The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-02-06

SunnyS10o cemetery, CulS CITY, IO
morrow afternoon at 4:30 o'clock.
ton in a modified form.
Now as to the matter of taxation.
Repeated efforts are being made and
have been made to remedy the pres
ent situation. Various suggestions
have been. made to extend and to
give more authority to the tax COM
mission, to provide for surveys and
tighten up the present machinery.
All OF these efforts have been fruit
less and the real fight revolves
around whether or not the present
tax commission should or should not
survive. The House last year voted
to kill the tax commission. This
year it is an entirely new body of
delegators and they have again vot-
ed to abolish the commission, and
substitute in its p ace a board OF
equalization very much similar to
that which existed previous to the
creation of. the present commission.
Last year the senate saved the tax
commission, and Of course, if it saw
ed again, it will be through the SEN
ate. The first and only test in the
senate has been in the finance COM
mite, and the understanding is that
the house bill to abolish the commis-
sion has been unfavorably reported
by a vote of ten to five, and the re-
ports from the advocates of the
present commission are quite favora-
BILE. In fact, so much so, that the
commission advocates are inclined to
press some Of their views. This tax
situation has been somewhat respon-
BILE for the sentiment in favor, of
constitutional convention, because of
the feeling that the taxes are not
now equalized, although the tax COM
mission has done it's utmost.
Good Roads Issue.
There is no question about the
fact that the General Assembly is ov-
erwhelmingly and enthusiastically in
favor of better AND permanent roads,
and the only real Issue is how best to
accomplish these results. The news
papers, leaders of thought, like R.
Goodwin Rhett, and Others have
done much to crystalize this senti-
ment. First, the legislature is con-
vinced that there is utterly no use Of
wasting time in anything other than
permanent roads. They must be
either of concrete, brick, asphalt,
bithulithic granite or some other
hard surface with a rock foundation.
The consensus of opinion is that
there is no use to bother with any
thing else. Second, the people are
willing to pay for good roads. They
are willing to pay for it either by di-
rect taxation, by taxation on auto
mobiles or by any plan that will get
them the roads quickest. Frankly,
the only danger in the situation is
in working out some one plan in view
of the conflicting propositions, that
will be accepted at this time. What
is known as the Rhett plan has it's
strong advocates, and whether it pre-
walls or not, there is no question
that the effort and intelligent pre-
sentation of the matter by him and
his friends has resulted in an appre-
citation of what can and ought to be
done. Bills have been presented car
rying out the Rhett idea; first, of
having the roads surveyed, the
routes selected, and the necessary
preliminaries effected so that when
the bond issue comes out there will
be something definite on which to
act and there will be little delay. At
ter this preliminary work comes, un-
der the Rhett plan, the s25,000,000
bond issue which under the govern
ment aid plan would be considerably
The Rhett plan has ev-
erything in it's favor, except that
some of the members of the General
Assembly do not want to take
chances on the failure of a bond is