Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1826-01-14
FoR THE SPECTATOR.
TIE ROAD LAW.


gave ach supervisor OF roads "powor
TO call upon, to perform the necessary
labor upon the roads, csuseways and
bridges, TO keep the same in good order,
all males 6etzceen The ages Of eighteen
md ffy, living within his precinct"
and imposed fine Of one dollar per da,
Tor neglecting 10 attend. The superb.
sor was also required, when carriages
aud teams were @anled, 10 hire them
and their use was TO be paid Tor out OF
the county Treasury. But If he lonnd
II impossible or very difficult TO hire
carriages and teams, il was made I" law
ful for him 10 IMPRESS the requisite
number !"
+ The effect of this law was to exempt
all person over the age of fifty years,
comprising the most wealthy part Of The
population, from any liability to assist
in making or repairing roads. The law
appears 10 have been borrowed from
some OF the slave-holding states; and
there, indeed, lis operaiion would moi be
SO unequal and oppressive as il is in this
state. For, ia slave-holding STATE,
people over the aye Of fly years are as
likely TO own great many slaves as any
other class Of people; and as large
proportion OF Their wealth consists Of
slaves Iiable TO labor on HE roads, il fol-
! lows that people over the age Of fifty
years were required to contribute very
considerably 10 the making and repairing
o. roads. Indeed, admitting that per-
sons wealth could be estimated accord
ing 10 the number OF bis male slaves be-
tween the ages oil eighteen and Fifty years,
it would follow that all, without distlnc.
ZION OF age or sex, paid road tax in
proportion TO their properly.
Far different, however, is the case in
Illinois. Among US slavery is nearly
extinct. The old road law, though il
might operate very equally in slave
holding country, bad The effect, when ap
piled to our state, of exemptlng the
wealthy, who were upwards o. fifty years
OF age, from any part Of The road tax, and
Of throwing its whole weight upon men
under that age, many of whom were
poor, and some Of whom were SO des
tute OF property that the tax, or faf, as
il was called in the law, could not be col.
lected.
Another serious difficulty arose under
the old law. In this county, and, Tor
augbt ! know, in other counties, the
practice OF the county commissioners
was TO lay off road districts or fire
cincts," without any definite boundaries,
and IN such manner that a person fire.
quently resided in two, three, or four
precincts at once, and OWE ed obedience 10
TWO, three, or lour supervisors al the
same time. AS lair sample, | WI
give the reader copy OF. commission
which | once received as supervisor OIL
roads
q .StTfee,5er 7s,e. ~ q, =. s,,fee:o,,
er8' Court, 1928.
"Ordered, That s&s*ss ***ss**E* be
appointed supervisor of the road lead
i" ing from EdWardsville to - -----,
+" commencing one nile and halt from
the court house, and ending at "s*ss'*
" Ts***s's*'s field, and to have con,rol
" of all hands for one mile and hall OIL
'each side OF said road.
"Attest, ss**** t"**F*, Clerk"
And now, gentle reader, do you mol
form In the first place, how could |
know where my precinct commenced,
without going to the expense OF measur-
ing Of mile and half from the court
house? In the second place, as The road
was very crooked, il was extrcmeiy d.tli-
cult TO ascertain who lived wlb,n " a
mile and hall" Of ii, and who did not,
In the third place, when these dificut-
lies were sutmounted, and person was
called upon to work upon the roads, |
was informed that be had already worked
out his tax under another supervisor,
Or, perhaps he had Just attained to the
age oil fifty years; and though he bad
twenty times as much property as his
poor neighbor whose age was only tofgy-
nine years and eleven months, yet The
rich man paid no road tax, but the poor
man road tax of five dollars. Again,
| found that the law require me to erect
guide posts al the "tork or crossing
place of every pubic road y but at eve
ry such place found tina, another super
VISOR was armed with the same power,
and required to perform the same duty
as myself. SO we both lef, it undone
this proving the truth Of the old adage:
=" Every body's business is nobody s."
AS might have been expected, the inc
quality, oppiesslyeness, and inconye-
pience OF The law, produced general dis
satisfaction. The "right ofimfr ess-