The De Soto County news. [volume] (Arcadia, Fla.) 1898-1924, 1915-02-11
OUR ANSWER.

readers. being IN the lhlHl i''e
more than frultloJS attempt I" ms
lead the public BY the dunl rrHVess
ot measurements ana 'luen"oea'
Clutched I'm the harblngcr OF MS con-
cnlt The Enterprise editor hopes "
reconcile the position he has taken ny
the calling Of namcs-the alarm "l
bravo. but like the reptile. the mos
vjsuous when his vision Is dimmcu ny
thc shedding OF his SKIN, ne VIII u"
dnuht become subscrvlcut Ia the "'-
monJs of n righteous conception WhcH
tho sprIng's time Of honesty, 'onsls-
t.ncy and virtue shall have seized MN
md removed from his arrogant dispo'
sition the burden of his folly.
The editor Of The Enterprise, In ms
most sarcastic strain does ia the sig
mai honor Of referring to US rs n side
steppcr," which is term that must
apppar ludicrous to everyone VINO "
familiar with the issue IN question: De
Ing aware. as one must, that the Ei-
torprlse editor Is deserving Of the nom
or of having introduced more forms
Of the art than any other individual
and finally having received from pub
lie ouinion complete franchise for the
most perfect skill in evasion. he lusts
so much over the avarice Of his re-
ward until in the last issue of his pa
per. md on the subject under discus
sion. he attempted an evasion Of his
eynsion-a form Of "side.step' greatly
anticipated by writer's Of his class, but
/ the accomplishment Of which has been
| heretofore uninterrupted.
But the author on goatology says
/ that he desires to meet the issue fairy
and squarely; then, why IN the name
II Justice AMI common sense, II lac mas
the capacity TO do so, did he not do IT.
why deal I'm approximations" when
I the records are ut hand from which
accuracy might be attainedF Why long
4 er abate Il confession of Ignorance, ar
rogancc, fact and folly, when reflection
has shown the likeness Of. the scene;
/ WHY uccOSt an honorable undertaking
/ In the iutcrcts Of the public welfare
when the drnunciutions are In the III
tercst Of private acknowledgements Why
continue longer to utter untruths, de-
| fame fairness discard facts and ahro-
gate well earned titles, when all con.
/ illusions point to but the one altcrna-
tivc-crown the one goal-proclaim the
/ one ideal!
! In our former article we answered
/ the demand made by The Enterprise ed
| itor by pointing out the remedy for
| the error of the way Of the former
Board of CommiSsiOners-we stated
| the law on the subject and applied 1t
I to the subject matter under discus
/ sion. and then showed by detailed
enumeration how the law operates
without couiliction. and how the excess
sivc expenditures could have been
/ avoided. In answering our answer to
| this demand the editor Of The Enter
/ prise gives an approximation Of eN-
| pcndlturcs out OF the general revelu
/ fund, and undertakes to show his wis
-aom 10y giving points Of criticism of the
law governing, and If all other contcn-
/ tiuns are as absurd as this star pro-
/ ccoding the editor of The Enterprise is
either totally INSCRIPTIONS, or other
/ wise he Is II tit subject for the hug
! house. In either case such bunch Of
/ inaccuracies should not be allowed at
large.
ord which have been published. The
Enterprise endcayors to mislead the
public mind in regard to the excessive
|
( making erroneous statements as 10 the
/ application Of the law, and the fur.
Their ineXcusable misstutcment MS to the
fuCts AMI figures i'm the disbursements
NJ the funds, the effort being to lea
the impression that the Board of Com
missioncrs was forced to erroneous cN.
pCnditurcs because Of obligations pre-.
yiously incurred. Let's look into the
facts of this ease. and when concld.
siOns are reached, let them be reached
from facts. not from approximations"
from reason. not from Il guessing con.
test, and from honest purposes. unbl,
ased decisions and holy determine.
lions.
In the tabulated disbursements out
OF the general fund The Enterprise
states that the "old debt for court
house fixtures" amounted To $4,000.
which was one Of the items claimed
by The Enterprise to be responsible for
the Overdraft last year. This item Is
given as an approximate" amount, and
is therefore admitted not to be taken
from the record. We do not know pre-.
clscly how these figures were computed.
but judging by the excess over the cor.
rect amount, We assume that The En-.
terpriSe's Appropriated" figures are
based Oh its excessive bills against the
county, and for which il feels Il lasting
gratitude. The correct amount paid by
the old board last year from the gen.
ernl revenue fund for all court house
purposes, was S4,39l 81. and so In
making an $4,000 guess. The Enter.
prise only missed the correct amount
S13GOS. Is.
And again The Enterprise states
that II il had not been for previously
Incurred obligations concerning the
court house the old board would have
had net balance I'm the general fund.
which Is another statement that Is nor
borne out by the records-the records
showing that, outside OF all court house
; expenditures, the excessive Clisburse-
meits last year were S5.107 10. This
Is another evidence of The Enterprise's
utter disregard for accuracy In state.