Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-10
BETTER ROADS.
Hon. T. D. Parker Briefly Gives His
Views on a County Road System.
His Proposition is to Furnish a Perpetual
Force of Road Workers and Relieve Tax
Payers of Great Expense.
B1RpvILLE, TEX, April 2. 1890.

BIRDvILLE, TEX, April 2. 1880.
To the Gazette:
] see you have been soliciting plans for
the construction of county roads, and
| propose suggesting plan that L believe
is the practical one, and if you are not SO
closely allied TO the county bond system
that you are blinded to any other plan
will give my plan for constructing roads
as brief as 1 can: Let the state authorize
the counties to take the short term con-
victs and such as are hired out or worked
outside OF the walls. but not TO
cripple the work at either of the peni-
tentiaries or on the farm that the
state now owns. This plan would give
the counties reliable force. Then add
to this the present county convict force,
which is constantly being increased or dI-
minished as their time expires, and if the
people will adopt the proposed amend
ment TO the constitution, that provides
for farther levy of fifteen cents on the
SIOO for road purposes, that would give
thirty cents tax for the construction of
roads, nearly double the amount that
Texas ever paid for state and county tax
before the war. This plan would solve
the problem, furnish a perpetual force
to work the roads and relieve the state
of the expense of supporting gang OF
thieves robbers and rapists at the ex-
pense of honest Taxpayers, who are
taxed to pay all salaries and keep the
wheels of the government well creased.
Then let the commissioners court sp-
point county road commissioner or a
competent engineer to superintend the
work, as they are now authorized TO do
by an act of the last legislature, and
then we would have a system of road
working that would make more roads
with the same amount or labor tnan we
are now making. This plan of working
convicts would not interfere with honest
labor. To work them on farms they
come in competition with the farmer
(the supporter of our government aud
are nuisance to the community in which
they are situated, winch the price of
land in the counties will prove, as immi-
grafton avoids the counties where con-
victs are worked on farms. / heard II
suggested that we change the laws in
felony cases so as to leave all the short
term conVicts with the counties instead
of sending them to the penitentiary.
That would do for the black land counties
that want the road force increased, but
that is few out of the two hundred coun-
Ties OF the STATE ana WOuIO De great
hardship on all counties that don't
want their labor, as it would fill their
jails with criminals TO be fed at the eX-
pense of honest fax payers and leave
the criminals in insecure jsilS where they
would have a better chance of escape |
than in a chain gang.
This is substantially my plan to build |
roads. I am opposed to a bonded debt |
for county state or individual. The in |
terest is always accommodating by day |
and by night, aud don't |
ever excuse Sunday. Floods, |
famines and pestilence may come, |
but the bond has no ears to hear, no |
heart to pity, no eye to weep, but de- |
mands his ''pound Of flesh. There is I
no widows dover, no homestead exssf
emption from the tax collector-the last |
COW, the last pony must go. The poor, |
starving officer and bOndholder must be |
paid.
Now, Mr.. Editor, just please put thiss4
hastily written scribble in your paper.
If the people don t like it, they won't |
blame you. 1. d. PARKER.