The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1882-02-02
Our County Roads.

Correspondence of the Herald
TRINITY MILLS January 2O.-The
interest you have heretofore mani
tested in the subject of our county roads
has led me to think upon the subject, and
the result of my reflections has been the
conclusion that our whole system of road
laws is radically wrong | hope, if your
views coincide with such as | modestly adj
vocate. YOU will ventilate the subject in
such a iorcible manner as to enlist
the whole press of the State i'll iayor
of the repeal of the present and the passage
of law more popular, more practlcaple,
and more economical yet disclalm origl-
nalitv The plan propose is one already IN
successful operation in some OF the states
and has been tried in this, but hampered
with al, the dead weight of sinecures, ire
spousible contractors, etc, incident to the
Radical administrations, rendering IL prac-
tically Intellectual. 1t is a well-known fact
that the body of those who do the work on
our roads are the poor men OF the state.
Every man between certain ages, although
he may not have been three weeks IN
Texas, and although he may be simply a
hireling or n new renter, aud may
possess little, if any, interest here,
nevertheless is "Warned in' to work
on the road nearest his residence
and does in fact contribute towards the
work on our roads as much as the wealthy
man who hauls his products to market Oy
hundreds of wagon-loads. There IS no Jus
tice in such a system, and he feels 1t; there
fore to save his fine he obeys the summons
and performs as little labor as possible
NV observation teaches me that an ordi-
nary gang of road-workers do about one
fourth the work in given time, that would
be done by the same number OF hlred men,
Nv glrf
and practical overseer. Nor
does the overseer under the
present system often care himself TO hurry
ON the work: there il concert of feeling Ms
well as OF action between himself ana inc
hands. There is another very prominent
objection 10 our systematic unequal dis
trfbution of labor upon the different ROADS;
depending perhaps upon the Topography Of
the country, requiring ten times as much
labor annually as the same distance else
where, vet having no more, Or may be less
n nor assigned TO il. Now, what Is the
medy? Plainly. 10 my mind, to make
every man contribute toward road-building
In the ratio Of his taxes. or
tbe proportion Of his interest,
a small road tax should be levied. aud
cuuitably Distributed among the county
tborourhfares by the Cogmissioners' Court,
whose duty IL should 5e 70 appoint aproper
ov,.rseer to each ole or more roads, Who
shall be the paid agent Of 'he court, either
10 hire hands and DO the work, or contract
fl- bridging aud such work as may require
skilled iab0r; IN al cases the bin q be APP
pr,ved Or the court after a Satisfactory in-
veftifa.ion. either through o special board
of read commissioner, or some other
prOper method. l.evc hastily thrown ont
these hints and very lmperlcctly, tut y
will be- seen by you and 0ibers at once that
ms plan mus sUcnre better roads and bet
ter work az small cost. and that tot as
-essed against every taxpayer cqritably
and iustiy in proportion 10 his interest in
TAx-PAYER-