The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1914-02-27
SUBSCRIPTION, $3.50 PER YEAR.
HON. J. l.. HALEY REPLIES To
HIS CRITICS.
ltta Bena. Miss. Feb. 26th. 1914

ltta Bena, Miss. Feb. 18th. 1914.
To the People Of Ictlorc County:
! have served you several years a
member Of the Board Of Supervisors
The past two years AS President of thi
Board.
To those of YOU to whom | have com
in contact with in an official way. know
whether or not | have done my duty.
For Ii great many years | have advo
Gated the building Of good roads to al
parts of the county and building then
up. | have advocated the building O
fills wherever possible in order to d,
away with bridges. BY this policy PEG
pie who live in the interior of the coun
ty have road facilities, and at the sam,
time 1t aids the rapid development OF
the county; while | knew that for a tim,
this policy would be very expensive. bu.
as the roads and fills are completed tn,
expenses will be diminished and the
taxes lowered. Whether or not thi,
policy has been a success the people
of the county can judge.
The Board Of Supervisors since | have
been a member has been faithful tc
their duty, upright and honorable; at the
same time mistakes have been made.
We, as all other people, are human, anG
like all other people make mistakes.
At the beginning of the present tern
of Board of Supervisors | was elected
president, and | have done my duty
faithfully as ! understood It.
The Board appointed a suprrintend,
ent of the County Farm whose duty is
to manage the farm in the same way
as any manager on IL plantation any
where. He was under the direct in.
structions Of the Board of Control,
which office Mr.. f. b. Clark, II member
of the board, was elected at the be
ginning of this term, and tn" supcrin-
tendrnt vas under the instructions of
Mr.. Clark. Mr.. Clark could not be at
the farm at all times and for that rru-
son the superintendent hmI authority to
use his Judgment ia Some r>lrut, and
in small need, hr had authority to pur
chase, but whru IT came To- lhr plr
chase of mulcs or auFtbup u a great
amount or tn" selling Of cotton and 9TH
er products Of the farm he consulted
and was directed Ivy Mr.. CIlrh
Some time ago Mr.. Clark and Mr..
Mammalian were instructed to- 4hIp cars
of corn to MIR. Dillard at Greenwood
Morgan City. SchIater and Mlntrr City.
The instructions were in open session.
There has been no other feed stuTs
shipped from the farm that ! know of.
One car of corr was shipped recently to
Schlater; before that, two cars to Nor
gan City and Minter City respectively.
These three cars were shipped by Mr..
Manahan and billed to Mr.. billiard and
record of same put on the books Of the
farm.
The Superintendent makes a complete
itemized statement to the Board, all Of
which can be found in the clerks Of
fee. The accounts are examined care
fully by the Board before allowances
are made.
1t has been a policy Of the Board for
the mules at the farm to be placed on
the public roads, whenever and where
ever possible, in order to reduce the
farm expenses and save the taxpayers
a great deal Of money. These things
have not been published in the newspa-
pers, but yet they have been shown on
the reports, and | an told they are
shown or the books.
1t has been reported that the farm
has been running at a tremendous loss;
this loss they claim is about $50, 900. 90.
as it is ''human to err, pos
sibly this is a mistake. You will know
true facts not long hence.
In view of the above facts the Board
did not deem it necessary for the sup
.erintendent to make bond.
The needed repairs at the Jail were
to bidders and their bids be-
ing so exorbitant were rejected, but
this matter will be looked after.
Some years ago the Board made sew
eral loans from the county funds, the
.aw requiring this. Applications were
made by M. E. Haley and Mrs. Rebec-
"a Reese, my wife and daughter The
securities were carefully considered and
he loans granted. One loan granted
o M. E. Haley for SIS, 900. 90 on a home
worth at least s15, 900, 90; one loan for
50, 000. 90 on a two-story brick store
worth from 5000. 90 to st. 00. 90; and
one loan for 81, 800 90 on a six-room
residence worth at least So, 900. 90. The
oan to Mrs. Reese of So, 800 90 was on
A home worth easily 5000. 90. tell
you that Of all the loans made by the
these securities were the best.
. part Of this is past due for the rea-
son that the owner wished to pay up
without renewal of loan and did not ap-
ply for a renewal; however, the renew
would have been granted had appIi-
;ation been made, as many other re-
were granted. Unfortunately a
part Of this interest has not been paid.
did wrong in not looking after this
natter personally, and seeing that this
interest was paid prOmDtly. hut like