The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-01-19
THE HANDLING OF SINKING FUNDS.

funds invested for the ultimate payment OF the
bonds for which the sinking fund was authorized
The measure was adopted for several reasons.
Among the reasons the following:
The Board of Trustees is constantly changing
hody and there was no continuity in the business
management of this fund. First one man was at
the head of the Board and then another, with the
result that the one had no knowledge of peculiar
circumstances attending the transactions Of the
other and the business of the district was not
MANAGED as it otherwise would have been.
The Board meets only at stated periods and mat
tors are then brought before it of which the mem
bers have no previous notice and decisions are then
and there reached without mature consideration of
the business to be transacted. And being many
members of the Board the old saying that what IS
everybodys business is nobody's business applies,
and matters do not receive that individual attention
to which their Importance entities them
The Board of Trustees and the Chairman of the
Beard serve without pay. The services being gratu-
tous should not be made burdensome. Attention
to their own business affairs forbds that they
should give to the affairs of public nature that
mature thought and judgment which these matters
should have.
When certain men have large amounts OF public
money under their control there is always clique
or an inner circle who able to borrow it on
easy terms and who wish to their own discre-
ton as to when and how they shall pay. This is
true it matters not what body is handling the par
ticular fund.
For these and other reasons which will suggest
themselves to the public the Board of Trustees Sc
cured the enactment of law providing that the
6 he n
aged by Financial Agent for the district to be
selected by the Board of Trustees, and who should
receive five per centum of the annual income from
investments as remuneration for making the in
vestments and looking after the same. The results
Of the action taken have justified in every way, and
to the fullest, the judgment of the Board of Trus-
tees in securing the enactment of the law The Far
mers Bank of Abbeville was elected as Financial
Agent of the School District and in little while
the fund which before had fuctuated from nothing
to few thousand dollars had reached total more
than sufficient to pay off the bonded indebtedness
of the school district, and that many years before
the bonds mature.
We mention these facts suggestion to other
bodies handling funds of this nature. More and
more every year the municipalities are voting bonds
The issues of bonds by of these municipal
corporations reaching enormous amounts IN
little while, unless the signs of the time deceive
US, the counties will be issuing bonds for public
purposes. The law which allows these issues of
bonds in every case either provides or should pro-
vide for the raising of fund to retire the bonds,
usually denominated sinking fund. When these
bond issues small it may be said that it matters
little if these sums are from time to time applied to
other purposes, or wasted, but when it is con-
sidered that the bond issues in many places, and in
Ahbevile in few years. will amount to large
percentage of the actual value of all property the
importance of carefully outstanding every dollar of
the money raised for the payment of these bonds
becomes evident. If this is not done we will wake
up to the fact one of these days, children
will that they are heavily involved in debt, due
and pressing, with no funds to meet it. And there
viii be this additional considerations The streets
now being built the water works system already
constructed, the light system and the sewerage sys
TEN, none of these public improvements will last
forever. If when they need replacing, 'or extensive
repairs, we, or those who to after US, find
that the city is already heavily involved in debt on
account of previous bond issues and that the
money raised by taxation for the retirement of these
bonds has been applied to other purposes, good
bad or that these funds have been wasted not
properly cared for will find ourselves unable to
rebuild and to keep up with other cities with mod
en improvements.
For these reasons we suggest to the city authorl-
ties in Abbeville, in Abbevile County, and else
where that law should be now enacted by the
legislature providing that whenever bond issue is
authorized, or wherever one has already been au-
tdorized the city council, the governing body,
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