The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, February 05, 1919, Image 9
V0LUME XXXIV. LAURENS, SOUTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1919.UM
ER2
LtGISLTJRI'S WORK
RYI[nt[D BY KO:
ComuI ilIsiory Eu lcitiol, Good Itoads
1111 'iuxation Three Vitail Questions.
Columbia, Feb. i.-rhe legislative
sessions of 1919 has progressed suIll
ciently firl to demonstrate several
things. First, it has been clearly
shown that there is no symptom of
partisan feeling. For yegirs and years
the General Assembly has been very
sharply divided into factions. Year by
year these lines have been growing
dimmer and dimmer nntil now they
are almost entirely obliterated, and
about all you hear is "he used to he"
of this or that faction. There has not
been a single debate in which there
has been any mention of partisan line.
On the contrary, the effort has been
to forget aand forgive. The manifest
purpose of the 'General Assembly is to
do some constructive work, pass the
general appropriation bill, discuss the
conditions of the state generally, enact
ill the local legislation that Is neces
mary, quit and go bome. In previous
years there have been the distractIons
of partisan politics, elections and trips.
This year there has been no partisan
polities, no elections to amount to any
hing, andl no trills. There has been
the fear of Influeniza., hut it has not
reriotnly in te-'rferred with the Hession,
and the worl5, It may he stated, is Iwell
P dvalneed. Morbers have their vieN's
very well formulated with reference to
the pending legislation, partlieul:ari
that of a serious character, and they
are ready to act, and the appropria
fion hill is about the only thing that
is now in the way, and all of the
hearings on this have been concluded.
The louse has disposed of two of its
mot important questions, contpul
sory education, and the overshadow
ing tax issue, whether or not the tax
commission should or shouild not .be
retained, anl after this is disposed of,
then the collateral remedial legisla
lion will be undertaken. This, how
ever. Is the real crux of the tax situa
tion in the eyes of the house, as to
NIliether the tax commission shoutid or
PhenId not he continied.
Timines have changed very imueh in
t he inatter of legisla-tion in recent
ye rm. It has not been many year,,
0 m l that "iner was a .nredomintim.
and overshadowing issue, and then
came along with it the control of rail,
roads and other corporations, includ
lng the effort to get the Itwo-cent mile
ego rate. Tiese important questions
heve all been disnosed of to a large
extent by national undertaking. In
stea of.confrol of corporations it is
now taxation. Insiead of heated elec
tions it Is now permanent road con
Struction.
Tie three vital questions at this ses
sion are, first, compilsory edueatlo"
then road immprovement, and finally
taxation vith its various angles and
incidlental phases.
Compulsory edulcation in a nmodifled!
form seems certain. The bill, origl
Just Open
Counterpanes, te
kins and towels,
bleached and by
sea island, new
very latest in lac1
W. G. Wit
| 'I
nally presented provides fo/' the full
term, and the effort Is to have a mini
mum term of seven months for all the
schools in -the State, and to this end
the 10ciate has passed what is known
as the Laney bill. The House, by -v,:
of compromise, passed the State-wt '
c '"pulsory education bill but with an
a.endiment that required attendance
for only four monhs, and in this
shape there were only five votes in
the lower house against the measure.
The reduction of the term was not al
zogetler satisfactory to all of the ad
vocates of the measure, but it was
thought best to let it stand at. four
months, first, to get the system start'd
and then probably the Senate will in
creat;e the term for which attendance
is required, and if the system should
work, as it Is exi)ected, subsequent
legislatures can increase the term as
they have increased the age limit for
c'hildren or reduced the supply of
liq'uor. Gov. Cooper is strongly in favor.
,if a laiW with teeth in it, and the teeth
to the present measure is that each
county and town is to have a truant
officer who Is to be renponsible. It
realy looks as if we are going to hav
State-wide compulsory education in a
modifled form.
T11axation.
'Pw as to -the matter of taxntion.
"e1eated efforts are being made and
' ave been Inmadi to remedy the present
'if tion. Various snmireslions have
been made to -extend and to give mor"
th oi ty to tie tax commission, to
'oVide for surveys vnd tighten Itp the
Present machinery. All of these effort
have been fruifless and the real fight
revolves around whether or not IIthe
oresent .tax commission should or
should not survive. The Ihouse lu.
yaar voted to kill tihe tax commission.
This year it is an entirely now bod
of legislaitors andi they have again
voted to abolish the commission, an''
subs-i-itut in its place a hoard of
equalization very much similar to that
which exisfedl previous to the crea
tion of the present commission. T/q
yeIr the Senate saved the tax com
mission, and of course, It it is sav~'
iLa in. it will be through the Senate.
'The first and only test. in the Senate
his been in the finance commit-tee, and
the understandhig is that the Iflour
bill to abolish the commission has
been unfavorably reported by a ve'
of ten to five. and tle reports from
.the advoentes of the present commi:
QIon are quite favorable. In fact,
so m1uchl so. fliat the (comm1111ission ad
vocates are iclineId to press some of
teir views. This fax sit ut ion has
been lomewhait responsible for the
sentiment in favor of a constitutional
convention, because of the feeling that
tbe faxes are not now equalized. al
tlough the tax commission has done
its utmost.
Good R01ndls livge.
There is no question about the fact
that the leneral Assembly is over
whelmingly and enthusiastically in
favor of better aLd permanent roads.
and the only real issue is how best to
aceompl ish -these results. Thie news
Jpapers, leadlers -of thought, like R
(loodhvyn Rheff, and ohers have dlone
muchm to crystaiz',e this sentiment.
I irst, thle T,egisla ture is con vinced
ed.====...m
Lble'damapk, nap
wi e sheetings in
rdwn. Fine wide
hosiery, and the
ies' neckwear.
sont & Co.
that there is utterly no use of wasting
time in anything other than perma
nent roads. They mtust be either of
concrete, brick, asphah. bitullthic,
granilte or some other hard sirface
with a rock foitdatlon. The conseni
sis of opiniioni Is that there is no use
to bother with anything else. Second
the people are willing to pay for good
roads. They are -willing to pay for it
either by direct taxation, hy taxation
on altoiinobiles or by any pln111 that
will get them t:he roads (Iuickest.
F rankly the only (Linger in the sit na
lion is in working out some one plan
In view of the conflicting propositions
that will be accepted at this time.
What is known as the Rthet.t plan has
Its strong advocates, and lwhether It
prevalls or not, there Is no question
that the effort and intelligent pre
sentatlon of the matter by hin and
hIs T'ilends has resuled In an appr
ciation of what an ,anq(d ouight to )v
done. Bills have been presented car
rying out the R1hett idea; first, of hav
ing the roails surveyed, the router
selected and the necessary prellmi
laries efrected so that when the bond
issite comes out there will be some
thing definite on which to act and
(here (will he little delay. After (,III
prelimin ry work comes, under tlhe
ilhett phn hie $25,000.000 bond issul
w hich under Ihe governiu menit aid ni all
wo'llhi he ( olsiderably augmentedl
The ihell plan has everytllng In Itf
aVor, exe(p 1ha ome of tile mlem
eor of the Colleral Assembily 01. 1
'st to take chalCes oni the failun
of a )on issu and are iverse to de
N)ay. Onl that neC1onn1i they.N su1ggestof
that an immediate tax of $1 per lior
po"I'rii with1i speeial roal(d tax of one 01
Iwo ills, will get somlething immine
diately. (lone. In other words. the
Ilgure that one mill .will raise $380,000;
two mills will raise $760,000. With i
dollar per hore power license tax or
automobiles. suppIlmented by the fed
eral aid, it is\ figured that there woul(
be over $3,006,000 of funds avallabi
annually wIthout delay. and if tlih
mllethod be continued there 1would b
an expenditure, of say, three millions
and tIls wIould get what sonic argu<
quicker results than to wait on a honi
issue.
Of course, there is going to be i
great deal of content.lon1 as to wli
wvork should be done. Some !egi.ta
tors already open and avowedly sa
that thev are not going to do anylthim
to help a bond issue itn1less hiel
countivs gct full slare of the ne,
roads. It "is aregued tliat tI . h4
thing to do Is to have aI r<he i' t
W'll onliect up all the coui ef1 s an'!
to p.-ovide for a north and South andi
vast and wenrt ar-tvr, throumgh every
county as far as piraticable, btt tI
give each ounly a eit-a in amunlit of
mileage and then later on conneet up
these fractions.
t is agreed by all that ha phalard
const ruet Ion l n Indifferent 1engineier
ing shlould be abandoned, and that
whatever system is to be dvetveoped
shulbe mlapped out by a etIral
hoard, preferably tile State Itighway
ommiissoin, and that hen these links
can lie connectedl upI. TP0 popiulrize
thle scheme a certain amioulnt of per
manent work willl have to be dione in
every county, andu where t hIs Is a long
a welleveloped( plan, anid a system
that can be conne ctedi up I, if muihtIbe
practical.
As to the ('onlstittional ('otention)1.
The IndIentIons niow are that the
lpeople will in 1920 lie gIiveni an op
portun11ity . of votinug whethlen or not1
they will wanut a consti11u1tional eon
vent Ion held. The kna~fte, ,whiehi has
heetfoforeC lbeen a sftumbh lng lo~Ck, ha s
votedl in favor (if submniittinug the" qules
lion -to thle peOple1 . The resoluion01 in
favor of subilmitting tie issue to the
petople 'has b)een tpassed by thle Senate
and( Is no0w iunder' consid(er'atio on11
the F louse side, where it has hereto
fore always prevailed.
Liquor! Tt almost soundl~s like a
ghost reappearing in -the legislatIve
halls. (Ceneral-ly there are a score or
mloreC of mieasures iudertaking to solve
this problem. This year there has
been no ment ion of "hone dry3" or anly.
thing else along t hat line. One lit tie
bill1 has b Ieen spresented undi(ertaking
to change 'thle (uart--mo1nth law to
one gallhon a month1I, bult wvith natIonal
prnohiblitlon fast an111roa('hing thle legls
lators evidently i nk there are too
many oather axes to nInd to even con
sier liliuor as a reCal (tuestin. There
has been hiowever, preseented a dlou
ble-barrei measurte which uindertak~es
to prevent the sale of t on h's aitd ot her
conicoit ions oni which re il drniks can
be had.-August K~ohn na News and
Cnnrinr.
OU ca'lhloutigiosnjyu
Loh el 4
9K rearks very ime you us you
S. itsmokespot with Prince Albert-it hits
'I you so fair and square. It's a scuttle full of jimmy
pipe and cigarette makin's sunshine and as satisfy
~ ~. mg as it is delightful every hour of the twenty-four!
-~ s It's never too late to hop into the Prince Albert pleasure
? pasture!i For, P. A. is trigger-ready to give you more
.1 tobacco fun than you ever had in your smokecareer.
That's because it has the quality.
Quick as you know Prince Albert you'll '. ite it down
tat P. A. did not bite your tongue or parch your throat.
And, it never will! For, our exclusive patente process
cuts out bite and parch. Try it for what ails your tongue!
hunido rs--and- t clever, practical pound crystal glass humidor wit
sponge moistener top that keeps the tobacco in such perfect condition.
___________ R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Winston-Salem, N. C.
STO AGE
BATTERI iM
r
We have a large stock of Storai Btteries on
hand, consisting of the best-kno~wn makes, 'such
as the Willard, Columbia and Permolife, to 6it
any make of car.
Charging OiN
We also have an up-to-date Chrging Outfit,
which is i Mr. John Teague's charge. Will
give as prompt service as poitiie. Prices reas
onable.
Automobile Tir Sale
We are making arrangemsnt for a second
story on our Garage and will eery our line of au
tomobile Tires at attractive trices, to avoid
moving them. Goodrich, Go year and Fisk
Tires. Get yours while the)y me.
WALDROP'S R SAGE
Aar n d, it nev e i Fo roexliva t rcs