Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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CITY'S FINAN CIAL jEONDTT JON Pennings Makes Stale ?>f Bonded and Other Redness and Out IJw Policy iter, S. C., April 21, 1 ??20. fcfty Item. in your paper of April 16th owing: lancial condition of the City $T is guch that in the selec siiccessbr to Councilman care should he taken to elect a man who is a ~ conservative fi >r. The obligations that the City il has assumed arc greater than has ever before known, and. the situation is not desperate it for careful and judicial manage ;^p''vnot know from whp.t source 7ri^rived your information upon "the above srtatement was based, S^&ili give you the financial status rtheT city, and then the people can ^^?lor.the^selyes. 1 rhe citys total bonded indebtedness] 1454,750- The noie indebtedness' f28$,'^'0^.Vmaking a" total Indebted '?f $741,2f5.0. The city has a sink fun^ "4epo*site<I' in hank of $41. r.57. This suhstracted from the'to irideb'tedness leaves "a balance </f ide4 and note indebtedness of 700, '.^43. This consists of: ^>;cib^ hall'' .-:..'...$ 20,000 | jtedsj*Main street paving... ; 25,000 ids^ sewerage. 50,000 re?i? improvements . 243.750 r's^orks \. 11.6,0.0.0 ^n^es *..'._* 286,500 ijfr?jjt ibis ^6 to be deducted the ?'-^ iunx!; "of $.41,127.57, wi&h - -Sffi? ^ ^Jance of indebted-j s { We h'aVe*'just purchased the electric a^ad ice plant and the total cost. :-: j$cliidjng-ichat has already i?een paid! p^t ^ft'd'ftiat which has been contract-{ ' e$ 7fe-r and .vtKe amount estimated tfo j gffl^hV^aggreg?tes $546,08.6.62. consist-; ? !ig^ "Sur foi i o^-s: *' ? ;$^r|?? light..? ice plant $234.523.32 ^at? a^^ed "to plant 10,500.00 Mac&^ry purchased .... 185,406.00 IS^m^tea cost of bldg .. 100.000.00 - ;^?f^; : ;: \ " $530,429.32 ?' Bklance estimated for materials etc. irot yfitr purchased. $ 15.657.30. i "On this we have paid $291.658.78. ?The balance to be paid is $238.770.54 u^We bavle "not sold the authorized t^f|sh'4|Sue^of 5350.000. When that is jd^'fepfc will pay' the note indebtedness of''^'286,500 which was borrowed in '^ticiie^Qn of tbe_ sale of the bonds. .;.T^fiT~w4n leave^a balance from the -sale of? ^ojfOs frf 63.-500. / This sub \_ tracked fr,pmthe balance we will have to- pay to "complete the plant will leave $175,270.54. We have" cash on band at this date ^2.3,187,54. Tji|s subtracted from' the ^75.270.54 will leave a balance of $i&J>p]Xp, which" will have" to be .?^i.ouf of the current income. This ? ?'giiXpi&.itf-yrtil"''hot have to be paid ??ow^*oeca??e when we purchased the JSiachihery there was only a part to be paid upon delivery and the balance ? .l^T^n'tHe"*"'machinery was ercted and ?m'operation. 'Therefore we will not '.have to pay $104.012 of this amount ? until :?Stef October 1st. by which time ;we? sjhould receive a large' portion ?f^m the current income and what b^ajance' we will need we can easily borrow from the banks, as the amounft will jjgt be very large. The current income in excess of the expenditures for the fiscal year end ing June 30, 19IS. was $59^274.91; for the fiscal year ending June 30. 1919. was.$65,232.90; and to April 1. 1920, was $75,691.09. From this will have tp be deducted the fixed expenses from April 1, 1920, to June 30, 19*0, less any" inconv? from licenses, taxes, water rent, lights and ice to June 30. 1920, This' excess income over cur-j rent expenses for the three years, that | is. for the fiscal years "1918, 1919 and ' to April 1, 1920. aggregates $.204. 198.90. and if we estimated It will "take the $4.198.90 in addition to col lections which .will cojrpe in between ^pril'l and Jupe 50ih. 1920. for the current expenses, thig will leave a to tal of $200,000 excess of incoine for this _period over the current expenses. I am satisfied it can be safely estimat ed that this 152.000 can be paid easily ?ut of the eurrent income within the joes* two years. Not only was the $200.000 above re ferred to saved out of the eurrent in come over fixed expenses and used for permanent improvements, but in ad dition to this we have paid opt of the current income the city's interest and installments on the street bonds. Which aggregate $40.000. and in addi tion to 'thts*. we paid out of the cur rent income over and above the $200. 000 worth of bond? sold to pave the streets approximately $40.000. and in addition to this we have extended the water and sewer lines and have spent a considerable sum for this purpose, and in addition to this, we have laid aside as a sinking fund to retire the bonds at maturity approximately $11. 000. When I was first elected mayor there was no sinking fund laid aside for the redemption of any of the city bonds, but we have since laid aside I approximately $41.000 for ithis pur pose, all of which came o^t of the current income ?f the city. If we were able to pay all of these items out of the city's current income, in addition to that, accumulate the $200.-1 000 above referred to. which has been used in permanent improvements, such as the extension of water lines, sewer lines and in purchasing ma chinery for the electric light- plant, then I see no reason, even if the gov ernment of the city is not managed in the future by any more eompetent business men than it has been hi the past, why we should not be able to pay fcaick the'$152.Q00 above referred to out? of the current income within tha n*j?fc two yea rs. To the mipds of some over-eonser .-vative' financiers the city's financial eonditkui may seem alarming, but to jfce progressive business a4)d forward ?me^^^^?w???^???p? i 'looking- people the financial condition j of the City of Sumter will appear to I be in a very healthy condition'. I I? those in charge of the city's af fairs were spending more money for I current expenses than the income of the city, then the situation might call for a more judicious management than it has in the past, but when the city government is being maintained on a great deal less- than its current income, and when the excess current income is being expended in perman ent improvements, sueh as extensions of the water system, the sewarge sys tem* for fire protection, and adding to the electric ligjfrf. and ice plants, to rny mind this does not establish such 'a condition as calls'for alarm. If an indivndaul Tn"the qppfajion of his bus iness pays all of the expenses out' of the income and has left $50,000 and borrows another $50,000. and invests $100,000 in additional property, I would not call that a condition calling for different management than the management which saved the $50,000 above operating expenses and invest ed it. together with another $50,000 borrowed. This is the city's condition. We purchased the electric light and ice plants, which will cost in round ^numbers $550,000. We arc to issue only $350,000 worth of bonds, and will be able easily to pay the other $200. 000 put of the city's income. Which .would have, been better business? To have issued $550,000 of bonds and pay interest on same for 15 years, or only issue $350,000 and temporarily borrow the other $200,000 and pay it out of the savings from the city's in come after paying the fixed, expenses or the ctiy? When the $350,000 bond issue is sold then the city's total bonded in debtedness will be $804,750, with a sinking fund in hand of $41,127.57, which subtracted from the total bond ed indebtedness will leave $763,622.43. To offset this the city has its sewer system, waterworks, streets and its j elecetric light and ice plant and oth er equipment. . The assessed value for ta^es of the property in the city is $4,432,335. and [ am confident that the property is not returned for more than 20 per .*ent of its market value. On this bas-} is the actual value of the property ivithin the incoroporate limits is not ess than $20,000.000?not copsider ng hundreds of thousands of dollars >f bonds'and mortgages held by tax 3?yers which are not returned for axes at all?with an indebtedness of ess than $1,000,000. For myself. I vould rather have this indebtedness md have the watreworks, sewerage, itrects and electric lights and ice >lant than to have no bonded indebt ?dness and have none of these things. If, when you say care should be ta"k >p to elect a. stroirg man who is a !onsej*yative financier, as successor to 7ouncilman Booth you mean a man ivho will judiciously spend the city's* finances in extending our water and sewer lines, light.'lines, and px-opcrly jquiping and maintaining our fire de partment so that every on? may en joy these conveniences and fire pro tection, then I fully agree w|th you. but if you mean that we should elect a, strong man who is a conservative financier, "who will act in a miserly rnanner with the city's" funds and try and keep a large balance- in bank, in stead of using the* same for the ex tension of the public utilities, and for the purpose of keeping our city abreast, Jf not ahead, of other cities, then I do not agree with j'ou. I dp hope a strong man will be elected, biit a 'forward-looking man who has faith in our city'g future and who'has nerve to use the income of the city for its upbuilding*. As long as I am on Council I shall always vote tp use the surplus in come which is over and above the fix ed charges of maintaining the city "foyemmerit in extending pur public utilities, and'if it appears tp me to be wisdom to'borrow additional funds to add to these to properly make these ?xtensions. T shall vote to borrow same as long as it is within the law. j 1 am perfectly willing for the pub lic to judge whether the city's affair* have 'been handled, siiicp I ?ave been, connected with its government, in a business-like manner, or whether they | ha\? been handled in such a recklessi und wasteful manner that the city! should in the future elect stronger; and more conseiwative financiers. It has been my motto in life that I can j get more out of what money will buy than by hoarding up in bai^k. so long is my expenditures do not exceed my income, and I am satisfied that the people of the city can get more out of their public utilities, than they could by hoarding the surplus'income in the banks instead of investing it in these utilities, together with additional funds, if it be necessary to borrow and gradually repay the same. I am writing rather at length, but the article referred to herein! which was printed in your paper of the 16th, seems to reflect upon City Couucil when it says. "The financial condition <?f the City of Sumter is such that in the selection of a successor to Coun cilman Booth should be taken to elect a strong man who is' a conservative financier." It is. therefore, necessary to write at length in order that the peoplo may be given the facts as to the city's financial condition and how the government has been maintained and its present financial condition to day, because it will be .seen if the bonds authorized to Ke sold had Ijcen sold in the city, instead of owing for any current obligations would have in the treasury $86.6^7.51. Which would be enough to pay all expenses in connection with the lighting plant that will be due untfl' the rnachindry is erected and in operation, which will be some eight or ten months in the future. As to the fire equipment recently purchased. I beg tq say that the fire department was absolutely without necessary fire equipment, and; in my opinion, it was absolutely necessary to buy the new tire truck. In my judg ment it is also necessary to increase our water supply at the station in or der to have better fire protection, and I hope that the new Councilman who may be elected wil be broad enough to see the necessity of increasing the water supply. When it becomes nec essary to increase the fire equipnietu [and the water supply I am in favor ! of doing so, even if the city has not the cash at the time in bank to pay for same, by borrowing the necessary funds until the funds are in hand. I am not one of those who think it wis dom to have a poorly equipped hre department a.nd an insufficient water supply for fire protection rather than to borrow the money and buy the i equipment and increase the water j supply. It this be poor business and I reckless financing then I am in favor ! of poor business and reckless finan j cing as distinguished from good busl ines and conservative financing. Yours truly, L. D. JENINGS. i It is not the purpose of The Daily J item to engage in a long-winded con . troversy wijth Mayor Jennings res | pecting the financial status of the City of Sumter. For his information, or rather to satisfy his expressed curios ity on the point, it can bo stated that the fact's upon which the assertion was made that the City of Sumter has assumed greater obligations than ever before and that the situation calls for careful management, were obtained from the books of the city, and it is maintained that the somewhat detail ed statement given above by the May-, or substantiates the assertion, as any one who will take the trouble to an alyze "the figures for himself will be forced' to conclude. > The phase of the situation that we ! regarded as serious is the fact that the city is a large borrower from the banks, using the unsold bonds as se curity, which bonds have remained unsold for months after they should have been sold, and that there ap pears to be great difficulty in finding a buyer. In the meanwhile the city is paying a higher rate of interest to the banks than the bonds would bear; that the money was. borrowed from the banks on short term notes, with the promise^ to pay them at ma turity, which promises has not been kept, for the reason that a buyer for -the bonds has not been found. Until the bonds are sold and the money borrowed from the banks is repaid, the borrowing ability of the city will jbe necessarily curtailed and addition al funds to meet obligation- assumed i'or'the lighting plant and other ex penses will be difficult to obtain. A" subsidiary phase of the situation] ?that also seems to verge upon the iserious is the large financial obliga tion that the city has assumed in an ticipation of the collection of taxes? an amount so' great that Mayor Jen nings himself estimates that at least two years, under favorable conditions will be required to liquidate it. As w? understand the law. the city ii permitted to anticipate one year's in-, ,come from taxes, but not for a long er tei?n. By Mayor Jenning;? own (admission the income of the city for at least two years is pledged 'to the limit, and there is little if any mar gin, even on the'most liberal estimate, 'for extraordinary expenses or im provements that future conditions may render absolutely essential to the well-being of the community. If this is not a situation that calls for financial ability and conservatism we do not know a condition that would call for the exercise of those rqualities. That was all that was in tended or implied by the assertion that Mayor Jennings uses as a text, and which he seems to regard as a re: ?flection upon, or at the least, an at tack, by the implication upon his ad ministration and his policies in the conduct of the city's affairs. Taking it op the whble we have endorsed the policy of the city administration, al though in matters of detail it would be easy to find ground for criticism, but having no wish to play the fault finder we have not heretofore, nor will we now, criticize matters of mere ad ministrative detail that we have re garded as ill-advised. making cotton worth more Closer Relations Between Pro ducer and Consumer Good fo* Both Doston. -April 22.?Closer relations between grower and' spinner would increase the value or" cotton a billion dollars to the grower and insure a better product for the spinner. S. M. Cottrell told this National Association of Cotton Manufacturers. d. a7r. f^esTdent Mrs. George Minor Has No Op position Washington. April 2 2?Mrs. George ?Minor i3 unopposed for president gen eral of the Daughter 3 of the "Ameri can Revolution. corn price goes down Speculators Raid the Grain Mar ket Chicago. April 22. ?Sharp breaks again took place in the com market today. friendly to germany England and Italy Wanted Them at San Remo Conference Paris. April 22? (Havas)?The San Remo correspondent of the Matin says that Premiers Lloyd George ami Nitti suggested that Germany be in vited to take part in the discussions here mit finally yielded on objections by Premier Milerand. Washington. April 16.?Enactment of legislation author-zing the War |je ipartihent to dispose of its surplus supply of nitrate of soda, in order t< relieve the shortage of fertilizers, was, WILL DISCUSS ''MODERN UNREST" D. H. McGibeny Selects Timely Topic for Chautauqua. We?-Known Writer and Lecturer Has Wide Knowledge of Pres ent-Day Conditions. Donald H. McGibeny, novelist and traveler, comes with a broad back ground of experience to lecture at the D. H. McGIBENY. Redpath Chautauqua on "The Mod ern Unrest." This lecture is to a great extent a study of bolshevism and what it aims to accomplish, t Mr.'McGibeny has given much time to the investigation of bolshevism, not only abroad but'in America as well. His experiences in Washington in tracking down*the national society of anarchists revealed important events of present-day history. Besides being a lecturer of unusual ability, Mr. McGibeny has also re ceived marked recognition as a writ er. The Ladies' Home Journal Is car rying each month a story by him, il lustrated in color, and a new Mc Gibeny novel. "Bullet Proof," has just been published. CHERAW BESTS SUMTER. Cheraw. April 16?Cheraw "High School defeated Sumter High to the tune of IS to The feature of the game, was the excellent lidding of Donald Mateson. Batteries: Cheraw, Graham and McPherson; Sumter Brightwell, Chandler and Wheeler. J The selection of Ihe successor of !.Councilman Booth should not be left io a bap-hazard guess. The manage ment of the business affairs of the city call for the services of the ablest j arid most public spirited citizens that [ the town affords. THE COST OF COTTON j Department ' of Agriculture Tardily j j Coiifirms Statement That Cotton Has Been Sold at Less Tlian Production) Cost. j (Manufacturers Record. Baltimore) j ! For a year or more there has been! jan impression that the U. S. Depart ement of Agriculture ha^.1 compiled a report as to the actual jrost of cotton production, but that some influence ? was sufficiently great to keep the facts from being given to the public, i Whether correct or not, there ? [would seem to be some basis for'the; j belief thus held, since the Department I j of Agriculture has just issued a re-; j port on the cost of cotton compiled | j for the crop of 191$: Had the "facts i : which are now made public officially | : been known when they were compil-i ?od there would never have been anyj ! denunciation of Southern farmers fori I their efforts to secure a fair price for j cotton during the last two years. As'j I a matter of faet a very large part of; ithe cotton crop of 1918 and 1919 was! 1 sold much below the.figures which the! ! Department of Agriculture officially; | gives as the actual cost of production i |in 1918. The cotton bear gamblers,: Ithe misinformed men like Randall N. I j Durfee. Governor Allen and others, j isome honestly misinformed, some sei-i j iishly misinformed!! have been de-j jnouncing the South for the price ofj j cotton when the National Government! ihad in its possession the actual figures! !which proved that the cost of cotton! (production was below the selling price j j for a large part of the time during i which the South has been thus so { [vigorously berated. m The question may very -natural ly ! and very properly be asked. Why j were not these figures promptly given Ko the public a year and half^ ago? Why were they held in abeyance and j the cotton producers made to suffer a (tremendous loss because they found it 'impossible to convince the public of j the truth of their reports as 19 the 'cost of cotton production while the ! Government had the figures in its pos i session, but withheld them from the public until March 24. 1920. although; ; they were gathered in the spring of; 11919. a year Vtgo. The Government figures are not en-j j tirely fair to the cotton growers, even | as they stand. But based on the ac-; ! tual returns from 842 farms scatter- j ed over the South, from South Caro-{ lina to Texas, it was shown that the! i average cost on these farms was 28 j cents per pound for lint cotton. But! these farms gave a very much high- j ; er average than the net yield for the \ i entire South. In this report the aver-! ; age yield of 842 farms selected is given at 227 pounds of lint cotton per j acre, but as a matter of fact the av-j I erage yield of the entire South in 1918 was only. 155.9 pounds per acre.1 Where the yields were high the cost j per pound was comparatively low.; and where the yield was light cost wasj high, is the statement of the Depart-i ment: but that, is a fact which is soj well known that it hardly needed pub lication. I The Department, basing its estimate' on the return of these S42 farms. says: "The cost almost co-incides with the price actually received for the crop in question, namely, about 29 cents." Jf the actual cost of production and the actual selling price were prac tically the same, how is it possible for the Department of Agriculture to claim as it does that the cotton farm ers had a prosperous year in 1918, when it admits that their cotton was sold at the' cost of production? The 19IS crop was produced from mater ial, contracted for 1917 and at the wages then prevailing. This was be fore the great n.dvance in materials and labor, which made the crop of 1919 cost very much more than the crop of 1918. So great has been the increase in wages and materials that if we were to accept as correct the Department of Agriculture's estimate of 28 cents per pound as the cost of cotton production for 1918, the cost for this year will probably be' at least 50 per- eent higher, which would very nearly tally with the claims of many cotton authorities throughout the South, who have given far more study to the cost of production than has the Department of Agriculture. But it is ati least some satisfaction, late in the day as it is, to know that the Depart ment of Agriculture lias admitted ad much as it has now made public, to the. effect that the cotton crop of 1918 cost as much as the price at which it' was sold not, of course, including the value of the seed. As a matter of fact the average cost of production ?' that year must have very greatly exceed ed the estimate of the Department, for the average yield on the farms se lected was far greater than the av erage for the entire South. AUTOMOBILES MUST STOP. Columbia, April 17?The following is the text of an act adopted at the re cent session of the Legislature, which is of special interest to all automobil ists: "An act to. make it unlawful for any person driving a motor vehicle which strikes any person to fail to stop and render assistance, and the failure to stop .is prima facie evidence of negli gence in any suit against any person in such motor vehicle. ''Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Staute of South Carolina, every person driving a motor vehicle, which strikes or hits any person or another ' vehicle shall stop such motor vehicle at once and render such assistance as he or' she can, and shall, upon request give his or her name and postoffice ad dress and the license number of his motor vehicle. "Section 2. Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisonment' not more than one year or both." completed today with the ad potion by the Senate of the House amendment limiting the amount that can be sold to any one person to 100 tons. The legislation now goes to the President LAND OWNERS! Let Us Sell Your Selling Land By Our Own Modem Auction Methods Our 1910 Sales Amounted to Approximately Eleven Million Dollars WE SERVE and try to satisfy YOU first Your interest is our first interest. Business men, re sponsible trustees and administrators employ us. They endorse our Auction Method and Land Sell ing Service?definite claims which we can'prove. They justify your confidence in our ability to get results for you. Give us an opportunity to explain our perfect service?the Rind YOU want?the service that was designed to sell your land for its full com mercial value. Our MODERN AUCTION METH OD is logically adopted to securing LARGEST RETURNS. i \ No matter if your farm is rented for 1920, we can sell it for you NOW. We handle city, suburban and farm properties ?farm lands especially, Write us today. Let us tell you of our "Seller Purchaser-Tenant* plan. Atlantic Coast Realty Co. '?The Xamo That .Justifies Vom- Coufldeucc" OFFICES: Petersburg, Va., and Greenville, N. C. Reference: Any person for whom we have sold. BANK REFERENCES: Anv Bank in Petersburg, Va., or Greenville, N. C.