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Supply Bill Controversy NOW Getting Into Warm Stage ' C32?? iwr Mr. Arr*nt?: Your article of last week has caused me to be very apprehensive mm to what might be in atore for the people of the county I am aware of the fact that it well known ex-polltlclan and maybe a politician of thle vicinity are helping; you tl, try and disrupt the present form of county government, and If It was not for th. fact that the relatives of at least tw.. of your cohorta are very good Hi.mis of mine, I would tell you someihihg that would maybe open your C.Vt'f. I am of the opinion that If you had wanted to do the -right thing you would have stuck to the Issue in last weeks Issue of The Chronicle, Instead of this 'political stuff you are trying to get across to the people of this county. Why you chose to compare me to or uh it" Loch- j 111\itr 1 have no Idea unless you have been j dreaming of Comparing yourself as such j !t character, but to my mind you are< mi 0 om even the slightest comparison with this imaginary person, I believe froqa the attitude you are displaying towards the operation of the government ,,r affairs of the people oV this county thai you would be better described by a character or personage such as Hitler >r maybe Qoering and 1 believe Qoerlng would be the better comparison as I believe you to be the Lieutenant of one or more well known personages of ,thls vicinity. Your attitude of big I and little You has never been carried to a successful conclusion in this county and ] believe so long as the present generation of good thinking people live, a public servant or one of this type will be doomed to disappointment. In ' your article you mention me as a township director, ex-officlo member of the legislature, owner of the county and whathave-you. I am pleased to know that you hold me In such high esteem, but am sorry to know that you are so Ignorant of county government* Although it Is the business of the legislative delegation and not the members of the Board to have laws passed In Columbia. 1 will tell you as at cltisen of this county what 1 believe as to free text books. Provided they are furnished by the State. I am as strong an advocate of free text books as any person In this county. Why don't you wake up and help get the bill pp'fM1 which yfam | been introduced In Columbia for a State system of free text books, snch as has been passed by many other statesT No, I guess you ? are too busy -making, speeches, such as the one you made on prohibition (to the embarassment of our ministers and some of the best people of our CountrL Did you vote on this Mil? Are you a Democrat? You have the nerve to mention- In your article that I struck the first blow, it must, be by this as It is wtlh your many other cluifi'sy mistakes, or maybe it Is your lack of the understanding of the meaning of words or maybe your memory is on a strike again, anyway to my mind when one is referred to as In a group of politicians and their henchmen who are trying to blindfold the people, Is amply Justified in striking back, and I say this after having read your article addressed to me in last week's Chronicle. My., primary purpose In sending my article along with Senator Johnson's and other letter in week before ' iast isssue of the Chronicle was to get a true tJc^ure .of facts- Involved before the i?opIe, so that they may advise with the members of the delegation toward having our supply bill passed and thereby rclelving a serious situation. .S o, you wouJdn't una wer the m&in, i-sne (the Senator's letter) and In fact, now be honest, there wasn't much come l a. k material to be used in defense of >..ur position on the matter. I think the people of this county and and especially the poor people know what nttitude I take toward them and their Interests, and I believe the people will consider action better than a lot "f political sayings and Blah! Blahl Seriously boy, what have you done or tried to do that has or would have'benefitted or meant a tinker's dam to the People of this^county? What have you ?tir in your life done before or after >'our entrance in politics toward the welfare of the people? If you recall, Mr. Arrants, on one occasion early in this year you asked jne what I thought of your Idea of free text books and the change of county officers from the fee system. I then told you --rhrrt-Hir chstrmgn of the county board t of directors I did not care to discuss the matter as our office handled admlnl I st rat I ve affairs only and that our off led bad never tried to meddle in the legislative end of county government. It looks to me as if you are trying to use me as a tool upon which -to further you* political Interset. I did tell you that X did not think the county could stand tha financial strain of free tdxt books and ?t the same time continue the many other outlays of public assistance gooli W. p. a., D. p. W., Mattress Projects, Commodity Distribution, County Library, and many other forms of fcsnist*nee, and I alio told you. that It looked fo me as if you would hare to either discontinue W.~ 1* A. roads and brtdjss projects (of which you agreed wduld hdt rood to do from relief of business standpoint). If this project was dlscon Ml , , ' - I Mmivd the roads Hint bridge* gppropri- j atlon would have to be Increased to j around $46,000 and thla would only take rare of about the amount of material fur- , nlrthcd by W. P. A. In thla connection If you will Investigate y?? will ?nd that we have received more In proportion to what we have put up than any other county In the state. Thla la according to recorda In the office of W. P- A In Columbia. v What did we members of the county board of directors try to do for you on our Hrat meeting day In January of thla j year. We aaked you to attend thla | meeting ao that you might look Into any , matters pertaining to county affairs I handled through thla office. We made I a desperate effort to enlighten you as much aa possible, In fact we. tried to give you meye Insight Into the handling of county affairs than we had any previous house delegation (thla decided upon by county board on account of your Inexperience In the handling of county affairs). During thla meeting you house members, Were handed a statement showing the amount of money authorised, the purpose for which it w4ts authorised and expenditures of these authorised funds for the fiscal year commencing January I, 1940. To determine tne surplus, the unexpended authorised funds together with Bond and interest maturities should be deducted for the cash balance. In this meeting and In your presence you heard the board g Ye James Roseborough, county clerk of the board of directors, instructions to at anytime give you any Information you may desire in connection with county affairs handled by the beprd.df directors office. Then we had the clerk spread the books which had all expenditures Itemised In detail, on the table (bnd not under it), and tried to give a full ln?lght Into the business of the county at the same time telling you that these hooks contained valuable information that would be of great benefit to you in connection with your duties as representatives of this county. We asked you to visit this office as often as you wished and asssured you It would be a pleasure for Mr. Rosborough to help yott in securing any information you may desire. To this date you have not returned for any 61 this Information. It is true you have beet* In my office a law tlmee an* on one of these visits when you asked me about the financial condition of the county and what the cash balance was, did I not got go with you to the directors office and secure a full report in book form of the last certified statement of George M. Thayer, 'public accountant, Who audited this county s books last year? This report contained In detail the flnancil condition of this county, then you have the nerve to go about this county l squaklng about not being able to find'out balance Is on hand. I would be ashamed to boast of a college education and at the same time admit that 1. could not digest an auditor's statement. You make a big noise about Mr. county treasurer, not giving you correct amount In general funds. I personally know that Mr. Outlaw gave you figures that were as near accurate as was possible without having an audit made of the county books thereby determining the unexpended balances in various appro- | prlations, bonds, interest, and the Ilk*. He explanled to you that^ there would be approximately $7,000 left after taking out necessary amount for the oPerR* tions of county affairs until late- la- o year when' taxes start coming In. and you expressed youraeii as wishing J keep the county on a cash basis and told you the board would 8eriou?,y,?^ie?M to anything which would start *eai?ng down the cash balance which we had built up. I have offered for office four times in this county and in each campaign for the past three I have told the people of the excellent financial condition of the county. I also told them (with a great deal of pride) of our being able? to "operate for the past four yers without .having to borrow any money on anticipation of taxes coming In late in Ithe ?ear or maybe up In the next year I distinctly remember that you and J Thornton took particular pains to. commend the board on every stump for thto 'fine showing. You also tried to em harass the old delegation by telling the p?? that It was th. ho.r4 and not the legislative delegation at J ?Tn?i?bthe 'top Tr^Cflnancial standing in this State. Now. afllet your first objective (by having the old members of the house of repre sentatlves) you *r? tryln**? ^ufi the trol of everything connected with tne county government, and yob topolson the people's mind. M^-tthe present member, of the county board of directors. 1^ you cotdd kcc^Urt you ve set out to do, yott would iuacexmcounty In the same financial ** the state la In now. by having their cash Surplus knd of which m 1 have been laboring for several to solve a solution. There's no county flnahcW mxxMt ,XWa set. and If To* ??r\ cash surplus, wmeUme to the are going to either be taxed to p?pUT* f this surplus or f# uTlCllftf oay interest on borrowed money necessary funds on which to operate. Mr. Arrant., I fully realise you aw. a en per lor to me when It comestora , u a county officer and no one knows the limits of their authority to county government bettor than T do mine, (you L very well know that I have not asked you or tried to Influence you In trying to have any acts pae~d to the S?n*raH assembly)? And at the n?e tone,I not altogether in the dark ks to th limit. of yoor to know that this county Is I, la Columbia by a representative who to BO terribly Ignorant aa not J* ( to re^bgnlse the meaning of -k simple and condensed law or aot o^ the J , (Vinklna of tha act yott wanfl M t to last week's Chronicle which tea todo J with setting certain salaries to the ( ty. in th. ttrst pteoe. why the people by saying county woiwers m ?? ??tlo?a in Th. Oct plainly ^n'f n ^iiliSinw 1 un* h? tta rKM to 1 L- ?zi""*" 7~-' H?UIJMIWip ll?l I of county officers. maybe you do not know a county officer from a guard at, the chain ttaug. You aay the board re* 1 fused to raise the aalui tea of the guard#. , m the flret place, thte ha# never been pre* | aeutcd to either the county board or my* ' Mt if a#'chairman of the board, and in the econd place I would conelder that you I were going far beyoud the bound# of your authority in #o doing. I would like, to any that I conelder tht# county to have am good. If not the beat. #et of guard# In the atute, and aa proof of what the board haa thought of the aervlcei of theae men, I wlah to Inform you that these men are now getting $80 per month together with board and lodging, whereua, when I went into toffice they were only receiving $40 per month with board and lodging, and thla has been dofie in aplte of the fart that we have been and are receiving the same amount of appropriations for roads and bridge#, and chain gang aa in 1984. The guard# were raised ffom 175 to |80 per month the first of this year. It aeema to me that if you were even a fraotlon of aa much interested In the people and their affair# a# you pretend to be that you would at least have listened, to aome of the urgent pleas I have made to the delegation for funds upon which to take care of the needy?the poor, the blind, widows and dependent children. W. P. A., and necessary money for purchase of additional land for extension of training BChools. for cadets betng trained for army service in connection wltjt national defense. Oh April 81. In the form of fi letter. * called this to your attention and at the same time told you that all bill# of the county and salaries since January were unpaid, I also called to your attention tTfer-serlousness of the situation. I vised you at that time that It .would be necessary to make arrangements for additonal money by April 88 for continuance of W. P. A. projects sponsored by this county. To this date I have not had your reply to this letter, neither have I had any.advice from you as to what you Intended doing toward a continuance of these projects You asked me in your article if I had anything to do with telling those on W. P. A that you were cutting off funds for these projects? I think I did tell some on W P. A. that unless some arrangements were made 'it would necessitate the closing of projects on or about April 28, then, on or about that date all funds appropriated for these projects dtd become exhausted. Now, I guess you wonder what I have done to have ?o#alble. for the- continuance of these projects (If It had been left to you and Mr Thorton according to your action in refusing to sign the resolution drawn and signed by the Senator for necessary amount* for the continuance of tbm* project# until the delegation could agree on supply bin, these projects would have been closed for the past month, thereby depriving the people on these projects of receiving thousands of dollars In payrolls and commodities and at the 8a"*B time cause the county the loss of $84,000 (to our credit for material with the W. P. A. in Columbia). Well, here's what I have done about meeting the terrible situation id which you have placed us. I have gone ahead and stuck my neck out and have continued these projects without authority, and my neck is still sticking out on account df the legislature having adjourned without you having made any provision for money upon which to continue our contribution" tjk these projects. . and a# above stated my neck Is still sticking out and you have the axe and the pdwep and If you choose to Just go ahead and let ydur axe falll, as I expect to continue (with the help of other board members) the safe-guradlng and protection of the people's Interests to the heat of my ability. The resolution sent to you by Senator Johnson calling for 83,000 for W. P. A. was to have been used as an emergency fund to cover expenses for W, P. A. until tho delegation could agree on a supply bill. Your memory is either very poor or you handle the truth very carelessly, however, your memory was very good-i last summer when you spoke at each campaign meeting In this township, but you are now trying to intimate that I tried to hide something from the people In that campaign. If you say that I then or ever tried to mislead or give Incorrect figures to the people of this county, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. I told the people then and can tell them now that we have enough money, bonds and securities In the sinking fund and the cash balance we have on hand to pay all the county owes, but I did not tell them this could be done without having to borrow money for this year's expense of operation on anticipation of taxes coming late In the year. I would be ashamed to admit that I.was so dumb that I as a member; of the delegation did not know that It duty of the delegation and not the board of director#, who authorise the sale of bonds Instead of going and borrowing money at a higher rate of interest, but (for your Information a# to my thoughts) I would think It was for the fact that they are the good business men that I think they are. There was not * ??*n" tion, of which I remember, of afiTtltlng about borrowing 88.000 last year, the only thing I know now or ever low* ^ about the appropriation of $8,000 for the erection of the armory was when last ] years delegation presented the board ^ with a resolution authorising thli amount of money to be spent on a new armory, and you poor simpleton, every supply bill of this county for the past several years- hM had Inserted therein the authority IdP the board to borrow any Aoney necessary for expenditures authorised by the delegation. With all of your education'.and college degree, of ^ which you so often boast, I have yet to ( nee the man In public office whom I | think has had alittle conception or 1 displayed so much Ignorance In the per- f form&nce of hie duties In that 'office as you have th yours as a member of the house of representative from "this ^ county. I dislike this political bunk, which re- ( lates to hardships of farm Ufa and In- ( conveniences experienced In 'securing an t education, but sines you Insist on re- , ferrlng to your experience# along these , lines every time the opportunity prevents Itself I think I will at least even the score with you on that point when I teH yon that I have experienced all of the hardships of farm life and the greetsr pert of my education was obtained by iralklng five miles dally to and from 1 ichool. > | Mr. Arrants, I am afraid you hoys [with your many experience, of hips) have forgotten WtH* wo went ] |lWU 1?8* and 1W>- PudUg that time ml serial year* thereafter thte county ha<t no caeh /fln -hand and the ?'ounty hoard of directors had quite a bit of trouble borrowing enough money to over ne^eaagry Mpeuow In connection with tho operation of county affaire, and about thla time ?SH>.000 In bonda game due <*0 year* old) and of oourae j these had to be refunded. Thank good- | neaa, we finished paying the laat of theae along with |4Q,IH)0 DoKalb Township thU year. Year after year, alnce that time, we have eaved up a little t'lich year, until the preaent reaerve haa been accumulated. Thla reaerve haa moat I v accumulated from money that should rightfully have been appropriated for roads and bridges. I say this for the fact that thla county received proximately $40,000 per y??r from ?*ao* line taxes and only $80,000 haa been appropriated to roads and bridges each year for the past eight years. I am afraid these same conditions, If not worse, will return again sometime In the not too distant future, and when they do. If the preaent board can have anything to do with the handling of this county's affairs from now until then, this county will not have to beg any financial Institution for funds upon which to operate. Then too, If conditions should become extremely severe at that time, levys for county purposes could be practically eliminated for one year. Yes, your colleague told me about your visit to see Colonel Cllenn, superintendent of the penitentiary, In regard to securing prisoners for work In this cpunty and at that time I told him I did not think It possible, under the law, for Colonel Olenn to let us have prisoners that were sentenced from other counties lh the state, your colleague assured me that you and he had looked Into this and that you and he had an understanding with Colonel Glenn to the effect that we could Becure as many prisoners as wo liked for w.prk on tjie chnln gang in this county. This Bounded too good to be true and as we were very short on men for chain gang work on the roads at that time, I Immediately contacted Colonel Glenn and asked him If this was according to Ills understanding with you and he said: "My goodness, no," and that he thought you meant any prisoners that may have been In the penitentiary under sentence from this county. The prisoners In the penitentiary under sentence from this county are either there under sentence of the court or undesirables for handling in county road work. You have handled this, Mr. Arrants, with Just about the same degree of Intelligence as any other matters that have had your attention which related to the operation of this county's affairs. ? 1 understand tnere are those In the state hospital who have Illusions of being dictators and chosen ones to lead their subjects out of the troubles have been In by having lived under selfgovernment. I also understand from those who make a study of psychiatry that there a few people who are apparently normal that should be in an lnatltutlon such as the state hospital, until I read your article In last Friday s Chronicle, I had some doubt about the correctness of the findings of the psychiatrist. Mr. Arrants, you on every occasion, where opportunity has presented Itself, have made a terrible to-do about this "under-the-table-matter" of drawing resolutions for moneys necessary to meet emergencies which were not time of drawing supply bill. This authority has been drawn in each supply bill as far back as I can remember and although these resoltitlonB are the makings of the delegation. T dan 866 no reason why you should go about this county trying to lead Its cltlsenry o believe that there has been undercover" expenditures made. How can vou muster up enough nerve to call such expenditures as necessary money for blinding the Armory and also the money for the purchase of necessary land for the extension of tho Avfatlon Field . at the Airport, for use by Cadet Training School, "under-the-table" manlpuatlonn Boy these schools you have attended may have done you a lot of good but If I am any Judge, there Is a school^and a very important one, too, of which yo have very little knowledge, the school to which I refer Is the good old school of "Common Sense." Now, Mr. Arrants, 1 am coming to the point that I hove been leading up to In this "under-thetable" episode. If drawing resolutions Is "under-the-table" as you term this form of expenditures to be, You naughty Boy, I remember having seen you go down under that table, not once but many times and on one of these trips you made under this table. I distinctly re-j member having seen a negro k?under there with ydu. Mr. Arrants, did you know that you drew more during the length of time you were drawing them than any other house member had drawn In so short a time. ' You mentioned about the old members of the House telling the people during last yearn campaign that they spnnt $$7,806 last year when ns an actual fact there .? *100.?>0 ?p?nt. Whr r ed fiik question to me, I have not the slightest Idea. As I am not and hare not been a member of the delegation from thin oouttty, however, for your enlightenment, I might inform you that irf* year'n business had not been closed when the old house members were making their campaign* In August, and mdst of these emergency expenditure# could not beforeeeen at that time. I certainly hope, Mr, Arrants, that you may some day learn the lesson of fair dealings. In your article of last week, and on every occasion, where the opportunity has been afforded, you have lasted the members of the old delegation- I don believe this Is fair and I do not believe the people will look upon It as an act of rair play. Maybe I might take your suggestion ? *a tunning for the legislature, who knows? Thank goodness. I am a free born cltlsen of this county and Mate, end I will run for what ever public >fflce I chose, and after having read your srticle of last week, I hare had thoughts jf offering for Governor or maybe the [Jnlted States Senate. Affectionately yours, W. ,T, Redfearn. Cattle cannot live in the steamy dot lowlands of Mew Guinea, soa imall herd of dairy cattle has been transported into the mountains by ilrpTAne and Is dotng wag. The Oecrgs Washington bridge In IggHgp qi^s the world's longest HIDING OUR HEADS IN THE SAND It Id said .to bo a characteristic of the ohtirh when danger approaches to hide his head in the sand. He thinks this provides him security because he no longer sees the coming danger. Absurd of course. Hut it appears that inuny American people are doing as the foolish ostrich does. It must be plaiu to anyone who reads, observes and listens that this nation is in danger -that if it is not in fact in war it is nearly so. And, yet too mauy turn from danger's approach and refuse to see. They fool themselves into the blind belief that a few geaturea made by , Washington in the way of helping the British can muke thla country aecure. Too few are willing to face the facta and the altuatlon aa It la. They Inalat on continuing to live in a fool'a paradlao. By aomo miracle, it la their hope to escapo the dangura that threaten. Buaineaa and ploaaure and easy living aa in former daya will not bo rellngulahed If they can prevent tt. "i It la high time that every American citizen wuh lifting hia head from the aand and getting ready to meet the danger that threatens.?-Laurens Advert iaer. 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