The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1878-03-15
THE COST OF BAD ROADS.

THE COST OF BAD ROADS.
The Enormous Turatton Imposed for tic
PriOileyc Of Raiing OOcr Bad Roads
Our People Bear 1t WiM perfect Equa-
nin,ity.
Extract From Professor Sandforls Address Before
Georgia Agricultural Socety.l
We complain heavily Of Radical taxation
for the last twelve years, and wo have abun-
dant and just reason for complaint, but l
venture the assertion, that we pay more for
the privilege of riding over bad roads, than
for our national, State and county taxes
combined and this point, l think, is sus-
ceptiblc Of demonstration. Now, let us
see where these taxes come in. Here is
farmer, who, for the comfort of himself
and family, invest 5000 in buggy. Now,
on a system Of hard, smooth, wellgraded
roads, this buggy ought to last, in good run
ming order, for ten years. In this instance,
the annual outlay for buggies is $50. But
what are the real facts in this case? Does
the buggy last ten years? On our rough
and uneven roads, with ,ruts and holes into
which the wheels are constantly falling with
smomentum Of sledge-hammers, we doubt
whether the life of the average buggy ex-
tends beyond five years. If this be true,
then there is an annual expense Of $40 for
buggies-S20 more per annum than in the
case of good roads. This extra $40 per
;auRsta ~ia, to all intents aud purposes, O tax,
for the privilege Of. using bad roads. And
now multiply this tax for every man in the
State of Georgia, who rides in a buggy, and
what fearful array of figures does it bring
out; tax for the privilege of bad roads
What l have said in regard to the buggy,
holds good with reference to every class of
vehicles !; from the 5000 pleasure carriage,
down through the list of road wagons, carts
and humber convcyances. l venture to
say, that If we could get at the extra cost
Of carriages, buggics, wagons, etc., with the
wear and tear Of harness, and the unneces-
sary consumption of horses and mules, we
should be astonished at the huge amount in
dollars and cents, that this fearful array of
items would foot up; to say nothing of per-
sonal discomfort, and the wear and tear of
patience, which cannot be reckoned in dol
lars and dimes, but which seriously dctract
from enjoyment.
Again, another heavy tax which we pay
for bad roads is this, that we are compelled
to keep number of horses and pay an
amount for their support which would not
be ecessary under system of good roads.
1t is fundamental maxim with eminent
road makers, such as McAdam, Telford and
Stephenson, that good road should be per-
fecty hcoel, or nearly SO as the nature of the
country will allow. Trustwo rthy expert
ments by these engineers have shown that
when road rises one foot in height for
twenty Of its length horse can draw con-
tinuously only one-half tho load that he can
on level; and, therefore, on such a road
too horses will be needed to do the work
OF one. Now, take the common county and
neighborhood roads in our State. How
many of them can you find that have as
good grade as one in twenty? How very
frequently do we find grade of one in ten,
or even as high as one in five? If horse
can pull only half his proper load, when
the grade Of the road rises one in twenty,
of course when it rises one in ten he can
draw but one:forM of his proper load
And it is an undeniable fact that many por-
tions of our roads do have this injurious
grade. What is the consequence? IF the
load Of tho horse is adapted to his power of
drawing on the level road it follows that
when he comes to Hill rising one in twenty,
or still worse, Of one in ten, his strength is
over taxed, he becomes prematurely worn
out, and there is consumption of horse
flesh which has to be resupplied with new
horses; and new horses, in their last analysis,
mean simply mon,y. On tho contrary, if
the load Of the horse is accommodated to
what he can easily draw up slope of one
in twenty, or Of one in ten, then he is un-
derworked on the level portions Of the road,
and an excess Of horses must be maintained
to supply this inequality of work. think
it moderate estimate to say that, taking
all the farms in our State, at least one: :ffih
more horses are fed and maintained to do
the hauling over bad roads than would