The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-12
The Georgia Road Congress.


/ meet in Augusta on Nov. y. II is the de-
sire Of those who are deeply interested in
the question of road improvement that
/ every county shall be represented by in
/ telligent, practical aud progressive men
men who viii undertake to so mold pub
| lie sentiment in their respective localities
that it will not be long before a satisfac-
/ tory system of road improvement will be
{ generally demanded. There is no doubt
that as soon as such a system is demanded
it will be adopted
/ THERE'S no matter of greater Importance
to all classes ofpeople than that Of improv-
ing the highways. It is now attracting at
JentiOn in all of the older states, and
there is a steady and growing pressure in
behalf of doing away with the present
methods for improving the roads aud
adopting others that will be productive of
better results.
In the current number of the North
American Review, Gov. Flower, of New
York, discusses the question of how to
get good roads, and he makes some sug-
gestions that viii not only attract atten-
tention, but which are Of practical value.
For instance, he takes the ground
that counties should go in debt
to put their public roads in firSt-class con-
dition. He says: ~ venture to say there
is nota county in New York which, if it
would bond itself for 81 900. 600 and invest
the money in the scientific construction Of
highways, would not in five years, have
increased the valuation of it's real estate
many times the amount of the investment.
But that would be only a small part of
the gain. The greater part would be in
the saving of wagon transportation, a
saving in vehicles, a saving in horses, a
saving in time, saving in labor, saving
in risks, saving in markets"
Gov. Flower says that the farmers ad-
NIT that good roads would be of inestima-
BILE benefit to them, but that for some uu-
accountable reason they cling to the old
system of working out the road tax.
When he suggested to them, however,
the advisability of working the convicts
on the roads they listened attentively and
approved the suggestion.
And the farmers in this state would
favor using the state convicts in improv-
ing the public roads. The convicts are
now hired out to lessees, who make a
great profit out of their labor. Why
should not the people have the profit?
They are against the leasing system.
They know it is open to great abuses
and has tendency to blunt their moral
sensibilities. They would like to see it
abandoned. They would have insisted
long ago upon its Abandonment if a salts
factory way to utilize the convicts had
been pointed out to them
There can be no question as to the ad-
vantage that would result to the
state from the use of the convicts upon
the public roads. What would be the
condition of the roads now if the convicts
had been employed upon them instead of
being hired outl 1t is safe to say that a
good portion of all the roads, in each
county, would now be like turnpike.
And what boom to farmers roads of
that kind would bel They could haul
their products to market very much
sooner and at much less cost than they
can now. and their farms would be worth
about twice as much as they are at pres
ent.
Good roads would attract immigrants,
and immigrants would place the unoccu-
pied lands under cultivation Indeed, it
is not too much to say that if for the last
twenty-five years the convicts had been
employed on the roads Georgia would
now have half million more inhabitants
and the amount of her assessments would
be at least half greater
The Augusta congress will have an OPP
portunity to do Georgia a great service.
1t should speak firmly and strongly in
favor of using the convicts upon the pub
lie roads. Such use of them will put an
end to the leasing system, which is a blot
upon the fair fame of the state, and it
will give us good roads, which are an
indication of high condition of civil
ization.