The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1880-03-04


NEW vienna, February %.
EDITOR News The pike law passed
March 2Sth, 1879, bears the marx Of Ne
beast on its forehead. An act to authorize
certain counties, etc, and then specify those
Having a population between 29.IsO and
29,l35 at the last Federal census when
Highland was the only one. Why not sav
Highland county? Simply to kds the
ssouen foot Of the 5saaI Why did not some
other county in the great State Of Ohio
want such law The great majority Of
our citizens want pixies, and We have two .
pike laws: the two and one mile systems.
both tolera5ly good laws, and many Of our
citizens are making good use Of thsm "a
constructing pixies as the Isl miles con
structed under the laws demonstrate. be-
sides probably as much more under con-
temptation. But the construction-of pixies
under the two last-named laws, and fBasof
1879, propose to operate on vsry different.
principles. The two former recognize the
principle Of "eating our bread in the sweat
OF our faces" while the latter proposes to
eat it in the sosqt Of otHsr peoples faces
One Of the roads now decided to be
built by the county as "a great mail rotrte.'5
might have been we'll nigh completed bv
this time, had the money and time (not to
say anything Of the whisky spent to de-
feat the wishes Of many Of the enlerpriis-
ing citizens along the route, been devoted
to the building Of it.
If the iniquity Of the law of 1879 muzt
be forced on our county, we have notEinr
to say against any one trying to obtain his
share, But it is impossible to divide tbs
Plunder equally. Already hundreds Of
thousands Of dollars have been sDeDt to
build the roads already completed, and YET
every dollar Of personally so taxed is-on.
the duplicate, TO build on indefinitely.
"TwO mills on the dollar besides other
road tax" is not much. How ingeniousI
Ten mills on the dollar on all proDertv.
both real and personal, now paid for the
roads already constructed, and many Of
their bonds viii run for years yet, yet tBs.
modest beast only holds out its pan for two
mills on she dollar on such personaltyl
But how long viii that Ia5 be ez,m5sfe.
The little. job now started only eontem-
plates 6fty-siI miles, estimated to cost $40
GOO; just one-haf what the free pixies az
ready cost. liodesf calculation E7eryfarm-
er and business man knows that We can
build our own roads much cheaper than
any corporation can for us. So If they cost
no more, we can set down $3.50. 900. and
then find in the end it win pan out between.
three and four hundred thousand dollars
But this is just the skirmish line in ad-
vance.
As the execution Of the law was not
compulsory, we had hoped it would re-
main a dead-letter. Vain hopeI If the
execution Of such law bad been incur
election and majority decided in its favor
there might be some palliati0n. bat 1-s are
bound hand and foot, and the tazdti0B Of our
property is at the mercy Of three men
Two mills to the dollar annually ia no
curb 1t viii only proI0ng our Hisa1i. They
have the legal right to issue bonds that
VIII mature hIty years hence, and weigh
down pOsterity with an incubus of debt.
Let every taxpayer in the county. who
realizes the iniquity Of the law Of 1879.
meet IN HillsbOr0 at the earliest time Drae-
ticable, and petition for the repeal Of said
law, and adopt measures to stop anv fur-
ther expense by the Commissioners acting
under It, JONAH BRETON.