Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1889-09-28
CONFLICTS md PUBLIC Roads.
Tincs-Ern ocrai.


Good roads are not tie rule IN Lou
isiana; they are the exception. Our
road laws, for some reason not quite
clear, have never proved efective,and
interior Louisiana has suffered 1t is
quite true that with few exceptions
all able bodied men living on or near
public roads are required to give a
fixed ua,aber of days Of labor annually
to putting the highways Of travel in
good condition, but through inetfi-
cheney in the execution Of the law or
through the vast disproportion in
some sections between the extent Of
The roads and the number Of laborers,
the result has been a failure to secure
one Of the essentials Of prosperity
satisfactory channels of intercourse
between different sections and COM
munities.
The Legislature of 1878, no doubt
recognizing tie fact that. the road
laws on the statute book did not bring
satisfactory results, entered upon a
new departure. An act passed dur
ing that year provides that judges
may sentence any person convicted OF
an offence punishable by hard labor
in the penitentiary, but not neces-
sarily so, to work on the public roads
or streets Of the parish in which the
conviction is had. This it was thought
would give constant working force
costing but little, with which the pub.
, lie highways could be improved and
kept in good condition. But the law
in question, go far from solving the
difficulty, has been practically In
. operative. 1t was found that under
the provisions OF the statute these
convict road hands could not b.
chained, and that many guards would
therefore be required to prevent thei1
, escape and make them work. To thi
, would be added the cost of main
+ tenance Of the convicts and the guards
Such an expense, in the judgment o
, the several police juries, could not b
p borne by the parishes, and as resul
D convicts who might have been EN-
ployed on the public roads hav
o served their terms in parish jails o
in the State peLitentiary. The out
o come of the law has thus amounted t
+ nothing and some further step mus
be taken to secure good roads through
out the State.
In our judgment the road questio
in this or any other State can neve
be settled until the people come t
recognize that it costs money to secnr
e good highways and keep them in re
o pair. Tennessee solved the probleI
e by having turnpikes constructed, an
e collecting tolls until they were pal
l. for. In some instances the count
i provided the funds and enjoyed fire
It roads-among the best III the worlC
e But these turnpikes, graded and soc
b Ged as is a railroad, cost much money
and were not built by road hand
e summoned by a road overseer. The
e were let by contract and paid fc
u with the money of the people.
l. And SO in Louisiana, if we are t
e have good roads, We must expect
e pay for them. No system such as th
a present haphazard scheme can brin
6 any satisfactory result. The workin
J. of convicts on the public roads is
r commendab.e plan, but the parish'
'e must put up the money to guard an
S. maintain them. The tax payers mu
le 60 down in their pockets in any even
is and it is point gained to secure II
1t labor free.
IS The beauty of the present system
'r in the eye of the narrow economist,
rs that it costs nothing. Another pec'
T. liar;ty is that it gives us no roaC
to worthy the name. When. the pa
d ishes agree that money must be spel
t, to secure satisfactory highways, Il
D. road problem will be solved, but n