The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1883-08-17


for its support from the citizen and IN
return guarantees protection to person and
property. The citizen is entitled tC
this protection, and if he fails to get il
the State gives him his remedy. y man com
mhs an assault and battery upon another
the party assaulted has his remedy in civil
action for damages, and besides this the
State rcdrc>scS the wrong by a ctiniual
prosecution. One man commits dcrCStdCit
upon the property Of another by doing, or
emitting to do, something required by law, y,
and the party injured RECEIVERS damages
for the wrong. Why should not county be
liable for an act Of omission or commission
whereby one of its citizens suffers? The
Legislature evidently thought i; should be,
CT it would never have rulctcl such law
as the foregoing.
There is still another matter Of cast, in
the form OF an Indirect tax, it is true. but
nevertheless tax aud burden resulting from
our wrrtchrdly bad roads which mig DC
mi,isatcd aud greatly reduced by good roads,
viz 4: the wear and tear of vehicles in cons
mon use aud the enormous expenditure cf
horse power.
1t is next to impossible to ascertain the
number ui' vehicles of all kinds aud lcscrip
tions used on Tie public highways in South
Carolina, but ] have adopted the best
method can think Of to approximate the
number, and hav3 submitted this ques' IN to
4 number Of practical men. What is the
proportion of vehicles to population in
South Carolina ? Some have answered one
to every hundred, some one to fifty and
others one to seventy five. | shoul have an
swcrea one to every hundred, but majority
think this too large and decide that one to
fifty would be nearer the mark. However,
will adopt one to 4 hundred. This would
give us ten thousand vehicles. The
average life Of vehicle, carriage, buggy,
cart, wagon, &c, is about five years in the
present state of the roads. In localities
where the roads are ccIy bad they will not
last longer than three years. Let Us suppose
the average cost OF the repairs on these
vehicles is 50 each. Is that too much or too
little icorrcct, they cost annually $50
900. Now, it is safe tC assume that il the
roads were made good the average life Of a
vehicle would be increased to ten yrnlS
aud the annual repairs not more than 50 80
th!uA this srpuld-he,- m:thir bounds, Ath,.
Former premise is correct Here alone
wuuld be Il saving Of % 900 in cash annually
in ,h ; matter OF repairs, besides an cnor
NOUS amount by reason OF the increased
longevity Of The vehicles. This is tax
that colnes out Of the pockets Of the people
every year that might just rs well b. saved
10y tic exercise Of more practical wisdom
and foresight i'll working our public roads
am satisfied, on further reflection and
inquiry, | have placed the number of
vehicles far too low There must bc one
hunlrcI thousand vehicles in the State
1t seems to me these questions are well
worthy of consideration. They are not
vagarics INDUCED in for entertainments but
propositions coming within the scope of
every mans experience. 1t is not claimed
that they are accurate, but they serve
to Illustrate the point make and to show
that We pay heavily Tor bad roads which
could b. UNNECESSARILY improved by the
judicous outlay Of much les mcncy.
In an cntcrprising go>ahcad country time
is money. Time is money whe.c the peo
pie are active, Industrious, viglant, pro
ercssvc. If time is money, what vast
sums are expended upon cur public roads
Here is another tax-hcavy tax Time
spent pulling and hauling, 'gccin and haw.
ing swearing an complaining is very un
pyoitabIy spent There are many sections
oi twelve miles OF road in Edgciield County.
and no doubt in other counties, that cannot
be Travelled in winter in less than three
sometimes four hours, whereas not more
than an hour aud half ought to be required
and they can be made so tn tnot more than
an hour and half would be required
Would it not be better to repair the roads
and save this time to be used more pruliia
bly, and avoid the torture af mind an b ,dy
and loss Of vital energy anl force 1t
would seem so.
| might cite other facts showing the cX
t"avagant cost OF our road system, but they
would only be cumulative. Ii our road,
cost The onc-half or the one luurth, or Tho
one tenth Of the amounts above stated they
woU'd b. the mos; expensive nuisamccs thai
amy people ever supported. But haze
not ovrr.tatrd t. nave not included tn,
pair al bridges, which is a tax upon prop
rrty and in the aggregate for the whole
state must reach Il large sum, and which
cannot "ive because my inquiries on thai
point have not yet been answered. have