The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1915-02-12


At this point R. F. Tisdale offered
resolution and it was seconded by ]. M.
Brice as follows:
Be it Resolved by this meeting COM
posed of citizens of Union City and
the Thirteenth Civil District of Obion
County, That we are unqualifiedly in
favor of taking immediate steps toward
building hard roads in the Thirteenth
Civil District by bond issue or tax
alton and that suitable committee be
appointed to frame bill to be passed
by the present Legislature looking to
that end.
The chair, Mr.. Bratton, arose and
said of the man who opposed the plan
of taxation for hard roads that he had
right to his opinion, but that he
should sell out and move to the coun-
try where there existed no hard roads
Improvements.
Mr.. Bratton said he made the first
King drag in Obion County and that
he had used it for a number of years
and the county had made no progress
in road building under that system.
Something like twenty dollars mile
year had been spent in the operation OF
making dirt roads with the drag and
we hadn't got them yet. Mr.. Bratton
favored any kind OF approved hard
roads, and the most feasible way OF
building them. He was home man
strictly and believed in doing business
at home; therefore he favored good
roads. He never bought a dollars
worth from a mail order house and
never expected to. Union City is the
best town on earth, and he was in favor
of taxing district for hard roads. He
would like to see the corporation lines
of Union City abolished and the Thir-
teenth Civil District organized with a
commission of three men, the schools
consolidated and the interests of the
district put into the hands of these
commissioners for management. But
he did not expect to see that done.
Mr.. Selmo Harris said that the only
feasible plan for hard roads is the tax
ing district plan, for each civil district
to organize independently and build its
own roads by taxation.
Mr.. Rratton said that he had estimat-
ed about thirty-fve miles of main roads
in the Thirteenth Civil District which
should be included in the proposed plan
of hard roads Improvements and that
the rate on the hundred dollars would
be about fifteen cents for this purpose.
Mr.. Coble had figured that the tax
rate would not be over twenty cents on
the hundred for hard roads purposes
under the bond system.
Mr.. Spradlin offered motion that a
committee be appointed to investigate
and compute the cost of construction
and tax rate under the different classes
of roads, to figure the tax on bond
issue of 100000 or more. The COM
mittee appointed by the chair is as fol-
lows:
Jake Caldwell, Ed McAlister, w. G.
Kelly.
Another committee by motion was
appointed by the chair to investigate
the different classes of roads and the
cost of same as follows:
w. M. Warterfeld, DR.. T. E. Mar
shall, H. P. Moss, Wade Wiley, j. M.
Brice.
Mayor T. R. Reynolds suggested that
the above committee should investigate
and examine the different classes of
roads thoroughly before making its re-
port, and before the adoption of any
system the question should be taken
up at some length.
During the discussion of the various
classes of roads, Mr.. Bratton and others
having expressed willingness to adopt
either hard or oil roads, according to
the decision of the committee appoint
ed for that purpose, Mr.. Henry Head
arose and stated that in Texas he had
seen the oil roads tried and that they
had failed. They were tried around
Sherman where his father, Judge Head,
resides, and they did not stand. Oil
roads could be used on hills or eleva-
tions that are never covered with water,
but that the oil roads on lowlands are
washed away by freshets and overfows.
The oil preparation is carried away by
the water, and he spoke Of roads where
the oil is mixed into the dirt to the
depth of several inches.
Mr.. Tisdale then spoke in opposition
to oil roads and the general conclusion
was that we should not waste time figur-
ing on oil roads, but give our attention