The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 30, 1920, Image 4
ESTABLISHED 1844.
v.
The Press and Banner
ABBEVILLE, S. C.
The Press and Banner Company
"PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY .
1
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Telephone No. 10.
Entered as second-class mail matter at post office
ij, !
in Abbeville, S. C.
f. #
Terras of Subscription:
One vear $2.00
ft.
Six months 1.00
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Three months .50
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1920.
THE GOOD ROADS' BILL.
In our last Monday's issue we carried a synopsis
i of the bill introduced in the Senate by Senator
Moore, which, if passed, would authorize the issue
&|'t of six hundred thousand dollars of bonds in this I
1 county for the building of roads.
Six hundred thousand dollars is no small amount
of money, even in these days of forty cents cotton
and three dollar-a-day labor, "and the amount of
money involved should be sufficient to engage the
K;v attention of every taxpayer in Abbeville County.
When the movement was on foot to issue three
hundred thousand dollars in bonds for the building
of roads in this county we opposed it on the ground
that the roads proposed to be built were not in
- fact good roads. We have not changed our opinion
k on that subject. Should the bill now before the
' A 'L1? Lw*v oliol] iin/lorfflVpi
Iuenerai Assembly uecuuic iow r?c wou ?? ?
to show the taxpayers that we were right then, and j
that we are right now.
Of course some good will come out of the expenditure
of the money to be raised by this bond
issue. The roads will be graded, the small streams
bridged by permanent bridges, and the topsoil will
make the roads better for a year or two. But
there will never be permanent roads in this section
built of dirt. The people had as well make up
their minds to this fact. >
And we cannot help buk-believe that Capt. Shaw
is right when he says that the present roads could
be greatly improved if we would raise the
road tax to two dollars (we say to three or even
five dollars) and if we would pay an additional
two miHs tax for grading and widening the roads.
This additional money ^ell spent, under the su
m pervision 01 a rouu commission, WOUIU iiiarve mc
roads about as good as they will be five years after
the money from this bond issue is spent, that is, if
the law is ever passed.
We become more firmly convinced each day
& that if we are to build roads at all, we should
commence by building permanent roads, such as
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are built in the cities and towns. There is no way
to begin this wc^k except through a state system of
highways. There are many who object to such a
system, we have our own objections to it, but it is
the only way to build lasting roads, or to commence
the building of these roads. Thie present
legislature should raise the automobile license tax
in this state to a minimum of fifty dollars per
year, with a graduated license tax upwards. We'
in this wav raise four millions of dollars the
I present year. A two mill tax will add to this and
the amount of money to be had from the Federal j
Government will add further to the fund. With
this fund we may build two hundred to two hundred
and fifty miles of highways of a permanent
> nature in the state. In five years, with the addi- j
f|:' tional automobiles to be bought by the people we
will be able to build at least fifteen hundred miles
of permanent highways in the state. This would
give practically every county in the state a highway
lendinc across the countv from East to West
m and from North to South. The counties might i
(supplement these highways by building others. If
they did, in ten years we might hope to make of all
the main roads in every county permanent roads
jjver which any kind of a vehicle of reasonable
H' weight and caipacity might run every day in the
year. Until this kind of highway is built, or
something new is discovered for this country, as
at present advised, we shall advise the people of
the county to vote against all roads' bills.
pr * 3 HOLLAND'S ANSWER. *\ !
? ? ? .1- A iL. XT _il 1 ? ?
I rue law aavisers 01 tne v^ueen 01 me i^aiiciiauus
have wasted no words and observed all the proprie- i
ties in furnishing her with an answer to the re- j
quest of the Supreme Council for the extradition of
William of Hohenzollern, the answer that the law- j
yers advising the Supreme Council probably expected.
They are met at every point in the closely
reasoned document of 700 words, the temper of
which is admirable. The opponents of Germany believe
that William II. was responsible not only for
an iniquitous war, but by assent, and even approval,
for violation of the neutrality of Belgium, and. as
war lord for foul wrongs committed upon her soil
and the soil of France; further, for the atrocity of
submarine warfare upon non-combatants. He
could be impeached, as Edmund Burke impeached
Warren Hastings, if his person were brought before
a high tribunal.
In the case of the adventurer and statesman who
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won India for the British Crown the evidence failed |
to sustain the rhetorical impeachment. What would I
be the result" of a trial of the former German Emperor
can be only a matter of opinion, but he
could be indicted on many counts and a prima facie
case could be made out against him. The difficulty
has been to arraign him. He sought sanctuary in
Holland. Could the Government of the Nether-"
lands be induced to surrender him? There was no
T+ mot nofpssarv to base the request
preteUCJIl,. xv rytAo ..vv??.? w __
for his "extradition" upon high international policy,
which had to be shaped for the occasion. The only '
hope of obtaining the person of the august criminal
lay in reasoning Holland into compliance. Would
she take the moral view of the issue and disregard
the legal to stand with the Allies in the making of
a historic example of the sovereign who claimed
protection within her borders? Could Holland be
made to see that she would condone his offenses
against civilization if she failed to give him up?
There was no impediment in the argument that
Germany would have been obliged to surrender the
Emperor under the terms of Article 228 of the
treaty of peace if he had not crossed the boundary
into Holland, but had faced the consequences by
remaining with his people. Holland merely answered
that she was not a party to the Treaty of Paris.
Moreover, Holland had maintained her duty of neutrality,
"not without difficulty," to the end of the
war, tile implication being that in the matter of
the surrender of William of Hohenzollern she must
not abandon her detached position by assenting to
the "act of high international policy" which the
Supreme Council proposed. Therefore, to quote
from the note of reply, the Government of the
Queen could not "admit in the present case any
"other duty than that imposed upon it by the laws
"of the kingdom and national tradition." The salient
and unassailable reasoning / of the reply is
contained in the following decisive paragraph:
\
"If in the future there should be instituted by the
society of nations an international jurisdiction,
competent to judge in case of war deeds qualified
as crimes and submitted to its jurisdiction by
statute antedating the acts committed, ,it would be
fit for Holland to associate itself with the new regime."
In short, the Supreme Council could present no
law for the surrender of the fugitive in sanctuary,
and Holland must decline to join the Allies in their
"act of high international policy" devised for the
' emergency, because her laws and traditions forbade
it. With dignity Holland pleads that her territory
has always been "a ground of refuge for
the vanquished in , international conflicts." It is
urged that the honor of the people of the Netherlands
is involved. One can imagine Lord Reading
using the very same language employed by the
Government of the Netherlands if, the conditions
being reversed, a victorious league of allies re'
quested the surrender of a fallen monarch who had
set his foot on British soil, relying upon British
justice and traditions for fiis safety.
Though they abhor the character and denounce
the deeds of the man who was German Emperor,
Englishmen will find it hard to take exception to
the spirit of the Dutch note and to challenge its
conclusions. As times goes on there fs likely to be
' ' * ? iU.
a ieenng -ox renei amung me ycupic ui one amvu
countries because Holland has declined to be a
v party to the setting of the stage for the trial of
William of Hohenzollern and the prolongation of
the agony of the great war. There will still remain
to the Allies the opportunity and duty of making
up the case against the former Emperor as a lesson
| to autocratic rulers and for the information of posterity.
More effective than the judgment of an international
tribunal is the verdict of mankind from
generation to generation.?New York Times.
\
v THRIFT AT THE TOP.
It is useless for the government to urge thrift
s on the people unless it first sets the example. The
government is the agent of the people. It represents
them in their collective activities. It is the
hugest single spender in the country. Why, then,
shouldn't it retrench before it gives lectures on
retrenchment?before it tries to get the cost of living
reduced through individual action?
Senator McCumber brought this point home
forcibly the other day when he said that the people
as a whole cannot go back to a normal economic
basis so long as the government keeps up "its obvmftviai
ovtrowoffonco " Wo nnt fVip p?sf? somewhat
exaggeratedly, for the sake of emphasis, when he
told the Senate: "Government extravagances are
solely responsible for the high cost of living today,
which, when analyzed, means nothing more or less
than that we are indulging in a wild orgy of spending
borrowed money."
If the estimates of the departments for the next
fiscal year are not cut the government will continue
to live on its debts. Mr. McCumber advises cutting
them by $2,250,000,000. Such a pruning may seem
painful to government agencies still operating with
vastly expended pay rolls. Few department or bureau
heads want to see their working force cut
down. Some worthy projects must suffer from
sudden retrenchment. But the incidental injury
thus done is infinitesimal compared with the heal
ing effect on the general economic situation of a
return to the sound policy of keeping the government's
expenditure within its income.
Taxes are high. Congress knows that it would
not be justified in increasing them. The high taxes
in force impose multiplied burdens. They inflate
the cost of everything to the consumer, for everybody
who can tries to pass his share along to his
neighbor. A reduction of Federal taxation would i
cause universal relief. It would be a far surer way
j ivv.cost of living than any campaign i
I ~
against individual profiteers. Yet taxes can't come
down until government outlay comes down.
Congress holds the key to the situation. But too
many Congressmen are afraid to use it. The problem
has a moral as well as an economic side. Everybody
in these days who makes an unavoidable
expenditure is doing the public an injury. It is a
doubly immoral thing for Congress to spend money
except for absolutely necessary purposes, for the
money is taken from those against whose interest
it is spent, and at the same time its expenditure
maintains inflation and decreases the public's ability
to save and support the government.?The New
York Tribune.
VVS.V SiVVVVWVVVV VV V
V V
V THE OPINION OF OTHERS. V
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AS A WARNING TO THE LIVING.
A man died owing a Missouri editor six years
unpaid subscription to the paper. The editor did
Soldiers, Sailc
OF ABBEVI
Monday Ni
You are requested to meet in tl
ty, Abbeville, S. C., at 8 o'clocl
TUU AMUDf
1 A 1JU niTlUIYl
Every Soldier, Sailor and M
service from April 6th, 1917, t<
membership of this organizatio
Each and every one of you i
so we may have as large attends
much to our Homes, Counpr an<
CARROLL
Acting
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I ? 1919 was the banner;
* I ness, for which we are
customers and friend*
forward to as being si
confidence which we 1
beville County causes
over the future.
We are pleased to i
tions that real estate
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they have, and that th
fit by their investment
I! ' down. We have seve
ii
business houses, hom<
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we will be pleased to t
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i II Dixie Lan
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H L. M. 1
Abbe^
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not send any flowers. He attended the funeral and
placed a palm-leaf, fan and a block of ice on th? ;
casket.?Cincinnati Enquirer. '
Our State Department has written another note
to the Carranza government demanding "energetic
measures," &c. If Old Whiskers doesn't heed this
j admonition, we'll give him another dose of watch|
ful waiting.?Cincinnati Enquirer. V
Governor Morrow, of Kentucky, doesn't seem t?
i understand that "Marse Henry" has been a colonel
all along.?Montgomery Advertiser. (
Some .of those who oppose the trial of Wilhelaa ;
i Hohenzollern say he will be made a saint if brought ,t _
to the bar. It might seem poetic justice to "canon(
i::c" ;; mr.n who wanted to reduce everybody else
fn ^annnnt'nHrlpr r'nliim.hia fS O.O. ^
\ ?
"It costs less nowadays to keep an automobile
than to keep a servant." It may be added that the
servant has a greater tendency to skid just when
you think everything is lovely.?Louisville CourierJournal.
_______________
irs and Marines
LLE COUNTY I
ght Feb. 2nd J
ie Court House of Abbeville Coun
c to organize the Abbeville Post of
CAN ARMY
[arine, who served in any branch of
3 Nov. 11th, 1918, is entitled to
7 i
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n.
are asked to advertise this meeting
mce as possible, this means too
I State to neglect it any longer.
SWETENBURG,
l Chairman.
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55
year in our real estate busideeply
appreciative to our
i. The year 1920 we look
kill better than 1919. The
lave in Abbeville and Ab
us to feel very optimistic \
N 1
efer to our former predicvalues
would increase as
ose who buy now will prot.
Real Estate never goes
ral good propositions in
3S and farm property that
alk with you about.
d Company
PALBERT,
fille, S. C.
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