The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-07-26
BUTLER ON TIE HIGHWAYS.

article from Senator Butler upon tho
present road law Of the State, aid in
it ,ie cSiticiscs with considerable yieor
and force its many Intellectual and in
adequate provisions. The Senator has
been for the past few months dcvoting
his time and attention to this import
ant subject, and the public may rca-
sonably expect much light and valua-
bic information hoih his diligcnt and
searching investigations. In the COM
munication above alluded to, he gives
ut length the different sections of the
General Statutes, touching upon the
subject, and claiming with reason TINT
the division of responsibility between
so many officers, and the inadcunatc
penalties for violations of duty, arc in
themselves sufficient to render tho en-
tire system fatally defective, and
would warrant radical legislation by
the General Assembly at its earliest
session.
The following, in substance, arc the
Important sections so justly and prop
ctly criticised ''y the Senator, viz:
The superintendent of highways" is an
pointed by the county commissioners, and,
motens rotcns, he is required to discharge
the duties of superintendent "f0r twelve
months from the date of his appointment, "
unless removed by the commissioners. lie
has general supervision OF highways in his
district, under The direction of the commits
sioncrs, appoints ovcrsccrs, arrangcs tic
hands into convenient sqarls," requires
the ovcrsccrs to call out the hands, rcgu-
latcs tho number Of days for each WORKING.
divides his district into suitable sections,
and shall once every three months report
to the county commissioners in writing the.
conuitlon OF the roads and bridges in his
district. lie performs this; work without
compensation. "And when the county
commissioners or any of them give orders
70 the superintendent of highway districts
to have any work done in his district and
he ncglcctS to do the same he shall be
deemed guilty Of a misdcmcanor ami upon
conviction thereof in Il trial Justices court :,
he shall be fined III Il SUM not less than ten
nor more than fifty dollars" Section l.rsl.
III the county commissioners never "ciyc
orders," then d superintendent is never
nmcnahlc.
Ana tile "ovcrScerS Of districts for nr.r
Letting to call out their hands and work
the roads when 'rrquircd' by the :,upcrin
trndcnt of highway districts shall hr Deem
cd guilty of a mSdrni;'anor and upon con-
Vlction thereof in the Court above named
ne 1lncd in sum not less than five nor
more than twenty dollars, "-IbH. The
oVcfSccr serves without compensation, and
his tenure Of Office is mo- stated nrr
some he holds ut the pleasure of the silprr-
intcndcnt Of highways, and if he should
never be "rcGuircd" he would never be
nmcnahlc.
Now upon their provisions and re-
quircmcnts, he has this to say, and VIC
bclicVc his observations will carry
conviction to the minds Of all who read
thin. lie says:
Now, let us suppose The commissioners
to be indicted under the foregoing statute,
ond true bill found, and they reply that
they gave "ordcrs' to the superintendent
IN pursuance OF law, how can thry br pun
iShcd? And suppose you then indirt Tie
and he proves that he
'rcquircd'' the 0ycrSccr ''to call out thr
hands" in obedience to the provisions of
the statute, how can he h" punished? And
suppose you arraign the ovrrSecr before a
trial justice, and he shows that he did
'call ont" the hands as he wa> "rruuircd"
by the superintendent, and tn, "han,ls''
came and brought 4 hoe, or axe, or mat
t0ck, or other implcmcm:, a:;! worked. how
can he be punished? The roads are still
bad, almost impossible.
The presumption is that every man who
ASSUMES public Office viii discharge IFS
dntieS With fidelity, and the presumpiiun j.,
generally wc!l-founlcd; bu! you cannot
expect public officer to enforce Il law I'M
less you give him the necessary power and
authority, and the mere statement of the
law in this case discl0scS its own incilicary,
In addition to the above he refers to
the fact that the ovcr-workcd and re-
sponsiblc supcrintcndcnts arc COM
PEELED to perform the duties imposed
upon them without compensation of
any Kind from the St1ta, and for this
reason no one feels inclined TO prose-
Gale his neiyhbor and friend for what
might be deemed open violations Of
the law.
Nothing seems palmer to our minds.
upon general survey Of the law an
plicabic to this subject, than That an
entirely new and different system will
alone meet the necessities Of the coun-
try. The present one, as will be gen.
orally conceded, has boon sufficiently
tested, and the public roads of South
Carolina ara perhaps to-day in worse
condition than fifty years ago. The
theme should Bc agitatcd and discussed
all over tic State, until the matter
takes shape in such legislative action
as will remedy the evils Of tho present
system and place our highways in q
condition that will do honor to the
progress and civilization of the COM
monwcalth.
The public-spiritcd ii.bors Of Senator