The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-10-30

ss 'Tben. nrart from an this, we simply ask
,rhnf wol,id necessarily be tbs result in the
en- hanced value OF eur lands should we Tor
mere illustration construct q good, snbstan-
tial on this Broad Street road where
NE meet to-day, extending the san1e from
the city, limits to Short uinpy We answer
that farms thereon now worth 300 per acre
wo,llf, then have o. market value OF S200,
those Of 1850 worth 300 per acre, and so on
In this proportion; and by this means alone
IL not trebling, the wealth OF the.
comfy and to the same extent thereby tfl-
creasing taxation, thus easily providing q
fnnd ample to meet thenecessary demands
Of keeping these road in: the very best con-
dition. - Is NC, s az. 'tS -,
Then; eIso, ropertty could be readily sold
that now Ties without . demand upon the
market. Real estate agents tell us snat the
yeryfirst and often only objection OF the . on,
resident seeking a home here is the Tepeateo
objection to the miserable, impassaoie ROADS:
Look for q moment Mt the condition on
the northern States, as well as OF Engsaha,
In this respect. Z. Ask the New YORK or
Jersey farmer what makes ms Iurat: heule
blossom and bloom, and what IS fnelr nrst
great principle In farming ana iorenost
Of nil they answer, it Is their perfectdoad-
svstemawhici, IL the basis and superstruc-
tnres OF their wealth as well as comfort.
Then why is it that we continue to groVet
In the mud and the mire that surrounds us !!
There is no answer save in the utter letlargy
that pervades our people; their unwilling
ness to think OF this subject; their strange
idea that one class might possibly be
benefited more than another by any change.
And thus they continue hopelessly to suffer,
paralyziug the energies OF those who would
do, and with not enough OF nerve and OF in
dependence in our Legislature or our courts
to drive the people out Of these old ruts; ;
not boldness sufficient to inaugurate new
measures for the advancement OF whole
community. Simply because they fear the
displeasure Of a few, and their own popu-
larity ut issue, they are timid. IL the Legls-
lature grants new departure Tor our COM
mon benefit in this respect they do so per-
missifay. vesting the discretion in the
courts; there the responsibility will not be
assumed. Once inaugurated and establish
ed bF the firm convictions, nerve, and In
f1uence OF some one in authority, and the
blessings OF grateful people would mere
after be his reward. But where and to
whom can we now look in this present hour
The ssd, S4th, s5tl, and SGth sections OF
the road law passed by our Legislature IN
March, 1875, granted permission only to
the county courts to let out the roads TO
contract. This was q new departure in our
law, and promised good. Upon this Broad,
Street road. the great thoroughfare and
principal avenue into the heart Of our city,
we sought to avail ourselves OF this system
of contract. Commissioners were appointed
to receive bids for the same, under specl-
ficatioas most complete, guaranteeing under
bond a permanent road for onc-year con-
tract. and at O cost of less than 5000 per.
mile for the first year; thereby establish
ing road easily and cheaply to be main
tanned thereafter.
Under this contract-system all portions OF
the county were invited to unite, so rs to
make the same general. But upon hear
ing before our County Court our applica-
ton was denied us, and denied upon the
ground of sectional jealousies. The people,
It was claimed, were unwilling to adopt this
unless the whole county was embraced and
the system made general. And the Court
was unwilling to take the responsibility OF
80 radical departure from our old custom.
We were then continued and remanded to
the tender mercies of the old system OF
overseers or surveyors. And a mon-
strous system of wrong it is, and
in our experience without any benefit
whatever to the people, and with no permla-
nent Improvement whatever to the condi-
ton of the roads. BY this system those
oyerseers reap the only real benefit in the
payment to them by the county for their
own services and that of their teams in put
ting down q few pine poles and placing dirt
in the mud-holes in the road-often making
the roads worse.
In our examination of such reports Of
these overseers as had been fled at the
time. embracing their operations only from
the fall OF 1876 to April of 1873, from on!!;;,
road precinQts-.mostly in
Tuckahoe and BrooklandI districts they foot
up charge against the county, approved
by the Court and to be levied for by the
Board, amounting to $2,15S.35.. And il the
work In all these precincts corresponds
favorably with the one over which we ira
yelled to the home Of our host to-day (bor-
dering on both Brookland and Tuckahoe)
we would not give $500 for all the work
dona: RI ? 't'.}-
II the Club will examine the reports of
COPIES of which We hereuath
submit to you) it will be observed, as Fair
sample of the many, that for that portion OF
This Broad-Street road over which we ira
yelled to-day, from the city limits to the
road, about two miles in
length, Surveyor Carriers expenses, charged
against the county, amount to S96.37. we,
ask, Where is the improvement on this sin
gle and most important line2 Was there
anywhere ditch opened to lead the stand
ina water off this road? Grayely, we ask
this Club is there nine dollars worth of
real work and Improvement on this sec
ton?
These reports, 1t will be remembered,
were only from ,twenty-seven road pre-
cincts. We do not know how many such
there are IN the entire county. There must
be at least seventy-fve or more. Then, II
six months, costs of twenty-seven survey
ors ia g. direct tax on the county Of over
S2,10O, what is the tax Of the whole ]?
And it must be remembered in this con-
neetion that this expense levied against us,
does not include the work OF the hands
summoned; it is for the other expenses.
Say that these hands were made to come
out and work at q fair per diem, and how
largely would this increase these reports OF
the costs OF our roadsp a't#., 411@ ~
= But these reports show generally that the
hands they summon come out to work or
not, as they please. The fines imposed in
nine cases out OF ten are not collected, and
apparently but little effort made to do so.
And the ploughs and teams, carts and pine
poles, OF the surveyor, and sometimes his
neighbor, 60 TO swell up the amount OF the
.tfunpaid bills" which is levied for and paid
by the property-owners, who, if they per-
ceived any corresponding benefit or i'm
proyement to the roads over which they are