The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-01-13


I " EIttor-TL.s IS NmaS, but il
seems hard for Us u look up And
write upon luwl 5 subject. We Er43E!!tAie
mentally, physically, aui hope phllo~9
phica.ly toward, the roads, ~ travel.
Yes. that is the subject now we hearl,
early, aul often, aud ate. The weather
even Is neglected aal forgotten. The
roads the roads the roads We have
not seen bull chariot in a week. II
General Harrison hllself were alive and
citizen Of this town, ! doubt whether
he could get ginger cakes aui hard
cider for his family Facts ani figures
were | TO produce them would be trite
and common place. We have pcnetra-
ted the road question and touched bot
tom now. We are very near unani-
not only Of the system. but a change Of
the roads themselves We intend TO
step up and out 1t would have been
well, | have thought,if Mr.. Lincoln had
have embodied in his emancipation
proclamation a clause IN regard tb+Cur
road systems. After trying A thing for
fifty or hundred years, aud it proves a
failure, it does look like ii was time for
people to be looking aoout for change.
\ learned lawyer friend was beratng
me terribly few days ago about my
communlstIc idea Of working the roads
by taxation. solicited his written
brief, and you Shall have It for print As
soon as 1t comes to hand. Instead OF
being communistic [ think Iny views
are cminently conservative. dow can
! u ny Ia. L. Il
economy be commuuiStJc? The idea IS
now that road working is burden from
which property is free. That is think
great mistake Any property holder,
who tancies that, is but huggng delu-
| sloD. Let him make calculation if he
wodld be free. And he viii find the
bad work, the sham work, and no work
at all, cost him more than ii he paid a
moderate price For efficient labor, and
made somebody. pqns bic, and thereby
secured good roads
Ii the properly ho. aor had good roads
over which u ride aul Aatll his produce
the present plan III gAt be worth cons
tending for. That it Is now only cheat
anda fraud we all very wei know. , . one
denies the excellent theory of the pres
ent !ags- y r Bqt wi tAey aneL = So. =,
still say no. And IN this they have
been and are now certainly sovereign.
| The law is dead because the people
do not intend, as it is not their wish
to have it enforced When the legisla
ture meet, | think it would be well
if the Speakers wnen the rolls are
called, would enquire of each member
the condition of his roads, and how long
it took him TO make the trip to the
Capital
AS it is likely to be short session,
| suppose the members from Granville
will start early. And | know they will
all carry road bills in their pockets. |
saw gentleman few days ago who was
made severely "sea sick by the rough
roads from Oxford to Henderson.
hope no such accident will befall our
members. For they start to Raleigh
with level heads to give us good road
laws, fence law, look after the cduca-
ton Of the children, and the insane asy-
lum. and then come home.
Would you believe that in high, hiIly,
healthy Granville within three hundred
yards OF the corporate limits Of the town
of Oxford, wagons aud teams are foun-
dering about like they do in Missis
sippi slew They remind me very
much Of the depot about Manassas.
Any old soldier understands that. ii
there is anything Of good, Of peace, Of
conservatism about such | cannot see it. |
doubt whether first class church mem
Der of could drive four horse team from
here to Henderson and not use bad Ian
guage. | doubt wcther either Mr. Wea-
yer or Sparks could make the trip aud
maintain their purity Of character. We
will not dog our members this ses-
sion if they will carry out the pro
gramme | have hinted at above.
\. 4. G.