Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-07-11
WILL CONTINUE
 FREE BRIDGE FIGHT Taxpayers Hold Meeting, But Attendance Was. Not as Large as Previous One.
WOULD VOTE ON IT
Endorse and Condemn Laws Ina; Ire to Be Submitted to the Voters
 in This State.

After conforming several acts of the legislature and endorsing others that are to be submitted to the voters
 the members of the Jeffef son County Taxpayer rs Ass ciatisn, organized some months ago to prevent thy building of tna Free Bridge acrV i the Arkansas river at Or near F i Bluff, yesterday, at a meeting caA,.
 by and pres ,ded over by President ttss J. Collier, of Alaheimar. and Scores tasy J. p. Oracle, of Robstoy, went on record as being in favo1fhf oon-. tinuing its fight against theg Free Bridge to the end, despffe the esrscant decision, of the Supreme Court hold ing the act authorizing the nriag dis tlic't legal in every detail sSasa
 The meeting wasfyheld at taA court house and meeting of the negro taxpayers was held at he Ma-s sonic Temple, the latter being called by. the same officials The icourt house meeting was not as large as that held some weeks ago at tha Bluff City Club, where the whites and negroes met together and mang of 1 the most prominent anti-bTidge peo- pie were not present, among them several ladies.
 Addresses weer made by Presi- dent Collier, w. l.. Dewoody, Arthur Murray, T. Hayisi Nixon, Creed Cald- we'll, G. E. Lytle, Attorney Asa c. 1 Oracle, of Little Rock; J. M. Barrett, of Sherrill, and others.
 l It was stated by MT. Collier tnat the decision of the Supreme Cenft was unjust and that the members should return to their homes united in the fight against the bridge, that they should continue TO resist the ef- fcrts of tne Commission to build the 1 bridge and the fight will be won. He declared that there were 5,253 prop l erty holders in Jefferson' county Of that number, he sa d, $500 have sign ed the protest petitions and with drawn frcm the Bridge petitions. The assessed value of real estate ill this county he placed at value of $11,- i S00,000, which includas she failread 1 assessment. According to his state- ment there are signers against the bridge representing $S.O00.OOO He said these represent a majority in
 value, in acreage and in number. l At the suggestion of Attorney Asa Oracle and District Attorney Nixon committee, composed of Pres'd dent ] T. J. Collier. T. Havis Nixon. Marel Franklin and o. E. Mckenzie, was named to call on the Bridge Commission and ask that the bridge question be submitted to the people of
 the county at an election. the. Tax
 payers agreeing to pay all expanssa
 f they lose ard the Bridge Ccmmis-
 sion the expenl:es if it loses; and a.so huc COulIllltIeo dSh tEdl Iuc HAM payers
 be given three men and the Ccunmis-
 sion three to pass on fhe majority
 petitions, with an, arlDiter to decide i'm the event of a tie. Mir. Nixon sug-
 gested that if no arbiter could be
 selected by the six that Judge Grace be named to preside. He made it
 plain that this was no surrender CT
 compromise, but that the Taxpayers
 wanted to determine if the Bridge
 Commission wanted to be far, and
 MT. Nixon added that if the proposi-
 tion was not accepted he would be
 satisfied then that the Commission
 does not want to be fair.
 President Collier, at the opening of } the meeting, read over the published
 amendments llo the State Constitu-
 tion, all of which have been initiated l and are yet to be refer ended. The } Association voted that the Turner Jacobson Bill was unjust and unfair , and pledged itself to vote against IL in this county. Act No. ?. prohlbh-H ing the sale or giving away of in aoxicating beverages in this state. was neither endorsed ncG ccndemned, \ President Collier ruling that the l.