The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, May 30, 1941, Page PAGE SEVEN, Image 7
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
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