The weekly soliphone., 1917-08-02

not legally necessary that the said judge issue scrip to cover burial expenses Therefore, the market
 price of county warrants may be seeking new high levels wen while the funeral dirge is being sung.
 What boots it if half dozen people are killed by
 falling bridge, so long as the treasury isn't out any, hing?
 Cash. is and people are plentiful. In fact
 population is increasing much more rapidly than are
 county treasury baancesso why not sacrifice life and save money?
 A tour of the county will convince anyone except hose afflicted with mental ephelomas that policy of financial suicide is being followed Unless bridges and oads are kept in reasonable condition of repair, the lime will ultimately when the entire plan must be eorganized Bridges that might be saved if proper at ention were given to abutment work will become
 ete wrecks if the administrations energies center ed upon the idea of making scrip worth 72 cents instead of Fl. county whose people are being taxed thirty thousand dollars annually for road and bridge work are entitled to the use of the roads Under present policies this amount is being squandered amlessly as though 1t were bulked and dumped into the St. Francis river The three grading machines and tractor engines pur chased two or three years ago being left out in the rain to rust and dsntegrate One of these outfits may be at any time the residence of C. F. Stepp, west of Paragoud route 5. It is out in the open, without the sembance of protection and has mained for many months. It Withstood the winter storms and is responding heroicaly to the treat lment On the east end it is abutted by lot of cord wood which, of course, retains moisture success fully than plain iron surfaces and permits the rsng process to continue after ordinary rains have dried up These road-workng outs contracted for by Judge A. ID Jackson for about thousand dollars have not been paid for although during Judge Jacksons admins ration they used to excellent advantage J. L. Light who succeeded Jackson county executive declined to mee the payments contracted for because of the fact that notes had been given for the purchase price in violation of constitutional stpulaons preventing lty from adopting such procedure. The company sup |plyng the machinery carried it's claims to the circuit court and lost non-sll taken and the claim has been filed against Greene county Payn ant will be fused and is presumed the Arkansas supreme court will finally pass upon the issue. The supplying com- lpany contends that nasumch the machinery ac- lcepted and used by the county, payment must be made The county stands chance to lose and to be compelled Ito make payment Under these conditions it - nancal suicide to permit rust and decay to completely destroy seven thousand dollars worth of property that mght be housed oiled and cared for at expense of fifty dollars. It is not only financial sucde-it is damned idiocy.
 But the destruction of seven thousand dollars worth lof machinery is slight in comparison to the neglect of Ipublic roads If rust and deterioration will account for the price of these grading and woodworking machines, rains and thaws have accounted for five times that amount of destruction with reference to rghts-of-way that sufficiently maintained to bear the title of public roads, Today they cannot be referred to in that They are nothing more than neglected streaks of clay No is interested in them from an official standpoint Vast sums of money collected annually in cash and enormous assessment in human labor is expended upon them theoretically there are results
 The county is an organized business institution worth millions of dollars. It's business manager the county judge, exercises direct and indirect authority over receipts and disbursements of about forty thou sand dollars annually It requires intelligence, business acmen large degree of business traningf and calm de-