Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / June 5, 1925, edition 1 / Page 2
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THE FRANKLIN FRESS i IDAY, JUNE 5, 1323 T?.' r?TT-15 Ui-oo ' . PUBLISHED liVLKY MvlDAX S. A. HARRIS Xditor SUBSCRIPTION RATES (Subscription Payable in Advance) One Year ........ -$1.50 Eigth Months: .' r...... 1.00 Six Months...... : S Three Months.. ; .40 Single CoDies.......,... Sc ADVERTISING RATES. Very reasonable, and will be made known upon request. We charge S cents a line for Cards f Thanks, Resolutions of .Respect and for notices - of entertainments where admission is charged. Entered at the post-office at Franklin, N. C, lor transmission through the mails as second' class matter. Foreign Advertising R'l resentative THE AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION This edition o Ithe Press is' a fath erless clfild and shows it. The. editor has departed' hence to recuperate from the strain to which his nerves have ; been subject during the six or eight months of his editor ial career. He needs it. ' He now "struts his stuff" along the gay white way of the metropolis and we notice that his wife remains among us. He is wise. ' We are glad to see him go for he . gives promise of making a right nice editor if he don't get bumped off first. " After he gets back he is liable to need renewed strenght in getting out of the mess wc are getting him into. We know nothing about editing a newspaper and very little about any thing iclse. We don't necessarily subscribe to all we have printed We had to fill up space. " We hope we have done well But jtarsdnally we figure that as an editor we are an excellent pick and shove artist. : ...'.- . " Don't stop your paper look at the nice picture we gave you. We would certainly have been in a hole if it hadn't taken up so much room. Anyhow here it is the editor can apologize next week : THE HIRED HELP - ' Taxes and Valuations , v It may seem a bit. late to discuss a matter that has been largely settled for this year in so' far at least as the -individual's part is concerned but the I recently issued report of the state -department of revenue brings to light certain facts that are curiously in congruous and seem to need thought, ; if not action, on the part of the citiz r enship. These facts are those of .comparative property valuations in the counties of North Carolina. ,'o In the examination of this report ...we find widely divergent figures as to valuations placed by the tax listing ' individuals of the . several counties 5 upon identical items of personal prop erty. Not so much attention need be paid to real property as a fair basis - of valuation for realty depends upon ."too many local factors about which we are uninformed and on which we are therefore unable to pass judg- ' ment. ' As an example of the differences , existing between personal property ' valuation in the various 'counties, ne . find that a hore i:-. valued in Macon ; county at $33.69, is $55.09 in Clay, at ' ?65.78.in Graham, at $74.70 in Jackson .; while in . Swain its average taxable value is $81.23. The question im ' mediately arises as to why so great ..difference exists; , V ' It would most certainly seem that the mere fact of county lines would not have1 such . a wonderful upbuild ' ing power upon the value of horse flesh. It is also a fact that the gen eral quality of horses is intrinsically no better in Clay, Graham, Swain or Jackson than in Macon. . ', '' . Were these variations in value only true with regard to horses they might ' be passed over' as a mere statistical vagary but the same general differ ences exist with regard to all other forms of live stock. Mules vary from a valuation of $38.09 in Macon to $81.71 in Cherokee, with every other 1 county west of Buncombe leading Ma,con. It is further true that in each of these other counties the valuation ,. practically double' that imposed in " Macon, ; ; ': -'' ' . ' ,- r A few dollars variation would be of little' interest but when the fact of loading a mule, across a county, line increases his taxable valuation 100 per ccijt to, 175 percent then' the natural I inclination is to question such con- dition. Either one of two conditions exists. Either the property . owners listing property in Macon -county under value their property in giving it in for tax ation or those of adjoining counties list theirs too high, a possibility, which if true is at leaf, exceptional. The fact remains that the same law governing tax listing applies to all counties. It is in no sense the intention of this article to accuse either tax lister or property owner of wilfully at tempting to evade tax responsibility. Mather is its intention merely that of calling attention to the facts and al lowing thinking citizens to .Consider this ouestion of property valuation. It may be said that the question of property aluation means little as to the gross amount of tax paid for' with low vaiuat'ons the. rate climbs in orler to produce necessary revenue., in mat assertion there , is some truth but high rates of taxation are not conducive , to the attraction o new business ir industrial enterprise That, however ifnportant, is for the time beside the point. The qucst;on in its fundamental conception lies n' the basis of valuations. Relative to this several pertinent questions mvy be asked. What, after all,' is the final basis of property valuation ? Why does a male stand in Macon as $30.00 worth of taxable property while . in Swain he is taxable at a value of $80.00? If this condition exists and it does between counties of practically the same type can it does it exist -be tween individuals of the same coun ty. If variations o fso great nature exist between identical items of per sonal property, are they also existant with regard to realty? . These questions need . thought. They need study. They need , action. To say the least the condition that exists borders on the farcial. It is without rhyme or reason. It has no basis economic or otherwise. It is wrong. The citizenship deludes it self. It must be changed. . "Low property valuations don't make for economic prosperity. They do not lower taxes. They are injurious in every aspect of their application. They brand a,section as a pauper lo cality, without resources, without effort, without economic prosperity or attravti0j?..t.Such. branding in the case of " Macon or any other county of Yycstcrn .North Carolina is thorough ly t rronccuis, Neither do low property'" valuations lower taxes. On the contrary,by the necessity of raising rates in order to produce necessary revenue, low prop erty valuation have in North Caroli na, had the tendency of increasing the per capita tax paid. The. cause of this is not at all ob scure when it is recalled that as in dustry increases in a locality the pop ulation grows, while the greater pro portion of the tax burden is carried by the industrial rather than the ag- ricultural interests. I his has a ten dency to lighten the burden of the small property owner. Industrial growth does not seek out regions' of high tax rates for develop mcnt. '.Business does not grow rap idly or securely in regions of high rates of taxation for business is well aware that it need not expect the pos sibility of low valuation for itself. Consequently i,t became established in the locality of adequate valuation and low rate, Macon county is as yet largely an undeveloped region. If it is to be de veloped, it must be aided by outside capital. Our high rates of taxation made necessary by our property val uations do not serve as a very potent lodestone' for this influx of outside capital. Aside trom these things. A system is wr$hg "which permits such farcial variations.. If, a horse is worth $90. over in Swain he ' is worth $90.00 in Macon taking average as they go. Are the rivers of Tukeseegec and the creeks of Cullowhee jwcetci- than the lenncssee and the Nantahala. Are the oats "and corn of Swain more strengthening than the grain of Macon ? ' .'-'' Is the air of Cherokee purer than that which blows from the Cowees or the Nantahalas? ; . . ' ." Else why . do the horses of Swain surpass the steeds of Macon and the Jackasses of Jackson exceed the de ceridei'ts of Baalam's mule who bray in the valleys of Macon? . " .'- It speaks exceedingly well for us that our hounds arc valued at more than twice the value of a sheep or a goat and are but equalled in value by ' a hoar. We need to think upon these things, The Reign of the Cossack On. a Sunday morning in 1906 sev eral thousand people assembled in one of the squares of St. Petersburg for a purpose wholly legitimate wholly righteous for the purpose of pre senting a petition, addresses in most humble terms to the Little Father, as the Czar was known, asking for cer tain rights, very limited in their scope. There were no red flags no threats no disorder no riot or revolution. There were only oeopie attending to what was most certainly the peo ples business. Av the' great throng aws.i:H the coming of the Czar, 'someon -nc one knows who gave order to the C'oo siok guards , of the palace to charge the crowd. ' ' , . With drawn , sabre they charged cutting slashing until the square was red with rivers of .blood and the horses of 'the troopers crushed bone and sinew as they ploughed relent lessly through the helpless masses of the would be supplicators? That was Red Sunday And the red of the blood spilled that ' day has spread until it has covered all Rus sia until the very, white of the old Romanoff flag has b'een dyed into flaming scarlet until the pools that stood that day in the palace yard have engulfed the "Little Father"- and carried him into the- ignominy of a meiserable , death at Erikatrln burg. . . Who were these Cossacks none other than the police officers of a type the agents of law of the gov ernment the guards, of the Czar who was thelaw in its most absolute conception. That was Russia. That was autocracy.. That was the reign, of the Cossack. On a Monday afternoon in 1925 a prominent lawyer, having finished his business in Federal Court in the capi tol city of the state, got into his car and began the trip to his home in a neighboring city. Three miles had been traveled. The lawyer relaxed against the cushions of the, car and conversed with four companions in the car with him. They drove onward obeying the law in fringing in no respect upon the pre rogatives of good citizenship when suddenly the crack of a gun was heard and the lawyer crumples in death. There stands a man smoking re volver in hand. A man-r-in ordinary citizens clothes' yet with the badge of authority on the inside "of his coat. A minion of the law an agent of justice a guardian of the peace and dignity of the state, sworn to protect to uphold the law. As he looks upon the dead man the horror of . his deed comes upon him. He whines his excuse that he thought the car might have contained liquor. As if the blubbering of an authority drunk moron could bring back the life of a citizen, wantonly destroyed. . No . liquor was found. No member of the . dead man's party had touched liquor that day. No warrant was held for the arrest of any man in the. car. The men in the death car say that no signal to stop was seen. If it had been seen it was a signal given by persons ot in uniform, wholly unknown to the lawyer or his com panions. No crime had been com mitted, not even a misdemeanor. Yet, an honest man, a law abiding citizen was shot, down was executed was slaughtered by an officer of the law running amuck in his insanely illegal exercise of authority. . v That i North Carolina. Tha is democracy. That is the point to which the rights of the citizen have climbed under our" system. . -The analogy may not be ' clear or th figure well drawn, but the fact rrmains that behind the action of the Cossack and that of the policeman, a situation exists which is dangerously similar. This case is not exceptional, save for the- tradgedy. Time and again carshave been shot into, tires have been shot, gunplay has taken place, citizens going about their busi ness have been forced to, dodge bul lets, because they failed to stop when some unidentified man or men waved hen down. Guns have been stuck in men's faces and women have been treated like common criminals. Case, after case of wantcm disre gard of 'law have been noted. It is, indeed .a wonder that the tradgedy has been so - long coming. And all. because of the fact that ofti- ers, to whose head the lust of power has gone, have faken the law unto themselves. All, in spite 'of, the fact that trie Attorney General of , the state has ruled that it is a violation of the law for an officer to use a ' ' '.' . ' ; gun iii apprehending suspected viola tors of the liquor law, notwithstand ing the fact that it is a violation of the law 'for an officer to use a gun except iii case of a felony. Liquor hauling, at most, is a misdemeanor. Have we come to the place where we have a law of the liquor slcugth superimposed upon the. law of the 'and? . Are officers, too often picked without regard to character, intel ligence or selfcontrol, to make or break the law to suit the case or their idea of it? - Is the arrest of a rum runner of greater import than the rights, of the people to be secure in person. or property? Shall we con tinue to have this indiscriminate gun play, guns stuck into the faces; of citizens, tires shot, cars "shot into, roads blocked, law flouted merely because some wildeyed constable al lows an idea to. penetrate the vacuum of his brain that a car may in some oossibility have liquor in it. Shall a missle of death be the warrant which shall issue in order. to confirm or dis prove a suspicion of misdemeanor North Carolina believes in, prohibi tion but every drop of bootleg booze ever caught cannot compensate the state for this tradgedy. We have no idea that, the 'officer meant to kill that is beside the point. Flying bullets are not choice of their location to park themselves. We real ize that he will be punished. After all he is merely the agent of a tradgedy, which, under existing con ditions, was bound, sooner or later, to come. Have we come to the reign of the Cossack? If so let us remember that the abuse of authority is the" road to revolution not against authority nor law but against the abuse of these. - Law must be enforced but no agent of law is beyond the law which he enforces. Law is never enforced by. breaking law. Justice must be main tained but not at the price'of injustice. Order must be upheld but the in herent rights of man are the basis of ort'er. Have we come to the reign of the Cossack, Let the people speak. The Carpenters at the Bakery can't build your home but they can place' any musical instrument you want in it. And at your own terms. JS ADMINISTRATOR'S NOTICE Haying qualified as administrator of Mrs. S. C. McCall, deceased late of Macon1 county, N.'C, this is to notify all persons having claims against the' estate of said 'deceased to exhibit them to the undesigned on or before the 1st day of June, 1926, or f this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted , to said estate will please make immedi ate settlement. This 1st day. of June, 1925. , .... : T. C. VINSON, J26 ; Dillard, Ga. ' Administrator Sheriff Given Complete Control of Court House At a regular meeting of the Coun ty Commissioners- of Macon County the following order was passed, viz: Ordered: That the Court' House shall be placed under the supervision of ' the Sheriff of Macon County, and it shall be his duty to see that all persons who mutilate, or deface the same,' shall be apprehended and pros ecuted. For his services for the car- and upkeep o fthe Court House he shall be paid such sums as may be from time to time agreed upon between him and the Board of County Com missioners. No, person or persons shall be al lowed to usP the Court Room for entertainments'or any ' purpose 'un- less, before using the same, some rcponsjble party, to be appointed by the Sheriff of Macon County shall undertake in writing, to see that the Court House is thoroughly cleaned and put in ordinarily condition after using it... ThP Sheriff shall . also re quire such person, or persons, before uing the Court House, to make a depoit of at least Five Dollars, which shall be used by the- Sheriff to clean said building and keep" the same in repair . 'No person or ' persons shall be allowed to erect a stage, or place any curtains or other material .in the Court room except such as may be placed therein without nailing the sanip to any prt. of the Court room, or" its: fixtures, and without .scaring, defacing or mutilating , the floor walls, fixtures or furniture or, any part of the Court room. Done by order of the Board in reg ular session' on the 4th day of May, 1925. HORACE T. HURST. )S ; Clerk of Board Notice of Sale By virtue of power of sale con tained in a mortgage deed dated 14 June, 1922, from R..M. Ledford and wife Louellen Ledford to Carolina Provision company, which mortgage is recorded in book H-4, pagP 372," office of Register of Deeds for Ma con county, which was given to se cure the sum of $1349.54, with interest thereon, and default having ,been made in the payment of said sum so secured, .the. undersigned will, on Saturday, 27th June, 1925, between legal hours or sale, at the court" house door in the town of. Franklin sell at public auction for cash and to satisfy said note the following property; Lying and being in state of North Carolina,- Macon county, Franklin township and more definitely de scribed as follows : , Lying and being on the ' Georgia road in the town of Franklin, ad joining the lands of W B. McGuire., ct als, and being all the lands de scribed in a deed of conveyance from F. B. Benbow and wife to R. M. Ledford which deed of conveyance is duly recorded in the office of Register of Deeds for Macon county North Carolina, to which deed and record reference is hereby made for a definite description of saic land. - This 25th day of May, 1925. CAROLINA PROVISION CO. J !' Mortgagee. Notice of Sale By virtue of a power of sale con tained in a deed of trust from W. J, West to the undersigned as trustee, which dee"d of trust is dated IT April A. D., 1921, and recorded in the office of Register of Deeds for Macon coun ty, North Carolina',, and which-'deed of trust wes executed to secure the sum of 953.55 due John , C. Wright note payable 11 August, 1921, with interest thereon from date, payable semi-annually, and default having been made in the payment of said note, and at, the request of thP parties to whom said money is due, I will, on Saturday, the 27th day of June, 1925., between the legal hours of sale, sell, at thP courthouse door in the town of Franklin, the following described real estate : Lying and being in Macon county, more particularly .defined and de scribed as follows : Beginning at a holly, now down, on West bank of Tennessee river and runs a west direction with George Brcndlc's home place to a stakP near bank of. public -road; then in a south . direction with public road to syca- . more stump at ford of branch near Dutch Mason'-s house; then with old road tc ? sycamore corner on bank of Tcnncfsep river at old Iotla ford; then down Tennessee river to : th? beginnning, containing 87 acres', more or less, and known as Wm. Down's farm. ' ' ' ' '." ' ' . This sale is made for cash and to satisfy said note. - This 25th day of May, 1925. J 19 ' , R. D. SISK, Trustee. Notice of Sale By virtue of a power of sale con tained in a deed of. trust from W. J. West to the undersigned as trustee, which deed of trust is dated 11 May, 1922, and recorded in book No. 26, page 598, records of mortgages and deeds of trust, office of Register of Deedsr Macon county, North Caro lina, and which deed of trust was ex ecuted to secure the sum of $672.89 due the Citizens Bank of Franklin. North Carolina, and default having been made ' in the payment of said note, and at thP request of the particV to.'whom said money is due, I will on Saturday, the 27th day of June, 1925, betvTcen the legal hours of sale, sell it the courthouse door in the tow: ol "Fr. rk'in, thP following destrbed r-N.i citate : ' ' " . Lying and being in the County of MacOn.Cowee Township, bounded on thP north by the lands'.of J. L. West heirs', on the east by-Mark Raby heirs, on thP south by John H. Dal- ten and.. Shepherd, and on the west by the lands of J. L. Bryson; same lying about 6 miles north of Franklin, containing 150 acres, and known as the West Cove. This sale is made for cash and to satisfy said note. This 25th day of May, 1925. J19 ' R. D. SISK, Trustee. See that the "label on your paper i dated in advance, if you want the Press to con tinue coming to your heme.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 5, 1925, edition 1
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