University of South Carolina Libraries
THE SUMTER WATCHMAX, E*tah Consolidated Aug. 2,1 Highway Convention Formu lates Recommendation to The Legislature BIG BOND ISSUE OF ?25,000,000 SUGGESTED | - i Increased Tax on Automobiles to Provide the Funds to Car-! ry the Bond Issue. - Columbia, Dec. 12.?A definite and clear cut plan for the financing and; construction of an adequate system j of permanent highways of the State] of South Carolina was adopted yester-! day at the business meeting of the I good roads delegates held in the hou:;e i of representatives. The pian provides for the construe- j tion of 1,500 miles of hard surfaced j roadway connecting every county sea; in the State; for the issuance of 201 year bonds to the amount of $25,000. 000: for an increase in the tax on i motor driven vehicles to such an ex-j tent that the whoie expense of the! construction will fall upon owners of! automobiles and trucks; for the State j Highway commission to have generali charge and supervision of the con- \ struction and maintenance of the highways and for an increase in the i personnel of the highway com mis-1 sion. The various features of the plan as submitted by R. G. Rhett, chairman of the committee on plans, were dis cussed by the delegates, its details en larged upon, and finally it was adopt- j ed without a dissenting vote. The meeting was characterized by a j , spirit of enterprise and hopefulness j that augurs well for the future of the plan, and the delega+i* seemed deter-! mined to push with energy the scheme j through to a successful culmination. I When it was suggested that every ? car owner in the State be solicit*-d to | sign . a-petition asking the legislature; .to take the necessary steps to put the' plan into operation, a roll call by . counties was made and without excep- '? tion the delegates expressed the belief . ; that-the car owners in their counties) would be glad to have the measure made '.into law and would, be willing! to pay the increased tax on their cars. ; The saving of tires and gasoline by the highways was stressed time and j again and it was shown by figures' that car owners would save from ?10.0 to $200 per year on their cars despite ! the increased tax which they will be . called upon to pay. * One of the most effective sp<rieche-; cf the day in this connection was | made by William Berguson of Char leston, originally of Wayne County.1 Michigan, .the county in? which is lo cated the city cf Detroit. He top'' of the* vast expenditure of funds for good ' roads In that county, of the enormous! enhancement in the value of lands ad- j joining; the ? highways, and of the steadily growing enthusiasm, on the subject of good roads. A.. V. Snell cf Charleston, a good roa.ds enthusiast of the first water did effective work in checking aimless; discussion." am d Pointed out the neces sity of taking definite action to pysi the proposition through, saying that both a legislative committee and a er-inmitioe on. publicity were needed to-keep, the people hack home alive to the importance of the movement and to let the county delegations know that the people were in favor or adequate highways. While the delegates were awaiting the report of the committee on plans, the matter of posting signs on the present roads was brought up. Nu merous instanecs were given of vexa tions and expensive delays to travel ers brought about by the absence of sign posts. Several of the delegates ha.d become lost themselves in trying to go from town to town, and it was Pointed oj? that there is a law in force at present which requires the royrkinsr of highways. A uniform system of marking the roads was suggested, and after con siderable discussion a motion was passed instructing the highway com mission to devise some plan for mark ing the highways and to submit the" ?plan to the county superv isors. . .. J. A. Fairleigh. representing the .Portland Cement Association, was given the floor for a shor?- time and brought to "the attention of the dele gates the good results that have come from using cement in roadb?ilding. He. estimated that about $20.000 per mile would be required to pay for the cement used on a road IS feet wide, the 'cement being six- inches thick on the* sides and 7 1-2 inches thick in th:* middle of the road. In order to drive horn*-* the impor tance of good roads to people nil over the State, it was realized that a pub licity director who could give his en tire time to the preparation and dis semination of good roads literature was needed and that funds would b ? necessary to secure the services of such ? man. A committee on ways and meanst consisting of F.. A. Wilson of Vor!:. R. E. Gr?bel, secretary of the Ander son chamber of commerce, and James Q^Hear of Charleston was appointed. Tho publicity committee is to con sist of a member from each congres sional district and a'so of one member from each county. The director of publicity is to be appointed at a later meeting. The legislative committee, which i? to bring before the county delegation to:the legislature the importance of the movement, is- to consist of one ?i&ed April. 1850. Department of Justice Has Doc uments Throwing Light on Systems of Destruction. PUBLIC WILL EE INFORMED OF CRIMES COMMITTED The Whole Truth May Not Be Exposed as Onicials May Not Deeir it Wise at This Time to Make Such an Announcement. Washington, Doc. 12.?Voluminous documents shedding light on the German system for blowing up mu nition factories and practicing sabo tage andespibnage of various forms have been assembled by the depart ment of justice in preparation for disclosure, .:t was said today, but of ficials have not decided what por tion it will be wise to give out. member from each congressional dis trict and one member from each county. This committee will be ap pointed within a few days. R. Gi Rhett, in preesnting the plan decided upon by the committee, said I that the imaginations of the people should be appealed to, and thac South I Carolina now has a chance to attain to her full growth and development Ke said that now was the - time fcr South Carolina to declare whether or not she is ready to be a leader or. a I laggard in development. lie then read : the following preliminary statement: ?'Your committee on plan begs first to submit certain facts which should be known and understood before its proposals are presented. There is at present no State High way system in South Carolina, The '?'t?te Highway commission, ci *ated in February, 1917, is composed of five members of whom three are senior professors of engineering ;;t ec!7eges and the ether two are appointees of the governor. It is -limited in its pow ers and duties to investigation ana: advice. At least four-fifths of the amount it collects from licenses is turned over to the counties. Under the present act it is riot possible to establish a system of State highways and your committee's recommenda tions contemplate such amendments to this act as. in its judgment, would be n i-cessary both to establish and maintain in good condition and re pair at least 1,500 miles of well sur faced highways connecting every county seat in the State. "To do this would require a very ?arg?- sum possibly >i0.000.000 or even $25,? ?o.?oo. and without the credit of the State behind it this would be im practicable. -Under the constitution this credit may not be extended 'Un less two-thirds of the qualified elec tors ot" this State, voting cn the ques tion at a general State election, be in ' favor, of it.' Until November. 1920. the/e will he no opportunity for sub letting ;>,:s question to such a "vote. "However, there ;-; much to be done in the establishment of a system of State highways before surfacing them, and it will be found that a year and .? half will not be too long a ti re to lay out such a system and acquire title to the roads. ' In tin- meantime, however, your committee .proposed plans for surfac ing roads in.such counties as may de sire to have their portion of their j highways new constructed within : their limits. "It it clear at the outset that two thirds of the qualified voters voting on the question would never favor any large issue of Stale bonds To be re Itired by general taxation. It must be made clear that the general public are to pay no part of this tar. It is a pub lic improvement which so particularly [benefits the moior vehicle owner that he can well afford to pay it ail. am*, he should so unmistakably express him self. There are now over 55.000 auto mobiles registered in this State and they have paid lieerrsos during the year, in round numbers. $290.000 The ''? increase of automobiles in the State for the past two'years has been from i 15.900 in lOir; to 07.000 in 1017 to 65, ooo in 191S. The increase -in the United I States from January 1. 1916, to Janu ary 1. '191$.. wa.s over 100 per cent. Iowa already has one ear to every six I persons. "To retire $25.000.000 of -5 1-1 per r-.-mt bonds serially in 20 years would reotiirr aboilt SI.8.00.000 per -yo~r. -An [average license, of ?20 per ear on joo.ooo ca^s would yield $2.000.000. With !5?;000 ears it would take $12 I per car. The present average !!c?,nse j is $5.23 per car. ? "If pv< iy owner of a ear would figure his saving in gasoline and re pair bills in a year, provided there were 1.5.00 miles of hard surface?! highways kept jn crocd order in the State, it would be found thai this amount will be between ?l 00 and $200 per annum. 7?o. there/ore. is asking the State to permit him to invest from $10 to $15 per annum, to save from $100 to $200?a t:-;:il saving to the people of the state of over $10.00.000 per annum in money. It would be hard to compute the saving in time. "With this prelude, your committee begs to report it*-; recommendation a? follows: "The State highway commission should be privon the power to acctu-ro riprhts of way and lands by purchase or condemnation for the purpose of establishing a State highway system, eonnectinfr ell county seats: to con struct and surface the highways in such a system so as to take care of std Fear not?"Dec all the ends Thon AI JMTE.E, S. C, 8ATDBD Products of Farms Bring Many Billions to Country's Farmers. FAR BETTER THAN IN PREVIOUS YEARS Much More Money Earner! This Year Than Last ? Agricul ; turists Reap Rich Harvest. i - Washington, Dec. 11.?With a tc ital value oi' $12,272,412,000 the na tion's principal farm oops this year i were ?worth more, based on prices paid I to farmers December J. than in any year in the history <A American agr iculture. December crop estimates today of the department of agricul ture showed that this year's total ? jprico exceeds the former record year 11917 by $S14,280,000. There also was ! a m?rked ix:c-reaso in acreage, the j355v$?:S,722 total exceeding that of last year by 10.700,000 acres. I These crop figures were looked upon i by officials as showing that the na ' lien wiii be in evrn a bettor position ! to fulfill it:-, pledge of 20.000,000 tons of food stuffs to Europe next year than had been expected. J Most of the crops are larger than I the five yea:- average and some of ithem establish records, particularly ? spring wheat, barley, rye and tobac ? co. Corn, however, jell below the five ' year average. Today's estimate p4ae jed the q-rop at Hbl 3.s-i.000 bushels less : than forecast in November, with a. to | tal of ? 2,582,814,000 bushels. That is ' almost half a billion bushels less than I last year's record crop. j The wheat cropt is larger than the 1 five year average, and almost 300. I ''??.?0.000 bushels larger than last year's crop, but is more than 100, i 000,000 bushels smaller thai, the re cord crop of 1915. Almost all of the crops were worth more this, year than in any previous i year because of the high prices- paid j to producers. Corn value was more .'than $2.500.000,000, whrat almost ! $2,000,000,000. hay and cotton more ; than $1.500,000.000 and oats *more [than $1 jOOO,'000~000. the traffic which may bo developed 'upon them and to keep such high ways in proper condition and repair. "The State highway commission j should be seven in number and be j composed of one from each congres sional district, together with the se ? nior professors of engineering now >vided Ln the act as advisory mem hers. It should select its own chair man, and have full power to employ j its own engineer and fix his compen sation, and also the compensation of .-.!? its employees. ?'Ther<-- should be two or more is sues of State of South Carolina high j way bonds, aggregating a sufficient amount to connect c-vory county seat. .with a well surfaced highway, each iss-ue. to be retired serially or by amortization within the life of the i road upon which the proceeds are ex j pended. ', '-There should be levied by the leg islature an annual license tax upon ? motor vehicles, all of .which should ! go io the State highway commission, isufficient to enable the commission to ! keep the liightvays in this system in 1 proper condition and repair; to pay interest en all outstanding State hieh way bonds and is retire the same in accordance with their terms, j ? "The counties oi the State should be authorized to issue county highwa ' bends to consiruci. parts of the State highway within their borders to sue:1, amounts as the people may ratify within the constitutional limits. "There should be levied-for the next two years a one mi' tax to be dis tributed to the counties proportion ate]}- for road purposes; provided that in the event any county should desire to turn this fund over to the State highway commission for expenditure on a highway in the State system within the limits of its county the commission should be required to add a. like amount from its license fees for the same purpose. '?The present motor vehicle license tax should be at ence raised to.. 50 cents per horse power for automobiles and motorcycles and ?l per horse .power for motor trucks with for trailers and $36 for dealers, unless [ there is a reasonable assurance of federal aid exceeding in amount which this will yield; in which event these licenses should be increased to yield an amount enual to that expected t i be furnished by the government. ' Any moneys which ;t county may turn over to the highway commission to be expended on a State highway should be refunded t<< such county out of the proceeds of any State highway bonds which may be issued, without interest. Whenever any highway which is now improved, or may hereafter be improved, shall b< taken into Stat highway system so nmch of th** im provements as may be available in tin- said system shall be approved an * the value thereof paid to the count*.' on: of the proceeds of any State high way bonds that may be issued. "Your committee believes that un der such .a plan a system of Sta1 highways can he imm ;diate!y begun and prepared for construction by the time the State bomls referred to above; he submitted to the people in Novem ber. 1920. rnd in the meantime pos 'sibly ;i considerable amount of hard,., surfacing may be done through coun AT, DECEMBER 14, 18 Min e ur ;Half Billion in Certificates to Be Issued Next Week?Pay able in May. ANNOUNCEMENT FORE SHADOWS FIFTH LOAN, The Cost of War Still Bears fi Heavily on The Treasury and Public Must Supply the Need ed Honey. . Washington, Dec. I2*?Another bi eekly issue of loan certificates of in ebtedness of a half billion or. more, paring four and a-half per cent in terest was announced by the treasury ftbday. The certificates will bo ?lated Member 18th and arc payable on the Oth of next 'Any. Subscription books ill be closed December 26th. days Influenza Is Still Epidemic feurgeon General Blue Issues i Warning ? Observance of I vj?i?tion by Individuals Must Still Be Main Reliance in the Fight, j - H Washington. 7Vc 11.?Warning to ?the country thai the influenza epi demic is.by no means ended and that all possible precautions against the disease should be taken was issued to day by Surgeon General Blue of the public health service. Reports received by the service show a recrudescence o*' the disease practically from one end of the country to another, and in his state ment Dr. Blue advised the closing of the public schools on the first sign of the reappearance of the epidemic. He said the disease apparently now tend ed to occur more frequently arnons Sfchool children. 'Our main reliance. Dr.-Blue sai.1 "must still be the observance of pre cautions by vhct-iiuiiv-idual person. Hp I should cover . uj). his coughs ana" ' sneezes and insist that others do the : same." Information reaching the public health service -mows that in Califor nia and Iowa increases in the number of cases are reported, while Indiana reports no improvement in the situa tion, except that the cases are milde;-. 1 Kentucky reports a decided reeur ; descence in Louisville and Home of ;b larger towns of the State, while Ohio j reports increased numbers of cases in Cleveland, Cincinnati Columbus. : Akron. Youngst?wn. East Liverpool ; and many other cities. The situation continues serious in Nebraska, and 2Cc-W Jersey reports a substantial increase in the. number of : cases-over, the State. The disease also ? is reported in Missouri, Mississippi. West Virginia, South- Carolina, Vir ginia. Massachusetts and other Stales In Pennsylvania conditions at Erie. Newcastle, and Johnstown are said to be worse than during the original out break. ?' ? . Nine Thousand Coming Four Troop Transports Sail From France. Washington, Dec. 12.?The satirne:. of four army transports bringing ad- j ditional units from France was an nounced today. The ships are the j transports FL Ft. Mallory, Rappahan-i cock. Leviathan ad Celtic with about nine thousand men. I. W. W. In Cuba Criminal Anarchists Stir Up Strife in Havana. Washington. Dec. 12.?Information reaching the State department indicat ed that the general strike in Cuba is 'the result of I. W. W. and enemy propaganda. Later reports said that order has been maintained in the af fected districts. Corn Prices Up An Advance of Seven Cents a Bushel To-Day. Chicago. Dee. 12. A stunning ad vance in the price of corn resulted today from the government report showing the year's yield to be the smallest in ?v* years. Values ran seven cents over yesterday's finish. Berlin, Wednesday, Dec. 11.?Briga dier General Harris and Lieuts. Gail- : lard and Sendling of the American : commission for the re pat ration of war prisoners arrived in Berlin las* night. iy assistance as suggested." lb f3. Belser. member of the house from Sumter. aside a few remarks on j the provisions of the plan.fand others j also commented upon them. After some discussion. the plans were adopted. i The meeting was presided over, by -( A. I'. Carter, president of the State , Automobile Acscc'ation. Secretary C. , W. Cofio'd of State Association , and Secretary C. T. Wooten of the s convention were also on the stand. i. ?s? swank* -EB3E IB?l He Recommends Continuance of. Government Operation of Railroads for Five Years. i _ - i i SAYS FAIR TEST HAS NOT YET BEEN MADE People of United States Have a Right to Have Test of Govern-] ment Ownership Made Under Normal* Conditions. Washington. Doc. 11.?Extension of , tli" period of government control of i railroads for five years, until January ! 1. 1924, was recommended to congress tonight by Director General McAdoo. Advantages of this, Mr. McAdoo said, are thai it would take the railroad question out of polities for the pres ent, give time for carrying out an i active program of improvements and provide opportunity for a fair test cm' (?unified control to indicate the perm-v [neht *~Iution of the railroad problem. "The president has given me per mission to say that this conclusion ac cord:, with his own view of the mat ! rer." Mr- McAdoo concluded. * The letter was addressed to Senator Irnich of South Carolina and Repre sentative Sims, chairman, respectively, bf the senate and ho^se interstate j commerce commitees. Mr. McAdoo ? explained that to Continus government [operation for 21 months after form il j declaration of pea.ee under present I conditions would mean disruption of [morale among employees and officers; j and could not enable the gover nment to go ahead with improvements and ! purchase of equipment. Another al i ternative, the prompt return- of the railroads to private control without : legislation to permit elimination of the i old wasteful competition, would be ."hurtful alike to the public interest 'and to the railroads themselves.'' he said, and the difficulty of obtaining ' immediate legislation providing a per . anent solution, is apparent. ?'There is one. and to my mind ? only one. practicable and wise alter i native." Mr. McAdoo continued, "and f that is to extend the poriod-of 'feder al control from the one year and nine months provided by the present law to five years, or until the first day of Jan uray, 1924. This extension would Jtake the railroad question out of poli . tics for a reasonable period. It would give composure to railroad officers and employees. It would admit of th. / prepare, ti m and carriyng out of a I comprehensive program of improve ments of The railroads and their ter minal facilities whic h would inimenso ly improve the facilities of the trans I portation machinery: it would put back of the railroads the credit of the j ETnited States during the five year pe j riod so that the financing of these improvements could be successfully carried cut. It would offer the ncc>--~ sary opportunity under proper condi tions to test the value of the unified control, and the experience thus gain ed would of itself indicate the per manent solution of the railroad prob--; lern. ! "The American people have a right to have this tost. They should not be denied it. It is to their interest that! ir. should be done. In my opinion, it; ?s the only practicable and reason-' ttb'e method of determining the right j solution of this grave economic prob lem, i "1 am not now and have not been for the past year interested in proving : or disproving the theory of govern ment ownership or any other kind of theery. The railroads haw- been op erated for the past year with the pur pose of seiwing efficiently the para mount needs of the war and at thej same timo furnishing the best pos-! sible service to the public whether! such operation tended to prove or to disprove any theory of railroad con trol no matter what it might be. !? have formed no opinion myself as to what is the besl disposition of the rail-; road problem because the test has, not been sufficient to prove conelu-? sivefy the right solution of the prob- ? ?em. I believe that a five year tost will give the American people the right answer. An ounce of experience is worth a. ten of theory. "There are those who may say that an extension of five years for such a test will moan government owner ship. Personally I do not believe it. Bus whether such a test would indi cate that the ultimate solution shall be government ownership or a modi- ? lied form of private ownership under, effective federal regulations, should * not cause us to hesitate or refuse tof. aer." I "If congress does not extend the time for government control." ^a >i | Mr. McAdoo. "the railroads should be' returned to private management at j the earliest possible moment." Practical difficulties of continuing'' government operation under existing}! rtuthority. he pointed out. are the i growing conflicts of authority be tween State and federal jurisdictions. < inadequacy of the half billion dollar ! revolving fund for financing improve-- ' mer.fs. inability to force railroads to pay for cars and Locomotives witho-u; litigation, and to require terminal im-m proyements. ? Havana Dec. 12-?There is some ! improvement today in the strike situa- ] ion. Commercial establishments have i opened after the president's procla- 1 [nation stating that licenses would be r ?evoked if they remained closed. Tome < street cars were running, with soldiers i I ad policemen as guards. 11 C SOUTHRON, Established Suaa, Sflfft VcLXLVIL No. 35. Vice President Presides at Pres-? idenfs Request But Eger er eis es no Official Functions. SETTING NEW PRECEDENT SHOCKS WASHINGTON" Not Acting as President, De I clares Vice President Marshall ! in His Statement. i -- Washington. Dec. 10.?Vice Presi ;d*mt Marshal presided over today's cabinet meeting, at the request of President Wilson, who is en route to j Europe and set, according to the ; White House staff, a new precedent in the conduct of American executive affairs. No other Vice President, so far as records show, ever presided at a cabinet meeting. In talcing his seat, Mr. Marshall set j at rest any theories that he might be acting as president. He said he was : attending the gathering '?informally : and impersonally, not undertaking to ! exercise any official duty or function."' This summary -of his statement was I given out at the White House: I "In assuming the chair and presid ; ing over what is known as a meeting j of the cabinet, I* deem it proper to 'make a brief statement so that my \ conduct' need not be misunderstood j nor misinterpreted. I am here and j am acting in obedience to the request ! preferred by the president upon the ! eve of his departure and also at your i request.\ But I am here informally and j impersonally and I am not undertak i ing to exercise any official duty or ; function. I shall preside in an un ! official ?end informal way over your j meetings out of deference to your de \ s:re and those of the president." j Before going to the White House, ? Mr. Marshall explained that the pres ' ident before departing for Europe had. j asked him to preside at the cabinet ; meetings and had repeated the re quest by wireless from the George Washington. Mr. Marshall made it ; plain, that h-> had no idea of "exercis ing the function of the president, j No business requiring the attention : ol the president -developed at. the ! cabinet session, it was said, and the I wireless carried^ no message from it to the ? presidential ship George j Washington. The cabinet meeting today was the j last which Secretary McAdo will at tend, as he will be succeeded next Monday by Carter Glass. Mr. McAdoo [bade farewell to members of the cab-' . inet and attaches of the executive of fices, although he will remain in j Washington until January- 1 or until his successor as director general ot ! railroads is appointed, i_ Once Reported Dead; Now Back on Duty; Lieutenant Caidweil Formerly of Chester and Columbia I Serving With His Regiment. Chester, Dec. 10.?Lieut. William' F. Caidweil. infantry, previously offi cially reported as having died October 9 from wounds received in action, is now reported as having reported for duty with the Three Hundred and Twenty-seventh Infantry, according to a telegram .iust received by his broth er. R. 13. Caidweil. from Adjutant General Harris. Lieut. Caidweil was formerly a prominent South Carolina newspaper writer. Krupps For Peace Munitions Works" Will be Trans formed into Factory of Useful Articles. Amsterdam. Dee. II.?The direc tors of the Krupp Munitions Works have announced the intention to transform their plant into a factory devoted to the arts of peace, and have requested the v orkers there to make proposals for the manufacture of peace materials, according to the Co logne (lazette. Discusses Longer Armistice - i O'man Newspaper Reports That Matter Will be Con sidered at Treves. Amsterdam, Dee. 11.?Discussions >ver the proposed prolongation of the irmistiee between the allies and Ger many will begin at Treves on Dec. fl'th, accordinp t-> the North German lazette. All shipping on the Rhine is r>ow under control of the inter-al ied commission. Paris. Tuesday. Dec 10.?Legal ac- ? :ion against the former German cm >eror has been commenced by the n-ganization cf Lille .Mothers.? They iaw presented a demand for the [>rcse< u?od of the commanders of he Germany army who in April, L016. directed that minor girls be noved from their families. They un ter force submitted to odious treat p. oh* ? \\ > were farced into close con* act with notorious women*