THE ENTERPRISE
Published Every Tuesday and Friday by the
ENTERPRISE PUBLISHING COMPANY
Williamston, North Carolina
W. C. Manning ; . Editor
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Address ail communications to The Enterprise
Too Much Secret Government
Judge T. B. Finley upheld a fine
principle of government this week
when he forced the sheriff of Alex
ander County to furnish the names of
a bunch of Charlotte youths who had
been arrested at Taylorsville to the
Charlotte News.
There is too inuch secret govern
ment going on. It is a common habit
to see county boards and town boards
clear the halls for the purpose of ex
ecutive sessions. It is nothing less
than arrogance and contempt for the
higher power—the people—to run
Bookeeping, Past and Present
of the big- questions of the day. No
body seems to quite know just why so
much criticism has been launched
against it, yet some folks who have
kept their eyes skinned have a firm
impression that most of the smoke
comes from auditor flabbergast.
There seems to be a general habit
among some auditing concerns to in
sinuate that great discrepancies are
found every time they audit a county.
They frequently cast a fit of conster
nation in boards of county commis
sioners, and make them afraid to do
anything, virtually taking govern
ment out of their hand.
In Beaufort County, according to
flying statements, auoiting companies
are intimating heavy losses to the
county by some of the principal county
officers.
In our own county, we have only
one -man in the county who knows
anything about its finances; we have
only one man in the county who can
take our books and make a statement
of our county's finances. That man is
i. Sam Getstngßr, "who is now doing-i
the work according to the plans set
out and directed by an auditor. It
will become necessary for the county
to hire another auditor to come and
lell Sam how he stands some time this
summer. ,
There was a time when many men,
not nearly so well trained as we now
have them, could check up every de
partment in our county and show
every penny of income and every cent
disbursed each year. We make this
County government seems to be one
FOR CONSTIPATION
Misossippi Man Says He Ha*
Found Black-Draught So
Satisfactory, He Ha* No
Need to Change.
Wigging, Miss—Mr. A. L. Cone, a
well k nowu Wiggins rouident, says:
1 have used Thedlord'e Black-
Dranght for constipation. I have
never had to take a great deal of
medicine, but tor fully 30 years I 1
have, by using it, known Black-
Draught to be a great medicine,
when I found it so satisfactory, 1
haven't seen any need to change.
"When I get constipated, I feel all
out of aorta and tired and sluggiah
and I take a few doses of Black-
Draught. It regulates my bowels
and I gat all right. My wife takes
mora Black-Draught tlmn I do. She
is a peat believer in it too, eo we
keep it in the houae. It will cleanee
die system and help you, if you aaa
it as we have."
Constipation leads to a great deal
«f airfcnaes among thoae who do
not understand ita dangers, and who
MfUct to treat it without delay.
ftaek-Draught, with the natural,
eeeetipation and helpa to drive out
•M poteons eo as to leave the
sona in a state of healthy activity.
Sold Ue. NC-171
i them out when public matters are to
I
i be discussed.
j Secret government is nearly always
lungerous government. We are now
living under enough secret treaties
with foreign nations to sink us if they
were all enforced strictly.
Let every man know that every
, v/rong that he does shall be known,
, and he will be more careful.
This be the first case on
> thie point, and Judge Findley upheld
the principles of free government.
statement with the full knowledge'
' that the books are still open for 301
years back and more.
Those were the days when "To's"
and "By'a" never told: lies, and Mar
tin County did not owe a cent. —-
| We now have a perfect epidemic of
bookkeeping that is just as hard to do
mid takes more explanation by four
times than it once did. The average
county commissioner with a county
audit placed in his hands is about as
helpless as a chicken placed in a
bucket of tar.
We are not opposed to any kind of
bookkeeping, but we are mighty tired
of so much bragging about bookeep
ing that is so hard to understand—
especially when it costs more.
S Jbr Economical Trout forts tiom
th
jljj| so Powerful
s °Bcdutiful
Qhe Touring
| MA mm Never before haa any automobile provided, at
AS so low « prU;e,Bomany qualities of costly-car
t performance and so many elemenu of cugtoaa>
Ir.iii 5Z5 car beauty!
'595 .. . incredible smoothness at every spaad •• •
'625 power in abundant measure ... and beauty go
'£9s marvelous that it has electrified America!
*715 Modern to the minute in design, built through*
out of the finest materials, and offered at ama*
L»««Uu ■ • 745 ing low prices—the Most Beautiful Chevrolet
| ItS Is the outstanding motor car value of all time.
1 Come to our salesroom and see the car At is
Mh.uik.aM. breaking all records for popularity. One glance
** the beautiful new Fisher bodies,one ride in
im .diltloo .. (W* 1 your favorite model —and you will agree that
the enthusiasm Cor Chevrolet is based on the
greatest value achievement in the history of the
.-ft.fi i automotive industry!
HARRIS T PEEL
MOTOR CO. MOTOR CO.
RdMnMYjDc,N.C . \ WiffiMwto^N.G
QUALITY AT LOW COCT
TREASURER'S STATEMENT
To the mayor and commissioners of
the town of Williamston, N. C.:
Gentlemen: About two years ago
this board saw At to elect me its
treasurer. This expression of confi
dence on their part has. inspired
within me an earnest desire to meas
ure up to this important trust, and
being in a position to know a little
more about the financial condition of
the town than most of you gentlemen
I feel like a few remarks along this
line will not be out of order before
our term of office expires.
As you gentlemen have found out
by experience that after any new
board h»H been sworn in, it takes
time for them to get a line on the
difficult matters that confront them.
Soofi after this present board was
sworn in, we tried to get some bear
ing upon the financial condition of the
town, but it was up-hill traveling. We
did find that the town owed $15,000
borowed money, and about $3,000 of
outstanding indebtedness on open ac
counts in and out of town. I am glad
to be able to state that during our
Administration the $15,000 have been
paid; also all the old bjJljj; and at
i this writing our notes payable to the
bank are only $1,200.00. Against this
note of $1,200 we have as collateral a
school board note due us by the school
bpard amounting to $1,065.71. If
you will deduct this from $1,200, you
will find that all we owe on borrowed
money is $134.29. We owed Fairbanks
Morse Co. for the oil engine
bought from them; ,wt> have paid them,
|up to date, about $9,000, or about
! one-half; and their notes become due
j every quarter, and we have always
I paid these promptly when presented.
| The amount falling due each quarter
| on the oil engine is approximately sl,-
| 140 per quarter, and this debt will I
i soon be wiped out. As to our other |
hills payable, outside of about S3OO J
due for hose for the fire department
I should say that we owe about S4OO
more, which we are in a financial po- 1
sition to take care of as they become
Jul,
Taxation —that great burden bearer
and hut little understood by the aver- 1
ige layman: But for your information,
I added the total taxes as listed by[
Mr Burras on the town books this j
week, and I found the total white |
taxes listed, including A. C. L. R. R., i
paving, poll, and dog tax, to amount 1
to $34,271.81; total colored taxes list- i
ed, including paving, poll, and dog tax, J
$3,467.44; making a grand total of (
white and colored taxes of $37,789.25; j
of this amount, Mr. Daniel, our tax
collector, has collected and turned
over to me in general taxes $17,715.92,
and $673.20 special taxes. This leaves
general taxes due the town, uncollect
ed, $20,023.33. I understand from Mr.
Daniel that he has two or three thous
and dollars of general taxes in the
bank which he has not turned over to
me, and I advise that a strong adver
tisement be put in the Enterprise call
ing the citizens' attention to the law
about paying taxes, and to advise
every man, woman, child, and corpor
ation, who owns real estate, that if 1
$1.50
.80
.45
THE ENTERPRISE - - WILUAM3TON. N. C.
their taxes are ( not paid on or before
May 1, that awe will be advertised
on that date, showing; no favors to any
As to bonds and interest on same—
At present our bonded indebtedness is
$340,500.00. The interest on bonds is
' around $20,000 per year; and the
' Bonds maturing each year are around
So you can see that the bur
den of our taxation is on bonds. With
a total taxable list of $37,739.26 per
annum, and a total indebtedness per
annum due for bonds and interest a -
round $31,000, this leaves a very small
amount for a city manager to spend;
uay around $7,000 left to meet all
other obligations, including all depart
ments. We could not meet these ob
ligations unless we derived some
money from other sources, so I wiM
proceed to show you where we get
some money from, besides taxes.
Electric light and water operations
for the past two years will show a
profit of around $20,000. This same
account, before we took charge for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926, j
as made by the audit of the town!
books, Exhibit' D-8, shows a net op
•■rating loss for that year of $784.84 j
The profit has been used to retire out
standing obligations made before this
board went into office, to pay first pay
ment and quarterly payments on oil
engine, to pay obligations on fire ap
paratus, and to meet maintenance and
supplies.
We have made a cut of 25 cents in
the tax rate during our administra
tion; and I understand that a new tax
assessment will be made this year. If
this new assessment of taxes will hold
up to about the same amount as the
last year's assessment, I see no rea
son why the town commissioners, who
ever they may be, could not make an
other cut of 26 cents to the town tax
payers.
1 am glad to say that after a care
ful perusal of our budget, made by
1 lie writer and accepted by the board'
on or about June Ist, that the same
las about lived within the allotment
made to each department. I notice
one or two departments have gone a !
little over and one or two have fallen |
a little under, but as a whole the bad-1
get will come out about even. I would
recommend that the incoming board i
investigate the advisability of making j
some reductions in the light rates, es
pecially on cooking and frigldaires;
also recommend that the incoming
board, unless we do so before going
out of office, purchase some modern'
road and street-working machinery. l
However, I leave that matter to your
committee, which has the same under
advisement.
Your honor, Mr. Mayor, and fellow
members of this board: I do not agree
with the late President Woodrow Wil-1
son, who said that "most boards he'
had known were long, wooden, and j
narrow." i I feel like this board and'
its mayoi* hlive been broad and liber
til, and I think each member has tried '
to do hi* full duty toward the citisens'
of this town, and personally it lm
been a p'easure for me to serve with
this honorable body.
W. T. MEADOWS.
Gold A Store
223 Washington Street Exum L. Ward, Store Mgr.
PHONE 157
SPECIAL - - SPECIAL
For This Week Only
Rowena Middling:, j>2 JQ Baby Chick Feed, j»2 §Q
17 Per Cent Middling: _52.05 Eshelman Laying: Mashj>f£ JQ
Double A Dairy Feed J2.60 Eshelman Growing Mash $3
Dixie Scratch Feed, .$2.65 Cracked corn, ....$2.25
A. G. Scratch Feed $0 Ell Beet Pulp, Cow Feed COQ K
bag bag
________ " »
Stick Candy, Found.. 15c
-j
Just Rite Corn Borden's Evaporated Milk If) n
2 for Large Ivt
Sugar, Pound 61c
Tomatoes, 1() n Tiest Side Meat, 9?/.
No. 2 can "*■' I'ound
Good Coffee, Pound .. 25c
Fresh Eggs > Vegetables, and Fruits all the Time
Juß natural...
Men like the "natural" in all
things. Chesterfield's
tobacco taste is no exception
if
He re, and here alone, " /J^¥s6
■ will you get natural to- / 7fsss|p i
bacco taste at its mild and /
mellow best for here natu- / £f
ral aroma and character
are entirely held and
brought out to die full t jr
\
* 'I u,
Chesterfield
r and yet, they're MILD I
" 1 . ' ~ ' . ' - ' ' ' " "
—-sL__ • ..
•- " MM*TOBACCOCO. 'L./ '' _ _i_—!___.- •'■