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W?P?Iggggg was?? Mr. Jennings Re plies to Mr. Booth Lengthy Discussion of Various Phases of the Administration of the City Government Editor The Daily Item: I hope you will pardon me for trespassing: upon your space again to . reply to the article of Mr. Booth in your issue of last Friday. Mr. Booth has referred to four sep W-, ?rate matters in his letter: ' 1. The Jail matter. .2. Gity improvements, f { Z. Hard surface roads. 4. City funds. I will reply to these in their order, and in doing sc I will only use facts and will not draw on my imagination. |\ X stated in my former letter that the $25,000 jail fund was on deposit] in the National Bank of Sumter, ; bearing interest at the rate of 4 per cent. This fact has not been/ dis proved, but Mr. Booth attempts to explain. Now let's see what his ex planation is. He states the interest r >& paid quarterly, but it is at 4 per ^ cent, which makes very little differ ent^ in paying Interest quarterly and Annually; so that for all practical purposes- this money is deposited at a rate of 4 per cent. Mr. Booth says the jail was not built because they found that it would cost about $60.000, when they only had $25.000. It does seem that She jail commission should have ;found this out oefore the county bor rowed the $25,090 because the act provides that the money is to be borrowed as needed to pay the archi Hp|ecte and contractors. So it seems to me that the jail commission should have- found out they could not build the jail with $2.5.000 and so notified the county , board of commissioners before this $25,000 was borrowed. He states the bank loaned the money at 4 3-4 per . cent interest, and you could'. not expect the bank to volun feriiy increase the rate to the coun ty to 8 per cent. The minutes of the county board show the National Bank of Sumter on, March 7t 1916, loaned the county $25,000"at per cent for 30 days. It was stated this was done until the notes could be floated in New York for the $25,000. I have no doubt tout that the notes were payable to the National Bank of Sumter but were sold to some bankings institution in New York, and that the National Bank of Sumter has not been carry ing this loan and did not carry it un til the notes were paid. % This loan, was to be paid back $5, 000 in one year, $5,000 in two years, $7,000 in three years and $8,000 in four years, and it all has been paid toaek for mom than a year; $5 000 of which has been paid back for more thani four years, $5,000 for more than three years, $7,000 for more than two. years, and $8,000 for niore than one year, and was paid back out of money collected by way of . taxes from the people, and cer tainly this money was worth at least 8 per cent to the people who paid it If the jail commission had first found out that the jail could not be built for $25,000 ancl so notified the county board of commissioners, then it irould not have been necessary to have borrowed this money, and if it had not been borrowed it would not have been necessary to collect the taxes to pay it back. However, the legislature at its succeeding session made provision for the county board of_ commissioners to raise whatever was necessary to build the jail, and this was done in 1917, and it is now 1921 and we have no jail yet. JEyen if the county did borrow the money- for part of the time at 4 3-4 per cent, that was no reason why the National Bank of Sumter "should have it at 4 per cent when at the same time that bank and the other banks in the city of Sumter were paying 5. per cent on time deposits. Suppose the money had. been given to the comity? Would that be any reason why any particular bank should have it free of interest? I have never stated the county could get 8 per cent interest oh mon ey deposited in the bank, but I did state the money was worth 8 per cent to the people, and I still say that it is. As a matter of fact. I am sat isfied most of them now would like .to 'have it even at a cost of 20 per cent, because they cannot get any at any rate. Mr. Booth states that he has under advisement the transfer of these funds to the Peoples* Bank if that bank would pay 8 per cent interest. This shows he must have control of the fund, and if so, ttiep why has he not for the past five years negotiated with some other bank or banks to ascertain if they would pay a great er rate than 4 per . cent. Why. wait until the jail matter was brought up ? He states, the loss, to the county by reason of the money bearing only 4 per'cent interest is only a little over $500. If . the money had not been collected from the people by way of taxes it would have been worth 8 i per cent to them, and figured ct: this basis and taking into consideration the time the money was borrowed at 4 3-4 per cent, the people have ac tually lost for five years $2,892.82. almost $3,000. and yet Mr. Booth says he is conserving the taxpayers' inter est. If this fund had originally been put in bank out of the tax money in stead of the county borrowing at 4 V3-4 per cent, the people would have lost around $6,000, but I want to be perfectly fair and during the time the county had the money borrowed at at 4 3-4 per cent they would only loss the difference between the two rates, but as soon as the money was repaid from taxes, then the people, out of whom it was collected, were losing the difference between 4 per cent and 8 per cent. Mr. Booth states that the rate which the bank had to pay the fed eral reserve bank for at least four years of this time was less than the rats the bank paid the county, but Jir. Booth neglected to state the fed eral reserve bank required a balance ?o be kept, and even if that were jruo, stiil ,m ban** W 0? Sumter at the Bame time were paying other people 5 per cent on time de posits. Mr. Booth 3tates that the city's sinking fund was on deposit with the ^banks at 5 per cent, and I could be equally justly criticised for not get ting a higher rate of interest when i during some of this period the city ! was borrowing money at 8 per cent, j If I could be equally justly criticised, j then Mr. Booth should bear his pro portion of the criticism because all ! of the sinking fund that is now in I the banks was placed there while Mr. Booth was on city council, and his bank has had up until within the last 30 days a larger sum of thi3 sink ing fund than the Peoples' Bank has had. Therefore, you will see that when Mr. Booth criticises me tor the sinking fund only bearing 5 per cent he neglects to tell you he is equally responsible for the rate of interest obtained. . I never yet heard him make any complaint in council that the sinking fund should bear a high er rate of interest, and the city's funds have always been, since I have been mayor, handled entirely by the clerk, usually by the direction of city council, and not by one of its mem bers. Mr. Booth further knows that the law provides this sinking fund should be created and when so created should be held to retire the bonds at maturity, and that it would be un lawful, for the city to withdraw these funds and use them for any other purpose.* He neglected to state that, I although he seems to know the law because he says I ought to know it is unlawful to use the jail fund for any other purposes. I never con tended it rhould be used for any oth er purpose, but I did contend and do now contend if the funds were not to be used immediately for the building of the jail they should have been placed where the highest rate of in terest could be obtained, because that is what we have done with the city's sinking fund. As a matter of fact, since May 1st we have obtained from all of the banks of the city of Sumter except one which has no part of this fund including the bank of which Mr. Booth ia president, a rate of 6 per cent, on the city's sinking fund. Has Mr. Booth obtained 6 per per cent on the jail fund? No, he says he has it under advisement. I wonder how long he will keep it un der advisement and keep the fund in the National Bank of Sumter at 4 per cent. Mr. Booth says he is now con templating and he supposes Mr. Rowland could agree, to award me the contract to build the jail at $30, 000. Everyone knows this answers no question and is purely puerile, and is about as puerile as many other statements made in Mr. Booth's com munication. I did state that building material had gone down considerably. As a matter of fact, the same build ing brick that cost $30 last year can now be bought for $12.50. Cement and lime is down almost one-half. You can get brick laid for about one-half what you could a year ago, and all other material has gone down very considerably. The jail will be built mostly out of brick, cement and lime; and three of the principal ma terials which will be used in the jail have gone down practically half. Therefore, if the jail could be built for $60,000 when material and labor were twice as high as it now is, cer- j tainly it could be built . now for about one-half, but Mr. Booth has not stated whether the commission has got any recent estimates, but he says they have gotten two or three estimates since money was borrow ed. He says I am the county attorn ey, and therefore, was derelict in my duty for not bringing this matter up and having it corrected. If Mr. Booth had taken the trouble to find out he would have ascertained the fact that I am only employed to advise the county board upon their request, and I have never yet suggested any opinion to the county board, and have only given them opinions when called upon. I have never attempted to interfere with their duties as com missioners, and I never expect to do bo. because I am .not employed for such purpose. Mr. Booth admits the old jail is un sanitary, but he says when It comes to building a jail that will cost a great deal more than the legislative delegation contemplated and collect- j ing this additional money out of the taxpayers; that as between the people i that transgress the law and are there by confined in this unsanitary build ing and the taxpayers his idea would be to conserve the taxpayers' inter est as against the comfort and con venience of the law breakers, who by their own deliberate acts caused their misfortune of having to occu py the old jail. Let's see whether Mr. Booth is as careful abut conserving the interest of the taxpayers when by so doing it affects the interest of the institutions in" which he ia interested as he is when by conserving the taxpayers' interest he is at the same time con serving his own interest as a tax payer. If this aditional money was raised by taxes to build the jail, then Mr. Booth would have to pay his proportionate part of the taxes. If the bank of which Mr. Booth is pres ident paid a greater rate than 4 per cent interest on the jail fund, then it would lessen the dividends of the bank, but if Mr. Booth was so so licitous about the interest of the tax payers, and if he was more solicitous about the interest of the taxpayers, land if he was more solicitious about j the interest of the taxpayers than he was about the interest of the bank,, then it does seem as if he would not have waited so long to take under advisement the matter of trying to get additional interest on the jail fund. I am simply gi; ing the facts and it is for the people to judge how solicitous Mr. Booth is for the tax payers, when it conflicts with the in stitution with which he is connected. Mr. Booth admits that the old jail is unsanitary, but says as between the people confined therein and the taxpayers it is his idea to conserve the interest of the taxpayers. It is often the case that people are con fined in the jail charged, with crime, but when the are tried they are fptil# to innocent, yei under Mr. MSB?g?M????MMIIII Ml?H? J Booth's idea and on account of sav ing: the taxpayers a little money, they should be kept in an unsanitary jail . and perhaps contract some disease ,which may cause their death. As for my part, I would be willing- to pay my proportionate part of the addi tional taxes that are necessary to build a sanitary jail in which to con fine human beings, even though they be guilty of the crime of which they are charged. Christ said He came to call the sinners and not the righteous to repentc-nce. Perhaps Mr. Booth forgets that Paul, the Apostle, was confined in a iai', but it is to be hoped he was not put in an unsanitary jail which was kept and maintained on account of some one. having some idea about conserv ing the peoples' taxes, like Mr. Booth says he has. I may be wrong, but a 1 human being to me is a human be l ing, although he has wandered away I from the paths of rectitude, and al though he has committed crime yet his health should not be jeopardized because he has so wandered. Mr. Booth says some people re mind him very much of a kid with 25o to spend, he cannot rest until he has found some candy or toy store in order to get rid of his wrealth. Of course, he is referring to me in this instance, but I would like to remind him of the fact that when I am spending the twenty-five cents of other taxpayers in, public improve ments I am likewise spending my own twenty-five cents along with the others, and I am not keeping any in any institution of which I am presi ded and the twenty-five cents of the public and all of the candy going into the institution. Mr. Booth says the jail will be built in due time. It is to be hoped it will, but what he means by "due time" I do not know, as it has beer over five years and the due time has j not expired. If we believe in the Bible Judgment Day will surely com-j in due time, and if Mr. Booth man ages the jail proposition in the future as he has in the past when Gabriel's trumpet shall sound and both the quick and the dead shall come forth, the prisoners then confined in the jail in Sumter county will have to meet their Maker coming forth from the old unsanitary jail. Mr. Booth next discusses city im provements, and he states: "Mr. Jennings takes great pride in imagin ing he is the pioneer in all improve ! ments of every nature in the city and county, but as a matter of fact. ! these improvements began before he was ever heard of in public life." I do not think Mr. Booth can find any j one who would say they had ever heard me say or ever seen anything [ which I have written in which I I claimed in the slightest degree that I was responsible for any of the city's f improvements or enterprises. I have always left that to be passed upon I by other people. But I am at least [ proud to say that I was not a mem ber of the commission that built the ; sewerage system. Mr. Booth seems j to take pride in stating that he was a member, but I think if I had been I a member of that commission I would \ be glad if the people would forget i the fact, as I would like to remind Mr. Pjotn that abut one year after the sewer line was completed on Sa lem Avenue it went to pieces and cost the city more than $17.000 to re build it, and this sewer line was built by fhe commission of which Mr. iooth was a member. Not only did it go to pieces on Salem Avenue but j several places in the eastern part of the city, that cost the city several ! more thousand dollars to replace. I I am at least glad that this kind of job was not a part of the improvements' made after I was heard of in public | life. Perhaps Mr. Booth has forgot i ten. although' he seems to have a i vivid recollection as to who suggest ! ed at the first meeting of council the ! question of paving the streets, that the first campaign I made for mayor under the old commission form of government I stated if elected I would see that Main street was paved if the city had to be bonded to do it.. I was elected, the city was bonded and Main street was paved. Did Mr. Rowland suggest this at the first council meet- j ing? My recollection is Mr. Rowland was not even a member of this coun- j cil; he was elected some two or four years later. It is a fact, however, before I was taken down with typhoid fever in 1917 city council had agreed to pave Liberty street to the city lim its on the west and to pave the side walks to the city limits, and to pave the street with asphalt, just like the ?balance of Liberty street is paved from Wright street on. While I was down with typhoid fever council changed this and left off the side walks and changed the kind of pavement, and everybody knows the kind of street we have on the end of West Liberty. When I got up from typhoid fever and after I found out about the change and before the street was built I protested and had it so noted on the minutes. Perhaps this was done to conserve the inter est of the taxpayers, but now we see vtrhat kind of street we have out there and no sidewalks. I. was exceedingly anxious indeed at the last campaign to have Mr. Booth run for the office of mayor, and let the people determine which policy they would prefer, a policy like that of Mr. Booth of conserving the interest of the taxpayers or a policy of spending the taxes and im proving the city and making it a more beautiful and better place in which to live. Sometime before the election Mr. Booth came to me and stated several strong business men had been to him to get him to run for mayor; that both he and 1 had strong friends and should both run it might create some strife and would not be for the best interest of the city, and that he had another plan to suggest. I asked him what it wan and he said for both to stand aside and put in a third party, he at the time sugesting the third party. I told him I was not trying to hold on to the. office of mayor longer as it took up a great deal of my time, but I knew of the various caucauses which had been held at which they were trying to bring him out for mayor and at which they were out feeling his chances, and that he could go hack and toll them for me that I was j now in the race to the finish and to j trot him or any other candidate out jand I would meet them on election day. This is the last I have ever heard of Mr. Booth's candidacy for j mayor. His political feet either must ! have become frozen or paralyze/h 'Sometime ago I heard that some of the soreheads were going to call a mass meeting to condemn the expen diture of money in the building of the ice and light plant. I stated to the party who gave me thi information to tell them to call their meeing and all I desire would be to give me the same time on my side as all of the soreheads had on their side, and when the meeting was over I thought the people would know more about the electric light and ice plant and more about who the soreheads were; but the mass meeting seems to have gone the same route as Mr. Booth's can didacj' for mayor took. I am sorry indeed that Mr. Booth did not make the race in order that his policies might be passed upon bj I the public. The last night Mr. Booth was on council council had up the J question as to whether it w*as wise I to buy a new fire apparatus. Mr. Mc [Callum and I determined that it was. j but Mr. Booth thought it was not. I and because Mr. McCallum and I die not consider that his judgment anc [ vote should be counted for mort than both of ours he resigned from I council and thereby deprived the tax payers of their wonderful protector; but I am glad to say the electric light plant which we had under con struction then has been completed, even without the aid of the counsel, advice and judgment of Mr. Booth. He is a comparatively young man yet. and still has time in which to tes. his policies before the people. The next issue discussed by Mr Booth is the hard surface roads, anc he states: "He (referring to me) promised 125 miles of roads whei they advocated good roads before the people: only asked for a bond issue o two and a-half million dollars t< build these 125 miles of road, am further gave assurance that the bond; would not bear interest greater thai 5 or 5% per cent. Now would it bi keeping faith with the people to at tempt to build roads at anything like this cost when the aggrregate woulc run to more than four million dollan when you figure the cost of concrete bridges that would have to be built." I do not know where Mr. Booth got his information as to what I ad vocated before the people, but I d< know that Mr. Booth did not take in terest enough in the good roads prop osition to attend a single campaigr i meeting which vas held in the coun- ! ty, and I do nx think he attended the one which was held in the cit> of Sumter. Had he been present he never would have made the abov< statement. I did not promise 12f miles of road, nor did-1 promise tht i rate of interest would be 5 or 0V2 pei cent; but, on the contrary, I told the people 125 miles could not be built for two and a-half million dollars, and as a matter of fact, suggested te the legislative delegation three ant j a half million, nor did I tell them the I bonds could be sold for 5 per cent 01 5 Vz per cent because 1 did not know, j '?but I did tell the people that as fai as my vote was concerned this two i and a half million dollars would bi spent in equal proportions on all o: the roads of the proposed system; that is to say, I told the people ifi this money would only build IOC miles of hard surface roads then the same number of miles would be built on each road that was a pan of the system leading from the city of Sumter. Mr. Belser attended some of these meetings, Mr. Davis Moise some. Mr. J. H. Clifton some, Mr. S. A. Harvin some, Mr. J. B. Britton some, Mr. J. p. Bland some and Mr. Stanyarne Burrows some, and a great many people attended all of them, and I am satisfied Mr Booth cannot find a single person among any of them who can say 1 promised the people any such thing as he states in his article that I did, and I state most emphatically I made no such promises. I will further state that when we held the first meeting I think it was. the question came up as to how the money should be expended on the roads, and I stated at this meeting in the presence of Mr. Booth the promises which T had made to the people, and I stated them just as they are stated above, and Mr. Booth took ?the position that if one road was 20 miles in lengh and another only 10, and if there was not money enough to pave all the roads to the county limits, then the 20 mile road should have twice the paving as the ten mile road. I then stated and con tended that the board should stand by the pledges made to the people that the same mileage would be built on each road, and there was a stiff argument up in which Mr. Booth took the opposite view from me, and I am staisfied every member of the board will bear me out in this- and how Mr. Booth can now say I prom ised 125 miles with two and a-half million dollars I cannot understand. Not only did I not make thi.* promise, but the legislative delegation met with our board and agreed in writing, in order to complete this sys tem of 125 miles, to satisfy everybody by building each road to the county line, they signed a written agreement agreeing to pass an act giving the board the power to issue what addi tional bonds might be necessary to build this system. Why did not Mr. Booth then say something about my having promised the 125 miles of good roads for the two and a half mil lion dollars? I am mentioning this to keep the record straight. Mr. Booth's recollection does not seem to be *s good a out this matter as it was about his recollecting that Mr. Rowland at the first meeting of council suggest ed the paving of the streets. Who does it appear now was trying to keep good faith with the people? I prom ised them equal mileage on every road; I have been trying to do that; (Mr. Booth did not take enough inter jest to attend a meeting and did not know what was promised, and he j advocated putting more miles on some roads than on the others. I did not state we could sell the bonds for 5 or 5 1-2 per cent, and T am now ? willing to sell the bond? and pay 0 :->er cent and build the roads. Mr. Booth voted to sell them at 5 3-4 per :ent.. therefore if I had promised che people either 5 or 5 1-2 per cent, and it would be breaking good faith to pay 6 per cent, then I would like to know of Mr. Booth whether it! a'ould not be breaking good faith to) pay 5 3-4 per cent? So if I have] broken any good fait* and if he feels1 bound by the promises I made to the1 people, or that the other people who' spoke made, then he should not have' /oted to pay 5 3-4 for money. So ailj his good faith proposition is nothing j nore than propaganda against going i )n and building the good roads. He' states in his article it will cost $3.00 I i square yard. Several contracts have! x>en let recently in other parts of the' Itate and in North Carolina, and on country roads at that, for $2.73 aj Quare yard, which would make the -oads cost between $2S.0<>0 and $30, 00 a mile, depending, of course, upon he extent of the grading, and we lave very' little grading in this count}*. Yes, Mr. Booth says the roads will >e built in due time All I have to say about this is his due time may run n the roads case just 'ike it is in the ail case. I am willing to go on and :pend my 25 cents and at the same ime spend other peoples' 25 cents, -ut I am willing for thern to have heir proportionate share ?'f the can Iy, and I will not take their 25 cents ?.nd put it in the bank of which I am ?resident at a lower rate of interest .nan the other barks are laying for1 like deposits. Mr. Booth can-iot set ncvay from the idea that the city paid $1.05 per yard or streets that will now cose from '2.50 to $3.0G per yard. At the time he city paved the streets there was /ery little work going on of this char icer. Since then and now it has in reased many times and I have no dea we will ever build streets that heaply again, and we will lo riding n the old roads we have, that :s, fu-l ure generations wili. perhaps until udgment Day, should Mr. Booth's iews obtain. 1 believe in progress and not in I tanding still, and I am always willing o pay my proportionate part, but if Jj ry to conserve my taxes I will at the ame tims try to conserve other ?eople's. I The last proposition Mr. Booth dis-j :ussed was the city funds in the *eoples Bank. Ke states that between! )ctober 20th and May 1, 1921. the' ombin^d deposits of the other banksi ras $91.000, and in the same period! he Peoples* Bank $549.000, and the ?eoples Bank was used during these nonths for the clerk and treasurer's becking account, and that the cus om of city council in the assignment ?f duties of various members of coun il for- a number of years had been hat one member was more particu arly in charge of the water works, me in charge of the streeet depart ment and the fire department, etc.. nd that the matter of finances and he legal end of the city's affairs was eft with the mayor. All I had to do rith the financial end of it was that I vas instructed to find out where we ould borrow money when we need d it. Then the matter wa3 brought tp before council, and council au horized the borrowing of the money, md I would sign the note, along with he clerk, and turn the note over to lim and I had no more to do witn the oan. Since I have been maycr we have .ad as clerks. Messrs. C. M. Hurst, ). M. Blanding, E. K. Rhame and . W. Brun son. If Mr. Booth can urnish the proof that I ever suggest d to any of them in the slightest way o deposit a single dollar in the Peo des Bank or to favor it in any other vay, then I will donate to a charit able institution the sum of five thou .and dollars. As a matter of fact, I have always voted in city council for he city's money to be deposited in ?qual proportions in all of the banks n the city of Sumter, and if Mr. looth can furnish any proof I have ver taken any other position at any. ime, then I will likewise donate the aid five thousand dollars. Perhaps j dr. Booth is judging me by what hei vould have done had he been in harge of the city's finances. XSERT B. On one occasion Mr. Booth asked j ne if I had any corn for sale. I told: dm I had. He said he would like to >uy some. I asked him for what, and; te said for the city. I to!d him under io circumstances would J sell the city orn or anything else while I was :nay >r, even though they paid me the narket price for it. He said I was oolish if I had corn to sell and want ?d to sell not to sell it to the city. On another occasion when we we> e ;alling for bids for the city's stable nanure Mr. Booth suggested that 1 put in a bid. I told him under no ;ircumstances would I do so. because I would not be both buyer and seller, because council was representing the ;ity, and if we sold the manure or inything else ourselves or bought it 'rom the city we would be both buy ;r and seller. Mr. Booth was in charge of the; street department, and was empower-; .>d to purchase sup-dus for same, such is mules, wagons, harness, feed and other articles which were needed, arid some considerable time after Mr. Booth was in charge of this depart ment it came to my attention that Mr. Booth was and had been buying from the Bootli-Boyls Live Stock Co., of which he was president, and in which he owned 13-30 of the capital Htock, such supplies for the city as this company handled. "When this matter came to my attention I brought it up ;n council meeting, and stated in substance that it was not only im proper for .Mr. Booth to buy from the Booth-Boyle Live Stock Co.. of which he was president and owned a large part of the stock, but that it was a .violation of the law. and that I in tended to state on the record that I was opposed to the city buying any thing from the Booth-Boyle Live Stock Co.. because Mr. Booth held 13-30 of the stock. I held 2-3U of the stock and .Mr. Rowland 1-30; whereupon it was agreed by the entire council that in the future nothing would be pur chased from the Booth-Boyie Live Stock Co.. and it was so noted on the minutes of city council of that day. I 1 stated at the time I was satisfied Mr. Booth's company sold to the city through Mr. Booth just as cheap, ii not cheaper, than he eou'd purchase tt from any other company, as my recollection is Mr. Booth stated it was I ' furnished to the city at practically jcost. but I stated that ?hd not alter I the case because it was in violation of j the law and then it did not look good ! to purchase from a company <n which 'all of council held stock, and was not j fair to other people in the business, land, the entire council, including Mr. Booth, agreed it should not be done in the future, as Mr. Sooth remarked in his letter, "people in glass house3 should not throw stones" So I do not think after I brought this up moie than five years ago that I wouhl have tried to influence the clerk to favor the Peoples Bank, of which I was president and held stock, with the city's deposits. j As a matter of fact. I do not think the Peoples Bank has been favored ! by any of the clerks. I understand j from Mr. Brunson, and I only ascer [ tained this fact within the last 30 j days, that the Peoples Bank had been I used by him as a checking account, and that if he had S500.000 deposit ed in all of the banks and wanted to draw the $500,000, he would send out a check on the Peopies Bank for the $500,000 and draw a check on each of the other banks and deposit them in the Peoples Bank, and by this method all the deposits that went through the other banks" would like wise go through the Peoples Bank, and this is how it is shown that the Peoples Bank had this large deposit referred to by Mr. Booth. As a mat ter of fact, in October, the time Mr. Booth refers to. the city had an over draft at the Peoples Bank of something ever $4600. Mr. Booth seems to be quite interested as to the deposits go ing into the various banks while at the same time he claims to be inter ested in the interest of the taxpayers. Sometime around August the city sold to the various banks some of its bonds, and the city made an agree ment with the banks that while they held the bonds they would be exempt ed from taxes. Mr. Booth's bank purchased some of these bonds, but disposed of them before the taxes be came due, and the other banks did likewise. Having done so, they were not entitled to have them exempted from taxes, or to haw the amount paid for the bonds exempted from taxes, but after the . ends were sold and before the taxes became due, I took it up with city council and sug gested it would be nothing but fair to allow the banks 8 per cent for the money which they hAd paid for the bonds, or rather, the difference be tween 6 and 8 per cent, as the bonds had drawn a rate of 6 per cent inter est. To this council agreed. Subse quently va committee representing some of the banks and the cashier representing Mr. Booth's bank came before city council insisting that the ! banks should be exempted from taxes to the extent of the bonds they had . purchased. I took th3 position that the banks ought to be satisfied with I 8 per cent., as that was all they could have loaned the money for had they not purchased the bonds for the banks, (and having sold the bonds prior to the time taxes were due were not entitled to the exemption and especially as the I city had not had the money more than 4 months. However, a majority of council thought otherwise, and this resulted in Mr. Booth's bank getting ! interest at a rate of approximately 13 per cent for the money which it had paid for the bonds. Does this look like protecting the interest of the tax payers or the intersst of the bank? The Peoples Bank declined this ex emption and only accepted interest at 8 per cent. Mr. Booth further states that . Messrs. Raffield and McCallum sug- ? gested at the last council meeting a ?? change in the city deposits. This mat ter was not mentioned at the last council meeting until I brought up the matter of the unequaT disposition of che sinking fund ,and then there was something said by Mr. Raffield about having heard that the Peoples Bank was being favored with the city de posits; and the clerk explained he j had been using the Peoples Bank as a checking account and that the city had not been in sufficient; funds at any time for the deposits to be worth anything at any bank, and the Peoples Bank had not been favored. My recollec tion is this was all that was said about the matter, and Mr. Booth says this was an injustice to tae other banks. If the banks had been ? s just to the city as the city has been u the banks in the last 12 months then council would not have had so much trouble in raising funds with which to com plete the electric light plant. After all of the bonds had been sold by the banks which they had purchased and the city did. not owe the banks a single dollar the clerk was sent to each bank to request them to loan the city $5.000. as it was in need of funds, and I told the clerk to inform the other banks if the other banks would lend tht city $5.000 each the Peoples Bank would do likewise. The clerk returned stating each of the banks said they had no funds to lend ? che city. That is the kinel of justice 'the city got, but I was fortunate enough in making arrangements in New York to get all the money the city needed; yet Mr. Booth is com plaining about what h ). calls injustice, and cites as an insta .ce the deposits which passed through the Peoples Bank in the method heretofore ex plained. But he has warned you in advance in his article not to pay any attention to the explanation. He must* have known the explanation would knock Into smithereens his charges. Just a few more words in reference to the sinking fund to which Mr. Booth referred. I an.- only referring to this again in order that you may see that if I were in control of the city's finances and used my official po sition to advance the interest of the Peoples Bank, then 1 was derelict in handling this sinking fund. This sinking fund has been accumulated for several years, being added to once each year; and on the first day of May 1921, it was deposited in the var ious bank as follows: Commercial Bank Trust Co. $ 9321.39 City National Bank. 2417.77 Peoples Bank. 4764.38 National Bank of South Caro lina . 16.456.95 National Bank of Sumter .... 4914.01 All of these banks- were paying 5 per cent interest until May 1st when it was raised to 6 per cent. I knew nothing about how this sinking fund