The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1917, 1915-03-02
Can A>pEnso> AFFORD cson ROADS,

good roads just farmer would think Oi digging
Il ditch on his farm. clearing a hcld or making any
| other Improvement on his farm. 1t will either pIy
| to dig the ditch clear The field or Luild the barn
If II Will pay aml II" max" ~, necessary i;iii-
| cia arrangements. then he should make the inn
| provcmrnts. But he should consider well The cost
| and the consequent income Is result of the
pGnditurc. The pcIt,iint:e cost should not be
too great Tor the gool TO be- derived. and e-should
| feel least. that lie is gOi; tO dO something
which will increase the value the comfort and the
convenience Of his farm. Tic same rule should
| apply to any other business. and IL good business
man will figure The and the desired in
| crease in value of his property.
This is exactly what the voters of Anderson
County should consider in this good roads bond is
| sue. VIII the building Of 80 miles of permanent
roads I'm Anderson County be worth while? Will it
pay the county To "Apcnd this amount Of money for
this kind Of improvement? II so. how will il bcnc
fit the voters OF the county? Wherein will they
reap profit from the expenditure? VIII the values
OF the land in the county be increased. and will it
make the home more desirable? Will it improve
the schools and the churches making it easier to
| reach them. and increase the interest and at
tendance? Will it enable the farmer living some
distance from the county seat. or the market where
he sells his produce to reach the market quicker
and with heavier load. and with less and
tear on his team and vehicles? Ii these questions
he answered in the Affirmative will it pay then
to make the expenditure? What will it cost the
individual citizen to obtain these advantages?
We believe that the concensus Of opinion Is that
1t will pay to have these advantages and that 1t
would he good Investments AT least. may say
that is tho universal verdict and opinion wherever
good roads have been built. We told that the
value of real estate adjacent or near to system
Of good roads Is usually increased in value to two
or three times the former value. The convenience
of tho people. ami the with which. they get
nbout this guu road is hard 10 estimate iii dol
lars and cents II has been said that ii divides dis
tauca making places ut least half as far away.
when the time To go is considered. and the ease
with which the trip is made All this being true
then 1t stands to that 1t will pay to have
good roads The only thing to he considered. then.
Is the means of securing them. How shall Il coun-
ty go about getting good roads? Shall 1t be done
by direct taxation. by the work Of convicts, by u
bond issue, or What means? Again the universal
experience of those counties which have built them,
s to the effect that the most feasible way Is to
cure bond issue. build the roads ami let the pay
ments be made while enjoying the roads This be-
ing true then. need to consider the matter to
wcther not able in Anderson County to
use this means of building system of good roads
without burlening ourselves with heavy obltga-
tion which will l., hard to meet by the people In
order to arrive ut this conclusion we Inquire
into our finances and what the resources OF the
county is. and how the burden OF the taxation
ossary to pay the interest nnd create sinking fund
is to be borne. Let see.
The total taxable value OF the county accorlinls
to the returns made In 1914. is $13.50G705 This is
divided into two kinds Of property. follows:
Real estate. Sa.73S090: personal property $7,7GS
G15. OF this personal property the cotton mills and
manufacturing plants, telephone and telegraph
companies. railroads, and street systems. are
assessed ut s46S5,S5O. The bonded Indebtedness
will cost $3750O interest and the law provides for
sinking fund OF $500. So there will be $4,000
to raise each year to pay this amount 1t will re-
quirc little more than mills extra tax to do this.
Owing to the provision In the bill for interest 10 be
paid on the amount deposited In the banks mill
will be ample to the requirements rs TO this.
The next matter OF interest will be as to who
shall pay this taxes. Let us look into this bit
The corporations and railroads will pay 81 $685.
800 property Anderson, the county seat. and the
largest city in the county will pay on $2.643.87O
property: the other towns in the county. -incor-
porated. will pay an estimated valuation Of ut
tleas $2.000000 According TO the terms OF the law,
none OF these contributors can have roads built
for them and 1t will mean that the farmers and the
people living and owning property in the rural dis
trcts will receive the entire benefit OF the bond is-
suc aud will pay only 30 per cent OF It, In other
words the figures above show that for every 30
cents the rural inhabitant puts into this bond Is
sue he will receive 81 90.
The Intogencer has gone to the trouble to
figure this out little more in detail. and we find,
taking several school districts In different parts OF
the county into consideration that the burden
will be very light. For instance:
Martin School District. No. 10. has total taxable
property value OF s24s.oos. There are 24s taxpay-
ers in this district. and OF this number 46 pay
taxes on more than $1,000 worth of property. on
$9Q53 to he exact. leaving for the 200 taxpayers