Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1915-06-10
THE ISSUE STILL REMAINS.

The News does not wish to continue
strife and confusion in county, and
if there is anything on earth that we
dislike, it is row, but in view of the
circumstances now confronting us, we
still urge the people to stand united
against taxation for more bonds, espec-
tally since these bonds will be greatly
inadequate for the amount of work
proposed.
Just at present we dc not care a pic
ayune whether the Dixie Highway ev-
err passes thru this county or not We
want it to go around, to avoid us. to
keep away from us, if, in order to get
it, we have to but collar around our
necks as did the serfs in the time of
Anglo-Saxon rule in England. We
want no collar of bonds forged for the
necks of our people. We want no sit
uation where every two or three years
more bonds will be demanded, for we
say, and shall continue to cry it to the
house tops, that it will take ten times
one hundred thousand dollars to per
form the task that is planned, fifty
miles of highway with two mountain
roads to build, and Sir Richard Hardy.
president of the cement plant. this
county, says he would not vote for one
cent to be spent on other than a &C.
ment road
What in the world do they take the
people of Marion to ber Do they be-
lieve us down right fools and imbe-
cilesS They may claim that we can
not think for ourselves in this matter,
but they are vastly mistaken. The
people of Marion, from banker to Ia
borer, are thinking of this matter with
a strenuousness that never existed be-
fore. 1t is the subject of discussion
from the plush divan in the home of
affiuence to the broken backed seat in
the home of the laborer. 1t is the
subject of discussion for all. The
question brings on mutual brother
hood, for interest in taxes is mutual.
The man of property Is interested for
MS broad acres will be assessed more
tax, already high enough, and they
propose increased valuation. The man
who rents these acres is affected be-
cause more taxes and higher valuation
means the rent he has to pay will be
higher, and we defy any man in Ma
rion county to show us a renter that
is getting rich. A living is all that
is promised, and some of them hardly
get that. We know this because we
have been told it, and FOR nearly a
quarter of century resident in this
county have had practical knowledge
of this. Families who we're renters
when we came here, are just as poor
today as then, while farm valuations
have practically doubled. The few
who have bettered themselves were
those who broke from bondage and
bought on credit little land, often
unceared, on which to make start.
They tell US values will be increas
ed. We don't want them increased
unnatulally, that is by the action of
the equalization board and taxes. We
are speaking now of farming lands
and the homes Of the people Some of
the corporations of the county are not
paying their share of the taxes. A
80, 900, 600 electric plant which ruined
hundreds of acres of the best farming
land of the county, escapes with $175,
900 valuation. How much tax does
the cement plant pay Let them tell
you, and then look at the property and
see the business they do in cement at
something over dollar a barrel and
ask yourself, "Do they pay enough
They want higher taxes because the
taxes they pay not are not hurting
them They would squeal till the
welkin rang, just as us poor suckers
are doing, if this bond issue would
injure them.
A speaker in the meeting Monday
said that he offered Battle Creek
man, $500 more for his property than
be valued 1t now, if the Dixie High
way passed it. That was kind of him. |
He is good man to be so thoughtful
good and kind of him. We wonder if |
he ever thought at the moment of the |
time when he came out of cove in |
that same Battle Greek vicinity with
out even the $500 in his pocket. 1t |
was SO goodand kind and thoughtful of |
him. We wish he had millions so he
could buy us all out. We would all |
sell to him at $500 increase and mi
crate. We could all do-just as some
sharp scoundrel has been telling the
people of the Caroline Chapel neigh
borhood they should do-sell out, If we
didn't like the taxes, and go else
where. If the gentleman was a bill
Iionaire or more, the people of Marion,
all, under the conditions he wants
to impose, would cheerfully sell out
and migrate There are plenty of
spots in the United States with OPP
portunities for hustlers, and they