The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-02-01

be so amended rs to keep up the roads
partly by manual labor and partly by
tax; that every man should be re-
quired to work the road few days,
say two or three days, and in addition
to this service those who have proper
ty should pay a small tax. Unless
some provision is made for road tax
the roads in many parts of the state
will always remain impossible at GER
tain seasons of the year. No
amount of such work as is done
or can be done upon roads under the
present system will ever make good
roads in the black waXy lands of this
state. The time has come when the
roads must be "piked," and this should
he done by the county. 1t is true it
may be done by corporations, or joint
stock companies, but, for my part, l
think it would be less burdenSome to
the people to pay small tax and
have public roads, than to have the
roads owned by corporations and be
eternally taxed in the way of tolls.
POpe-I offer the amendment to
strike out the word road" because L
am opposed to having an adj valorem
tax to work roads, and depend upon
this tax alone to keep our public high
ways in repair. do not stand here
as the advocate of the present road
law, for l believe it iniquitous in
some of its provisions, and harsh in
its operation in many particulars. /
believe that it is unconstitutional,
and if ever tested in our higher courts
would be so declared. l can mention
one particular in which it is illegal
and that is requiring minors to work
the roads. But if not illegal it is I'M
just, because it eXacts from a male
person three years before he has a
right to speak as to what the laws of
his state shall be ten days of involunta-
ry servitude. Perhaps this legislature
viii have no more difficult subject
submitted to its consideration than
the one of how to fairly adjust the
burden of maintaining our. public
highways.
say they should not be repaired by
levying an ad yalorem tax alone, and
| say that it would be wrong and Iln-
just to require those alone who ARE
able to perform manual labor to
work our highways. L can not appre-
ciate the argument of the senator
from Harris when he says: THE PEG
pie of this country have distaSte to
working under an OverSeer." That is
a matter of taste, and l dare say does
not prevail to any great extent among
the good class of citizens. Why, sir,
there must, in all human affairs, be
head, a master, a "boss." Our best cit
liens are empanneled upon a jury
and herded together and not permit
ted to speak to friends or families I'M
til their labor is finished.
Neither can appreciate the remarks
of the senator from Dallas as conclu-
sive of the question. lie says that in
his district it is impossible to secure
good roads under the present system:
that the merchants of the cities in
north Texas are forced to take thou
sands of dollars from their pockets
yearly to pay for placing roads i'll re-
pair. i dare say this is true; for so
do the merchants in my section of the
\ state contribute largely to the same
object. Now, why? They know that
it is dread cast upon the waters"
They know that it is good invest
ment. They do it not 50 much for the
love they feel for the farmer, but be-
cause they know in return that the
cotton bags will come rolling in in
| return for the investment, and the
merchant soon makes up all expendi-
| lures made in the direction of inn
proving the highways.
The senator from Falls also opposes
my amendment and asks is il right
| that Il non resident who OWLS land
here andis deriving Il revenue in rents
should be exempt from bearing any
of the expense in keeping up our pub
lie highways. / will answer that the
nonresident land owner, like the resi-
| dent land owner, has many other bur-
dens imposed upon him by govern
ment in the way of. taxation.
L ask him who uses the highway, the
| nonresident or his tenant who hauls
cotton, corn, wheat and other products
of said land, and drives his herd along
said highway?
! believe this legislature will at
tempt to change the present road law,
and | am informed that a bill has been
introduced in the other house seeking
to remedy the evils now existing. |
believe. Sirs, that there is Il common
ground upon which labor and property
can meet and the burdens of each be
equitably adjusted in reference TO this
difficult subject. | believe that the
present existing road law should be
changed in many things. and 1 believe
that this legislature will so declare,
but l will never cast my vote to
amend the organic law SO as to invite
legislation which will provide for the
maintenance of our public highways
by an ad yalorem tax alone.
An amendment to strike out roads"
Mr.. GetZendaner said that the pres
ent law is not satisfactory in its work
ings and that Il change is necessary.
1t operates unjustly, irregularly, and
is harsh in some Of its provisions. 1t
does not seem possible, more especially
in the black land belt of the state.
Public roads are a public necessity,
and their benefits inure as much in
proportion 10 ones property rs in other
matters of necessity. The system now
in operation comes to us with Il smell
upon it of the Davis administration
from the time of slavery and before
the war. The system in slave times
worked far better and more equally
than mt present, because Il large
amount of every mans property was
in slaves and these slaves were re-
quired to work the roads, and in fact
did nearly all the work on the roads.
This, in operation, was property tax
" CAICllb dO Dul HOW
is it now? The wealthy citi-
zen, the owner of plantations,
of mills and factories and railroads,
ETC., if over the age of forty-five and
no more, pays no tax, while the en-
ployer without hand to raise or a
cents worth of property, and purely
without the privilege of voting, is re-
quired to pay us much, it may be as
much as ten dollars or ten DAYS ser
vice which may be to him worth more
money. 1t matters not to the EN-
ploye whe ther he hauls two or four
bales of cotton per load or whether he
haulS half cord or a cord of wood,
whether breaks down his wagon or
not, his wages go on, but it does make
great difference to his employer.
Yet shall the former pay all the road
tax and the latter none?
The capitalist, the merchant and
nearly every man of property is inter
ested in having good roads, because it
enlarges the field from which it draws
supplies and to draw trade But in
the black land belt the present system
fails to give us passable roads.
This subject of public highways is
getting to be one of all-abSOrbing in
terest. The great highway from Dali
las to San Antonio, is now
and has been impossible, at
a point within two miles of my coun-
~ sent for five mnnthS Tho ovarSaar