The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-04-26
- poADs IN NORTH CARO-,
7Uoh LIMA.

-
rn,roR.-Although North Caro-
Mr.. Loon much derided because OF
ina has nU,IbIic roads, the people of our
Der old State have always oeslrGu
y0OgI lads and have done what was In
gOoa Uower to obtain them. In the
hen r. of North Carolina" containing
Law" "4Sactments of the legislature OF
be eL ue find ample provisions made
t70y, INC out public roads and keep
or IaE GnS in good repair. Whoever
ng HnJI this venerable document will
6Ii [ ITot orr ancestors believed what
fna In and history teach to be true:
e1PeItb a material prosperity of a Sec
tnaU Jonends upon it's facilities for
tlon ,oortation To prove that a double
TanoaPoTf their spirit was inherited by
MAJ cons we might bring forward the
l e9nrobIe grants of our legislatures to
az 49, companies; the great sums of
InoT expended by our State to make
IO o T39ne Fear and its tributaries navig-
I IT,. the plank roads, the turnplkes,
sD ~ Gb1ridges and the ferries built before
sIo %or at public expense. This spirit
.F0 aroornss has come down to this gen
y LIRtio6 9 there is hardly a county Oh a
8 lrn that has not voted money to
sOo,1re railroads, deeming them of more
mnortance-and rightly, too-than the
bn5 ft of public roads without them. In
tSis Ine-in her sacrifices to obtain
rood railroad facilities, nc Southern
Rate has done more than North Caro-
ina And in regard to her public
lads the stature books of our State
Iii show that North Carolina is fully
wake as to their Importance
Before this time we have not been
obIn TO build better roads because our
oaonle have hardly recovered from the
Effects of the war. In many sections
thew are not badly needed. From
statements gathered from students
from all parts of the State, l have reck-
onpd that there are not less than 30, 900
miles of public roads. These are nothing
more than a road bed sixteen feet wide,
with bitches on either side where
needed, and kept in repair by the peO-
nile who live near them. Many of them
run through sparsely settled districts
where the best of roads are not needed;
there is not much travelling over them,
and it would be a needless expense to
build better roads, for these answer
All purposes. The heavily loaded market
wagons two or three times a year pass
over them without inconvenience. In
the Piedmont section, which is more
thickly settled, the roads r good
enough in summer but in winter, if
much travelled, become very muddy
and very badly cut up. This is owing
to the nature of the soil which is red
clay packing to a hard road bed in dry
weather, and becoming very sObby in
rainy. 1t has come to be recognized
that these roads are too expensive; that
the old method of keeping them in re-
pair is not sufficient, and that for Pied
mont Carolina nothing short Of good
Macadamized roads will suffice. At
the request of the counties of this sec
ton the legislature has granted them
the privilege of levying a special tax
to build new roads, and several coun-
ties have taken advantage of it. Within
the past five years Mecklenburg has
built not less than 20 miles of good
MaCadamiZed roads and is building
from year to year; other counties have
built more or less. Yet we are far from
having such roads as we need; we
must and will have better. We are
becoming free from the burdens which
we took to secure railroads and we can
now turn our attention to building
roads.
In conclusion [ desire to offer the fol-
suggestions: The State should
encourage the counties in their efforts
to build good roads. This she could do
by sending her Convicts to do the work
NE rYs01in~ f0r, ryIi0L &hA hiCR0r- Of
railroad building in North Carolina
shows they are well fitted. 1t would
be well too for the State to undertake
building some roads between the more
important points which are separated
by thinly peopled districts. She could
well use her convicts for this purpose,
and with the advantage that their labor
would then conflict with the inter- It of
no class; and l %apprehend that this
would be muchm more humanity method
of employing them than keeping them
pent up in prison walls, notwithstand-
ing the opinions Of emotional philan-
thropists to the contrary.
The Macadamized road Is the road
for Piedmont Carolina; the plank road
Is a thing of the past; it is not lasting
and is. injurious to the feet of horses.
But the Macadamized roads have not
these Disadvantages, and besides they
can be built at a minimum expense.
have inexhaustible supplies of
granite waiting for the crusher; all we
have to do is to go to work and build.
Let not North Carolina be behind her
GEORGE WASHINGTON"
-~ -
ANOTHER SCOOP.