The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-02-02
THE GOOD ROADS BONDS

the sale of the bonds for the building
Of good roads aatil February 1922,
and further providing that these
bonds may not be sold for less than
par net to the county.
Both provisions of the bill, we
think, will meet with the approval
Of the, great majority of the people
Of the county. If the question of is
suing these bonds were before the
people today, the vote would be five
to- one against the issue. The losses
sustained by the people of the coun-
ty, with the already high taxes which
the people are called on to pay, warn
all of US that. it is time for retrench-
ment and not for the, assuming of
still greater burdens. At the same
time when another crop shall have
been made we may find that condi-
tions are so changed that we can do
the work contemplated by the bond
issue, if the people then are so
minded.
Whatever may be the .opin.v.4 Of
the people on the foregoing subject,
we take it that they are unanimous
in requiring that the bonds of the
county bearing five and one-half per
cent. interest shall be sold for par
net to the county. The suggestion
that we give some bond broker eight
or ten dollars on every one hundred
dollars for selling these bonds, wheth-
er you call it a discount, commission,
or what not, should not appeal to the
people of the county. We do not
think it does.
~ iie"S NV peSH so manly ycaiS D
since bonds of the city of Abbeville
bearing five per cent. were sold for
more than par. The bonds of other
municipalities bearing even a smaller
rate of interest have been sold in
the years past for more than par. 1t
is true that these bonds cannot now
be sold for these prices, but the fact
that they cannot should be proof that
now is no time to rush into further
debt. Certainly the burdens of the
government with high taxes every
where are hard enough to bear with
out selling our, dollars, which we are
to pay in the years to come, at less
than hundred cents.
The usual cry will go up about the
roads in the next few weeks no
doubt. The roads will be bad, we may
be sure. But the people will do we'll
not to use them too much just now.
If the people are not going to use
much fertilizers the present year
they will have little use for good
roads this spring. They will be able
without much difficulty to get to
town to spend what money they have
to spend, and even to pay their taxes
if they have the money for this pur-
pose.
Besides we have no assurance that
the roads, if built with the proposed
bond money, would be kept always
in good condition at this season OF
the year. We have just read an ac-
count of the bad condition in which
the roads from Greenville to Hen
dersonville and other points in the
mountains now are. These are some
of the "good roads" about which we
have heard so much. Are we to UNDER
stand that these good roads" get in
bad fix in the winter months? If so,
what is to be gained by spending
half million dollars on our own
roads? We have good roads, when
they are properly worked, for about
nine or ten months in the year, with
out the expenditure. We have been
told that we would have good roads
the whole year if the bond money is
spent, but it would seem not so, if the
mountain roads furnish an index to
what we are to have.
There is plenty of time to think
over these matters. Surely we may all
agree that bonds should not be issued
just now, not even though the banks
could use the money in their business
to good advantage.