The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-03-29
G0g AL NEW g.
COUNTY CORRESPONDENCE.
Public Roads and How they Should be
worked.

y
public roads should be worked and will
now give you text by which some good
lawyer might frame law for such work.
It Is not necessary for me to undertake
| to say anything about the necessity OF
good roads, for take il fer granted that
| everybody knows and feels the neod of
them. So will only tell you how
think they ought to be kept up anC by
whom it should be done.
| I will say once for all that we will
never have good public roads under our
present system, for 1 don't care how
strenuous the law may be, nor how dill
| gent the County Commissioners may be
IN the discharge Of their duties, the plan
will not work, for this reason: The max
| ing of good road is like any other me-
! chanical contrivance, it takes a man who
knows how to do the work of laying off
the road and shaping it up to the best
advantage for the easy travel OF the vehi-
Gle, aud at the Same time give it the
proper shape to shed all the water falling
on it as quick rs possible, so that it will
neither stand on the road or run any dis
tance along it. but run directly OFT Of it
on either side in ditch, which should be
wide and deep enough to keep the road
we'll drained at all times and in the
heaviest rains. The law known in this
| County as the Murray Road. Law is quite
sufficient in this respect-that is as to
the shape the road should have-but def
cient as to system of doing the work, for
as I was going to say the County Com
missioner may do his duty in going
around and appointing the best men he
can find for overseers, and directing that
| the roads be worked so many days in the
| year ard so on, but the men he may ap-
point overseers may be good men-men
who are good citizens and make success
of farming and Of their business, but
nine-tenths of them do not know how to
build road or to show any one else how
to do it, as the roads in this County will
prove if you will take the trouble to
travel over them. I can almost invaria-
bly, tell when get to whore one mans
section of road stops and anothe. one
begins by the way they have been work.
ed. I do not blame any man for not
doing that which he has no faculty for
doing, for it is not his fault and he can't
| help it.
Now, the way think public roads
! ought to be built and kept up is this:
think there should be an engineer-I
mean civil engineer-in each County
whose duty should be to lay off by actual
survey all of the principal highways
which have been kept ur by the public
| to the best advantage as to location, put
ting them on the easiest grade practicable
and locate them where the sun will shine
on them as near all day as the location
will admit. This is more important
factor in the way of keeping good road
than the most people think. You may
notice where you travel on roads running
| through cleared land you hardly ever see
bad mud hole-not as bad as you will
| find in timbered place where the earth
| is of the same kind. After he has laid
out the roads he'should carefully instruct
the contractor how TO build the road and
| the easiest way to grade, de-, and see that
! it is well done before it Is received by the
| County Commissioners.
Second: There should be q tax levied
on all taxable property, SO much as it
may require to do the work each year,
with poll tax say Of two dollars on
every able bodied male citizen from the
age of sixteen to fifty years, or they may
| be allowed to work three days on the
| public road nearest to his place OF resi-
| dence in lieu Of such poll tax If he SO
desires, such work to be done under and
by the instructions of the contractor who
may have the contract for working such
road. BY this system of working the
roads by taxation instead of the present
| system every body would assist in keep
| ing up the roads more in proportion to
the amount that he used them than they
do now, for this reason /: I know men iE
this County that are not liable to road
duty or to work the roads from being
over age that are worth thousands of dol
/ lars, and perhaps keep half a dozen
wagons, besides buggies and other vehi-
cles, that do not contribute anything
toward keeping up the roads except the
small tax levied by the Murray Road
| Law, while I know of -others-poor men,
who have no wagon or buggy to travel
on the roads, that perhaps has TO work
the road himselfand perhaps two or three
sons with him. Now this man, while he
does not use the road near SO much, has
to contribute great deal more than his
more fortunate neighbor does toward
keeping it up. I want it understood
right here that don't blame any man
for being rich--I am no communist nor
nothing Of that sort, but do think that
where 8 man has hundred bales of cot
ton to haul to market he ought to do
more towards making a good road to
haul it on than the one who has but two
or three to haul. wouldent mind keep
ing up the roads myselfif was rich and
WAS able to spare the time.
Third In addition to the tax as above
stated, all conviots who are sentenced to
one month or more in Jail or to the peni-
tentiary should be put on the roads and
kept there instead of hiring them out to
| individuals to make cotton in competition
with free honest labor. Each County
might be allowed to work their own con-
victs, or else the road contractors hereln-
after mentioned might be allowed to hire
as many of them as he would want or
| tho noofinn o11nuynH
for the n to be taken out Of his pay for
his contract.
| Fourth All work to be done on public
roads should be let out by the County
| Com missioners the same as bridges are
now let, with plans and specifications
made by the County Civil Engineer for
doing the work. These contracts could
be let out at public outcry or by sealed
| proposals for certain lengths of road,
ranging from one milo up, at the discre-
ton of the Board of County Commission
ers. Such contractor to give bond and
security for the faithful performance of
| his work in accordance with the plans
and specifications furnished him to work
by. In this way farmers would not be
annoyed every Spring by having to stop
their farm work to work tho roads. I'm
der the present system the farming class
of people have all the road working to do
while the entire population enjoy the
benefits. do not think the farmers
should have all the public roads TO keep
| up, for don't think they use them any
more in proportion to mum bers than men
] do of any other occupation or profession.
I don't want it understood here in this
connection that am wanting to array
country against town, for am not, no.
do think any one else ought to. like
town folks and love to 60 to see them
and associate with them-it's pleasant,
for, while they are as general thing
more sociable than country people Il sup
pose they have become SO by social,
| everyday contact with their neighbors,)
they arc also intelligent, refined and
interesting and elevating to society.
Now, if Mr.. Tillmap and his followers
want to immortalize their fame they could
easily do it by passing road lazy similar
to the foregoing. While it may not be
the best way to build and keep in repair
the public roads, it is in my judgment
far superior to the present system in
regard to having good roads, but do not
claim it to be as cheap neither in the
amount expended or the quality Of the
| roads. We can't afford to pay taxes to
work all the roads in the country in one
year, but we can pay for the working of
| the main roads-the ones most needed
| first, and so on till they are all good, and
I will venture the assertion that the
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