
a perfectly just levy and tax rate so that
the people may know how their affairs
really stand. The power to borrow
money is not only dangerous in itself,
but it permits the playing of politics
with the peoples fiscal affairs, AND NO
GOOD CITIZEN OUGHT TO STAND FOR
THAT