The Brinkley argus., 1914-08-28

that someone opposed uO Cle
 road tax will impugn my motives in urging that it be continued.
 In reply to such charges l will
 state that 1 do not own one dol
 lar of road warrants and am in
 no wise interested in the out
 standing warrants that are tied
 up in the courts and that will
 ultimately have to be paid out of
 the road fund, if the Supreme
 Court holds them to be valid, they
 are held by parties that have
 not heretofore been my political friends. Some one might say
 that I am for the road tax be-
 cause of the commissions l will
 probably receive for the collec-
 ton of the tax next year; but no
 one who knows me well will
 ascribe to me any such selfish motive. I am told that the com missions for the collecting of the
 tax is considerable less than four hundred dollars, l have friends
 that pay far more road tax than
 that sum. If it were just to
 feather my own nest' and If
 would be controlled only by the
 desire to make a few paltry dol
 lars without regard to how
 could perfect an arrangement
 with some big taxpayer who
 would agree to pay far more If
 the road tax can be defeated
 than the entire Collectors com
 mission amounts to during a
 four year term as Collector. l
 heard of instances of where
 large tax payers were willing to pay certain people or agencies
 for their opposition to. the creation or voting of tax that necessitates their paying several thousand dollars annually for which the people get benefit more directly than they. For instance, the Cotton Belt Rail- road which alone pays nearly three thousand dollars of the sixteen thousand dollars of the amount of the road tax collected annually, could we'll employ some person or agency to use his, or their efforts, toward helping to defeat the road tax in Monroe County, thereby saving to them three thousand dollars each year, l really be- lieve that such a deal could be made with some parties that dislike to pay the road tax and my experience is that some would avoid paying even the school tax. There is something higher than the love of money that prompts me to urge the voters to not listen to the plead ings of the Argus and Citizen and others that oppose road tax. On election day go to the polls and vote for road tax and con- tinue to do so each year until there is something better in sight, always insisting upon the proper handling of the funds and being careful who is placed on guard to direct the handling of it.
 In giving my candid views of the matter, 1 am following the dictates of my conscience, which prompts me. to support such always, as are for the best interest of the people, re- gardless of the criticism may invite. For the same reason 1 am opposed to saloons in Monroe County and sincerely hope the time has come when the good citizenship of our county, will on election day vote against license. thereby eradicating the condi- tion we have lived through dur ing the regime of recent years. Surely we do not want a repeti- ton of those days. Some argue we might as well have saloons as for blind tigers to exist or for to be sold as it is. " This evil can be effectually wiped out, with a public senti- nent against it and officers who nave the moral courage to do their duty, thereby affording a protection to our mothers, wives