The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-12-04

with Western corn and wheat and
Southwestern cotton the competition is
so sharp that the farmer needs a good
road more than any other time, so that
when he cannot do anything at home
on the farm he can make his team.
profitable by hauling on the road.
The farmers pay a much larger por-
ton of the taxesin North Carolina than
they do in New York State, still in
North Carolina they do not pay half of
the total amount of taxes, and when
the people of the towns and cities are
willing to vote a tax on their property
to help build roads out in the country,
I for one say let's meet them half way
aud not accuse them Of getting up
some great conspiracy OF working In
some other underhand way to take ad-
vantage of the farmers until we have
some u~ndoubted proof that they are
trying to do something of the kind.
For a century these people in the towns
and cities have done little or nothing
toward helping to keep up the public
roads in the country, and this has been
true simply because during all this
time we have been living under a road
law which all other civilized countries
have abandoned long ago. But for my
part I am glad to see that the colonies
and the majors and the professors and
tho GnnEN~1 nNn nwo ChnUTnrp on UOTTnh
interest in the improvement of the
country roads; and instead of accusing
them of having some hidden conspir
acy behind all this and some improper
purpose in view, I think we farmers
should join hands and meet them half
way, and put our shoulders to the
wheel and say let's all work together
until we have good roads in every part
of North Carolina. Not roads like Bel
GUM, but roads that we can haul a
good load over all the year round.
Your correspondent says that n Of
the things these people want to do is to
employ some engineer to take charge
of this road improvement work. Well,
the way it looks to me is that we have
been piddling along our own public
roads without an engineer and without
doing much good for nearly a century,
andit's about time we we're trying some
other place. When l get sick l do not
send for a carpenter, but for a doctor
who has been trained in medicine; and
when I go to church on Sunday l do
not want to hear a blacksmith get up
and talk in the pulpit, but I want to
hear a preacher; and when I var my
land measured and laid off I go and get
a surveyor to do it; and SO it is about
building roads. For a hundred years
we have been working away without
an engineer to look after u roads,
and if anybody knows of an engineer
who could show us how to fix them
any better 1 would like to see one en-
ployed by the State or by somebody so
that we can get the beDefs of his ad-
vice. l have no doubt that there is
many a jackleg who believes he can
build as good a road as any engineer;
just like a great many people who be-
lieVe that it does not take any training
or any special brains to run a farm
until they try it and fail. Bat, when
you come to take into consideration all
the different kinds of soils and rocks
which a man has to contend with in
Y1TlHin n n0o6 %h~0y1~h thu arSI0km1 T
believe that it takes as much skill and
knowledge to build a good solid coun
try road, that will be good in summer
as well as in winter, as it does to build
a railroad; and 1 am informed that in
other civilized countries where they
have have good roads, these roads have
been built under the supervision of an
engineer.
Your correspondent speaks of issuing
bonds as another part of this ''conspir
acy" which he says is being gotten up
about this road movement. Well, l
agree with him on general principles
in being opposed to bonds. I have
been opposed to issuing bonds to build
railroads; and I think we had better
build our public roads without issuing
bonds; but l do not see any use of
to raise a big scare about the
bond question.
There is no possibility of bonds being
issued for this purpose without the
matter being voted on by the people,
and when the time comes to vote on it
that will be time enough to discuss
that proposition; certainly the people
cannot be made to issue bonds unless
they want to do it: and if. as this work