The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 19, 1920, Image 4
ESTABLISHED 1844.
The Press and Banner
ABBEVILLE, S. C.
The Press and Banner Company
PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Telephone No. 10.
Entered as second-class mail matter at post office
in Abbeville, S. C.
Terms of Subscription:
Oi.e year $2.00 j
Six months 1.00
Three months .50
MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1920.
THE HANDLING OF SINKING FUNDS.
Some four or five years ago the trustees of Ab- I
beville School District were induced by the writeV
to elect a Financial Agent for the district,' whose j
duty it was, under the law as amended^ to collect ;
- - .i - e 1 i
all sums of money belonging to tne sinKing iuuu
the district and invest the same and keep such |
fmnds 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 were the following:
The Board of Trustees is a constantly changing
tody and there was no continuity in the business J
management of this fund. First one man was at
the head of the Board and then another, with the i
result that the one had no knowledge of peculiar |
circumstances attending the transactions of the j
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- j
tare are then brought before it of which the mem- j
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
ereryfbody's business is nobody's business applies,
aid matters do not receive that individual attention
to which their importance entitles them.
? ~ - - ?J r?i?:
? The JBoara 01 Trustees ana me uuaix-wan ui mv ,
B?ard serve without pay. The services being gratuitous
should not be made burdensome. Attention
to their own business affairs forbids that they
should give to the affairs of a public nature that
mature thought and judgment which these matters
skould have. \
When certain men have large amounts oi public
money under their control there is always a clique
or an inner circle who are able to borrow it on
easy terms and who wish to use their own discretion
as to when and how they shall, pay. This is
true it matters, not what body is handling the particular
fund.
For these and other reasons which will suggest
themselves to the public the Board of Trustees secured
the enactment of a law providing that the
sinking fund of this school district should be managed
by a 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 investments
and looking after the same. The results
I .
I the action taken have justified in every way, and
to the fullest, the judgment of the Board of Trus- /
teee in securing the enactment of the law. The Farmers
Bank of AJbbeville was elected as Financial
Agent of the School District and in a little while
the fund which before had fluctuated from nothing
to a few thousand dollars had reached a total more
than 6ufficient to pay off the bonded mdeDteaness
of the school district, and that many years before
the bonds mature.
We mention these facts as a suggestion to other
bodies handling funds of this nature. More and
ore every year the municipalities are voting bonds.
The issues of bonds by some of these municipal
corporations are reaching enormous amounts. In
a little while, unless the signs of the time deceive
us, lie counties vrill be issuing bonds for public
purposes. The law which allows these issues of
bonds in every case either provides, or should pro?*?
.v - ?i-;? - r.? J i._ ?
viae, ior we rawing ui a iuhu iu icuic mc uuuuo,
usually denominated a sinking fund. When these
bond issues are small it may be said that it matters
little if these sums are from time to time applied to
otfcer purposes, or even wasted, but when it is considered
that the bond issues in many places, and in
Abbeville in a few years, will amount to a large
percentage of the actual value of all property the
' importance of carefully husbanding 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, or our children
will, that they are heavily involved in a debt, due
and pressing, with no funds to meet it. And there
nil be this additional consideration: The streets
low being b.uilt, the water works system already
constructed, the light system and the sewerage system,
none of these public improvements will last
forever. If wheii they need replacing, :or extensive
repairs, we^ or tho^e who are to come after us, find
that the city, is already heavily involved in debt on
account of previous bond issues and that the
; 1 money raised by taxation for the retirement of these
bonds has been applied to other purposes, good or
bad, or that these funds have been wasted or not
K?properly
cared for, we will find ourselves unable to
refbuild and to keep up with other cities with modern
improvements.
For these reasons, we suggest to the city authorities
in Abbeville, in Abbeville County, and elsewkere,
that a law should be now enacted by the
legislature providing that whenever a bond issue is
authorized, or wherever one has already been au
tftorizea, me city council, or me gu?ciuing uuuj,
whatever it may be, shall at the time or the issue
or now, elect some banking corporation or trust
p.
-
company as Financial Agent for the city or county
to handle the sinking fund for the bond issue, and J
that this Financial Agent shall receive all sums of
money going to the particular fund, invest it in
good interest bearing securities, keep the same so
invested, be responsible for the management of
the fund under the law applicable to other trustees,
and that 'it be paid the remuneration allowed
to other trustees for the handling of such funds.
If such a law may be passed the authorities that
be will be more than gratified at the results
achieved we believe; if some such law is not passed,
the public may expect to suffer. The fact that one
administration of the affairs of a municipality is
careful to take care of these funds and place them
where they may not be expended will not amount
to much if the next administration may take these
funds from the safe place in which they have been
placed and expend them for anything suggesting
itself to the latter body as desirable, if not advisable.
!
Unless some such prevision is made for caring
for the funds thus raised*. guaranteeing that they
will be forthcoming to pay the debts for which they
are raised by taxes levied against the people, we advise
the people in Abbeville, and in Abbeville County,
and elsewhere, to be slow in voting bond issues
in the future. Pay day is sure to come. If there
is anything which makes a day certain it is to fix
that day as the maturity day of a note or bond. The
wise man prepares against the day of trouble.
THE CHURCH PAGEANT.
I
The Methodists, those staid and sober followers
of John Wesley, at the Centenary exhibition at
Columbus, Ohio, last summer reverted to fourteenth
century customs and revived the miracle
play. A stupendous spectacle costing millions of
dollars to present was produced, which added in a
great degree to the attractiveness of the exhibits.
Quite recently the Inter-Church World Movement
officials have presented this stupendous pageant
at Madison Square Garden. "The Wayfarer"
is the vehicle that is being employed to attract advanced
intelligence .to the church and to the Bible
as were the miracle and morality plays of the medieval
church employed to appeal to the simplicity
of the fourteenth century folk.
The miracle play has its origin in the mass-service
of the Catholic church at Easter and Christmastide.
The first recorded play was given at a celebration
for St. Catherine of Dustans. The ordinary
services, say at Easter, weTe enriched with special j
ceremonies, such as burying the crucifix in a tomb j
of the church on Good Friday and disinterring it on
Easter morning, vith monks and choir-boys to take
the parts of the three Marys, the angel at the j
tomb, and the chorus of rejoicing angels in heaven. j
These little ceremonies gradually became detached
from the service and were moved from the church
into the church-yard. Later when the crowds dese- j
crated the graves in their eagerness to see and
hear, the plays were transferred to the public
ciiioya Rir /""Tiovtr>a-r'e timo tVioco "mirao nlnre"
or "mysteries'' had passed to a large extent out of
the hands of the priests, and had come under the
control of the guilds or trades-unions. These guilds
presented the whole of the Bible story from Genesis
to Revelations, in a series or cycle, the largest
of which was the York cycle, containing 48 plays.
It was the aim of these great miracle-cycles to give j
a connected view of God's dealings with man, from
the beginning of the world until its destruction.
The miracle, plays attempted to teach only what j
is necessary to man's salvation, dealing solely with
matters of belief. Apart from these, yet a natural
outgrowth from them, were the morality plays,
which treated Of the side of religion which deals
with matters of conduct. By means of personifications
of the Seven Deadly Sins?Death, Lust,
Vice, Greed, Old Age, Virtues, both good and bad,
the morality play presented the conflict between sin
and righteousness for possession of the human soul.
Oftentimes real slapstick comedy was added to the
church plays, as in the Building of the Ark, presented
by the Shipwright's Guild, Noah's wife does
not relish being cooped up without her "gossips,"
leaving these amiable women to drown. Noah finally
resorts to arguments of blows and drives his
scolding helpmeet into the Ark, to the great delight
of the crowd.
Mr. waiter Hampden, wno nas recently come into
prominence for his Shakespearian impersonations,
notably Hamlet, is playing the part of The Wayfarer,
and is supported by a cast of over 3000 characters.
He is answering the critics who are opposed
to allowing the figure of Christ being featured on
the stage by his aim to keep the standard of the
miracle play so high that it will be reckoned an
honor to be allowed to have a share in their presentation.
" ' Dr. Frank Crane, of the New York Globe, and
contributor to several papers in this state, thinks
'that' tKe main reason why plays ..with ..the .religious
motif do not succeed upon the secular stage is that
they are r/ot well enough done.
Shall the church revert to the theatrical business,
no matter what the end to the means be; shall the
deacons, stewards, vestrymen, and elders of our
Protestant churches become ushers and ticket collectors;
shall the ministers become press agents
for the shows of their church? All of these and
similar questions are going to be sources of watchful
interest in the future as there are many communicants
who believe that it's all right to "rob
Peter to pay Paul," so long as the end desired is
attained.
i
THE RETURN OF THE RAILROADS.
Gei^ral Approbation.
l-'rcsMe*.".*. by his action, has refused the
\
requests of union leaders for a year or two more of
Government operation, and this attitude will meet
with general approbation, for the public wishes the
roads l'eturned as speedily as possible.?Bi-.ngor
(Me.) Commercial.
..The announcement will be generally welcomed
hv all excent the few fadists who believe that. Gov
ernment ownership is advisable, and excepting
those employes of the railroads who have been the
fecipients of special favors, pecuniary and otherwise,
at the public expense.?Middletown (Conn.)
Press.
A Popular Move.
_ The return of the roads to their owners is a popular
move with the general pilblic, although there
are' many factions opposed to such a move for at
least two years. Among these are the American
V Federation of Labor, some organization of the farr*
,/ mers and the railroad brotherhoods. But the business
men and the great majority of the farmers are
no more in favor of the nationalization of the railroads
than they are for the Plumb plan.?Wahsington
(D. C.) Herald.
The Logical Way.
Of course the logical and only way to deal with
the roads is to turn them back as quickly as possible,
surrounding them with legislation that will
prevent the abuses which the past disclosed on both
sides. The roads must not be subject to attacks by
Legislatures that will rob them of sufficient revenue I
to maintain them. On the other hand, they must
r.ot be permitted to fall into practices which have
' . Cot
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|| Law Middling
Strict Grfo(ji bfdinary..
IGood Ordinary
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These prices are offered \
ton Association.
| They ask that you give th<
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'If interested
Planter!
The Progre:
. ABBEVILl
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wrecked great railroad properties in the past, ca^^B^ng
ing unfair treatment and serious loss to the publiVHSnP
Economy and thoroughness must be enforced on th^H?fi?M
railroads, as well as in all other businesses.?Utica
(N. Y.) Observer.
uur rirst uuty>
Profiting by what has been learned, our first duty
in peace is to restore transportation to normal conditions,
with national oversight both liberal and
just, so that the greatest of our industries, next to
agriculture, shall be carried on in the public interest
and never again made the pawn of gamblers or #
the sport of demagogues.?New York World.
On top of the Federal budget of five or six billions
theiij cannot be piled* another billion for arrears
and deficiencies of railway operation and betterments
without the notice of the millions of Americans
who are neither farmers nor unionists. The
time has come when the United States must be
operated for the benefit of all rather than for the
profit of combinations of classes against public interest.
New York Times.
^ Back to a Peace Basis.
Restoring the railroads to their owners will be
mother tremendous step in getting back on a peace
basis and will be sure to have a stabilizing effect on
national industry and business in general. It may _
require some years of hard work to bring the railroads
up to their pre-war efficiency, wken they were
conceded to be the best in the world, but American
brains and energy are equal to the fraek.?Birmingham
(Ala.) Herald. ^
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