r«—— ■■■■ '■ —«■■■■■
1HE INDEPENDENT
\__ . _- —
AUSTIN C. W1LKERS0N
Editor and Publisher.
Entered at the postoffice, Newport
Arkansas, as second class mail matter.
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and also the local news published
herein.
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cial dispatches herein are also re
served
--
* * ~ Tins paper has enlisted
With the government in the
Cause of America for the
1 W?tiod of the war.
L THE PROPOSED CONSTMT TION.
The people of Arkansas will next
Saturday, December 1 I, go on record
in favor of progress or for standing
still. For years those who have had
the welfare of the state at heart have
been insisting upon the necessity id' a
new ocanic law' for the state. Now j
they have an opportunity to take a
forward step that will mean the!
emancipation of the state from the
shackles that have been forced upon I
it by the constitution of 1ST).
The special election called for the
ratification of the proposed constitu
tion will b. held next Saturday, Dec.
I t. It is an epoch in the history of
the state, and the result of the day
means much to our future creatmss.
The document is not perfect. In
every detail it dots not meet the
ideas of even those who are its most
ardent supporters. But a perfect
document is humanly impossible. It
is an instrument of compromise. Con
cessions had to be made and accepted
in the interest of harmony, otherwise
j it would have been impossible to
1 acree on anythin#. There are flaws,
i but the most ample provision is made
i for their correction.
1 no opposition to ll, IUI LIU- muni/
part, arises from an ignorance of its
provisions, or from an innate preju
1 dice against some of the reformations
it carries.
In view of the world attitude to
ward equal suffrage and prohibition,
the opposition to these reforms is
worthy scareely more than a passing
I notice. Their critics are butting their
j heads against the stone wall of the
! inevitable.
The opposition to the increase in
I salaries, which seems to be worrying
! some of the critics most, does not
i take into consideration the Iact that
i the fixing of all salaries, including
I state officers and the members of the
legislature, is left wholly in the
hands of the general assembly and
the people. To be sure, war-time
salaries, in keeping only with the in
ci eased cost of living, are named,
j If Its Good To Eat I
I We Have It |
|f Call and inspect our stock, it will |
attract your attention as to quality
and freshness both. We have in stock
CREAM MEAL
HUBERT’S COUNTRY
STYLE CORN MEAL
BR VNZOS
q/.ry produce on hand at all times
f. J. Wise Grocer Go. !
...II ■—Bfc
Buy W. S. S. BuyjW. S. S.
DEC EP EB
Da Your Xmas Shopping Early
Usefu! presents for Xmas, we are
offering for this sale greit reductions in
oar Lr lied Rea J/-to-wear and Mil liner 7
; i « ;
Department , you can buy these useful
! presents at less than w\><s price.
r
A few suggestions for Xmas:
I
* Ladies' Suit I
Ladles' Llat |
Furs I
Shoes
Hose
iHa n dhere h i e fs
Tnrift Stamps Free with all Cash Purchases
_
IRushton Dry Goods Co.
Phone 225
I “
but it is expressly left to the law- j
making power to change these sala- )
rits if it is thought necessary to do
so. -• »
The issuance of bonds, the bogey j
which flightens so many timid folk,
is bound around with safe-guards
which leaves it wholly in the hands j
of the pi eople. Thoroughly analyzed, |
the new constitution places more pow
er in the hands of the people than the |
present law, and it will be impossible I
for the state or any county or city to
create debts they cannot pay.
Associate Justice Carroll I). Wood,!
v ho has made a most careful study,
of the constitution, in a statement to1
the people of Arkansas, says:
“In the governor’s message to the
legislature, he was brave and wise
enough to recommend the passage of
a law by which the state has been
put on a cash basis, its officers and
employees paid their monthly wage, j
and all her contracts made on a cash ^
basis which means a saving to the ;
state of thousands of dollars. But,
under the present constitution in a;
few years more the tax-payers will be ,
confronted with the same conditions, j
The indebtedness of Pulaski county
is $1,029,933.25, and that of Little;
Rock $1,091,105.71. To negotiate,
this indebtedness and to keep the j
wheels of the city government mov
ing, the city now has to pay annually
$8t,000 as a bonus to the holders of,
its warrant. These are but indexes j
to the conditions of other counties and
f * \ . .. rl' K tixr 'ill
dcned with debt. 1 am informed the i
1 total indebtedness of the counties of ;
'the stats is $4,(53 1 ,<559. The average
price of county warrants is forty j
cents on the dollar, a loss of (50 cents
| to the tax-payers. The total assess-;
: ed valuation of all property is $24,- !
j 1578,9(50. Sixty per e.nt of this is j
i $1.573,136.88, which is the loss sus- j
1 tained by the tax-payers yearly. 1
While the city and county warrants
j do not bear interest, th_y can be re-j
j duced to a judgment and these judg- j
| ments will bear interest at the rate of i
1 six per cent. It will thus he seen that !
! every year the burden of debt will be- ■
j come heavier and heavier,
j “Under Section 1. Article 2(5, of1
I the poposed constitution, the state, |
^ counties, cities and towns ae pohibited
fom incurring any indebtedness in
excess of the current revenue for |
egch year, and any contracts made in
l excess of the revenue for the current j
i year are absolutely void unless such J
I contracts are ratified by a majority .
I of the vote of the electors of the j
| state, counties, or municipalities af- :
1 fected.”
—
i ELBERT JOHNSON WRITES
LETTER TO BROTHER HERE.
I Atty. Jas. II. Johnston of our city
; has received the following interest
! i.ng letter fiom his brother, Elbert I
| Johnston of Weldon, who is at Camp j
Kearney, California:
Camp Kearney, Calif.,
Tues., Dec. 3, 1918.
Mr. James H. Johnston, , j
Newport, Aik.,
Dear Brother:
I want to thank you for sending;
me the Independent.
I am still in the medical department,
of the (>6th F. A., and the influenza [
ban is lifted on the departments!
which are well of the disease. I got
a three days’ pass last Saturday to be
{ absent from duty and I went out to
i San Diego and caught a stage car for
Los Angeles. We will have to hand |
it to California for its good roads, j
They are a perfect network along the :
coast especially, an i when they gave j
it the name of the “golden state” they ;
named it correctly. On my way to ;
Los Angeles 1 saw world’s of orange !
groves, the trees averaging about
. i a • . T. i. 1 4.U „ J
LWCJVt? It. t 11 i iv ,, uv u.ui ».% * i
loaded from top to bottom with or- 1
i inges. Some of them are being;
| gathered now and some are green and ;
won’t be gathered until February, j
i There are nice fields of vegetables of |
! all kinds, which the p ople are plant- j
ing and gathering just as we would j
in the summer months at home.
Well, I found Los Angeles to bd a J
very pretty city and while there i j
caught a car from Venice, which is |
-ieht on the coast. ! \vt nt in bathing
i hero in the ocean, ami, to make my
i *rip more interesting, I made an aer
ial flight with Aviator Whitney of,
Venice, California, and circled over
Los Angeles and Venic and over the
ocean. The machine registered at an
altitude of four thousand feet at our
highest. Our fastest speed was on
hundred miles per hour. 1 had
j thought that to rid > in one would
! make me dizzy, but l did not experi
| ence the least feeling of diz zincs
1 was strapped in good and if 1 !' >
become sick I could not have hah
myself. The aviator was a civilian
and because I wore my Uncle’s m
form he did not charge me very much
Well, I believe I will be home l v
Christmas or by the first of the
anyway. Believe me, they can’t Urn.
me loose too quick.
Your brother,
E. L. Johnston,
«
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R We have anticipated their
j)f\ every want and shall see that
V none is dissapointed. !anta fef .. .
mPJ Claus will make his headqiart- 1 jf|
BStflp f \W£t*v
-f ers here as usual. ' C
|l| We have toys of every des
cription, and this year will lain
( K tain our reputation for veiety
itJ , 1
h and qualify as usual*.
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What is more appropriate as
a Christmas gift than a splendid
piece of furniture. We hate left,
no opportunity pass to anticipate
your wants in this line.
Supnse mother, father,both
er or sister with a gift fro® this
store.