The log cabin Democrat., 1921-05-18
MERCHANTS ACCEPT
 SCHOOL TAX PLAN
AGREEMENT UNANIMOUS
After Schedule is Devised, Next Step will be to Submit Proposition
 to Citizens.

1 III the commercial Club rooms last
 night, merchants and business men of Conway voted unanimously to accept
 the principle and undertake the col
 lection of schedule of sales and lux
 ury taxes for the support of the Con-
 way public schools, as proposed by
 the school board and joint commit l tee of the Commercial and Rotary Clubs.
 The motion to this effect was adopt
 ed by standing vote, every business | man present rising. Following it's
 adoption the the meeting instructed
 Mayor w. D. Cole, who presided, to
 appoint committee consisting of one
 representative of each principal line of business in Conway, to devise a schedule of the proposed taxes. and also to fix date and issue call for mass meeting of all citizens of the school district, to be held as soon as possible after the completion of the work of committee, at which the pro- posed plan of relief for the school will be adopted or rejected.
 The meeting was attended, it was estimated, by representatives of 90 per cent in volume of the business in onway, and probably three-fourths of the business houses in the city. A number of those not present had in- formed members of the committee that they stood ready to abide by the decision of the meeting.
 After the house was called to or der by Mayor Cole, William R. James, member of the school, read financial statement and presented figures, most of which have previously been publish ed in this paper, showing the condi- tion of the school. The estimated rev. enue for next year, he stated, was approximately S28,000, and the amount necessary to operate the school and meet bond and interest payments next year was estimated at approximately s32,000, a prospective deficit of $6,000 The present float ing indebtedness of the district, he said, was S53,000. Taxes to be re- ceived this year will retire S28,000 of this debt, leaving the district with $25,000 less than nothing on which to begin school next fall Mr. James said the banks, which are carrying these warrants, had notified the di- rectors that they would no longer ad vance funds to pay off warrants un- 1acc yo1a dayic od n current running expenses and pay off a portion of the debt. Unless some relief is forthcoming, he declared, the directors would have to throw up their hands and quit, as very possible plan of financing it further had been ex- hausted.
 Mayor Cole called upon Pres. B. w. Torreyson of the State Normal as a man identified all his life with public school interests to address the meet ing. MT. Torreyson spoke of the dis astrous results that would occur in a business way if the school were closed or even the high school abandoned. He estimated that 40 or 50 families would immediately move away to places where better school advantages could be obtained and that the p to 50 new families who annually come here for school advantages would not come. The loss of business from this alone, he said, would cost many times more than the amount necessary to maintain the school. Outweighing all other considerations, however, MT. Torreyson said, would be the denial of educational advantages to hun dreds of children. He secuted as ri- diculous the suggestion that the peo pie were financially unable to pay taxes for the adequate support of public schools. Reading a statement prepared from official government sources he showed that the people of Arkansas last year spent for tobac co in various forms $35 100000, or exactly five times the amount spent on education in universities, colleges public and private schools. On other luxuries many more millions were spent.
 A general outline or the proposed sales and luxury taxes was presented by Frank Paris, who said the decision to offer it for the relief of the schools was a last resort, after every other possible plan had been weighed and found wanting.
 Mayor Cole asked Jo Frauenthal, dean of Conway merchants, to express his views on the plan. Mir. Frauen- thai said he could perceive objection able features and troublesome difficult ties, but believed that a workable plan could be devised, and pledged the cooperation of his firm if it were adopted. Other merchants who gave their views on the matter included o. o. Florence, Theodore Smith, J. W. Holt, Howard Terry, Dr. J. A. Peacock,