The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1868-07-11
Sassafras River Bridge.

The Democrat, last week, makes another
attempt to bolster up the Sassafras River
bridge outrage upon the taxpayers of the
county, but only makes bad cause appear
worse, as we anticipated. Giving up the
ridiculous, or rather foolish, arguments-if
the reader will excuse the term-made use
of to sustain this raid of the County Com.
missioners upon the peoples money, the
attempt is made to divert public attention
from the point at issue, by belaboring The
Wing with hard words, in a kind of random
style, which will pass for very little among
sensible people, and as The Democrat s read
ers are not all fools, as that paper seemed
to think them, they will readily perceive its
dilemma. Its back having been well scratch.
ed by the Commissioners, it feels in duty
bound to tickle their ribs. The acts of the
Commissioners being indefensible there of
course can be no valid excuse given for their
waste Of the public money, and the levy of
taxes exceeding in amount any levy for sim.
liar purposes, since the county was organ.
lied.
1t will be remembered that we exposed
The Democrats theory of bridging Sassafras
River for the purpose Of connecting the
First District with the "outer world" and
of bringing it in a " closer association with
other parts of the county also its twin
reason of providing facilities for the farmers
of Sassafras Neck to ship their produce at
Fredericktown, the point for shipment being
at the Cecil end of the proposed bridge !;
thus leaving no reason pointed out by The
Democrat, why the taxpayers of the county
should give $4,000 Of their hard-ear
money to carry out the new tangled notions
developed in this bridge project, if we ex-
cept that little matter of shortening the stage
rout to Chestertown six or seven miles"
Tile Democrat says " it is impossible to
reason against such stuff as Tile WHY'S is
composed Of" which is very true that
article being an array of facts unanswered
and unanswerable, as the Democrat has
shown by not even making the attempt in
its last vulgar TRADE. Sassafras Neck is an
important part of tho county, pays full share
of its taxes, and is entitled to full share of
its bounties,' says the Democrat. All this
has never been questioned by the JVhg.-
Again,
No part of our county has paid much for taxes and
demanded or received 50 little of county appropriation
rs Sassotras Neck.
Sassafras Neck has just exactly paid in
proportion to other parts of the county on
its property, and received the amount neces.
sary to make its roads better than those in
any other part of the county and build and
keep in repair all the bridges, necessary, or
that were ever asked for, as far rs we have
heard.
If Sassafras Neck has no large streams deep ra
vines to bridge nor bad roads to mend, while constantly
taxed to bridge such streams or raynes in other parts
Of the county is it than justice to vote to the
ton proportion of the counys funds to supply such
defects it has, or to remedy the msfortunes it may
labor undert The people Of that section have long felt
the need Of bridge over Sassafras River.
We have never opposed "voting to the
section a proportion of the county's funds
to supply all such dcfects," but in two long,
labored articles, the Democrat has utterly
failed to point out single instance in which
this bridge would be a public benefit to Sas.
safras Neck or any other part of the county.
The whole thing is scheme to spend the
county money among favorites. "The PEG.
pie of that section" who have done the
talking on this subject, are the Commits.
soner from that District and the Democrat.
But, however, it is pretty generally under.
stood that they constitute "the people of
that section" and the only "need F." they
have been able to show, is the opening of
daily stage line to Chestertown, by which
the stage route would be shortened six or
seven miles,"
1t has been agreed on all sides, until this
innovation on the custom, that it was no
part ola county governments business to
tax property to build bridges over navigable
streams which divide counties or States. If
public travel will justify such Improvements,
it has been done by corporate companies
The Susquehanna, as we mentioned in our
former article, has been bridged at two
points in the county, never by a levy on the
Taxpayers, but by private enterprise
Then why should Sassafras River be bridged
at the expense Of the county?
Being left utterly defepseless and without
q peg to stand on, after fruilsss attempt
to kick up dust to conceal its weakness
the Democrat falls back upon our quotations
from its former article, and endeavors to
show how We garbled and monstrously per.
verted its meaning. We will give the quota
ton entire, and the reader may judge wheth-
err we left out one iota Of the matter in dis.