Arizona weekly miner., 1876-03-24
ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.

The question of building County roa
 to Battle Flat in the region of the Bradshav
 and Peck mining country is still matter o
 great interest to the community and althougl
 1t has been agitated to some extent within
 the past few weeks. has not reached solu
 ton, resulting in any effort being made il
 that direction which could warrant us i,
 saying the road will be built \ petition
 signed by goodly number of our citizens
 has been submitted to the Board of Super
 visors, asking that body to provide a way
 and means for the opening and building o
 such road The Board having given the
 project no little consideration, after obtain
 ing estimates of the probable cost of consu
 mating such road as will answer the re.
 quirements contemplated, are inclined ,o
 the opinion that the means at their disposal
 are far from being adequate to the accom-
 plishmento of the undertaking. The estimates furnished the Board, show that it will take
 all the way from sl0, 900 to s20,OO0 to con- struct road from Prescott to Battle Flat, which is sum for beynd their reach with the means at hand.
 The Board have considered that they have authority to lay out, construct and manage public roads, etc., within the county, in all cases where the law does not otherwise pro- vide, but where the law makes provision for the location construction and maintainance of public roads, as is done by Chapter :, of our laws, their line of duty restricts their ac- tion to the terms and requirements of the Statute, and which they are not safe in going beyond. It seems, the manner of proceed ing under the provisions of the Statute, is for the Board of Supervisors to declare County roads, to create road districts and ap point road overseers therein, with certain du- ties, powers and compensations, to meet the costs, expenses etc. of constructing public roads The Board of Supervisors shall have power to levy property tax, which shall not exceed ten cents on each one hundred dollars of real and personal property, in the County, for road purposes, to be leyid and col fected at the same time and in the same man. ner, as other property taxes are levied and collected, shall be paid into the County Treasury for the benefit of public roads ly- ing in the township from which the same was collected, and the sum thus collected shall be divided among the several road dis tricts of the township and expended in the improvement of the roads in said district.
 Additional revenue may be raised by re- quiring from every male inhabitant over 21 and under 90 years of age, payment of s2 annually, or perform one days labor in place and stead thereof, on the public highways within their respective road districts. With such means only at the disposal of the Board Of Supervisors, taken in connection with 1 the fact of the very scattering s2 subjects in the section of country which will come within the road district, if such be establish | ed, for the purpose of constructing the road in question, it looks very much as if we are | to have road in that direction at all, in the | absence of special legislation it must be built by private enterprise and manipula- tion, a joint stock company gotten up under the law regulating such organizations, and a fair rate of toll charged, etc, etc, etc.
 Such an enterprise ought to pay, and bus mess men of Prescott can we'll afford to sub- sidize company so as to make it pay hand somely. We would not become an alarmist without cause, but as sure as fate the trade of Peck and Bradshaw can only be retained by the building of road otherwise it will sock an outlet to the South and leave us for ever. If those having thousands at stake, where we have only hundreds, can stand it, it would seem ss if we ought not to ''kick," but we have always felt that it would be as great calamity, to us individually, to be murdered alone, as if thousand had been 'lain with us. In such a case company is even lonesome.