Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-12-29
Public Roads.
CARTER FURNACE, Dec. 2s

Mr.. EDITOR: The legislature of Ten.
nessee will soon be convened for the pur-
pose of considering questions. of interest to-
and enacting laws,sfor the benefit Of their
constituency. And next to the state deb
question the road question is perhaps ol
as much, If not of more Importance to the
people of Tennessee than any other Ques
ton than may come before that body
during its session. We certainly need
better roads in East Tennessee, and in o.
der to get them, we need better law, for
our present road law serves the purpose
only of giving US the most miserable set oi
roads that any people were
afflicted with, ever and in
place of getting better seems TO grow
worse and worse each year. This question
of how shall we get better road system
has no doubt received much thought by
persons who habitually travel over the
country and by those who have anything
to transport over our miserable Tennessee
roads but as no one has spoken out on the
subject lately, I cautiously advance to the
front to give the people the benefit of my
thoughts on the question involved.
The theory I advance, may meet with
some opposition, but while this may be the
case, and l do not want or intend to ge
| into any controversy over the matter.
will nevertheless write as hope to be o.
servi Q to the whole people and add to the
material prosperity and wealth of the
state.
But to the theory. 1st, let there be Law
to make and keep up roads by taxation
say levy upon each person subject to 8
poll fifty cents and upon each one hundred
dollars worth of taxable property, five
cents for.road purposes. Then in addition
theretos let the law be so changed or mod
flied that state prisoners can be worked
| upon the public roads and let every roac
| in the state be macadamized by frst com
mencing work on the principal thorough
| fare and continueing till all was complet
ed. Let every county build work house
| and work their cOnvlcts upon the roads
| having an overseer to control and dlrec
the work, and let it be the duty Of eacl
county's court TO see that the prisoners re-
ceiye human treatment at the hands of the
overseer and that they are comfortably
clothed and properly fed and then whether
persons be convicted of felony, or some
crime that simply incarcerates thom in the
county Jail for period of time, let them be
transferred to the work house and work ou
their sentence or pay their hne by labor
on the public roads, for the public good
Let the tax levied for road purposes bt
collected and paid into the county treasury
and used in defraying the. expenses of the
and if any man be unable to pay the ta1
| thus levied, let the county overseer bt
| empowered to employ at a reasonable com
pensation, the person thus INDECENT to work
out the same on the road. Let the WORK
commence at the county seat, on some ont
of the pnblic thorcughfare and be pushed
forward as rapidly as practicable and q
soon as ten or twelve miles of the road, il
mscadamized and otherwise prepared fol
easy and comfortable transportation over ii
let there be toll gate erected In some
suitable place near the town or city and /
person designated by law to collect tn
toll at q reasonable commission and tn,
residue turned over to the county or statt
Tor revenue, or to pay expenses of convicts
or for pushing to completion the remaining
public roads IN the county.
The above give as the theory, in it
crude state; hoping to interest some of ou
worthy statesman in giving it shape anG
polish, 30 that our legislature may put j
into practical working.
And, now that. have given the theory
it may be asked where is the advantages o
such a law. Much every way. In tn
first place persons subject to apoll and Il
work the road under the present system
would make money by paying one dol
lar tax instead of working under the pres
ent law, for the oYerseers generally go lonl
and brush up little before each circui
court, just so the road will pass muster
and the hands generally have to lose abou
three days fooled away on the road.
say fooled away, because every body that i
accustomed working public roads unde
the present sestem; know that fully TIVE
thirds of the hands engage in lounging
around and cracking jokes while other
work.
Secondly if our roads were maeadamizet
instead of transporting from l6 to ~ hun
dred pounds, with two ordinary horses
we wouli be able to transport from thirty
six to forty hundred, and persons liYint
fourteen miles from market who have
raised sixty bushels of wheat for sale
would thus save one day in transporting i
to market, for our common dirt roaIs il
good weather, an ordinary span of horses
will rarely ever draw moe than thirty
bushels l800 lbs. } of wheat and it will TAX
whole day to make the trip, while on
good macadamized road he can take sixt,
bushels, with the same team, and max
the round trip in less time, and damsg
his wagon and team less, thus he has saved
| day TO devote TO some other industry
and of course would be glad to pay the
state twenty cents toll for the time he ha
gained py the advantages of frs.-clas
Inoroughfare. And as individuals WoulC
thus gain time for industrial pursuits
they would be advanced in wealth, anc
Individual wealth makes wealthy county
and SO the whole commonwealth will bt
benefited by the system.
But one more point and am done. |
would have tendency to moraliZe and 4
lessen crime in the country. Now per.
son is convicted of crime, sentenced to thu
penitentiary and is taken away from thos'
he is acquainted with, and serves out hi
stances cares but little for it. But if per
sons had TO work upon. the public high
ways, where they could be seen daily By
those that know them, and thus pay thI
penalty of their crime, they would perhap
be less likely to trespass again.
Again many young people violate tht
law without thinking of what the punish
ment for the violation of the law would be
and why, simply from the fact they cal
not realize the penalty of serving out
sentence in the state prison, because they
have had no occular demonstration of th
fact But let them be accus .omed to see
ing the convicts at work in the chain gan,
upon the public highways, with their vari
gated suits and shaved heads, and yo
deter the youth, so that when temptation
TO commit crime present themselves, h
will think of the chain gang, and thus b
saved from crime and the state from tn
trouble and expense of prosecution. No
do not say this would save all the youth
from crime, but say many. W. NJ. C.