The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-10-31
4 FEW LINES MORE

Editor Star: The editor of the Star
evidently misunderstands "Mr. T!
Stuart's Proposition" 1t is TO vote
against the bond issue of a million
and a half dollars with the sinking
fund and interest and maintenance
amounting to $4,218,75O approximate
~ estimated in the article over his
signature, which would require a dl-
rect tax on the property of Marion
county of over 100000 a year to-
meet same. ! suggested that raising
the amount without bonds would pay
for more than double the amount Of
roads that you might catch the bust
hess point in tf1e proposition. Tax is
tax whether you pay 1t to pay inter
est and appreciation on bonds or to
build roads If it takes 8 mills to
raise 100000 it will take q mills to
raise over 100000. The legislature
| limited the levy to eight mills thru
| long considered conservatism, no
doubt. If it costs 100000 to maintain
the roads now the $4,000 estimated Is
evidently inadequate for more eX-
tensive system. | know of but two
kinds of permanent" roads that
don't cost over $75 a county for
maintainance, ocean routes and thru
the air and they are not free from
dock and landing place expense. A
sand road might be called <perma-
nent road; it stays, good or bad, and
costs less for maintenance than any
other road. if you drive around the
bad places. The permanent roads
have to be kept up.
The $4,000 from the government
} allowing 80 per cent. of the $28O,OOC
for initiation if used now, would hard
ly warrant the expenditure of mill
! ions to be paid in 1OO-cent dollars
"Strain for a gnat and swallow al
elephant" 1t is queer that the gov
7 eminent requires US to mortgage ou
: homes by a bond issue costing three
} or four million dollars before devotint
its quarter million to the roads. L
2 seems to me | noticed where a Ken
lucky county was proposing to bone
t for an equal amount as proposed b.
: federal and state aid to get it. The.
= ought to be as good to US.
e tory that times will get back to nor
= NAL. We can't keep on fighting an
e striking and initiating and it is no
n "Going it in a business way" to bu
e on an inflated market unless you hav
r some prospetc of unloading before tn
n collapse. The proposal of bon
e issue now is to buy at the highes
d prices in the history of the world
e except in local instances. and pa
It ten to twenty years hence when a
l. history of finance tells us that yo
e will pay on a low market. This fo
}" doing business in a business way.
The voter should at least kno'
e what kind of roads he is putting sue
y a vast sum in, how much they are
= cost per mile. per yard, or somethin
;" of the kind. He ought to be able
judge for himself what they are gC
lie ing to cost to build and to maintain
10 not depend altogether on what job
1t Doe predicts. The kind of roaC
h ought to be specified and not genera
II bed in the election call. And that
N some more business in a buSine:
lie way.
re | don't think / have overdrawn
my approximations. 1t has been SUI
gcsted that it will cost three time
NJ as much instead of two and that v
. would only get 100000 worth
. reads if built right now. Maybe S
. anyway we ought to have the fac
o and figures and let every voter in tt
= county know before hand. After Il
. thing is done, getting posted will
= both expensive and too late for rer
. edy. George Stuart.
. One trouble about Mr.. Stuart's a
. gument is that he is proposing to I
. something else. The proposition b
. fore the county is to bond or not
. bond. Mr.. Stuart wants US to lea
the roads and go off in the fields al
. do something for which there is !
. warrant in law or business. NoboC
. has heard of or proposes to spel
flour million dollars in return
. S28O,OOO, and we can't imagine whe
Mr.. Stuart obtained the idea. '
. mindly request of him that in futu
. he confne himself to the subject u
. der discussion.