Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-26

" ersailles 2,419 IS 2.49l 4
Milkins....-............ 1855 il 2496 8
West Deer.............. 3,427 4 6,S27 q
Totals. 500. N co sl6a.5l5 ?
County Appropriation. 81 SOS 90 6J,O00 o
Grand Totals. .s29s. .5s5 60 so34, ,5l5 .
Working Out the Taxes.
The FIVE townships marked by a star have
as vet made no report of their millage, anC
the figures set opposite them are simply
the amounts assessed in the previous year
The figures for 1890 in all the townships are
taken from the report of the Secretary OF
Internal Affairs. The sum of SS4, sos put
down as the county appropriation for this
year is the estimate of the County Engineer
inserted in his last annual report as the
amoUnt required for the construction, re-
pairs and maintenance of bridges in the
various townships The total in the case OF
1891 is contributed to by innumerable frac-
tions not indicated in the table. 1t will be
understood, of course. that no boroughs are
embraced in the Allegheny county table.
They pay no road taxes
The bulk of this assessment all over the
State is worked out" A few samples will
serve to show about in what proportion the
cash and labor tax stand. Sewicklev town.
ship, Allegheny county, has her millage of
Z
and mill cash. Franklin township di-
vides A. mills exactly the same as Sewick-
lev W. j. White, the Supervisor of
Alleppo township, wrote me: "There was
Si75 road tax worked out in this township
and no cash tax at ALL w q. Lane,
Supervisor Of Patton township, writes:
''OUr road taxes this year are So 900, of
which 81 900 may be worked out"
W. +. Elliott, Supervisor in Forward
township, wrote: I'VE have three mills
levied for work-purposes, and one mill cash
for special We had to make this large levy
on account Of big wash-outs and land-slides,
and had q damage suit to pay. We never
had more than two and half mills before,
snd expect to keep it down to two mills
next year.
Another Feature of Expense.
There was also judgment against Patton
township in consequence of injury from bad
roads, and ii has TO be paid out of the road
taxation. The liability of wash-outs, acci-
dents. etc, from the kind of roads the coun-
try districts now have explains in great
measure the difference between the assess
ments in some townships last year and this.
The roads as at present cared for are abso-
lutely unreliable. When the township sees
winter approaching, it is not a question of
how much money they have spent in repair
ing the roads, but IL is a question purely and
simply Of weather One year they may pull
through without great deal of trouble with
he roads. but the next the highways may be
very expensive. A glance through the AL
lrgheuy county table will furnish many
startling instances of how one township may
differ in its assessment in Just two years.
With permanently repaired highways, all
kinds Of weather would be the same in their
i,
could be the result
From which does the public reap the
most good, the common schools OF the coun-
Try roads as they are at present kept up?
If II Is the school system, one would natur-
ally suppose that, as the best investment, it
should deserve the largest share of money
raised from taxation. Yet Washington
county this year has paid S25, ,150 more for
jJS poor roads than it has for its public
schools The aggregate of its school tax
was Sl09, SOP, and It's road taxes reached
total OF Sl3i,052. Mercer county this year
assessed road taxes aggregating S119, ,426
and school taxes ouly to the amount of $50
753-a difference of S29 653 in favor of the
roads. Lawrence county gives 50, 172 less to
schools than to roads Clearfeld county
Sights her schools to the extent of S34, ,9S9;
Chester TO the extent of $40, 129: Bucks S26,-
Ouo, and Cameron county by :. GOO.
Perhaps this is one reason why the school
teachers in country districts are paid such
miserable pittanceS, and that, too, when in
many regions of Western Pennsylvania the
roads get so bad that the children have to
stop going TO school If the roads get the
most of the money and labor in some coun-
ties why don't they show for il?
New System Certainly Needed.
The cry of the opponents to the proposed
country road reform was that for the State
10 undertake a system of general appropria-
tion and permanent repairing of the roads
meant increased taxation on the farmer.
Those who framed the proposed law an
swered this by saving: There is no need
for increasing the present rate of taxation a
penny. Just pay over to the State what you
now expend in labor and cash on the roads,
and we will put it into something perma-
nent. There is plenty of money now raised
if 1t is only expended properly
The figures submitted in this article de-
that idea very clearly. If 81, 600
Of a 50, 600 road tax assessment be ''worked
out by the farmers Of Patton township,
that conveys the impression that their labor
was actually worth $4,000 Labor that is
worth =, 600 outside the farm fence is GER
tainlv worth 81, 900 inside the farm fence 1t
would, therefore, to all appearances, be no
harder for the farmer TO pay his taxes in
cash. The time he now wastes on the roads
he would protitably put into work upon his
farm. The benefit should. and, no doubt,
would be two-fold by the cash system: First,
the farm would become better, because not &,
and, second, the roads would be
vastly improved. While the farmer
ought to get better results from additional
time fer his own duties, he certainly would
reap solid proht in the end from the en-
hanced value Of his property by reason of
all the year around; and from
the saving of horse flesh, vehicles, and time
in transit from the town TO his barn
In other words, if the bulk of five mil
lions Of dollars expended in muscle upon
the country roads in the 40 counties
above. be actually worth that
much in money-and honesty compells YOU
to conclude that it is-would it not be Just
ls valuable on the farm? Ifso, is there not
some better plan of spending the So 600, 900, or
more, that would then accrue to the town
ships in actual cash, than by the present
,vaStetul method?
From now on the farmer will be block
AIDED by bad roads, and may have plenty of
time on his hands to ponder over these
igUres. L. Z. SToFIEL.