The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-05-12
LETTERS TO EDITOR
TOO MANY BOND ISSUES
To the Editor of The Age-Herald:

To the Editor of The Age-H Herald:
 Just a few lines from real, honest to goodness" taxpayer, one of those who has had to pay and hold the bag for the overcoming bond makers.
 Some 80 years back, when the town was not took hold of land company who owned sev- eral hundred vacant lots and a few improved ones 90 per cent unimproved and 10 per cent yielding a small income with which to pay interest on a bond issue and taxes.
 Somehow bond issues are associated in my mind with rake-off somewhere, a discount for getting them floated and a premium for privilege of paying same.
 Of course, you get impressions from experi- ence. I know that our land company in it's three bond issues had to pay the price, and believe the city of Birmingham did and is still paying the price on all of its bond issues.
 In fact, looking back over these many years, I believe with the growth of the city in retrospect that I would be safe in making
 
 of the city has been lost in inadequate in,- provements, and in the rake-off, and that we taxpayers of today are paying interest on something for which there can be no return, half of our bonded debt ''is water over the wheel"
 Of course the schools, the parks, the library, the auditorium, the storm and sanitary sewers, and many other essentials to the growth of large city need attention, need building up to the requirements of the day condition that had always existed with this ever increasing population; it has always been thus from the birth of this wonderful city, and will continue through many generations to come, until the iron hills of Red mountain and coal fields of Cahaba shall have been dug out--an impossible suppostion, our raw materials inex- haustble. Then why put upon the present commission the burden of spending it all and have nothing for the incoming boys to handle when they land the job
 Why continue to pay commission bond sales with the inevitable clause of " per cent if paid before maturity" why stick to this old inadequate, reprehensible way of raising money to keep up with the natural growth of the city of bond issues and make the raising of taxes a second issue when 1t should be the first thing to be considered? It is the milk in the cocoanut after a A growing town needs money to keep up and It has to be raised or the city stops growing, values depreciate, people seek homes where those things which are necessary to our civil ization can be had. We can stop bond issues, but we cannot stop raising the tax rate when the money is so badly needed, just it is at this time of the city's growth.
 It does seem to me that if our present commission is given the additional three mills for school, library and park purposes, that the situation might be taken care of, especially at this time, as we have unspent money from re- cent bond issues and if such additional tax is not sufficient to keep up with the citys growth, go to the legislature and get the ad- ditional authority to levy more tax, Tor money so derived does not work after all, the bond issue is only vehicle, why take boat and a leaky one at that if you can swim, end the water is fine. Yours truly,
 RICHARD RANDOLPH.
 Birmingham, May 9, 1922