The log cabin Democrat., 1921-10-27

self the first day l got m the dis-
 trlct. 1 was unable to find an ob-
 jcc.or. 1 first met the prlnclpai
 busness men of ConWay-seVeral
 bankers, merchants and large land
 owners. They were a unit in de-
 clarlng that the road districts had
 been well managed, the commission
 CTS being large taxpayers or citizens
 highly respected in the community;
 that the roads had been built where
 they should have been built and
 built as cheaply as was possible at
 the time they were constructed. These
 men assured me that they would
 sooner quit business than go back to
 the old dirt roads of years ago.
 Il then started out on hunt for
 Conscientious objectors.' 1 visited the
 road commissioners, tax collectors,
 the sheriff of the county, and the chancellor's clerk. They were incens-
 ed at the reports circulated in the
 newspapers. But, 1 declared, the
 press dispatch has quoted a lawyer
 here as declaring that the road taxes mean ruin to the landowners in the neighborhood and that they were up in arms over 1t. 1 have been inform ed that there IS a case pending ln court now, filed by thls attorney l was directed to the courthouse where this suit had been filed. 1 requested the privilege of looking over the papers. They were immediately pro- duced. 1 received another shock. There had been originally Fl names on the paper (20 without the at torney's), but F of them had been scratched off in ink. l requested an explanation. We'll the chancery cler told me, as quickly as the men who had signed their names to this suit found out all the facts in the matter they came up and had their names erased or compelled the law yer to do so.' That isn't all. 1 was assured that one of the remaining three names, besides the attorney, { was favorable to the road project. l looked him up, asked him if his name was still on the papers, and he said: No, l think it is scratched off. l am well satisfied with the roads On being told that his name was still he said, 'Pll get right up there and take it off l was puzzled. l went to the sheriff who collects the taxes and asked him if 1t was true that the taxpayers in the district were opposed to the road inn provement. He looked at me plying ly and replied: There are only about q dozen kickers against the road taxes out of about 5000 taxpayers. I'll show you just how much we are against the road building. Ninety eight per cent of the individual tax payers met their assessments in full before date of maturity. don think there is better record than that in the world I asked the sheriff If 1t was true that one-third of the taxpayers had been bankrupted. He answered quickly, I don't know of any one being bankrupt, and 1 think l would be the first one that would know it. l found the sentiment throughout the district in favor of the roads. There has been great transformation since the roads have been constructed. Children are go- ing to school five days q week that scarcely got in sight of a school house before. And as to the road taxes-instead of amounting to three or four dollars an acre, as l had un- derstood, the average yearly tax and
 assessment for road improvements throughout the district is less than 35 cents per acre per year. In some cases slightly more, some slightly less.
 "One plantation owner assured me that the money saved in transporting one crop to market over the hard surfaced road, in comparison with the old dirt roads, would in great many cases pay for the entire road assess ment covering period of twenty years. l was still puzzled. l have read the New York Times for years. l knew there must be some fire where there was so much smoke. l had understood that the citizens of this district were 98 per cent against the roads, 1 found just the opposite to be true. l finally found the reason for the tremendous change of feeling. A planter told me the following story, which, l think, explains the cause of the objections made six months ago and the reason why practically every vestige of resentment had dis appeared since. "The planters of this district, and in fact every other dis
 trict of the state, enjoyed three won derfully prosperous years, which were probably unprecedented in the agri- cultural history of the state the planter said. 'Tillers of the soil had
 more money than they had ever had
 before. The first thing they thought of when they received this newly ac-