The Mena weekly star., 1917-08-23


 --..-s....s you never got something Tor noth- ing. and our taxes is high enouEh now. They tell me that all or the smart men want il. the state wants if The state must have some sur plus money in the treasury. Ol course if that he true. you can se7 why the state wants # because tlieS want to spend the money It MVuA, he like our county. 1T they ildu sNlne money in the treasury they would have to appr0prlate t lot some improvement ai once, as IL isn't good idea Co keep a surplus ID 1 the treasury. as our county was robbed of Si7 .000 here before. rms highway is the most outrageous thing ever struck our county AS to the smartest men of our county wanting the road, smart men can De mistaken some times, like Germany s smartest men say: Fight boys, and they are going to get their men all killed and their country ruined for ever. Now if the smart men turn out that way in this county over the highway, it will put the county m bad.
 There was a road meeting at Hat field sometime ago and they donat- ed to build road to Smithvllle. that IS. them that wanted 1t. They dld-- nt build it on any Alexander Road Law. l was at the meeting and kept my mouth shut as they didn't get on my toes. They didn't ask any, lone for one third of their place. The people who throwed in to the road were the ones that wanted the road. Now. if the ones that want the high way want to build it, l will keep my lips out of it. Hattie's Road Lights in The Star stated one of our high way knockers build cross roads first. Now the highway will never get the first one built without fig uring on it's branch roads.
 In regards to prosperity. Around Hatfield who Is making the stulf? Let man come thru our community and see nothing growing. he will say right straight. T don't want to stop there" The man who is growing oats, corn, cotton and cattle is the man who helps a community wheth- CT he don't sanction Jefferson Highway or not. From what l can get Hattie didn't hurt himself by throwing in on the Smithville road. He wasn't out at the meeting, and as to him throwing in in general, he hasn't hurt himself as l know of
 Last year 1 throwed in 5000 on building vat at town, S25.00 on i'm proving the church building. about 5000 to church funds: besides giy- 5000 to church funds; besides go- ing in and helping build a vat cut east S2i70.
 This year $2.50 on a vat on Two Mile creek. S2500 on a parsonage, S750 to a man who got his house burnt. $500 to the Hatfield Fair and $500 to help defeat the highway. If lie has done So much let him call some donations he has made in full
 Now as the fairness of the Jeff ferson highway, there isn't any in H as can see. On the first step is to take the acreage. That is un- fair as there is so much land owned in this county by non-residents, those people who never did live here and never will live here. and some of them never was in the county and never will be. If they thought it would help them to sell their land they would sign for the highway. So that is throwing injustice on the citizens that want to stay here. and on the other hand they have made every town along the railroad and man with one lot has got a voice in it | have got two lots in town. They are valued at Si0.00 each, so if the other fellow had one lot he would have the same voice as the man with 1000 acres of land. only wouldn't have scarcely any tax to pay. So the farmers are getting awake to the fact. IL seems as if 0ne-half of the town people are for the road, but it seems as if the peo- pie that owns land are % per cent against the road. We have been hearing the good side of the road in the paper and not the bad side. wish everyone in the 6-mile strip would study the question over eare- fully There isn't anything to drN- ing the people anywhere You can only reason the thing together and do the best we can.
 Yours as they say, a knocker.
 Joe Anders.
 HafGnld Arl- Ana oi f0f1