Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1852-03-06

1t has been remarked that no road system
based upon day labor will make the roads free:
for as d general rule no such system VIII make
them good, and bad roads never can be IN any
Just sense of the term, free road. They are IN
fact a source Of grievo1s tax, OF tax sometimes
so erievous that it swallows up the profits OF
the richest lands. They are a prolific source
of poverty, n daily temptation to careless waste,
the ban of thrift and the grave OF enterprise.
If indeed this tax were collected mostly from
land Of which the value had been increased by
the improvements of the roads, it would be a
much more equitable Investment than money
levied in the shape of poll and other taxes.
It must be considered as an excellent feature
in the plank road system, that when the road is
once constructed the investment is at an end
and no longer are continued contributions re-
quired from the inhabitants in its neighborhood
70 keep it up, as a reasonable rate of tolls there
from will readily pay the small incidental ex-
penses, and the interest on the capital invested,
and the travelling public will be more than re-
paid by the adyantage s of the road.
Thus, then, there can be no doubt in the
minds of those who will weigh this matter well,
as to the propriety of taxing well constructed
roads by a just system of tolls which shall 60
to remunerate those whose business it shall
be to construct and keep in order these roads.
Finally, to show the practical utility of plank
roads we will show what is now doing and
what has been done through their means.
In Alabama and Georgia, 90 bales of cotton
are transported thirty miles in one day by four
mules, including also their provender: and
contracts are made and passengers conveyed
in beautiful post coaches at the speed of ten
miles per hour fer the compensation of 4 cents
per mile.
In New York where the grades are some
times as high as l in 16, the usual load for
one horse is 1000 bbls, travelling at the rate of
3 miles per hour, and passengers are conveyed
in some places by the side of the railroad for
two cents per mile.
In this section where 4 dead level is obtained
the load would be ten hogsheads of sugar to
four miles, at a speed of 3 miles per hour, and
contracts may be obtained for transporting
passengers for ten miles per hour, at four cents
per mile.
But that all may observe the relative cost of
each mode 0 ftravel and transportation, | furnish
herewith estimates, leaving the whole matter to
a discriminating public:
Estimates for constructing a Canal when prac-
ticable) for transportation of produce, &C.:
Engineering per mile, S 100 90
Canal 30x25xlO per mile, 1000 90
Grading and embarkments, 500 90
Lumber, 1854
Contingencies 90 per cent, $40 6s-SjSo4 10 |
Exclusive of stock, boats &c.
Estimates for constructing a Railroad, exclusive
of stock, engines, cars, houses, &c.
Clearing ground per mile, $500 90
Embankments and grading, $500 90
176 Cross ties So cts, GIG 90
l0j60 feet Beel sils 3 cts, 316 so
1850 yards rail T pattern S35, 1850 90
Spikes and chains, 1856 90
Wood and water stations, els
terms, 900 90
Bridges over canals and roads, 300 90
Manual labor in structure, 1900 90
Engineering, contingencies,
10 per cent, Isl E-$S262 so
Estimates for Plank Road, including a saw mill, |
100 600 feet of plank per mile
SIS 90, $3.50 90
and ditching per mile, 300 90
Laying plank and filling in, 200 90 '
Ten per cent for contingencies, IT'S 0o-s195s 90 =